In 2006, approximately five and a half million mothers in the United States choose to be stay-at-home moms (source). As of April that year, I was one of them. 2007 is almost over, and I still am a stay-at-home mom, and plan to be one until my children are both in elementary school. At that point, serious considerations will be given to school, a job and/or a career.
Stay at home moms do not have an “easy” job. Granted, we do not have a physically demanding job, and we are not risking our lives, nor are we eyeballs deep into research for cancer cures, but nevertheless, despite not leaving our households, we are very, very busy.
Contrary to popular belief, we do not sit around eating bon bons and twinkies while watching back to back soap operas. Oh, we have our breaks, but they are few and far between.
Stay at home moms devote all of their time to ensure that the household runs smoothly. We manage our homes, taking care of cleaning, both daily and the thorough, once a week/bi-weekly/monthly cleanings, doing laundry, and making meals. We run errands, we get groceries, we chauffeur our children and sometimes our husbands or partners to their appointments. Nine times out of ten we are also the ones managing the finances, which means more time used for budgeting, checkbook balancing, bill paying and trips to and from the bank for deposits and withdrawals.
I did the working (outside of the home working, that is) mom thing, for just about eighteen months. It was not easy to be a family of two full time working parents with a baby. We did not see much of one another, and really did not see much of Alyssa. I worked 35 – 40 hours per week, and my husband worked – and still works – 45 – 50 hours per week. We rarely ever sat down for home cooked meals where we would all be present, because we were either working, or too tired to bother making a meal. Alyssa, for the most part, ate at my mother’s, while Dan and I ate at work, or grabbed a bite to eat on the way to work or on the way home. While our household was relatively clean, laundry piled up, and those thorough cleanings were not done as often as they should be, because we simply did not have the time and energy for them.
I decided to become a stay-at-home mom after my daughter began crying for me when I left for work, and after hearing about yet another milestone my mother had witnessed, but I didn’t, because I was working so much and my daughter was at my mother’s.
At that point, Dan and I sat down and took a good look at our earnings vs. our bills. While I brought in money to the household every month, a fairly good portion of that money – about 40%, to be exact – when right back out to pay for Alyssa’s babysitting, gas for my vehicle (I was filling up my tank every five days, and my vehicle as a twelve gallon tank and gets about 350 miles on a full one!), monthly oil changes for my vehicle, tire rotations, and on-the-go friendly food for myself. Factor in the more important issue – Alyssa not having at least one parent around most of the time – and we made the decision for me to stay at home.
A year and a half later, we have absolutely no regrets with me staying at home with Alyssa, and now with Ryan. Granted, at first it was rough adjusting to the loss of about $300 per month, but we did adjust quickly. And beginning last winter, our finances improved, as I began using sponsored writing companies – advertising agencies, when you really think about it – to help supplement our income. Then, in June, I was approached by a company with very good offers of freelance writing assignments. These writing assignments have many times had individual payouts that were as much as my husband’s bi-weekly paycheck, if not twice as much.
We have been doing quite nicely for ourselves, taking care of all bills, little extras, a savings account, insurance policies, 401ks, etc., until this past October, when our household suddenly had to accommodate two more people who, despite being children, have appetites that seem to surpass those of myself and my husband. Add in other added costs, such as laundry and gas to run both boys to their many appointments and to and from school, and yes, we have been struggling a bit to get back on top of things, to regroup and recalculate our finances and adjust our spending accordingly.
Suggestions of “real” jobs (I refuse to get into that debate, because as far as I’m concerned, being compensated for work done EQUATES a “real” job) and daycare have been thrown about, both with concern and with sarcasm and scorn. I’m sorry, but I am not even going to waste my limited time considering working in a grocery store or a fast food restaurant, or even in a clerical position of sorts, for several reasons.
First, there is the severe loss* of income. For the last eight weeks, I have been averaging $337 per week. This figure does not include the amounts I am paid for my freelance writing assignments. If it did, my weekly earnings would most likely triple. $337 per week works out to be about $8.42 per hour, for a forty hour work week. I can tell you from experience that most jobs (note I say jobs, not careers) around here start out around $6.50. Or at least they did. Now that the minimum wage has gone up, I suppose they’ll be starting around $7.25. That would result in a loss* of close to $50 per week.
Actually, the loss would be higher. My youngest brother leaves for school at 8:45am, meaning I could possibly be at work between 9:00am – 9:30am, depending on what daycare I would be taking Alyssa and Ryan to. I would then have to leave work by 3:00pm, in order to be home in time for my brothers to get home, and to then run out and pick up Alyssa and Ryan for daycare. So, going on an estimated thirty hour work week, I would be earning about $217. That is a loss of $120!
