Can You Afford to be a Stay at Home Mom When You Are in Debt?

I am all for at least one parent staying home with the children. If the economy was what it was in 2006 my wife would be able to stay home with our daughter, but it isn't 2006 and unfortunately she has to work and help run our business.

My wife and I were also debt free aside from our mortgage in 2006, but that is definitely not the case today. You have to base your financial decisions on the situation you are in today, not what it was yesterday. If your family cannot afford to live on one income, then you must look into getting a job.

I totally understand how hard it is to make that decision. I had always been adamant that my children would not go to daycare, but unfortunately we have no choice at the moment. If you need additional income and going back to work is what you need to continue to secure your financial future, then it is what it is. As we have learned from working on our household cash flow worksheets what we need is not the same as what we want and living with what we need isn't always easy. Making the decision to go back to work when you feel it is more important to have a parent home with a child can be a difficult step to take. But when things are tough, the tough get working.

Being there for your children is an extremely important part of life, but so is providing them with financial security. If one income is not keeping your family financially secure by having credit card debt, no emergency fund, and contributing to your retirement fund, then you are not fully providing for your family.

If you feel that there just no way you can leave your children to go to work look into maybe working part time to help supplement the family income. If your children are in school this may be totally feasible without having to find child care. But if a part-time employment isn't cutting the mustard, you will have to look into working full time. It doesn't mean you have to go back to work forever, but maybe just until the economic crisis passes and you get your life back on track to financial freedom.

[This post is written and copyrighted by Financial Elite (http://financialelite.blogspot.com/ ).]

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