How Much Is It Costing You To Work?

Did you realize that it's actually costing you to work? I'm talking about work related expenses, such as childcare, work clothing etc. If you're a working mom who would like to stay at home with her kids, then you have to figure out just how much money is left over after you deduct all work related expenses. That amount (and not your net salary) is what you are really contributing to the household each month. And if you wish to work at home, then you need to know just how much your home based business must bring in each month in order to break even.

The most obvious work related expense is daycare. It's often the biggest expense to come out of the second income of a dual-income family. After-school care also falls into this category.

Transportation costs probably also take a big chunk of your income. Traveling to and from work and daycare can add up to a pretty penny. What are your work-related transportation costs for the month?

Clothing. Unless you wear some sort of 'uniform' to work, you will probably be spending a fair amount of money on work clothes each month. After all, you can't turn up to a meeting with CEO's in a faded 3 year old suit, now can you?

In addition to these obvious costs, there are also many hidden costs associated with working. Here are some of them.

Office Food.
Eating lunch out, that morning cup of coffee at Starbucks and anything else you buy to eat at work all fall into this category. For one month jot down whatever you spend on food during the course of your workday. You'll be surprised at the amount.

Office Socializing.
Buying gifts for co-workers who are getting married, having babies, leaving, transferring to another department, retiring and so on are all part of being a caring, friendly co-worker. So are chats over coffee and occasional drinks after work. How much are you spending each month on office socializing?

Convenience Items
Frozen, microwaveable meals, prepared foods from the Deli and pre-packaged mixes are all wonderful time savers that many working moms rely heavily on. But that convenience comes at a price. In addition to these convenience meals, you are probably also even cooking take-out meals a few times a week because you're simply too exhausted to cook.

Last minute birthday gifts, expensive cookies from the bakery for the school play and so on all fall into this category.

Shopping.
Shopping during lunch breaks or because you feel guilty about not spending enough time with your kids can also blow your budget.

School Lunches.
Preparing homemade lunches is often just an additional chore that working moms have no time for. How much are you paying each month for the convenience of prepared lunches?

Then there are other minor expenses that you probably never even thought of including, such as fund raisers, mlm products bought from a co-worker, or betting on who will win the latest football game.

For one month, make note of how much you spend in each of these areas. Add up all your work realted expenses and subtract that from your income. That total is how much you are contributing to the family income. Divide that by the amount of hours you worked and you will arrive at your hourly wage.

Armed with these figures you will now be able to decide if you want to continue working or not. If you want to start a home based business you will know exactly how much you need to bring in each month in order to break even. Or if you're a stay at home mom, you'll know by how much you need to reduce your expenses in order to make ends meet.

Making the transition from working mom to work at home mom

Making the transition from a dual income family to a single income family can be tough. Here are 5 things I wish someone had told me before I quit my job and became a stay at home mom.

1. Without my paycheck, things I considered necessities became occasional luxuries. In order to survive on my husband's paycheck alone I had to eliminate (or dramatically reduce) the following "necessities":
* Professional manicures, pedicures and facials.
* Expensive high maintenance hairdo's
* Eating out 4 or 5 times a week
* Microwaveable meals
* Shopping sprees for designer clothes, shoes and handbags (my weakness)
* A new car every 2-3 years
* Luxury vacations (We took lots of camping trips until I discovered how to go on fabulous vacations on a tight budget)

Shockingly enough, I soon realized that I didn't need any of these things to make me happy!

2. My kids also had to adjust. Whilst  my kids loved having me home they didn't take so kindly to having less toys and material possessions. It took them a while to realize that they couldn't always buy a new pair of brand name sneakers, latest electronic gadget or ultra-cool toy  just because their friends had them. The benefit to this, though, was that my kids became more responsible about money and my son even took on a part time job and started saving money for the things he wanted. my kids have learned to delay gratification, which is another vitally important life lesson.

3. I loved the unstructured days and no boss looking over my shoulder telling me what to do all the time. The freedom was wonderful, but I soon realized that it could be a double edged sword. There were more days than I care to remember that just drifted purposelessly away, because they didn't have any sort of structure to them.

4. I had more housework to do than ever. Who would have thought? Because the kids and I were home all day the house became messier and needed more cleaning. I didn't like housework when I was working and I certainly didn't like it any better after I started staying home. My solution was to get my kids involved. After all, they were responsible for most of the mess. And they learned valuable life skills and a sense of responsibility into the bargain.


5. My husband began to feel more pressure because he was now the sole breadwinner. Watching our spending habits and cutting expenses whenever I could helped to ease the pressure on him somewhat.

If you plan on returning to work again when the kids are older you may be limiting your prospects to some degree. To make this re-entry into the job market a bit easier, you may have to retain your membership in professional societies, continue networking and perhaps even continue to study at your own expense. But it's quite possible that you may never want to go back. Many moms have used the skills they gained through their training and jobs to open up successful home based businesses. This certainly proved to be the case with me. I started my own Internet based business and I haven't looked back!

The routine day to day life of a stay at home mom can be a lonely and thankless job. I found that I didn't have much in common with my working friends anymore and that I needed to cultivate friendships with other stay at home moms. But to my dismay I found that I didn't have too much in common with these ladies either! Most of them barely know how to turn on a computer, hadn't heard of Twitter and certainly didn't share my passion for online marketing. But thanks to the Internet, I've found many wonderful women from all over the world that I can connect and cultivate wonderful friendships with.

Knowing these things in advance would have made the transition from working mom to stay at home mom so much easier. But even with all it's challenges I wouldn't give up being a stay at home mom for the world.