I say loss of income because there is no way on God’s green earth I could be expected to work outside the home full time, then come home after picking up kids from school and daycare, take care of the household, make meals and such, and then turn around and do my at-home-work, which currently takes up about 30 or so hours per week. Yes, when one writes QUALITY posts and writing assignments and essays, a lot of time goes into it.
In addition to the loss of income just from switching from working at home to working outside of the home, there is also the added expenses. The closest licensed daycare is twelve miles away. The closest shopping center to pick up a job at is six miles away. I would be looking at perhaps forty or so miles to drive each day, or two gallons of gas – about $7.00. Then there is the actual cost of the daycare, which I’m sure would be outrageous. Then there would be the cost of disposable diapers, as what daycare do you know of will accept a cloth diapered child?
So let’s do some calculations. Let’s say, for the thirty hour work week I could pull outside of the home, I bring in about $190, after taxes. $35 of that would cover my transportation expenses. $25 would cover a week’s worth of disposable diapers. And the rest would most likely be eaten up by the cost of daycare. So it looks like I would be left with nothing, or maybe $20, for all of my trouble.
Then there is the loss that my family would face. Because I would be so busy with working and coordinating schedules and driving time, I wouldn’t have as much energy or time, not to mention money, to put into making decent, home cooked, healthy and hearty meals. Laundry would not be taken care of as quickly. The cats would experience a loss of attention and play time, as I wouldn’t be around so much. And the house itself would surely not look as good as it is now, or be as clean, because I wouldn’t be here or have the energy to put so much effort and time into keeping it as clean and nice as it looks now.
Then there are Alyssa and Ryan. Forget the risk of being exposed to abuse and neglect at the hands of caregivers (in our opinion, it happens too often for us to consider putting either in daycare, so long as we can manage with me remaining at home), and the increased exposure to germs, meaning more frequent colds and the like, resulting in more doctor visits and more costs to us and our insurance, but what about being uprooted day after day? They would no longer have their mother around to care for them all of the time, to play with them, take them out for walks and play time on our swing set, to do crafts with them, etc. All of those things mean a lot to children, especially small children, and I refuse to deprive them of it, so long as I can continue to remain at home.
I really cannot believe I spent so much time writing all of this out, but there are a lot of hard headed people out there who are so quick to spout off without really THINKING about all of the things that must be taken into consideration before making such suggestions.
Being a stay at home mom IS a role, it IS a responsibility, and yes, dare I say it, it IS a job. Many families enjoy and most definitely benefit from having one parent being able to stay at home to take care of the home and family. My husband appreciates knowing that his main focus is his work. He can relax and concentrate on what he needs to, because he knows that I am behind the scenes, here at home, taking care of everything and everyone.
And lastly, so long as I am not seeking financial assistance from the government, from family or from anyone else, I firmly believe that whatever I choose for my role in life, whether it be a housewife, a working mom, or in this case, a housewife who is also a working mom, is my business, and nobody else’s. I CHOSE to explain myself to anyone who reads my blog. But did I have to? Absolutely not. I could have just as easily told the naysayers to kiss my fat ass and go choke on a resume.
That said, I have laundry calling my name, and a delicious dinner for my family to start preparing. 
Well said! No doubt you’ll still get idiots challenging what you’ve put forward here, but at least you’ve made your point loud and clear.
My boyfriend comes from a family where his dad was out earning cash while his mom was being a full-time parent. If we eventually get married and have kids, he wants me to do the same. It’s nice to read this blog and know what to expect if my life ends up turning out that way. It definitely sounds like a lot of work though but it’s good that you save lots of money on gas and babysitting bills! I know babysitting can cost a lot.
I think those who think that a SAHM is not a “real” job obviously do not have their own children, or have looked after children for longer periods of time.
Of course staying at home is acceptable. My mother did it, too. After many years as a partner at her firm, she had three children and focused her attention on raising us rather than working and allowing someone else to care for us. She was a hard-working attorney beforehand, as was my father, who still works. He is now managing partner at his firm, so we are certainly stable, to say the least. My parents were also financially stable with strong careers BEFORE they settled down to have us, so there was never any worrying about whether my mother NEEDED to work for extra money. She is, however, still able to work part time writing briefs for a firm. It doesn’t eat up all of her time like her actual career did, and at about $100/hr, it’s certainly worth it.
