Tips To Know Before Becoming A Stay At Home Mom

Are you thinking of staying home with the kids? Before you do here are a few things you should know before you become a stay at home mom.

When I decided that I wanted to leave the workforce and become a stay at home mom, I had to decide the best way to reach this goal and make my transition less financially stressful.

I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I didn't want my family to suffer financially.  I wanted to be with my children, and somehow I was going to get there.

Before I decided to become a stay at home mom, it took us a few years to make this happened. It was a transition that needed to complete before becoming a stay at home.

If you are thinking of becoming a stay at home mom, here are some tips to know before becoming a stay at home mom that helped me make my transition less stressful.

The truth is that many families would love to be able to have one parent stay at home with the kids. The reality is that in 2017 economically it can be hard for many families to do this.

You see, I didn't just quit my job and decided to stay at home without thinking about our finances. I was the primary source of income in our family, and my husband was a stay at home dad.

He was ready to go back to work, and I wanted to enjoy my kiddos. I was willing to take on this new at home adventure when my job decided to do it for me sooner than I thought.

If you think that I am trying to discourage you from becoming a stay at home mom, no I am not. I think you should do whatever your dreams are. I want to share with you why having your finances in order can do for you.

And this new adventure was one of them!

Thanks to fixing my finances and changing the way I was living I was able to become a stay at home mom.

It is possible, and you can do it too!

5 Tips To Know Before Becoming A Stay At Home Mom

If you are planning to be a stay at home mom then please continue reading.

I'm sharing with you these tips that helped my transition to a stay at home mom, and I sincerely hope that it helps you too.

Is this what YOU want?

Before you decided to become a stay at home mom ask yourself if this is what you want?

Is your family expecting you to remain at home with the children? Are you ready to change from working mom to stay at home mom? Is this what you want?

Do you want to become a stay at home mom? Is this something that you will be happy doing? Are you going to be happy being home?

Let me clarify and say this; we are all moms. Working moms or stay at home moms, we are all moms. No one is better than anyone and if you think that staying home will make others or yourself feel like you are a “real” mom then don't.

I never, ever thought that I would become so unhappy my first weeks as a stay at home mom. Seriously! I developed some bad stay at home mom habits, and I started to think that maybe I wasn't cut out to be one.

I didn't want to be a stay at home mom for a long time. I wanted to be a working mom.

I loved my job and where my career was taking me.  Somehow when I was pregnant with baby number two something changed in me. I was tired of my job; I wanted to be with my babies.

Ask me now, and I am a work at home mom, and I love it!

Which leads me to the next tip:

Communicate

You need to communicate and be honest and transparent about your decision to become a stay at home mom.  We spoke about it and created a plan to make this transition happened. We were a team when it came to this.

You must communicate any concerns you have about your transition and let your feeling know. Always have an open communication with your spouse because this will help you both create a strong bond. It's about your happiness and the happiness of your family.

Start working on your finances

This is very important, and that is to start working on your finances. Not having your finances in orders would not only affect your financially but your marriage. Ever fight over money?

Remember that you will be going from a two income family to a one income family. Set a goal as to when you will be planning on leaving your job.

Look at all your finances, income and expenses. Remember you are going from 2 incomes to one!!

Are you going to be able to afford to live comfortably on just one income? Start looking at your budget and start looking for ways to cut back and save money. Start working on a plan.

Eliminate Debt

Now that you are looking at your finances start reducing your unwanted debt. Credit card debt, card loans, etc.,  things that will be hard to pay once you leave your job.

I had credit card debts and a car loan that needed to be taken care of for me to live with the set income we had in mind. By killing these debts, it would save us enough money each month.

Think of it this way, when you pay all your debt off you are saving hundreds of dollars each month.

So let see my car payments were ridiculous. I was paying $425.00 a month! For credit cards alone and other debts another $200 to $300 each month.  I was trying to pay them off and then kept using them to buy things and go out to eat.

Does this sound familiar?

When I look back, I was paying more on my debt than anything. Once those were paid off, it was time to save.

Start Saving

After paying your debt down start working on your saving. Make sure you fully fund your emergency fund and then some. Save as much money as you can. The reason why I did this was it gave me peace of mind. The more money I had saved up, the better I felt when left my job.

Continue to live below your means even when you are still working. Budget for one income and place the other revenues in the bank! This is an excellent way to see how life will be when you go from 2 income to one income family.

You don't want to make the transition from working mom to stay at home mom cold turkey.

Knowing that you are living within your planned budget and doing well, you will be less stress when the time comes to say adios to your job. I was so excited during my last day of work; it was one of the best days of the year!

Conclusion

You see how I managed to make the transition from working mom to stay at home mom without affecting our finances. Though, I lost my job a few months before my set date, my transition was not as severe or drastic at all.

What made my stay at home transition a good one, was having a plan and executing it. Remember to communicate always and about anything good or bad.

Plan a realistic plan that your family can tackle and execute. Always remember to budget, budget, AND budget some more.

Having a plan in action and goals when you are planning on becoming a stay at home mom is very important. You save yourself the financial stress, and you get to enjoy your new role, a fabulous stay at home mom.

Did you do some of these tips before becoming a stay at home mom?