Calculator: Working Outside the Home
There are moms who say that they have to work outside the home for their family’s sake. No doubt this is true for some people. Is it true for you? Let’s find out. If you are wanting to stay home but don’t see how this could be financially possible, you might want to take a look at this outline to determine your net pay and then consider some other factors from there. So, let’s dive right in:
1. What is the net amount on your pay cheque, after all deductions?
2. How much do you pay for child care?
3. Do you wear different clothes at work than you wear at home? How much do you spend per year on work clothes and shoes and accessories? How much do you spend on dry cleaning?
4. Do you style your hair differently than you would if you were just staying at home? How much do you spend per year to maintain that?
5. Do you commute to work? What is the accumulated cost of gas, insurance and depreciation on your vehicle? Do you pay for parking? If you commute by train or bus, how much do you pay per year?
6. Do you buy your breakfast and/or lunch or make it from home? What is the average cost per meal? Per week? Multiply that by the number of weeks that you work.
7. Do you buy convenience meals for your family because you are too tired to cook when you come home? Same equation as question 6.
8. Are there other services that you pay for because you don’t have time to do them yourself? (ex. Cleaning lady, minor repairs, yard work?)
What is the approximate dollar per hour that you arrive at? For some people, they are actually making a negative wage! Talk about taking one step forward and two steps back!
Let’s assume that you are still coming out in the positive and that you are making at least minimum wage.
What about unseen costs?
1. How much time do you spend getting ready for work, coming home from work, doing work at home? Time has a wage, too. Your time is of great worth, especially when you have the most important role in the world (“Mom”, in case you didn’t already know. ;). What else could you be doing with your time to SAVE money?
2. How stressed out are you? How stressed out is your family? Do you feel like this would be different if you could be at home more often?
3. If you have been living on “convenience” meals more than you would otherwise, what is that costing you and your family in health terms? Could poorer health be raising your health insurance costs?
4. Do you have time to exercise? How many years could you be shaving off your life by not exercising and eating more healthfully, if that is the case for you? What is the cost of those years??
5. Are you setting aside time to teach your children the values that are important to you? Are you setting aside time to demonstrate those values?
6. Are you spending time with your spouse alone? Do you enjoy your time with your spouse or are you feeling guilty or exhausted?
7. Are you too tired to be as patient as you would like with your children?
8. Do you like your job?
You know best what your job outside the home is costing you.
So, what do you do, if all doesn’t add up the way you had hoped it would?
There are numerous possibilities. And there may be many obstacles. But if you are open to suggestion and open to working at finding answers to all your “how” questions, and if you have a support someone, you can make working from home work for you. You don’t have to be making the same amount of money for it to be worth your while to stay home, as you can see from the calculations above. And you may not make a profit in your chosen field in the first year or two. But if you choose wisely, do your research, and ask for help and support from like-minded friends and use the resources at PinkPowerSuit.com, you will be rewarded.
You can view some Success Stories here for inspiration and the Idea Center for, well, ideas!
(And visit the Money Savers page to see how you can think of saving money as a way to make money for your family. While you are setting up your home business, you can view saving money as your new career! In the past, every time I have saved a few dollars, including by just resisting purchases, I'd write down the amount that I would have spent and consider that money saved. Just a little psychological trick but it works!)
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From Natasha Clark of PinkPowerSuit.com, Mom's Free Business Mentor and PowerSuit Hosting, Mom's Easy Website Builder.