It worked out well for my family. The problem is it doesn’t work out well for everyone, and given how passionately you expressed your annoyance with your daughter in that entry and how stressed you seemed to be over money, kids, etc., people have to wonder. Don’t try to turn this into some crusade about all moms being “under fire” – the fact is, what was said to YOU DIRECTLY has nothing to do with the five and a half million mothers in the US who decided to stay at home last year. This isn’t about stay-at-home moms in general, it’s about your unique situation, which I’m not even going to comment on. I’m not here right now to tell you I disagree with the lifestyle you choose or the decisions you’ve made for your family, I just don’t think it’s right for you to try to garner up support from fellow moms by making it seem as though we’re all mom-hating flamers against the idea of any mother staying at home with her children. If it weren’t for that self-righteous tone in your posts about motherhood, you’d encounter much less drama on the internet. No one is actually saying they hate stay-at-home moms – they just hate the way you complain about it while taking this high-and-mighty position against anyone who disagrees with you or suggests an alternative to something you claim is the perfect decision for you, despite your obvious frustration.
Of course staying at home is acceptable. In fact, my mom stayed at home with me when I was little and ran a mini daycare service from her home for me and some friends of mine. I really appreciated that time I had with her as a child, because I don’t have her around anymore. But I can look back on that time and have happy memories. And you’re right- daycare costs are outrageous. I worked at a daycare over the summer (a somewhat good one… I didn’t trust who they had for caregivers, they were dumber than boxes of rocks), and per week, it’s about $80-120 PER CHILD. It’s insane.
You should check out the song “Full Time Job” by Gretchen Wilson. It basically reiterates what you’re saying here.
Very well said. I do not understand why people insist on telling you how to run your life. Your children are obviously very well cared for and healthy and that’s all that should matter. If you wanted to sit at home and eat twinkies and bon bons all day, that’s your business, not theirs. If you want to work from home while being there for your kids, that also is your business.
I think it’s great when moms could be home with their kids, but I also think that children need some sort of interaction with other kids their age. I worked at a daycare for over 2 years and we had several stay at home moms that would bring their child in once a week or so for 3 or 4 hours so they could go grocery shopping, etcetera. But don’t even get me started on stay at home moms that would bring their children into the daycare at 7:30 in the morning, and not come to pick them up until after 6:00 at night. The real kicker? They would be in their pajamas and they would do this Monday through Friday.
Sorry if this is all over the place, I’m suffering from taking way too many naps today and my brain is fuzzy syndrome
I think being a SAHM is a harder job than say, police officer, lawyer, etc. Honestly, when you’re faced with the EXACT SAME THING day after day, a lot of women can’t do that. Neither can a lot of men. (SAHD’s!) But the men and women who can stay home and provide the best care for their children and still manage all their bills and other finances- those are the ones I admire. If you’re able to take care of your children, your money, your household, and your life, and STILL bring in money and not have to rely on the government, then no one should give you any shit. It’s ridiculous to think that being a SAHM isn’t a “REAL” job.
My mom worked when I was little, but she worked at the daycare I was at, so she didn’t have to worry about my health and welfare. Personally, I think that kids should go through daycare, or at least mommy and me classes so that they get a little socialization outside the home. I hope I’ll be able to work when I’m older, but if I’m not, then I’ll probably be a stay at home mom.
To the above poster, she’s not able to care for her children. The first sign of trouble from her kids she ships them off to her mother’s for a break!
I like how you put your cats first rather than your children. Cats can take care of themselves and you are stupid for saying that they’d be at a loss without you.
Your wording also insinuates that parents who are not SAHM/Ds can not provide the same care SAHMs do. I beg to differ. For starters you need to stop be soing damn dramatic about daycares. Really, is a child molested and murdered at every daycare in America? I don’t think so, sorry to say. They provide the needed care for the children and to be quite frank with you they could probably provide more care than you or your husband can do put together. Like you’ve said before, your daughters behaviour is most likely caused because she is not getting the attention she needs. How can you say she won’t get this in a daycare centre?
If you feel the need to kill your child because she’s driving you fucking insane, you really need to get out of there. I don’t care if you got a full time job or a part time one, but you seriously DO need something to do that will take you away from that house for at least a few hours a week.
I like how you’ve delicately said about your husband needing his own time (to go gaming, obviously). I’m sorry, but when is HE going to realise you need your own time? And when are YOU going to realise this? You can not be responsible for your children twenty four seven. Their father needs to take the time to care for them. If he doesn’t start now, he never will and trust me when I say this: when your kids grow up they will hate him for it.
