Sooooo worried about money...

[Mama Faery]

Hey lovely mommas...for some reason I woke up this morning intensely worried about our favorite thing....money. :hide:
I dunno...we had some money saved up when I stopped working in April, but much of it is gone because DH felt that we should try and get ALL our May bills caught up so we didn't have to think about it when we were concentrating on our new baby (due TODAY, incidentally, but hey, no sign of him yet! ;)) and he has assured me that I don't need to start looking for a job until mid-to-late-July, so I can have something lined up for August (that man has a lot more faith in my job-procuring abilities than I do! :rolleyes)
And now I sit here wishing I had stayed in my job longer (though that was getting to be physically impossible...I was a nanny and I cleaned her house too and the commute was over an hour which was really really taxing my reserves! But maybe I should have stayed for a couple more weeks...:guilty)

But, well...I wish I didn't have to look for a job at all...I wish I really could be a full-time SAHM, because the thought of being home during the day and THEN going to work at night terrifies me. I know that's silly and unrealistic wishful thinking, there's no way we could make all our expenses on just one paycheck, we have crunched numbers til they can be crunched no more...and I will be looking for an evening shift so DH can come home to be with Baby (we want to avoid daycare, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that any money I got paid to work would go RIGHT to daycare if we did it, so there'd be no point in doing that!) so well...yeah.

Is there any way I can just relax and enjoy this time without worrying about money when I really don't have to until much later this summer?? :crap
Is there any credibility to all those "work at home!" things I see around? (Hehe...right.) Am I going to be able to work AND breastfeed AND take care of a tiny baby AND the house AND myself?!?! :eek
*whew*
I just needed to vent, you guys. Thanks a lot for listening. It makes me feel better just to get it out. I know I'm not the only one who worries about this stuff but I go in circles in my head and it just gets crazy in there sometimes. :yikes
I think, first, that I just need to chill, for now at least. I am going to go find some ways to do that...

-Renae

[rowantree]

I work 2 nights a week waitressing and it helps with money quite a bit. Try just a little at a time with what ever you start. Looks like you just gave birth or are about to so you may want to think about just trying to save money, you'd be suprised how much you can save by being frugal, and you can do THAT with the little babe!!
good luck and congratulations!

[mittendrin]

:hug to you, we're in the same situation. our credit card bills are over our heads and nobody will give us a consolidation loan. so i'm gonna have to go back to work after being a sahm for almost 2 ys.
try not to think about it right now, i know it's hard. maybe you can find a job where you can take the baby with you? that's my plan, although i have no idea what kind of a job that would be. i used to work as an optician, no way any of the shops will let me take a babe with me. so if anyone has suggestions?
living frugal is a good idea, we do that, but to be honest, when you're looking at paying off cc bills for the next 50 ys with only being able to make minimum payment it doesn't really matter anymore.
i've given thought to the idea of working at home, worried though, that i won't be disciplined anough. but maybe that would be the best idea. you have your baby there and to hell with the dishes if you need to make money. another excuse to make dh help around the house. "honey, i can't make dinner, i've got to earn us some money", lol

seriously, renae, try to relax, you'll find a way. if you need to vent about these things, pm me.

[fiddlefern]

One idea (not sure if it is really feasible)

I'm going to work on-call for my husband's company. They have group homes for developmentally disabled adults. In my husband's company, anyway, you can bring your kids to work with you. A number of the management do it, and it's fine for staff to do so as well. It's great for the kids and great for the clients who live there.

Disadvantage: the developmentally disabled population is at pretty high risk for a variety of infectious diseases, due to both lack of reasoning ability and often hygeine issues. For instance, Hep B is a problem. Some clients may be hitters if they can't express themselves.

So, it's probably not the dream job for many of you, especially since probably not all group homes have family-friendly policies. Also, I have worked on-call for this company alot, so I know which homes and clients are safe to be around with my wee one, and which aren't. You guys wouldn't have that advantage.

Hmmm... after writing this, I'm not sure it's very helpful at all, but there it is.
:eyesroll

- fiddlefern

[Mama Faery]

You all are SO helpful...even just with your warm thoughts and support. :grouphug
I used to be a daycare teacher. I moved on to being a nanny. Now, many people say "well, you can start your own home daycare!" which is a great idea...if I could even get the paperwork and house together to manage the major licensing and insurance this would involve! :rolleyes As for going back to a daycare facility...most wouldn't take my child for much more than a 20% discount (and I am thinking generously!) and then, pretty much ALL of my paycheck would go to my child being in the daycare, and I want to be the person who takes care of MY child, and to be honest, I don't really want to take care of any other children but my own for a while...
I know I sound really inflexible, but really I'm only being that way about that aspect of my skills. :)

I am going to look around for evening jobs at various theatres around the city I live near, since these concert halls always need ushers and such, something I KNOW I can do and though it won't pay much, it will be a fun job that I hardly have to invest my whole brain into (since I will be putting my whole self into mothering my baby!). That way, I can be home with the baby during the day and then DH can be home in the evening.
To be totally unrealistic, I just wish I would win the lottery and then never have to think about this again! :laugh:

Anyway, thank you for identifying with me in some way. It really helps to know that I am not the only one to be worried about stuff like this.

-Renae :fairy