Comments on: Ask the M-Network: Part Time or Full Time?

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:50:22 +0000

If I were you, I would continue to work full time and bank money like crazy until you have kids…

By: mb

mb — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:58:26 +0000

ok, this is from someone with no plans for kids, but my reaction is to wait a few months for things to stabilize before going part time, and save the extra income. as others mentioned, picture the worst case, and be finacially ready when your baby does arive. best luck.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:42 +0000

Someone else already pointed out that COBRA is expensive and it is...we've done it and it was tough. I'd stay working and defer making a long-term decision until you have more information regarding your husband's firm. The truth is, you may not know for awhile, but peace of mind is valuable. Erin’s last blog post..Taco Ring

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:22:16 +0000

My husband and I were faced with the same decision a few years ago. Although we weren’t in as good of shape financially as you guys are my husband made really good money and I didn’t “have” to work. I wanted to be at home more, and I chose to take a low paying, part-time position that was very rewarding. A few months down the road, my husband’s job situation changed, he wasn’t laid off, but his income decreased and I had to take on another part-time job to bring in more income. Holding down two-part time jobs ended up being more stressful and kept me away from home more than my previous full-time job had. It ended up working against us in the long run. A year later I found out I was pregnant with our first baby and I wanted to be a SAHM. I quit both of my jobs once she was born to stay home with our daughter. Then 3 months later my husband was laid off. In his current job he makes less than half of what he made previously and now we are in a tough situation financially, and I may have to sacrifice staying home with our daughter to take on a part-time job.
All of this is to say, that my advice is to keep working full-time for as long as possible. You really don’t know what is going to happen in the future with your husband’s job and how your decision to cut-back your income will change things down the road. I know that your desire is to be at home, mine was too, but you will have lots of time for that later on once you have children. If you really want to stay home once you have children, make the sacrifice right now, and work full time and put as much money into savings, and paying down your house, as possible. Then you won’t have to face the choice of sacrificing staying home with your children if something were to happen later on. In my opinion, working is the best way that you can take care of your family and your home right now – you will appreciate it once you have children and want to stay home and can do so with out a second thought.

By: judy

judy — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:12:09 +0000

I think you should keep working. Kids are very expensive, even with the best intentions. Also health insurance is non-negotiable. If there are any complications with your preganancy you could eat up a lot of savings in a hurry. (premature babies have a way of doing that). You should learn now that, as a parent, you don’t always get to do what you want,you end up putting the needs of your family first. If you are going to be a stay at home mom, you will have plenty of years at home. I have seen too many people get laid off who thought their jobs were safe.

By: Courtney

Courtney — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:16:34 +0000

You could think about a “major medical” policy, which basically covers getting hit by a bus, but not anything short of that.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:51:17 +0000

While I totally understand your desire to cut back on working now, if you know you are going to be a SAHM, I would say work and save all you can until you actually have a child. The more money you have saved, the better off you will be. I would say this even if you weren’t afraid your husband may lose his job, but since that is a possibility, I would definitely say it. Talk to friends that have kids and try to get a rough estimate of how much per month they think it costs to raise a child. Then put that aside from your husband’s paycheck, just so you know what kind of income you will be working with once you are no longer working and have a baby to take care of. Babies don’t have to be expensive, but if you get a realistic idea of what income you are working with, you will be better off. And I personally couldn’t live without health insurance. We are all very healthy, but good health coverage is something I personally hold to be very important.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:51:13 +0000

Also check out group coverage from memberships you have outside of employment. For instance, in my state Sam’s Club members have access to group policies from Blue Cross Blue Shield, and other providers. The family coverage with similar terms is a little more expensive than my current employer plan, but much cheaper then COBRA.

Whatever you decide, don’t let health insurance lapse or any pre-existing conditions may be ineligible for coverage.

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:21:39 +0000

I would take the approach that you can save a lot more money when you don’t have kids. Once you have your first child not only won’t you be working but the expenses increase dramatically. I would continue to work full time and bank every penny. Then when you actually do get pregnant you have a large financial cushion it makes this decision that much easier. Plus the cushion you have built up can pay towards your house or other things that come along with children. What if you were already pregnant and your husband actually lost his job? How would these changes affect your decision? Just something to think about.

My husband and I are self employed and we are always taking the worst case scenario into account. We have a couple of years of emergency fund set aside ‘just in case’ the worst happens to our business.

By: blossomteacher

blossomteacher — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:59:09 +0000

Keep in mind that COBRA is expensive. When DH quit, he was only paying about $150/month for insurance for himself. Through COBRA, the same coverage would have been over $800 a month…1/3 of my take home pay! If you and your husband are healthy, maybe look into private insurance? The teacher next door to me just had a baby, and her husband is a minister, but insurance for both of them is only about $100/month. It would have been more than $700/month to add them to her insurance here at school!

I’m just saying…do some more research. Where there’s a will, there may be a way.