Even the most career-oriented adults experience changes in priorities once children arrive. Suddenly, landing that new promotion with the opportunity for travel isn’t so appealing anymore. Instead, you’d rather have steady hours that get you in the car on the way home ahead of rush hour.
Becoming a mom changes everything in the best ways possible, but it would be so much more fulfilling if you could become a full-time stay-at-home mom without damaging your family’s financial stability.
But, how do you do it?
Ways To Make Becoming A Stay At Home Mom Achievable
At Chartway, we’re committed to helping you achieve your financial goals, whatever they may be. If your latest is to become a full-time stay-at-home mom, we’d like to help.
Here are four strategies that will get you to your ultimate goal.
1. Have a Game Plan in Place Before Submitting Your Resignation
Before you submit your resignation, make sure you have a firm idea of where you’re going next. Know how much money you must bring in monthly to keep the household afloat and have a plan in place for earning it.
2. Take on Home-Based Employment
Working from home is much easier than it used to be.
You may find the company for which you currently work offers remote opportunities. Even if it means a reduction in pay, the opportunity to work from home may be worth it for moms who want more time with the kids.
First, talk with your management team to find out whether they offer this type of employment. If so, this may save you the trouble of resigning and taking the time to find something else. It may also entitle you to keep other perks such as health benefits and seniority.
But, if it’s impossible to remain with your current employer, there are plenty of options out there these days for moms who need a flexible side hustle. And they don’t involve taking online surveys for pennies or selling to friends on social media.
Consider these side hustle options that offer decent wages:
Delivering groceries
Grocery delivery is a booming industry today. Services such as Shipt or Instacart hire local drivers to shop stores and deliver groceries to members’ homes. You may not be able to tote the kids along on your outing, but you have the freedom to set the times you’re available to work. This lets you coordinate with your partner, so someone is always home with the tots.
Driving for Uber or Lyft
Again, you’re not exactly working from home, but you can set your own hours. As a driver for a transportation service such as Uber or Lyft, you’ll pick up and drop off clients who use the mobile app. Simply set up a driver’s account with the company and use your car as a taxi service to make money.
Become a virtual assistant
With more individuals working from home these days, the more they are hiring others to help them carry out their job duties and responsibilities. Virtual assistants are self-employed, part-time workers who carry out a variety of tasks for clients such as clerical work, technical support, and creative assistance.
Like other remote job opportunities, becoming a virtual assistant requires the right accommodations, like technology and office space, but also the schedule flexibility to show your reliability and desirability to prospective clients.
3. Find Simple Ways to Cut Household Costs
Another solid way of stretching your family’s dollars includes cutting expenses. There are multiple ways to do this, including:
- Switch grocery stores. Shopping at local super-saver markets may be cheaper than going to your regular grocery store. You may have to compromise on a great shopping experience and bag your own groceries, but you’ll save money.
- Switch brands. Buying off-brand versions of your favorite products are often just as good or even better than spending extra to buy the brand-name.
- Cut coupons. This is a lot of work, but it can save you significant amounts on every shopping trip.
- Take on more DIY tasks. Take a shot at doing your own taxes, mowing your own grass, or washing your car at home instead of using an auto-detailer. The pennies you save will quickly add up to dollars.
- Eat-in instead of eating out or calling for delivery. It sounds simple, but eating at home can save you hundreds of dollars a year. Those fresh meal-delivery services are more costly than buying groceries and cooking at home, too.
4. Put Your Money to Work for You
One of the most important ways to protect your financial future as a stay-at-home mom is to put your money to work for you by placing it in high-interest accounts with better yields.
Don’t put your money in low- to no-yield accounts. Share Certificates are great options, so are money market accounts. These give you passive income, meaning you don’t have to do anything to earn interest other than allowing your money to remain in the account.
Stay At Home Mom, Now What?
Once you’ve made the transition to stay-at-home mom, you’re no longer missing milestones or working logistical magic to get kids to and from appointments and activities. No more time away from those tiny humans who need you more now than they ever will.
Aside from your new side hustle or part-time remote work, you’ll have more time on your hands to spend quality time with your children. What better way to spend the extra time together than to show your children how you make it all work by talking to them about the importance of budgeting and saving money.
Activities That Teach Kids to Save Money