Home economics
People often marvel at how we manage to make ends meet with five children ranging from 7 months up to nearly 14 years. Add to that the fact that we work from home, and educate our children at home. I have never really worked outside the home since my husband and I married almost 15 years ago. We had considered my working full time for a regular employer up until our third child was born. By then we had worked and reworked the numbers. The most I ever would have netted was about $25 per week. My entire paycheck would have gone to daycare, work clothing and commuting costs. That's planning to take a sack lunch every day.
It was never worth allowing a stranger to raise my children, not knowing what to expect from public school teachers from one year to the next and the hassle of co-ordinating everyone's movements in the mornings. Now that my husband is working from home full-time, it's even better. We've eliminated his commuting expenses - and with gas prices what they are, that's significant. He's much more productive because he's gained two hours each day not having to drive, which means better earning.
Home education is more expensive than public education... Or is it? We can borrow books from the library, which mitigates some of the expense. We have no hidden expenses - the odd field trips, hot lunches, and other expenses associated with school activities. They're certainly getting a private school education - an excellent private school education - at home. It would cost somewhere around $10K per year, per child for the same education and with 4 children of compulsory school age, that's a savings of $40,000 per year.
We don't put wear and tear on our vehicles, which cuts down on maintenance and repairs. We have time to grow and tend a garden (this is the year, I promise!), saving us several hundred dollars each year in food. We have changed our eating habits so that our big meal is at lunchtime, cutting down on leftovers, and improving our health. With fresh foods and better eating habits, limited contact with large groups of people carrying germs, we have far less downtime from illness and don't spend anything like the same amount on medical care or treatments. We save on health insurance because we're generally healthier and can choose more economical coverage. Because I'm home, I have time to do 'marathon cooking', which save several hundred dollars a month on groceries (nearly 50%) since there is almost NO waste and no fluff in the grocery list - again I can also control nutrition better this way. I use cloth diapers, saving hundreds of dollars over disposable, and being kinder to the environment. I sew, I knit, I embroider - we can make or make-over clothes.
My husband and I have fashioned a life based around our family life - we publish books and periodicals, much of which provides educational material for ourselves and our children. We can work early in the morning or late at night. We set our own price for our work, ensuring we have enough to sustain our family and to help those we care about. We're not, at the moment, what most would consider wealthy - the checkbook balance proves that. But we feel phenominally wealthy because we have the freedom to do nearly anything we want. Isn't that what wealth is all about?
It was never worth allowing a stranger to raise my children, not knowing what to expect from public school teachers from one year to the next and the hassle of co-ordinating everyone's movements in the mornings. Now that my husband is working from home full-time, it's even better. We've eliminated his commuting expenses - and with gas prices what they are, that's significant. He's much more productive because he's gained two hours each day not having to drive, which means better earning.
Home education is more expensive than public education... Or is it? We can borrow books from the library, which mitigates some of the expense. We have no hidden expenses - the odd field trips, hot lunches, and other expenses associated with school activities. They're certainly getting a private school education - an excellent private school education - at home. It would cost somewhere around $10K per year, per child for the same education and with 4 children of compulsory school age, that's a savings of $40,000 per year.
We don't put wear and tear on our vehicles, which cuts down on maintenance and repairs. We have time to grow and tend a garden (this is the year, I promise!), saving us several hundred dollars each year in food. We have changed our eating habits so that our big meal is at lunchtime, cutting down on leftovers, and improving our health. With fresh foods and better eating habits, limited contact with large groups of people carrying germs, we have far less downtime from illness and don't spend anything like the same amount on medical care or treatments. We save on health insurance because we're generally healthier and can choose more economical coverage. Because I'm home, I have time to do 'marathon cooking', which save several hundred dollars a month on groceries (nearly 50%) since there is almost NO waste and no fluff in the grocery list - again I can also control nutrition better this way. I use cloth diapers, saving hundreds of dollars over disposable, and being kinder to the environment. I sew, I knit, I embroider - we can make or make-over clothes.
My husband and I have fashioned a life based around our family life - we publish books and periodicals, much of which provides educational material for ourselves and our children. We can work early in the morning or late at night. We set our own price for our work, ensuring we have enough to sustain our family and to help those we care about. We're not, at the moment, what most would consider wealthy - the checkbook balance proves that. But we feel phenominally wealthy because we have the freedom to do nearly anything we want. Isn't that what wealth is all about?
posted by Nissa at 8:02 PM
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