The Cost Of Working
Topics: Cost of working, work expenses, child care expenses, transportation expenses, stay at home mom
My sister has a very interesting dilemma.
She is a professional nanny, unmarried, living in central Florida. She was just offered a job watching three children for $13 an hour. For a nanny, that is pretty good money.
On the verge of accepting this position, a neighbor has offered her $11 an hour to watch her two children.
My sister is very interested in the $11 an hour job, as she would not need to drive to work at all, as opposed to the $13 an hour job which is a 45 minute commute.
So where is the dilemma?
I have cautioned my sister that she would be very foolish to accept the closer, $11 an hour job. Why?
This really has nothing to do with the $2 an hour difference, and everything to do with the Cost of Working. You see, the neighbor who wants to hire my sister has decided that she “needs a break” from being a full-time stay-at-home-mom. She plans to get a job to ease the stresses in her life, and to provide a diversion.
There is nothing wrong with that, except she will probably have to pay for the opportunity to work.
What’s that? Paying to work instead of getting paid to work?
Yes. Many mothers do indeed pay for the opportunity to work each day, instead of getting paid to work.
How?
They have not factored in the cost of working.
There are many hidden costs and expenses we must pay in order to have a job outside the home. Many are taken for granted, like transportation and work clothing expenses. Once we sit down and examine how much we are spending to be able to go to work, we sometimes will find that it is just not worth it.
Work Related Expenses
–Gasoline
–Car Payment
–Car Maintenance and Repair
–Child Care
–Taxes
–Clothing
–Dining Out: Lunch
–Dining Out: Convenience Dinner Foods
–Miscellaneous: Fundraisers and Gifts for Coworkers, Occasional Office Supplies, etc
What are you paying for the privilege of working?
Could your transportation expenses be reduced or eliminated if you were a stay at home mom? Could you condense down to one vehicle, or purchase an older model as your second car? How much are you really spending to get to work each day?
100% of Child Care expenses fall on the second working parent. Why? Because if Mom is a stay at home mom, there are no child care expenses. This expense cannot be divided between two working parents when examining the cost of working.
Many two income households fall into a high income tax bracket. Some households would benefit greatly by reducing their income, pushing them into a much lower bracket. When calculating your cost of working, if your income pushes you into a higher tax bracket, you need to factor the entire increase (not just your percentage) into your income. If you were not working, you would not have this expense.
Clothing, dining out, and miscellaneous expenses are a constant source of frustration for working mothers. Pantyhose rip, getting up a half hour earlier to pack a lunch is not an option, and saying no to your coworker’s child’s gift wrap fundraiser is out of the question. Five dollars here and ten dollars there can eat a hole in your income faster than you can blink.
My sister’s neighbor never factored the cost of working into to her situation. She was getting a retail position, paying $15 an hour. Based on taxes and child care expenses alone, the neighbor would probably be going into debt to afford her job. She rationalizes it with the fact that her husband works, and is incorrectly putting half of the child care expenses burden on his plate.
My guess is that her job will not last past a month or two, when the reality of more expenses and less income truly hits home. Then my sister will be out of a job.
There is nothing wrong with choosing to work outside the home, if you can financially afford it. Many mothers earn significant income and can easily cover these expenses. Many mothers have older children who do not need child care.
But many mothers think that they are working because they have to, when in reality, if they examined their cost of working, they might find that it would be less expensive to stay home.
Rayven Perkins has spent 7 years implementing cost-cutting tips that allow her family to live comfortably on one-income. Her site www.stay-a-stay-at-home-mom.com examines resources and tips on Reducing Expenses, Stretching Your Dollar, and Supplementing Income in order to stay a SAHM.
Previous Articles Highlighter:
Stop Trading Individual Shares If You're Not Beating The Market (1)
Topics: shares, investing, investing in shares, trading shares, beating market, mutual funds, tracker funds Every share investor enjoys hunting out profitable companies they can invest in, and hopefully finding a potential ten-bagger that will make them rich, but there comes a time when you have to analyze your portfolio and make harsh decisions if you're not beating the overall market.
Looking For The Best Fort Bend County Neighborhoods (2)
Thankfully, we all have a choice when it comes to determining our own neighborhood and the way we choose to live our lives. When I see the best Fort Bend County neighborhoods listed on websites and in those competitive lists of where one can find the best place to live catalogues, I feel a sense of pride that extends to the people around me.
