Hey Mom – Got The Money Blues? - A Guest Post By Lynn Banis

Monday, October 4, 2010

Many stay at home Moms worry that since they are not contributing financially to the support of the family and that they are not entitled to spend any money on themselves. Even if money is tight that is not true. First, you are part of a family and every member of the family needs and deserves to have things. Second, stop and take a look at what you are contributing to the family. If you cost it out you may be surprised at your contribution. It would take a lot of money to replace the services that you provide your family.

If you breast feed and make baby food you are saving on the cost of infant formula and commercial baby food. Besides that you are doing something that is good for the health of your child. You are also bonding with your baby and there is no price that can be put on the value of that.

You are also saving on the cost of babysitters. Add that up for each of your children. It is pretty costly to take the kids to a sitter or to day care. If you are doing your job as a mom you are giving them better care than they could get from someone else. And, again the bonding is taking place that is so crucial for healthy, balanced children. (Please don't think that working mothers don't bond with their children. Of course they do. They just don't have as much face time with their kids to do it.)

You may be saving on the cost of clothes for yourself to wear to work and for the kids to wear to day care. You don't have to get dressed up to work at home as a mom so you need less clothes. Ok, I know that might not be fun but it is the truth.

You are also probably saving on the cost of transportation if you are not traveling back and forth from work and picking the kids up. Don't forget to add the cost of gas and the cost of maintenance and wear and tear on your car to get that sum.

What else are you saving on? Write down everything you can think of and add it all up. It comes out to quite a bit of money and many moms find that it really costs them to work. Where do you come down on that scale?


Lynn Banis, PhD, MCC

The High Performance Coach

Read more posts from the Hey Mom Series here, here and here, or click on the "Parenting" tab under Labels in my side bar. Moms work hard and deserve encouragement! Please share this post with other Moms you know.

Lynn is a Master Certified Coach with years of experiences helping moms through tough situations. She would love to answer your questions on a weekly basis. What are you struggling with? What questions do you have about getting through the day? Leave her a few comments with your questions and concerns and she will be happy to write about them in future posts. To find out more about Lynn and how she can help you live your passion, visit her at: www.discoverypointcoaching.com/blog
Liz Mays said...

I always considered this kind of thing when weighing whether or not to go back. The cost of daycare and clothing for work made the profit of working so little that it just wasn't worth it to me. Besides, I wanted to stay home anyhow and it was just the excuse I needed. ;)

Blogs said...

it's def. the truth...i want to go buy so many damn clothes it's not funny...but i work from home so really at the end of the day all we want to wear is sweats and a tee:)

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Michelle @Flying Giggles said...

I struggled with this in the beginning. I felt so guilty spending money on myself because I thought of it as my husband's earnings. I have supported myself financially from a young age and because of that, it was a hard transition. No more guilt anymore!

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