Your day goes on as you find the best coupons for groceries! Wahoo, basically finding the best deals of the day. You do your laundry, and listen to a conference talk while you fold the fresh, warm shirts and socks. You get a poster for your child's school project, get the dog more dog food (Oh wait, I am out in public. . . did you have time to get your hair done. . . Make-up? . . . eh, skip it the kids will be home in 30 minutes) You put dinner in the crock-pot so it is ready to go after basketball practice!
It might only be until before the kids get home from school, but I think you get it. . . days get long, the job list gets even longer. . . But can you put a price on it?
In my class this week, we studied the effects of the mother working outside of the home and actually studied a case study of a family. The family had the mom working because they felt things at home were getting tight with money. They had three boys whose ages were 8, 12, and 16. He worked full time making $42,000 a year, and she worked part time making $21,000 a year. They decided they wanted to find out the total benefits of her working for the family. The accountant they were working with really took everything that was effected from her working. They took the emotional effects of her children, the absence of her in the home, the stress that it gave her not being able to feel on top of her jobs at home, the daycare bills they paid, the eating out they did because of her not having time to cook, the effects her husband had of trying to fill in. . . and really there are so many more things that played a part that they counted. In reality they put the numbers in the equation and they should have come out on top. At the end of the day, she and her husband were taken by surprise when they found out that their income for the year came out to be only $41,000.
I have had the opportunity this week to spend time with my mother in law, and we had the chance to talk about this class. She has some amazing recipes, stellar coupon sites and coupons, children who have strong testimonies and who took some of her traits with them, sewing abilities, and so much more. I loved what she said to me about all of this,
"I want to be so good at what I do, that my husband can't afford me to work outside of the home"
What does she do then? She does exactly the scenario I described of a normal day up there^ and then some. She dedicates her self and contributes so much to the family that if she left there would be a huge deficit. She is really so good at what she does, and I have loved learning from her.
So how do you live off of one income? I have tried a lot of ways, and there are so many books you can read but it all comes down to how to budget the money from your honey. My honey works so hard, and I want him to not stress about money and know that I am grateful for what he provides.
These last two weeks Jedd and I are trying something different. We have laid out some money, and decided what our categories are for where are money goes for the month, and we have put a certain amount of money in each envelope. Groceries, phone, and gas are some of our categories. But one of our favorites is our "Mad Money"! We both get some money to spend whenever we want, and wherever we want! This has been fun because it also helps us get the things we actually really do want. I am excited to see the results from this form of budgeting.
I am going to strive to be the best that I can be at being a homemaker that Jedd can't afford me working anywhere else! You cannot put a price on homemaking and motherhood. The money from your honey can go a long way, if you do things that are right for your family. I really am excited to step outside the normals today, and become rich in happiness from the success that I create right inside the walls of my own home.
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