Am I crazy? Is this crazy? We have made the decision. My husband, Max and I have talked it out, and here I go… I will NOT be renewing my teaching contract for next year. What does this mean? It means I have to figure everything out before August. Every year I say “Maybe I’ll just quit and be a stay at home mom… Hahaha, yeah right…” I have always chickened out of quitting because I thought we just could not do it financially.
That mindset changed after I signed up for VIPKid. If you don’t know what that is, it is a company that allows you to teach children from China English! It is amazing! I will definitely be writing more about this in other posts as this will be the biggest factor in reaching my goal. I applied simply to make a supplemental income. I teach a few classes in the morning before going to work. The more I did it, the more I saw the possibility of staying home realized.
Interested in becoming an ESL teacher online? Apply here!
It happened one day when I said “I wish I could just do this…” Then I looked at the numbers and thought “Why the heck am I working so hard?!” I mean I come home exhausted… DRAINED emotionally and physically. Taking into account daycare, gas, work clothes, etc. it just became not worth it, when I could do something in the comfort of my home, having a BLAST, and getting the real part of the day to be a mom and focus on my household.
So here it is! The goal: Become a stay-at-home mom by Fall of next year! I have a lot to do to make sure my family and I are in a place that we can manage. These are the things I feel like will help us. If you are considering making the switch to staying home, these are some of the suggestions I have found, while adding things that fit my family’s needs and not including changes that would not apply to us (ex: Stop getting hair dyed at the salon-my hair is its natural color so this tip did not help me).
Max needs a new job!
I included this goal even though it is not exactly for my goal but his, because whether my husband finds a better job will change the way this journey looks. He is very unhappy where he is and is not being paid what he should be, so he has started looking for something new.
Even though I will still be bringing home income, it will not be as consistent or reliable. What happens if there’s a bad month and bookings go down, or if I have to take some time off? If he gets a higher paying job, it will change how I approach
Beef up VipKid bookings! Full-time status, baby!
Even with saving on daycare, gas, clothes, etc. I will need to make much more than I am now on VIPKid. This means maximizing my schedule. My goal is to get to a more full-time status during the summer.
VIPKid is an online ESL program that allows you to be in charge of your schedule! Make $16-$22 an hour teaching at home!
New insurance (Yikes)
This one makes me nervous, and if I learn a ton, I promise to write a post about it. I am one of those people where insurance confuses the heck out of me! I currently insure my whole family through my job. Now that I have been looking at some other options I realize, my work insurance is extremely expensive! I am hoping this will be one way that we can cut costs.
Work on building passive income
My Teachers Pay Teachers store will be getting a makeover. Up until this point I’ve just posted things for fun and if people buy it, sweet! I get a little treat. I will be trying to make this a more substantial mode of income by taking time to brand, market, and create new products often.
Blogging! I am making a concerted effort to spend time on this blog. If you are on the same path as I am, you have seen EVERY blog post or article on “Top ways to earn extra income” puts blogging pretty high on the list. Here I go!
Teachers Pay Teachers is a great way for teachers everywhere to share resources with one another. Check out my store for Google Classroom products!
Bring bills down
In order to cut costs, reducing bill costs is a biggie! We do not have cable or satellite, but this is the biggest saver if you are considering staying home. We have never had anything more than Netflix in our 8 years of marriage. We have probably saved thousands of dollars here.
However, our energy and gas use is not so budget-friendly. I’ll be honest and say that both my husband and I are pretty irresponsible with our energy use. I’m thinking a lot of outlet timers will be in our future.
Cut food and shopping costs
Aldi for the win! We already shop at Aldi, but my husband also has a Target addiction… Cooking more and eating out less is not a new concept but it can be oh, so difficult!
I will be setting up subscribe and save purchases through Amazon. This is a great way to save and manage your budget and it will also keep my husband’s shopping trips to a minimum resulting in fewer off-list purchases. It will also save gas because we will not be making trips to the store!
See our current plan for cutting costs and adding to our savings HERE!
Beef up our savings account
Everything must go! We will be selling anything that we are not using. My husband is cleaning out his toys, furniture will be posted online, odd jobs will be done, I’m even entering grades into
We have started this process in a few ways. To read about them, take a look at my “Building Up the Savings Account” post!
Work out a schedule for success!
In order to accomplish my goals successfully become a stay-at-home mom I have to treat my online jobs like I treat my brick and mortar job. I need to dedicate enough time and energy to make them successful. Working at home is a whole different world as I have been working since I was 15!
Ready, Set, Go!
It’s going to be a big year! I have faith that we can make it work! These were the things that I felt were most important for me to get figured out before quitting my job. Feel free to give suggestions in the comments, because I would love the advice! What were some of the biggest changes you and your family had to make to have a stay-at-home parent?
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I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues
with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
This is a WordPress site.
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Please let me know. Many thanks
Of course!
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Congrats on the decision!! It’s a big one, but if it’s what you’ve had your heart set on I know you’ll do what it takes to make it work. I’d say set your expectations realistically of what you’re willing to change/give up/sell to make being at home work in your budget. Setting expectations always helps me manage better!
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