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When my hubby and I had our first son I had planned on going back to work after 3 mos. But once he came I couldn't put him in daycare. I quit my job, we refinanced our house at a lower rate, started cutting coupons and cutting way back on other things. It would have cost me to work because of the gas, clothing, daycare, etc. I really wouldn't have been bringing that much home after all the expenses so I stayed home. Luckily since then my husband has made significant advances in his career and I can continue to stay home. You could look into selling something from home such as Pampered Chef, Longaberger or something to supplement your income? If you can do it, it is sooo worth it. Good luck.

Become a babysitter. keep one to three children fulltime. It brings in enough to stay home. especially that you wont have to give gax money,clothing/food/daycare...youll prob. break even. put adds up and see if it works, that wau youll get to care for your son, other little angels and youll supplement your income. its what i do. and iam very happy as my two toddlers stay with me (ever since they are born) and my third will to. i have from 1 to 5kids i babysite daily. everything works out great.

all good ideas. are you married? and does your husband bring in enough to at least make it by? what about extra work? my hubby works his own job, then does landscaping on the side - it brings in an additional $500 monthly in the off-season, and more in the spring and summer - and he's not gone that much. babysitting's definitely a good idea...i stay at home and even though things do get tight at times, i wouldn't trade it for the world. i'd miss so much if she was in daycare all day - it's incredible to see how she changes each day!

Maybe get a part time job in the afternoons and on weekends, and let dh keep the baby.

I'm in the same boat. I've had daycare lined up since the day I found out I was pg and now that she's here, I don't even want to go back. I make good money too but I'd give it all up to raise my daughter and stay home. She's the only baby we're going to have so I want to cherish every minute of it but financially I don't know if we can. I do transcription at home on the side for another department and they said if I wanted to do it full time they'd pay me a bit more but I'd be contracting the work so I'd have to pay my own taxes and get no benefits, which who really needs them if you're your own boss! But I'm kicking it back and forth if I want to give up my job and do this or not. It's scary cus I've been at my job for 6.5 years but I've been getting sick of it the last year or so. If I were you I'd look at something part time after hours when your husband is home to be with your child. I'm off 12 wks and want to ask for an extra week off since I've been working part-time from my home to help out at work and I'm getting paid my entire leave so it's not like I'm rushing to get back there! I told my boyfriend that I might try going back for a month and see how bad I miss her and if it's bad, I'll quit and stay home and do transcription and keep cutting coupons!!!!

I stay at home with my 4 month old, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I did get a job my entire paycheck would go to daycare and gas... Add it up, how much of your check goes to things that you wouldn't need if you weren't working.. gas, going out to lunch everyday, buying take out because your'e too tired to cook, daycare costs, etc. Sometimes if you cut a few corners it's actually cheaper to stay home. I admire you for wanting to be with your child :) Lots of people don't want to do the day to day grind with their kids.

I sell things on ebay. I go to garage sales and thrift stores and buy something for 1.00 and turn around and sell it for 20.00 Also I LOVE to shop at Gymboree, I buy my children an outfit for around 50.00, sometimes I get lucky and find sale things, they wear it for awhile, I turn around and sell it for almost what I paid for it new, so I get my money back plus my kids were dressed cute!! I live on Lake Minnetonka and the people out here sell Louis Vuitton purses and Pradas at sales for $5.00!!!! Or the local thrift store is a good place to go to look for deals too!! Its amazing what people will buy on ebay!! It's so much fun to watch your auctions go up during the day too!! The only investment was a good digital camera which is a must anyways for new babies!!! I have been selling on ebay for 3 years, and make enough on there to buy groceries for 6 people, go to Target for monthly needs, put gas in my car, and put a little away for a rainy day!! It sure helps out! And I can stay at home!! Although sometimes I do wish for a out of the Home Job......sometimes! lol

Amy - You're pretty close! I'm down in Wabasha right on the river. I'm glad you can do that on e-bay. That's pretty interesting. I should try it. Not sure what I would sell though!

To the mom's who take on full-time babysitting, do the parents claim paying you on their taxes or how does that work? I would think if they pay you full time they can benefit from it on taxes. Do you charge the same price as daycares or a little less? How does that work? You don't have to be a licensed daycare and the parents don't mind? You don't have to follow any rules or anything like daycare? I thought about doing that too but didn't know how well that would go over etc. I know there's a high demand for sitters in our town as all the daycares are full.

Thank you so much for all of your help. I talked with my husband about keeping a few kids, but I think I might go crazy with more than two or three at a time ALL DAY!!! I would do it though. I make more than my husband so he leaving work is the idea we are currently kicking around. I know I would do a better job of keeping Conner mentally stimulated and not watching TV and going to the playground, but at least he would be with one of us and not in the germ infested daycare. Amy, call me crazy but I'm not familar with how to sell things on e-bay. Can you give me a few pointers. What a great idea and I'm so glad it works for you. Sounds like you really have it made! Thanks again to all!

I'm in the same boat. I make more than my boyfriend so that kind of sucks but he'd go nuts staying home and I'm the one who wants to be home with my daughter!!!!! Money sucks. I'd try looking for a part time job when your hubby gets home so at least your baby isn't in daycare and home with one of you and you can still have an income.