In time, I figured out that the problem wasn't our money, but the fact that I experienced big time loss aversion. I didn't want to lose time with our son.
Unfortunately, I didn't see a way around losing time with him because Rob was in school, and I needed to bring home the bacon. But over time, I started thinking about money more creatively. Could we save up enough for a long sabbatical? Could we reduce our expenses more? Could I earn some income without having to get a job?
Almost exactly 18 months ago, Rob and I came up with a plan that would allow me to quit my job by July of last year. We saved up a ton of money, but a few months later, I chickened out. I didn't trust that we could keep our expenses low enough. Then we came up with an alternative plan called the get mama home checklist, and we also decided to have another kid before I quit my job.
So, we marched our way down the list, and now I've officially (almost) achieved my goal. I submitted my letter of resignation to my full-time employer, and after my vacation time runs out in a few weeks. After that, I will be a stay at home mom.
We accomplished a big goal!
I'm going to walk through each step in my checklist, and tell you some of the lessons that I've learned.
Manage cashflow as a single income family
- We bought a house in cash, and we renovated it (actually, we just started our final project- the bathrooms). And we renovated without killing each other!
- We retained our status as a one car family.
- Outside of renovation spending and childcare spending, we've worked our spending down to reasonable levels.
- We dropped our commitment to a single income family, and focused on growing streams of income which now include a paid-for rental property, renting out our basement, and my side income.
Complete/Quit expensive projects
Though we didn't complete the renovation, we are on the home stretch, and we have money pre-allocated for finishing the renovation. We only need to complete the bathrooms, the floorboard, and the doors and then we're done. I'm not even going to give an estimate on how long those projects will take to complete because this is the unplanned finance blog, and I don't just give out plans.
Start a side income business and grow it to $1K per month
I imagined that I might turn this blog into a legitimate business, and I have some clear monetization strategies. The problem is that I don't have time to devote to the site right now. I've decided to continue to maintain the site and my relationships in the personal finance sphere without much monetization effort until I can devote more time to my own work.
Find healthcare
I won't register for health insurance until my vacation time runs out, but if it's an adventure, it might be worth a post :)
Learn how to enjoy toddler (and baby) time all day long!
We go to the park or to a local kids museum most days, and I get to spend time with other stay at home moms.
However, being with little kids all day can be tedious, so I've also started to pay for 3-6 hours of childcare per week (one or two mornings). I use this time to write, so that I also have a little bit of time to clean the house, do laundry and prep dinner if both kids take an afternoon nap.
I think it's valuable for me to continue the part time work just so that my brain can be engaged. I love my kids, and I don't want them to be in an institutional setting all day, but I'm under no delusion that I need to be the only person giving them care. Kenny will be eligible for preschool next August, but I think I will delay enrolling him until January since he's going through a clingy stage these days.