Binkies and Briefcases

Obviously, I know that I have a great worth to my family that goes beyond anything material and I am doing pretty well with my self worth these days too. I’ve heard of several studies that looked into what the actual monetary value of a stay at home mom could be, but the ones I look at included ridiculous things like so much an hour for time spent as a personal shopper. I was curious about what a realistic look at my monetary value to our family is. Every now and then we fluctuate on whether or not I should go back to work to bring in more money, but we always come to the conclusion that it would probably just be a wash for us financially, so why bother. However, we have never actually done the math, so I wanted to see for myself, and for the several other moms I know who struggle with this dilemma. 

I’m not even going to bother adding in my part-time income from teaching parenting classes because it fluctuates. Some months I bring in a few hundred dollars, some I don’t bring in anything.

Childcare: When we had Nicholas in childcare as a toddler we paid $165/week for one kid. Now we have three. That’s $500 per week or $2,000 a month that we would have to pay in childcare costs if I was working. Let’s assume Nick would be in school and would only need before and after school care. Take out $500. That still leaves $1,500/month in childcare costs.

School: Since we are planning to home school for kindergarten, it’s more equivalent to a private education than a public one. The private schools in our area average around $5,000/year, which is about $500 a month for a ten month school year. (Now we’re right back up to that $2,000 mark)

Food Savings: I also save an average of $35 a week with coupons, which doesn’t seem like much, but it does add up to about $140 per month, plus I do the vegetable garden and canning in the summer, so I think it’s fair to bring that total up to around $175/month. And I cook a lot more than I did when I was working because I have time at home and the kids aren’t eating school lunches, so that saves us at least another $50 (That’s actually a very low estimate because it would cost that much for our family of five us to eat at McDonald’s just twice over the course of a month) So now the total for that is around $225 

I also don’t spend nearly the amount of money that I would need to if I were still working on things like gasoline and a professional wardrobe. I used to have to fill my car up twice a week when I was working because even though I was teaching at our local school, I had to drive to trainings and science contact meetings, and to and from the childcare facility every day. Now I only need to fill up once, and sometimes not even that much. It costs $45 to fill up our van, so if we are saving a full tank every week, that’s $180/month

We also used to pay a local college student $75 every two weeks to clean our house because I didn’t have time to do it myself and I wanted to spend my limited free time with my kid. That’s $150/month.   

So, realistically, if we just look at these few things I am “making” $2,555 each month in tax-free income by not working outside the home. (There is plenty of other stuff I could include, like the crazy amount of health care co-pays we used to have because Nicholas was at the doctor all the time. Daycare is a walking germ pool. But just looking at those few areas is enough to see it makes more financial sense for me to be home.)

For comparison, when I was teaching my salary was $42,000 per year. After taxes and insurance were taken out of my check, I brought home about $2,400 each month. 


We are actually saving almost $2,000 year by me not working.


So, I guess my stay at home “salary” is realistically equivalent to about $44,000 per year.

I looked up the salaries for teachers in our area with 4 years of experience and a Master’s Degree (the level I would be if I went back to work) On the latest list I found, it was $45,740, pretty close to the median household income in our state.

Even if we assume we wouldn’t have to pay taxes on the extra $1,700 per year that would come into our house, it would only maybe increase our disposable income by $35 a week if I went back to work. (And that’s assuming I could even find a full-time teaching job, which is a huge assumption with the way our local schools are treating their teachers right now.)

I’m not giving up these years with my children for a measly $35. I can make up that difference by just using more coupons. 🙂  

It does make me curious if other people have examined this when they say things to me like, “It must be so nice to be able to afford not to work.”

I don’t know how single parents do it, but personally, I can’t afford to work. 

Obviously, everyone’s situation is unique, but I know that it makes me feel good to know that not only am I a valuable asset as a mom to my kids, but we honestly wouldn’t be any better off if I was working full time anyway.