Your meals are hardly loving and all that crap. You’re living off of shit most of the time from what I’ve read in past blogs of yours. What’s stopping your husband cooking something once in a while? Why can’t he do the laundry? You should split the chores between the two of you. I don’t give a flying fuck that he works. If he wasn’t gaming all the bloody time, there’d be time for him to do these things instead of leaving it all to you. Most people live on 7/8 hours sleep a day which leaves your husband with five hours free time. I know these few hours are while your children are awake. He could do some chores then, or better take care of the kids himself giving you some free time.
And I’m really sorry, but if other parents can manage a job and their children why the hell can’t you? Having no energy is not an excuse I’m afraid.
No one said there was anything wrong with staying at home….I was at home for 2 years, but seeing as I no longer am able to finacially, I have to work. My kids are very well taken care of and love going where they go…they have so many activities. I also think its healthy for them not to be around me 24/7…its a nice break for both of us. Working fulltime and putting my kids in the care of others does not make me a bad parent.
Why don’t you, who have a problem with what Jenn says in her blog fuck off and not come back? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about her life and what she does with her life?
Very well said Jenn.
For those nay-sayers of a SAHM, it’s no damn different then hiring a damned Nanny. And an extremely large portion of people in families were both parents work cannot afford a Nanny because it costs so much. So I mean really, when it comes down to it, most people can’t even afford to hire someone who acts and has the same duties of a SAHM, yet being a SAHM isn’t a real job?
No name,
The same could be said to you, Jenn, and anyone else who addresses our comments. Why not ignore them? Why read what we have to say and continue responding, dragging out the argument even further? And for those of you who truly don’t believe our arguments have any grounds, I don’t see why they’re taken so seriously and require such an in-depth explanation from Jenn.
I am not a parent yet, but I want to applaud you for all you do Jenn. I have read your past three posts, as well as their comments, and some people just don’t get it. No one is happy & cheerful 100% of the time, and bloggers use their site to vent…If you don’t like what you read, don’t read it!!
I do PPP & freelance writing along with working full time outside the home, and I don’t like the fact that I can’t devote more time to writing. I hope to one day turn it into a full time job, and be able to stay at home. PPP is just like any other advertising job, except you are doing if from your home rather than inside an office…
I completely agree that being a parent in general is a difficult job. There’s no denying that. However, I feel like mothers who choose to work receive MUCH more slack these days than stay at home moms. During the 70′s and 80′s as more women had the opportunity to get a college education and actually advance in their careers, being a working mother was something that was commended and that was when the ‘stay at home mothers are lazy’ conception came into play. However, now the pendulum seems to be swinging toward ‘working mothers don’t care enough about their families to stay home and raise their children’. Your wording throughout this entry shows negativity toward mothers who CHOOSE to work outside the home. I should probably add that I have no children of my own, but my mother has worked at least one job at a time for as long as I can remember. My father has a great job (he’s a partner at a machine shop) and there was no financial reason of my mom to work, she chose to because she wanted to.
1. Stay at home moms devote all of their time to ensure that the household runs smoothly…
At one point my mother worked three jobs (one because she wanted money seperate from my father’s paycheck – the other two because she loved fitness and wanted to teach others. -gasp!- She worked for something other than financial necessity!). However, she was still able to do all the things you list, plus drive my brother and I around, plus spend play time with us.
2. Then there is the loss that my family would face…
This whole paragraph I take great offense to. First the word ‘loss’. I don’t feel as though I lost any quality of life because my mother wasn’t constantly around. In fact, in some ways I see it as an advantage. If I wasn’t in daycare, family or friends would care for me. I was exposed to a lot of people without my parents around at a young age. When it came time to begin school, I was one of the only kids who didn’t cry every day for weeks when my parents left. I’m now in my senior year of college and several of my friends here who had stay at home parents are still feeling severe homesickness (to the point where a few dropped out early on). Now when it came to household things, my mom was still on top of all of that. She’s a health NUT. There was no way she was going to call out for pizza or feed us TV dinners every night of the week. I remember her preparing meals on the weekends so all she or my dad had to do when they got home was pop it in the oven and serve. Household chores were something my parents would split up to do on the weekends or during the evenings. They were never overly concerned about making sure the house was spotless (with two kids and several pets, it would be too hard to keep things up anyway). Sure, I’m a bit of a slob now, but I think there are worse things I could be. As for the cats: I’ve been raised with them my whole life (not only my family’s, but friends and neighbor’s cats), and in my experience they don’t expect much playtime or interaction with people. Hell, I WISH my cats would be more playful.