Investment Property Mortgage Loan Comparison Software (3)
You should contact all of your local banks to find out what they offer in terms of property investment loans. Keep a notepad with you, and write down the basics of every financing option - the initial interest rate, the maximum available amount, the term, monthly payment plans, the recourse, the fees, and anything else that will have an effect on your borrowed amount.
The Best Fort Bend County Neighborhoods (4)
Development of new homes in this area are rising to offer the same great communities to places surrounding the "best places to live" list. Only time will tell if these neighborhoods remain as competitive nationwide as they are at the time of this writing, but these neighborhoods are definitely in the running for first place where the locals (and the new locals) are concerned.
What Are Discount Brokers? (5)
This can help stave off disappointment and help steer you away from less than reputable brokers. You can find a lot of information on the various big name discount brokers online.
For Those Interested In Building An Establishment (6)
For smaller businesses who are looking to stay away from larger companies, we offer pad site on much smaller retail sites that are in the same range to these popular up and coming communities that are being built up nearby.
Build Or Buy - Custom Homes (7)
Buying in the preconstruction phase will also give you considerable financial advantage. Often, if you buy your home in the pre-construction phase, you can get it for 70-80% of the price you'll pay for the exact same home once it's finished.
Looking Forward To Create A Sound Financial Future (8)
We have been taught for as long as we can remember to maximize our pretax and deferred taxation plans to prepare for retirement. Notwithstanding this advice, most people still haven't saved enough to create a comfortable retirement.
How Much Is This Real Estate Property Worth? (9)
It should be a flexible system that can apply to multiple properties, and it should take many different factors into account. If you stick with properties in the same area, you will figure out a basic formula that you can use.
A Guide To Finding Inexpensive Car Insurance (10)
There are certain things that you can do in order to find inexpensive car insurance, of which will be discussed in detail here. Finding Inexpensive Car Insurance The first step to finding inexpensive auto insurance is to make sure that you get several quotes.
Repossessions And Arrears 'To Rise' In 2008 (11)
Abbi Rouse writes for AllAboutLoans.co.uk, an online loans comparison site, visit us today for information on all loan topics including secured loans UK applications and homeowner loans from all leading UK providers.
Designing A New Paradigm For Financial Planning (12)
We were convinced that deferring the taxes was a smart move. What if we were farmers and the government came to us and said, "You have a choice. You can choose to pay tax on your seed or your harvest, which do you want?" We would most certainly say, "We will pay tax on the seed".
Debt Education 'Is Not Reaching Young People' (13)
The firm is calling for updated financial education in schools to help pupils understand personal finance contracts which they buy into. For instance, improved education could help the demographic to better identify the best loans and the difference between low rate loans and other borrowing options.
Understanding Seller Financing In The Tampa Real Estate Marketplace (14)
In other words, if you default, it is likely that the seller will be able to repossess the real estate in short speed. You would lose any payments that you had made in such a set of circumstances.
Cheap Car Insurance Quotes And Low Cost Auto Rates Can Save You Money (15)
These are just a few of the best tips that can help you understand discounts, save money on your auto insurance and give you an idea what to look for when you're getting a cheap car insurance quote.
What Is Overdraft Protection? (16)
First, because the bank will pay the check (up to a certain amount) the person you wrote the check to will get the funds and not have cause to charge you a fee.
Why Is Auto Insurance Important? (17)
A second reason for maintaining automobile insurance is that it protects you from personal liability should you be an accident. If you are in an accident and it is shown that you are at fault and someone is injured or killed in that accident, you can be held personally responsible for the costs of medical bills if a person is injured and substantial monetary awards if a person is killed.
Negotiating With Your Lender On A Home Mortgage (18)
And, over time, even a slight decrease in the interest rate can amount to a significant savings to you. In addition, beyond the interest rate attached to a loan, you can also negotiate costs and other fees associated with a new loan.
Getting Your Bathroom In Shape - When Selling Your Home (19)
The bottom line is that a fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a bathroom (or any part of the home, for that matter). Because of the steam buildup and other factors, paint in the bathroom tends to wear quicker than in other parts of the house.
Savers 'Raiding Reserves For Indulgent Spending' (20)
Price comparison site Moneysupermarket has published the results of a survey indicating that many regularly raid the piggy bank to buy things which might be better funded by cheap loans.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Online Auto Loans - The Easy Way To Apply (1)
Online loans offer the following advantages: 1)The greatest advantage of online loans is that you can apply for it from almost anywhere as long as you have a computer or a laptop.
