Time or money...WWYD?

[nina_yyc]

DH is an army reservist who is planning to volunteer for deployment in Sept. 2010. I'll be solo parenting an almost-4yo and a 10mo baby. I'm Canadian so I will be in the last 2 months of mat leave when he leaves.

If I go back to work f/t, we will have about $500 to spare each month. But, I will be a single mom of two with no babysitting help...and right now I'm barely managing as a co-parenting mom of one working f/t!

WWYD...negotiate a less-than-f/t work week and use the extra hours to catch up on home, errands, and appointments, or work f/t and spend the extra money on things like a cleaning service and grocery delivery? Or just suck it up, say goodbye to any type of sanity and save the money?

I know many of you manage with less money and less time than what I'm describing here, but honestly I have no clue how.

[kirstenb]

Do you want to go back to work? That would greatly determine how I would proceed.

If you want to go back to work but feel that f/t would be too stressful, I would look into going back p/t to start, and maybe increase your hours as you get more comfortable with the new routine. I would also check out cleaning services and grocery delivery services in your area to see how much they cost. You could look at having them come once or twice a month instead of weekly, and still be able to save money at the end of every month.

[nina_yyc]

Originally Posted by kirstenb

Do you want to go back to work? That would greatly determine how I would proceed.

If you want to go back to work but feel that f/t would be too stressful, I would look into going back p/t to start, and maybe increase your hours as you get more comfortable with the new routine. I would also check out cleaning services and grocery delivery services in your area to see how much they cost. You could look at having them come once or twice a month instead of weekly, and still be able to save money at the end of every month.

Not working is not on the table. I have decided to support DH in his decision to deploy. If I do not work at all, we would be more than $1000 short of living expenses each month. We are in a high COL area and while we would be able to scrape by on the salary from DH's job (or mine, for that matter, if DH were a SAHD) army pay is less than either. We have some financial flexibility while I'm on mat leave since I'll be getting government $.

Real part-time, like 3 days a week, is a possibility, if only for a month or two to get the baby adjusted to daycare, but it would be a very tight budget and living paycheck-to-paycheck with no emergency fund to fall back on. We can save a little on mat leave, but I've planned on using that to pay out our car loan.

I was thinking about trying to negotiate a 1/2 day Friday or every other Friday off, but keeping the kids in daycare for that day.