3. Then there are Alyssa and Ryan…
When it comes to daycare abuse, here’s a quote from the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse:
“Reports of child maltreatment involving day care centers and foster care homes attract a great deal of attention. Such publicity has created the perception that abuse is common place in these out-of-home settings. However, this perception seems out of line with reality. Based on information from 18 states,reports of abuse in day care, foster care, or other institutional care settings represented about 3% of all confirmed cases in 1997. This percentage has remained consistent over the past eleven years.”
3% of all cases. According to a figure I could find there are 903,000 cases of abuse a year, meaning 27,090 are by a day care or babysitter. To put this into perspective, your children have a greater chance of getting injured or killed by a toy (165,200 hospital visits according to Safe Kids), getting hurt or killed on the playground (200,000 hospital visits according to the CDC), or getting hurt or killed in a house fire (40,000 hospital visits a year according to Lucile Pacard Children’s Hospital). Yes, there’s a risk when you live your children with someone you don’t know, but there’s a risk every time you put your kids in the car. As a child I experienced some colds and got the chicken pox at 4, but now as an adult both my brother and I have great immune systems. Neither one of us has ever gotten the flu (and never received a flu shot) and I MIGHT get one cold a year. My mother did not rush us to the doctor with every bruise or sniffle, and today we’re healthier than most people we know. The last bit you have to say is very offensive. BOTH of my parents took time to play with us, take us out places, etc. I never felt ‘deprived’ as you put it, because my parents weren’t there every second of the day. My brother and I always got adequate attention and felt loved, even if my mother close to work. Being involved in the daily lives of children isn’t just the mother’s job.
I certainly hope this comment (which has been a bit longer than I intended, eek) doesn’t make you feel like I’m saying “working mom pwns SAHM”. Being a parent is an admirable job, whether you choose to stay at home or choose to work. I give you kudos for taking the initiative to stay at home with your children. I know it’s hard word and I admire anyone who can do it. HOWEVER, it doesn’t make a woman less of a mother to choose to work if she wants to. Sure, it might add a little extra stress, the laundry might not always be done, the house not as tidy as some might want it, but I am living proof that if you have integrity to make both work it can. I’m currently at college, planning a career AND looking forward to having children one day. And yes, I’d like to be a working mother, even if I have a spouse who can support all of us on his own.
I have 3 children and I to work from home and decided just recently to try out ppp because hey, that’s money. It’s so funny how everyone is getting upset because you make money from home. As for me, I want to be home when my kids come home from school because I know what it is like to come home to no one.
So my husband and I decided that he’ll work and I’ll stay at home. I don’t care what no one else says, we do what we have to for OUR kids.
If I worked full time or even part time there is no way I’d make it home from work in time to get my kids from school. My kids are ages 9 and 7 and I am very over protective when it comes to them.
I will not place my kids in day care because I have heard way to many horror stories about them so that’s not even an option. So to ensure that my kids remain safe I’ll stay home and my husband will work until my kids are older.
So Jenn I don’t blame you one bit, I know how it is to get frustrated. Try having three plus two extra and having them both in diapers so I feel you.
Stay strong.
Being a stay-at-home-mom isn’t a bad thing, and I don’t think that’s what bothers readers. What bothers readers is that you make the assertion that writing good PPP posts takes time, and is a job somehow on the same level as even a simple secretary. Or that you seem to think you’re under the same pressure as working moms, or that by being a stay-at-home-mom, you’re somehow a better parent than women who work. I think it also bothers readers that you complain about how things are tight, but don’t do anything to make the situation better. Didn’t you just buy a new camera? Don’t you always buy new little tech gadgets and things here and there?
I think being a stay at home mom is a great thing to do. Having a career is a great thing to do as well. It all depends on the person and the situation they’re in.
I applaud you for going all out and shunning away those who have opposed you by writing this entry, but in a way I think you have defended yourself TOO much. When one feels the need to write several posts about the same thing, it looks as if the writer is dwelling and sometimes even trying to convince themselves about one particular thing: in your case being a stay at home mom vs a working mom.
I also understand that it is annoying to read hateful comments, but just as you have the right to write whatever you want on your PUBLIC blog, than it also gives the right for others to comment however they want on your PUBLIC blog. If your posts, or certain ones anyway, were private and ‘locked’ than less people would see them and thus less people would leave nasty comments.