The Formalities Required To Buy A Cyprus Vacation Home (2)
In order to safeguard the purchaser's rights it is necessary to get the contract stamped and deposited at the Land Registry before the end of one month. The fee for getting this done is 1.50 per 1000 of the value of the contract.
Real Estate 101: What To Tell Your Realtor (3)
In order to make sure you are on the same page as your Realtor, communication is key. After all, you cannot expect your agent to simply know what type of home you are looking for or to understand your needs.
Buying A Vacation Home In Cyprus (4)
Ascertain all these in advance so you are not caught unawares. The steps involved in buying a Cyprus Vacation Home If you wish to reserve a vacation house that you've seen and liked, you would be required to pay a reservation deposit.
Tips For Buying A Cyprus Vacation Home (5)
You may consider renting the home out when you are not there or maybe a timeshare would work better. These are all considerations you should discuss with an agent that you trust completely.
4 Types Of Technical Indicator You Need When Trading Forex (6)
As you can guess from the title of this article, there are essentially four different types of technical indicator and they are as follows: 1.Trend indicators. MACD, Parabolic SAR and the various moving averages are a few examples of trend indicators and they can all be used to identify a trend.
Real Estate 101: The Difference Between An Agent & Broker (7)
That way, you will be guaranteed the best experience possible. Eric Bramlett is the broker & co-owner of One Source Realty, an Austin real estate company. Eric currently invests, renovates, and develops Austin Real Estate.
Do Not Let Them Repossess Your Home (8)
They help you sell your house quickly and even give you the option of renting it out. You also have the choice of buying back the same house once again when your monetary situation stabilizes somewhat.
The Five Secrets To Making Money (9)
They believe that making more money will solve all of their problems and buy them happiness. Many of these people play the lottery, or are always looking for the next get rich quick scheme, but the real reason only 1% of the world's population controls 98% of the wealth is because they know things others don't.
Do You Know How To Obtain A Free Copy Of Your Credit Report? (10)
However, if well inspected, can be very minor risks. It all depends on what action you are willing to take to protect your identity and your credit reputation. The biggest risk you take, when not requesting information from the major credit reporting companies, is, obviously, that you are giving your information to a company who is not legitimate.
Retirees 'Need Finances In Shape Before Heading Abroad' (11)
With this playing on the mind of many UK home owners, who could use a secured loan to fund a holiday abroad or a further property purchase, Barclays suggested that many were looking to escape the dreary UK summer.
How Much Does A Kid Need To Save In Order To Be Ready For College? (12)
Once you can see everything on paper, you will be able to figure out if the money you have to work with every month will be enough for you. Each month becomes easier for you to know exactly how much money is needed to set aside due to the draft or budget you have kept prior.
What Do I Do If I Earn Too Much To Qualify For Student Loans? (13)
Staying focused, persistent and educated about emerging opportunities can do this. Court helps people to learn about federal student loans. You can read more of his work by visiting: whalehookloans.com.
If You're Upside Down In A Car Loan, How Can You Get Out Of It? (14)
People with this type of debt are considered as having an upside down car loan and are left to figure out how to pay off the rest of the debt.
How Do You Know If Someone Has Used Your Credit To Obtain A Loan? (15)
Here are a few things you can do to keep identity thieves out of your hair. Keep track of your loans and your credit card accounts. Make sure you know just how much you spent and when you spent it so that when the statement comes, you can easily tell whether or not all of the transactions are rightfully yours.
Your Credit Report - Seven Years Later (16)
So let's say you have a few things on your credit report that you are not proud of, but you've learned your lesson and you've moved on. So now that you have better spending and payment habits, you want to get rid of those black marks on your credit report.
Do You Even Know What You're Credit Score Is? (17)
Credit card companies, possible employers, and loan officers look at your credit score to see how much they can trust you to pay back the money that you may be asking to borrow.
When Is An Installment Loan The Right Choice? (18)
With things like credit cards, however, your monthly payments depend upon the changing interest rate AND the amount of money you charged using the card. Court helps people to learn about how to find low interest credit card offers.
Learning The Difference Between Legitimate Loans And Loan Schemes? (19)
Some scam artists will ask you to make a deposit using things like money orders, so that you "secure" your loan. This is not the same thing as collateral.
First Steps To Understanding The Bankruptcy Code (20)
Believe it or not, much of these laws are in place to protect the individuals who are having financial problems. Below we will outline what the bankruptcy codes are and what they mean to you.