Staying at Home

Are two incomes really necessary for a family to survive?

I am not talking about career moms or dual income, no kids or others who choose to work because they want to.

Let's just address those who would prefer to or at least be comfortable with, being at home - for their kids and for their spouses.

Is it necessary that you work outside the home? Short answer: Probably not. Except in circumstances where one partner is limited in earning income for some reason (disability, few local options, etc.)

How can that be, you may be asking. First, let's take a closer look at your income and expenses.

Unless you are in a career that you have trained for that pays well, the chances are that you are barely (or not at all) making enough money to cover your working expenses.

There are several things to take into account:

Taxes. How much do you pay on your income, and does it put you in a higher tax bracket so that you pay higher taxes on your partner's income, too?
Transportation. It's okay to have a second car, but if you're not driving to work every day, you save gas, maintenance, wear and tear and even insurance. Ask your insurance company what the rate would be if you only drove 3.000 miles a year instead of 12,000.
Clothing. You don't need to dress in rags to stay at home, but neither do you need an expensive wardrobe. Take the things you have learned in creating a wardrobe and cut the expense and the volume at least in half. Sell your excess.
Child Care. This is a big one. It's very expensive to pay for child care. If you stay home and take care of your own kids you save all of that money.
Medical expenses. This one might surprise you, but kids who stay home as opposed to going to day care, have fewer illnesses. The chances are that you may be healthier, too.
Food. How many times do working parents who are responsible for the evening meal stop and grab something from a fast food place or get take out? Or order pizza or other food delivered, just because they are too tired or overwhelmed to cook a meal?
On the same note, calling in your order to the grocery store will cost you. If you have time and energy, it literally pays to go to the store yourself. Besides that, you can often find deals and sales that would otherwise be missed. Not having to buy precooked food, deli, canned or frozen, from the store counts, too.

Okay, second step.

I am not criticizing or even suggesting, but here are some questions you may want to think about.

How much could you save if you hung laundry, even part of it, up to dry instead of using a dryer?

Could you repair clothing instead of buying new? Do you know how to use a sewing machine to at least make simple household items like curtains and potholders?

Do you know how to cook from scratch? Did you know that you can save money by doing so?

Can you clean the house completely without help? The advent of window washers and house cleaners has come about because no one is at home to do it.

How much does your makeup cost? Would you wear it daily if you were at home?

Be honest and think it through. You may find that you will actually make money by staying at home.

Working oline

Making money is as critical as saving it, and if you're a stay at home parent or between jobs or disabled or in any other position where you need to make money, working online is the ideal way to bring in an income.

There are still scams and "methods" all over the internet, so beware of them. They are usually overly enthused about how much you can make or how little it takes to get rich, but some of them have become a little more sophisticated. It's best to do some research on any company or site before getting involved with them.

You can make a few dollars here and there or, if you're really committed, you can make more than just a few. Honestly, unless you have a specific skill or are an entrepreneur at heart, it's very hard to make a living online. At best, most people will make enough to pay for their internet and maybe pay a bill or two each month.

For some, that's fine. It's perfect, as a matter of fact, for some people. There are several sites where you can work to do that: the ubiquitous Swagbucks is probably the most popular. It takes time, as do most rewards type of online programs.

Then there is Inboxdollars and InstaGC and many more. Once you start looking, you will find many and you'll have to choose wisely if you want to make the most of your time.

"Pocket change" means different things to different people, so you may or may not be happy with what you can earn at places like those.

From a little experience, I can advise you to stay with a site for at least a couple of weeks until you learn the ropes. They're all a little different and you will find new and better ways to earn as you get more comfortable with each of them.

And have fun. It's not all about work and money. Set goals, challenge yourself, enjoy your time and know that you're not wasting it.

What are you working for?

Vicki Robinson and Joe Dominguez wrote a book called "Your Money or Your Life," the theme of which could be summed up by asking, "What are you working for?"

Are you willing to give up X amount of hours so that you can buy a new car? A big house? A diamond ring? Or is your life more important to you than that?

For example, if you make $20 an hour and you buy clothing (or anything) that costs $200, you voluntarily gave up 10 hours - more than one full work day - of your time here on earth to pay for it. It's lots more complicated than that by the time you account for taxes, work related expenses and so on - I won't go into any formulas. I just wanted to make the point that you give your life (your time, your interests, your basic enjoyment of living) in exchange for things that are not always worthy. And every time you don't, there are that many fewer hours you have to work to have the same amount of money at your disposal.

And (frugal bonus!) when you save money by not buying unnecessary things, you don't get taxed on your profit! If you continually use the money you save to buy things that will save you money, your profit can run pretty high, too.

When you make ten dollars, the government takes up to 40% of it in different taxes. When you spend that dollar, in most places you pay sales tax on it, anywhere from 3 to 12 cents per dollar. That's up to 52% of your dollar bill!

If you save ten dollars by better shopping (or not shopping at all), or any other way, you're money and marbles ahead: You don't pay taxes on what you've saved. If you save ten dollars, you can use it somewhere else, but if you don't save that ten dollars and opt to work for another ten instead, you'll need to earn up to $15.20 to get the same real money value.

I don't know about you, but that just doesn't make money sense to me.