Even though I can completely understand your frustration with your children and the meaningless comments you’ve made, others may not see them as meaningless and actually begin to think badly of you. That’s why I think maybe certain posts, such as the venting post you wrote just recently, should have maybe been locked so that less eyes would fall on some of the ‘less presentable’ words you used.
As for working, I commend you for being a full time stay at home mom as I’ve said but if PPP and these other writing assignments really brought in $300-$400 a WEEK (and as you stated sometimes the writing assignments can bring in anything up to an astounding $1,000) than you would simply not be having the money problems you claim to be having. With a husband who works full time (lets say at the min. getting $300 a week) and a wife who works (basically) full time online (earning about $500 a week via PPP and those well paying writing assignments) then that would total $700-$800 a WEEK; money problems should be nonexistent even with 2 extra mouths to feed.
I also don’t believe for a second that you can earn about $300 a week on PPP. PPP is a nice steady SMALL income for extra little things you may want to buy or splurge on but you can not possibly make a decent $300 income a week living on doing something so simple all you need is a domain name, a host, and a few months blogging behind you to achieve. If that were the case, no one would be out working full time, sometimes even two jobs to make ends meet. I know you can make money on PPP, but certainly not as much as you claim to be making.
But if everything you said really is true and that is the income you actually make and you do have money problems, maybe you are not budgeting the way you should? Possibly spending more on certain things that aren’t necessary? I would suggest taking a step back and really accessing the situation and budgeting more to your weekly income.
I don’t mean any ‘bashing’ in this comment…just another person voicing her opinion on a public blog.
No one is bashing SAHM’s but rather making a note of the fact that you bitch and complain about your situation but at the same time you do nothing to help yourself. If you’re making over $300 per week with paid blogging plus pulling in as much as you say you are with other “assignments” and you have your husband’s income as well – then what is the deal?! You may want to look into a budgeting class if you are having issues making that stretch.
I do agree with others that if you cant make what your husband makes + what you make stretch for four kids and yourself, you might want to look into learning how to budget your money better. I have a feeling you pay a LOT less rent than I do (as I live on the Main Line in Philadelphia, over $1000/mo for a studio), drive an SUV (think of the gas money about $120+/mo), insurance ($257/mo), and the car itself ($298/mo) that comes to… $1755/mo not including groceries, utilities, etc. I work probably half (maybe a little more than that) of what your husband works and I make that stretch the best I can and still manage to spare a LITTLE (and I mean a little) bit of cash at the end of the month for oops! moments, extra spending money, etc.
If you’re having such a financial problem with your brothers you need to either a.) get money from the state, b.) get money from your mother, or c.) ship them right on back to her (although I doubt you can).
While I do not feel comfortable sharing our finances, I will say that our mortgage is more than you think, due to both the area of the county we live in, property/land taxes, and our poor credit, which resulted in a nasty interest rate. Our car payment is also high, because, again, of the bad credit we had when we applied for the loan. Believe it or not, we pay close to $400/month for our car. Our insurance, thankfully, for both cars, is not too bad. But we have many other costs – nearly $600/month for our health insurance. Then there’s dental insurance, life insurance, my husband’s student loans, our electric, water, sewage, gas, trash, phone, cable/internet, cell phone. We have two 401k’s, and a savings account we transfer over a certain percentage of our monthly earnings to. And last but not least, food. Despite making mention of a few cheap foods for this upcoming week, we normally spend $500 – $600 per month, just on food (not toiletries, cleaning supplies, other household things, etc.). And decent food, including special milk for Ryan, milk that costs for a half gallon what a gallon of regular milk costs.
That is why, despite having very good income between the two of us, there really isn’t a lot left over, once the dust settles.
And, honestly, that’s all I am saying on our finances, because really, it’s nobody’s business. I didn’t realize that venting about frustrations with my current situation would churn up such criticism and probing questions. But I wasn’t surprised to see that it brings the same rats out of the wood work, each and every time. Oh well. You live, you learn.
In regards to my brothers… I am currently battling with certain agencies in regards to securing funding, because I have NEVER heard of the state tossing kids to a family and letting the family struggle to cover the added burden on their own. Due to legal issues, they cannot go to my mother, not right now, at least. My mother is in the process of seeing what she can do for us, but right now a lot of her money is tied up with lawyers, as the situation that is at hand is not really her fault, and one she is fighting tooth and nail.
^If it’s nobody’s business about your finances then why did you just spill your guts about it?! If you have that much to pay then why did you just buy a new gadget not too long ago? I don’t get it. I really don’t.