https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:22:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-77284 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:06:27 +0000 mrsjyw 77284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I make significantly more than what daycare costs are in the area, but with my mom planning on being our main source of childcare before schooling years, there's no reason for me to not work. The extra income for where I'm at is too much to give up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-77233 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:44:47 +0000 mamabolt 77233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>About 30% of my income will go to childcare. But if I wasn't working I'd have to add in the added cost of insurance as well (DH's job doesn't offer any), so once you add those benefits it's really more like 20% of my income that will go to daycare. At that math, and the fact that DH doesn't make enough alone for me to stay home, it's a no-brainer for me to keep working. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-77231 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:43:50 +0000 mrs. wagon 77231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a SAHM for way too long because I believed I wouldn't make enough to justify daycare costs. But we found an affordable daycare and I get paid a lot more than I expected to, and eventually the cost of me not working just got to be too much (me working 3 part time jobs and Rob Sr. working full time and part time as well, we still BARELY got by) and we were never ever together as a family, so we made the jump and I got lucky with a great paying job and reasonable daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-77224 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:40:03 +0000 Becksabee 77224@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A lot more than $300! Right now, I'm clearing $450-500 a week on my own (my BF makes about the same) and daycare is $160 a week. If I wasn't making enough, I would stay home, but obviously it's more worth it for me to work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-77110 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:06:11 +0000 looch 77110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think daycare would have come to something like 17% of my pre tax salary working 4 days a week. The FINANCIAL benefits of me working were not the issue, it was the care itself which posed the problem. It was a 40 minute car drive in the other direction and we just couldn't swing it in terms of time, which also needs to be considered. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76839 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:19:20 +0000 Rescuemom10 76839@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I have already looked into the cost of daycare. Which for us is NOT that much at all. Even that set aside with all our others expenses I would HAVE to continue to work. Right now we could maybe scrape by if I didnt work, but if anything, ANYTHING out of the norm came up for bills or expenses we could not do it. Adding a LO to the mix....yeah...I HAVE to work. Which is OK because I like working. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76837 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:16:09 +0000 googly-eyes 76837@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare (at least in the beginning) will probably be a huge chunk of my income, if not all of it, but I want to get a new job in the field I've been studying and I have to start out somewhere and need the experience, so I'll probably go back to work a few months after the baby, as long as I can secure a job in the field I want. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76810 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:37:59 +0000 cupcakemama 76810@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would want to clear more than $300! I am not liking being back at work but it is part time and keeos my job so I will have it when LO goes to school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76807 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:32:33 +0000 tequiero21 76807@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>since i've gone part-time, i make significantly less than it would cost to hire a nanny or put them in daycare. but no matter what i was earning, i'd rather be a sahm. that was the plan from the beginning with my hubs. he makes enough for the both of us and then some. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76712 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:45:17 +0000 Red 76712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For me personally, I would have to make at least $40-50K NET for it to be worth it to go back to work. It would still be a huge pay cut but it's substantial enough to reconsider being a SAHM since it will actually make a dent on the household bills and pay for the cleaners I would have to hire since I won't want to spend my free time cleaning, lol.</p> <p>For now though, I feel really lucky to be able to stay home and watch my LO grow up :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76678 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:27:37 +0000 daniellemybelle 76678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have often run these numbers in my head.... I think if I made less than $10/hr after daycare costs, it wouldn't be worth it. Of course, this comes from the perspective of wanting to be able to be a SAHM. An extra $20,000 a year would certainly still come in handy, but I feel like it wouldn't be worth working. This is all assuming we were able to live comfortably on DH's salary. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76649 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:17:26 +0000 Crisark 76649@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The amount I'm making now. I make the most for our household.<br /> DH is probably going to quit his job when/if we have our next one. What it would cost to have 3 children in daycare would equal what he brings home in a month.<br /> We would prefer our children be at home with one of us if that's the case. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76646 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:16:41 +0000 ohapostrophe 76646@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Financially it makes sense for me to keep working part-time (just calculated that 14% of my income goes to childcare), but I feel like there are other benefits. I'd probably keep working even if a larger % went towards childcare because I enjoy the adult interaction, and the balance makes me enjoy time at home so much more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76605 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:57:03 +0000 yoursilverlining 76605@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare will be only about ¼ of my salary, so I will keep working. I know at some point if you only earn $1500/month and daycare is $1300/month it might not make that much financial sense to keep working, but if you stop working for a lengthy period of time your salary isn’t likely to ever just increase either as it is more likely to do if you work continually, and you’ve not contributed to social security or retirement in the period you stay home. Health insurance costs are another thing to think about – the cost of adding a nonworking spouse to a family plan if that spouse previously had a single plan that was mostly employer paid. So, I guess as long as I made enough to cover daycare, retirement contribution, savings contribution and student loan bills I would keep working. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76604 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:56:57 +0000 yin 76604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It made sense financially for me to be a SAHM. I was miserable at my last job, and I was only making an hourly wage. There was no guarantee that I would work 40 hours a week. It also hindered me from going after a real career. If I had stayed, my pay would have covered for daycare with about $100 - $200 leftover every week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76595 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:52:31 +0000 TJBee 76595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm thinking I would have to net at least $2,000/month ($12.50/hour) above daycare expenses to keep working at my current job (assuming we could live comfortably on DH's salary). Much less than that and I feel as though I'd be better off staying at home and possibly trying to start an at-home business. I love my job, but I wouldn't do it for free! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76594 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:51:49 +0000 shinystraps 76594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I make significantly more than our daycare costs would be - that does vary by what field you work in and where you live for daycare costs.</p> <p>One thing that is also important to remember is the social security and 401k contributions you make while working. Those can add up over the course of several years. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76589 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:48:18 +0000 Lozza 76589@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>On thing to remember is that as I accrue more years of experience, my salary increases, and as my LO gets older, my daycare costs (generally) decrease. So if I were working out the finances, I'd want to take into account that even if my net profit now wasn't that much, I'd have to put some value on the experience I'd be gaining and its contribution towards future earnings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76585 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:46:25 +0000 mrstilly 76585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS's daycare is about 1/4 of my salary, and about (1/9 or 1/10 of our combined income). Between all of our expenses, and my school loans which are like a second mortgage payment, I can't swing being a SAHM. Right now I work because I have to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76579 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:42:13 +0000 Andrea 76579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our daycare is $24k so a lot more than that. I keep working since I make a good income and so I feel it is worth it. I can pay for daycare, contribute to our expenses, and save money. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76572 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:37:55 +0000 heffalump 76572@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had that issue too. I made practically nothing so it would be silly for me to work, especially because I want to be a SAHM. But it would still take a lot of money for me to go back to work. As long as we can afford for me to stay home, that's where I want to be. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/working-moms-how-much-would-it-take#post-76565 Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:36:21 +0000 TJBee 76565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How much net income would it take for you to keep working vs. being a SAHM?</p> <p>A friend of mine works full time and has her child in daycare. After she pays her daycare bill every month, her net take home pay is only $300. So essentially, she is making $.19/hour instead of staying home.<br /> I know there are a lot of other reasons to work besides income, but generally speaking, is there a dollar amount you would need to earn in order to keep working vs. stay at home? </p>