Have you ever wondered if your income is making some if any difference in the overall income of the house?  If you keep track of your household finances with the CalendarBudget personal finance app, this question is more easily answered.

There are many different criteria to take into consideration when making the decision to start/continue working or to stay home. One is the money aspect. I just came across this great calculator, Parent’s “The Stay-at-home calculator”, that I thought may help you identify how much you do contribute to the household income. After you’ve found out how much you can/do contribute, think if the trade-off is worth it. Is your child in school during those hours anyway? Will your child have most of their interaction with babysitters and be taught morals and life principles from them instead of you? Who is your child building a relationship with to turn to when pressing questions come up? Are you spending sufficient time with them to satisfy your parental duties/needs and the child’s’ needs?

Before we got married, my husband and I discussed whether I would stay home or go to work and it was unanimous that we both wanted me to stay home. I completed my education in the computer programming field only to have our first child three weeks after I graduated and so didn’t have the opportunity to enter the workforce. For the first couple of years, I wondered if I made the right choice with education costs still on our plate. I didn’t sit down and find out all of the exact costs that would have been associated with my working, but I was blessed to have a husband that had a pretty decent paying job in the computer programming field that allowed for my education fees to be paid off quickly and plenty of funds available for future plans. Although my education didn’t bring income to the family, it brought an understanding of my husband’s job and why it would take so many hours to do what seemed like a simple job on the outside. For my circumstances, I know I have been blessed to have my wish fulfilled to be able to stay home with my kids. With our 5 girls, I’m sure it would have been rather expensive to pay for their care.

For some, there is no option to stay home because the overall household income doesn’t cover all household expenses or you are the sole provider. We will discuss in the next post some ideas you can use to minimize costs to maximize your money and thus your time.

What has been your experience for evaluating the choice to go to work or stay home?

CalendarBudget is an online budget tool that helps you manage your finances and avoid easy credit, impulse buying and poor financial planning so you might have the opportunity to stay at home.  Learn more about the CalendarBudget personal finance app.