Glad I found the new group.
I am not going to give you numbers to brag, just to give you an idea of what it was like for us to do this.
When I quit my job, I was making on average about $50-55K a year (depending on bonuses) and my husband varied but brought in about $50-75K (just the way their salaries went there, it was based on company profits). So compared to him I was making about half or so. But we did it.
I found that we spent SO much less on eating out when I stayed home. I made dinner nightly and I would make lunch for my husband to bring with him every day. I spent far less on clothing for me as well as just "therapy shopping" in general. You'd think losing that much a year would be hard to adjust to but in the end it wasn't.
thanks for the advice guys and seeing numbers like that helps too. I am so blessed and thankful that we both do well, have jobs and are healthy and happy overall, but I just really would love to stay home. to give you an idea- I make about $80k right now with my bonus. It's a big chunk of change and DH makes a little bit more than that, about $85k or so. Day care runs us about $12k per year, so even if I was paying all the day care out of just my check, i am still making nearly $70k after childcare, so still alot to just walk away from.
The good thing as you said, is I wouldn't eat out as much, although I do pretty good cooking already- we only typically eat out one night a week and then a weekend lunch. I could give up and cut back on things like hair (every 6 weeks), pedis (i go every 2 weeks) and shopping. I am a shopaholic! I don't buy a lot of clothes per say, but I do love shopping and tend to overdo it. The good thing is we would be bumped down to another tax bracket, taxes eat us alive. Even with claiming 0 and having the max taken out (we will probably ask to have more taken out this year), we still had to pay about $4k for taxes this year and last- that is with a child, owning our own home and student loan interest etc. to write off. So that would be one good thing i guess. We are already on DH's insurance too, so that wouldn't change.
I think I need to really buckle down and focus on saving up a lot and doing all the things I want to do and buy now (new fence, new cabinets, fix windows etc.), so that I can hit up DH for the 'discussion' in Dec. We've talked about it as a long term goal for us- but if we don't really consider it soon, Will is going to be in high school before we know it! lol
Plus it would be great staying at home if I do get preggo again- i have miserable pregnancies and had to take a month off work due to severe m/s. Any other tips on how you make it work and what you cut back on are so appreciated!!!! You ladies are awesome. I know SAHM work very hard. Heck, i get tired reading the same book over and over to Will at night, I can't imagine how annoying it might get if I am doing it all day too- but i know it would be worth it! I just really would love the freedom and time to take him places to explore etc. like museums and stuff.
speaking of- for those that are SAHM- how do you keep up the social interaction for your kid/s? Will ADORES and loves his day care. He really enjoys his time there and they do teach him a lot- it is montesorri. I worry I wouldn't be able to provide that same level of learning and interaction with other kids- how do you do that?
Meredith- ugh on poor Zoe- I remember her being a puker. Will is too- he has a bad gag reflex. Does she act fine after she does it? like whether it hurts her or not? I hate that you have to deal with that, hopefully they figure out something soon.
ShootingStar- Cam is so cute- what a handsome little guy!!! How are things going - are you home yet?
Erin- welcome!!!! we are thrilled to have you on board!!! any pics of your littel guy?
Nicole- HI!! how is little Izzy doing?
Denise- did you start the new job yet?
Bethany- lol at the trash trucks- that is just too funny.
Becky/Kelly- you guys back and rested yet? I saw your pics on facebook- and they are so great. Kelly- you were there for the whole 'monsoon' that Orlando got- how was it?
Oh and day care had a train yesterday- his teacher said he loved it. He's ridden one at the mall before. that will be good for when we go to WDW in 6 months! She said he laughed the entire time and had a ball. and that him and another little girl, Parker are always playing together- teasing each other and stuff. I think he already has his first little girlfriend and she is a real cutie!
I think Sara is gone this week on her trip! Hopefully she is having a great time!
how i wish i could talk DH into letting me be a stay at home mom. 
DH would have loved to do a professional quality gas range, but that was out of the budget. We ended up getting a Maytag double oven smooth-top electric range. I would have liked to have more features on it for DH, but he was in a "spend as little as possible" mode. I tried to persuade him that of all our appliances, this was the one we should spend money on for extra features, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Oh well. They did a special order for it and it will be delivered in 7-10 days. Even without the extras, it will be fun to have a new stove!
She calls him her hugabugaboo, and he likes to carry around a picture of her. It's pretty cute! So we trade off watching each others' kid for date nights and sometimes do things together with the kids, too. Tonight they're watching Owen at their house, and tomorrow night we'll take their DD.
