I want to be a SAHM...

[snuggly]

Long term. Right now I am in a Masters program to become a teacher. My classes are one night a week and online. It's a wonderful schedule; I love getting to be with my sweet girl (17 m) all day long. But, my heart is no longer in becoming a teacher. I feel like I have lost all career ambition. Let me rephrase that: my family has become my career ambition.

We are currently TTC number 2 and I would love to SAH with my kids longer term. I'm leaning towards homeschooling someday. Dh is on board with this if we can swing it financially.

The problem: No matter how we crunch the number we can not get by on only DH's salary. Right now it is possible because of school money (mostly loans, ick), but, if I were out of school we would be about $600 per month short.

What do you do? Any mamas out there SAH on a tight budget? How do you make it work? I cook at home, we live in tiny house, bike instead of drive when possible, and keep the bills low in all the obvious ways... I feel like we are so close to making it work... I mean, if I went back to work we would have childcare expenses and all and wouldn't end up that far ahead of where we are now... I just need to bridge the gap. Help me get creative!

[Drummer's Wife]

What about takng in a other child or two during the day? With your education, you might even be able to charge a bit more. Or, could you work a very part-time job either in the evenings or weekends when your DH is home?

If you posted some of your budget/expenses, I bet the mamas here could brainstorm ideas to save money.

[binxsmom]

i teach or "homeschool" 2 children that aren't my own. i also know another homeschooler that does the same thing. the pay is very good. and, of course, it really helps to have a master's degree.

[lakeruby]

I agree--- $600 a month is totally doable! I like the childcare idea, or you could work at a summer camp during the summer or something like that to save up enough to pay for that extra $600/month during the rest of the year.

What about a work-at-home job? I don't know much about these, but I've seen the online ads...

What about teaching a class on the evenings or weekends? You could teach a kid's class, or art class, or ESL...I'm not sure what your background is, but I bet you could find something out there!

Good luck! I would love to be a SAHM too but I don't see that in the cards unless I win the lotto. Guess I should start playing, then!

[bananahands]

While you're working it out, I'd recommend reading Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes. It came out earlier this year. It owes a lot to the other great books in the voluntary simplicity genre, but you mentioned jumping off the school/career track and the book has really helped me align some of the lifestyle elements that felt like loose ends, or unfinished business. This, in turn, has me even more committed to making this work for my family. It was comforting, inspiring, and practical all at once. Good luck!

[TwinMomPlus]

There are lots of tutoring and teaching jobs online that maybe you could do as well as exam scoring. Many require experience though. Or, I know they are few and far between, but you could look for a PT teaching job.

My mom always says the "pull of motherhood" is just too strong!

Good luck. I know EXACTLY how you feel.

[MyTwoAs]

Does the $600 shortage include the payments on the student loans? If it doesn't, how much extra will those be?

I agree with the other suggestions to look into tutoring or teaching online. I read about people earning $50/hr for 2-3 hours a week which would be about what you need to bridge the gap.

[zinemama]

I'll be honest: I wouldn't feel right about staying home on that kind narrow of a margin. Yes, you can cut back (you already have) but there comes a point where it just doesn't close the gap, and you're at that point.

How long do you have in your program? I think what I'd do is go ahead and get the degree and the license. Teach a year or so to get experience, all the while banking as much as you can. Then quit to sah for awhile. That way you will have the degree and license in hand if you ever need it, and the experience to get a job.

[elsie]

I would look into tutoring, some kind of part time teaching or even substituting if you have short notice sitting available.

[camprunner]

Checkout online teaching.

[Smithie]

I also have an MA, and loved teaching night classes at a technical college. Eventually they gave me online classes, paid at the same rate. I made about 12k/yr doing that, with zero childcare costs.

After five years, I was sick of teaching introductory composition and we were doing fine on dh's salary, so I quit when I got pg with #3. But if I needed to make money? Best job ever for a homeschooling SAHM.

[TwinMomPlus]

Smithie, did you have to have years of experience in an actual classroom first?

I'm not sure the OP has that.... do you OP?

[major_mama11]

I second the online teaching or part time teaching idea. We are short the exact amount you mentioned, if I don't work. I work (as a nurse) usually about 12 hrs per week, mostly evenings, and this is just enough to close the gap. I would rather not work at all, but that's the reality for us at this time. I still call myself a "mostly SAHM" as this is where I am 90% of the time. I also plan on homeschooling... I think it will be doable w/ this minimal work schedule.

We are also working on cutting our monthly expenses (getting rid of car payment etc) so that I won't have to work quite so much in the future to close that gap.

[jkn]

I would definitely recommend looking into Work from Home options, especially considering your level of education. I would say with hard work it's totally doable. Not sure what you are going to school for, but have you thought about writing for online blogs, or some kind of freelance work?
Good luck!

[Smithie]

I did not have any teaching experience when I got that job, but I did have to send out my resume to about ten colleges just to get one interview.

Another option is tutoring in a Writing/Academic center at a college. Night shifts galore, and as you get to know the people somebody will eventually put in a good word for you with whoever is hiring adjunct instructors in your field.

[snuggly]

Hi, OP here. I'm so glad I threw this question out to you creative mamas! Thank you for all the ideas! I will definitely be researching my options... I love the online teaching, tutoring, and community college ideas. to answer a question a few post back, I have been a teacher before, but it was for Teach for America (I had an emergency license to teach in a tough school), so I am not yet officially certified, though I do have teaching experience.

I'm still going around and around in my head about what to do... I need to decide within the next few weeks if I want to student teach full time next year or not. I know the smartest thing to do would be to get my degree, but I just cringe every time I think of being away from my baby full time to student teach and not even getting paid (in fact, I will be paying tuition to do it!) I'll keep you posted!

[expat-mama]

Just wanted to echo the PPs that offered up some suggestions as to how to use your (future) teaching qualifications to make money AND be a SAHM most of the time. Tutoring from home can be very lucrative. Opportunities like teaching summer school/classes, night school/classes, developing curricula, being a substitute...really, the list goes on and ON. I wouldn't quit school if you are close to finishing.

Both DH and I work in the education sector and we are expecting our first baby.
IMO teaching is such a flexible career...it's great for mamas! Gotta love those vacations too.

[TwinMomPlus]

I just wanted to add that I also have a Masters of Education plus a few years of experience teaching in the classroom, and I have looked into all of these opportunities that were mentioned here and all are difficult at best to get into. To teach online, you need many years experience. Tutoring is the easiest to do but not a guaranteed job. Just something to keep in mind.

[StrawberryFields]

I am not sure how much you are willing to cut back, but I was in a similar place when I quit working. It was a tight squeeze and the numbers didn't seem to add up. To cut back we canceled cable, sold off one of the cars (save on registration, insurance, gas, etc), and went on a family cell phone plan with my mom, brother and aunt ($30/each for everyone vs $100+ for just dh and me). We also canceled our home phone and newspaper. And we put a year or two worth of car payments in a separate account and had it drawn right out of there, so we didn't have to count it in our monthly budget. By the time the money ran out dh had gotten enough raises and I had taken on a couple kids babysitting and we were able to finish out the length of the loan ourselves.

We basically scaled back until our only bills were the mortgage, gas/electric, life insurance/car insurance/homeowner's insurance, cell phone, internet, and groceries. I've been at home 4 years now and we have slowly increased our income enough to add things back little by little and now we have cable, the Sunday paper, two cars, etc. I agree with others that taking on a kid or two can help a lot.

Good luck!!