There are two things I wish I'd understood when I first wanted to stay home with my children. One was how much it actually cost me and my family for me to work and, second, how little I really needed to earn to stay home! This page will help you figure out both!  

CAN YOU AFFORD TO WORK?

Would you send your children to childcare for 45 hours per week so that you could work 40 hours per week to make a measly $3.80 per hour? Of course not, you say. But how do you know you aren't doing just that? I certainly never thought that I would be making only $3.80 per hour. But that is exactly what I was doing.  

When I worked as an Assistant, I made about $28,000 per year. An ok salary but, combined with my ex husband's, was a decent income. So why was I always broke? Why did we have a good income but couldn't afford to go on vacation? Worse, I couldn't afford to take the full 12 weeks allotted for maternity leave when my second child was born. The reason was that I had no clue how much I spent to work outside the home.  

Here is what I paid each year so that I could work outside the home:

·        $3,000 for Federal government income tax.

·        $6,000 for childcare

·        $2,400 extra for car payments, car insurance, and personal property tax for a newer car.

·        $1,700 for commuting 10 miles a day.

·        $1,000 for clothes, dry cleaning and other items and services related to my professional appearance.

·        $1,000 for lunches.

·        $2,600 for convenience foods and dining out because I was too tired to cook.

·        $2,400 for I-deserve-this-because-I-work-so-hard items and guilt treats (toys, special outings) for my kids.  

Total cost of my job: $20,100!
I spent $20,100 to work! That equaled an income of $7,900 per year, $152 per week... a full $3.80 per hour!  

How much do you pay to work outside the home?

Use the list or the calculator below to calculate how much you pay to work.  

Work-related Expenses (listed below):

·        Federal Taxes:

·        Local Taxes:

·        Child Care:

·        Commuting (toll, parking, 2nd car):

·        Gasoline and mileage:

·        Car insurance (extra car, nicer car):

·        Clothing expenses (cleaning, new):

·        Gifts, special friends etc at work:

·        Convenience food for meals:

·        Eating Out:

·        Housekeeping help:

·        Grooming needs (hair, nails etc):

·        Guilt items for kids and family:

·        Extra cost related to lack of time to research cheaper prices:

·        Extra cost related to hiring help instead of making repairs yourself:

Add all the items above and subtract from your GROSS income.  

Example of Expenses 

Taxes

Daycare Expenses

Commuting Expenses (gas, toll, parking etc)
Additional Car Expenses (2nd car, nicer car, increased insurance)

Lunch Expenses
Clothing/Dry Cleaning Expense
Dining Out and Convenience Food Expenses

Extra cost related to hiring help instead of taking care of things yourself
(maid service, repairs, etc)

Guilt or Reward Items for Working So Hard
Miscellaneous Expenses

Now enter you NET monthly income:

Gross Income Earned:                

Then minus your total income after expenses and you will get your Total Income After Expenses:     

You have decided you want to work at home but you aren't sure where to start? This page will help guide you through the process of deciding what you can do to make money at home and making a plan to achieve your goal.  

·        The first step is to determine what exactly you need to earn while working at home. Its probably a lot less than you earn now working outside the home. It maybe even less than you think if you are currently not working at all. Visit the Cost of Work page to learn how much you pay to work (over 2/3 of my income went to work-related expenses when I worked outside the home). It will also help you determine how much you'll need to earn working at home plus give you ideas on how to save more making it easier to achieve your goal.  

·        Next, research different ideas on making money at home. Visit the Home Business Basics page to learn about how to start a business and brainstorm different business ideas. Visit the Home Business Ideas page to get information on a variety of different businesses. Check out The Best Affiliate Programs page to see the different opportunities available to you. Visit the Work at Home Jobs area to learn about how to find a legitimate work-at-home job. Use the Passive Income Opportunites to help you learn more about specific home businesses or telecommuting.  

·        Once you have decided what you'd like to do to earn money from home, develop a plan for reaching your goal. Your plan is your road map that will get from work-at-home wannabe to work-at-home success. Both the Home Business Ideas pages and the Work at Home Jobs pages outline different things you need to research, evaluate and consider as you make your plan of action. The important thing is to do something every day that is related to your goal. It could be as simple as visiting a work-at-home web site or reading a chapter in a work-at-home book. Or maybe you will research information needed for a business or marketing plan.  

Here are some tips to keep you motivated:

·        Create a visualization of your work-at-home day. When do you wake in the morning? Do you get dressed or lounge in your jammies? Do you go to the park? Do you take your laptop with you? Write it down and post it some where that you can read it often. Keep your work-at-home dream with you always so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle of every day life.

·        Keep a journal or check list that shows where you started and how much you have achieved so far. Each day you work on something and mark it off your list is one day closer to reaching your goal. 

·        Never stop. The only people who never achieve Work-At-Home Success are those who give up. It may take a long time, years even, but if you stick with it, you will achieve your dream of working at home.   

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