<p>JS–If you could do gov’t work that didn’t require briefs (which by definition are time dependent and stressful), that would be a thought. Of course, regulatory work is not for everyone!</p>
<p>I recently cleaned out the closets and made about $1000 on ebay selling professional wear that I knew I would never be able to fit into again! Also going to sell some of the D’s gently used toys that are popular there (who would have thought those Duplo dinosaurs would fetch me $100+?)</p>
<p>Also - so glad I went with the MIL to the post-holiday sales last year, I have enough stored from that to have about 85% of my shopping done without buying anything more</p>
<p>Finally, happy hunter H has filled the freezer for the first time in years - anyone with good venison recipes PM me!!</p>
<p>Thanks, ellemenope. The thing --once you’ve done a lot of something, you tend to go back to it (at least I do…). 
But, good point to think outside of the previous-work-box. Appreciate that.</p>
<p>Rachacha–that is an awesome return on your professional wear! I’ve been doing Craig’s List (made $95 on an old, outdoor climber) but I did hear you can make more on ebay. Did you do local pickup only? I just don’t care for the idea of packing up all the stuff, driving to the P.O. & sending it. But–your return on your Duplo’s is fantastic too!!</p>
<p>We’ve been unloading a bit of stuff that way. It’s rewarding to get even a small payment ($5 for coffeemaker, e.g.) on something you’d otherwise donate to Good Will.</p>
<p>Well, now, if you are quoting “the Tightwad Gazette”, Jolynne, you are becoming hard core! Personally, I can only wash out those Ziploc bags so many times before they get trashed.
It sounds as if one big concern for you is how YOU will adjust to work stress, and balance yourself. That is a legitimate concern, particularly if your family is OK, but not wealthy, with the status quo - if you know that briefs stress you out - why do it? Maybe look on the next few months as an opportunity to look creatively at what work you could do, how much money do you really need to supplement the family kitty, and what will give you the most bang for your time. Lord knows, I wish I had that luxury.</p>
<p>I loved reading The Tightwad Gazette just for the sheer ingenuity of it all. I;m not sure that patrolling those yard sales is quite as cost effective as it once was with gas prices sky high. It is funny what habits you grow with - some of the things she mentions I thought ‘Doesn’t everybody do that???’, while other “money saving tips” left me horrified.</p>
<p>Jolynne Smyth, “It’s breaking my heart to think of 7 year old in after-care until 6 p.m. (after leaving the house at 8:30 a.m.”</p>
<p>Both of my kids are done well with both of us always working full time. Not 8:30am, rather 7:30am including summers in camps and going straight from school to EC’s - eating brown bag dinner in car. Most days my D. was out of house for 12 - 14 hours. Kids are more resilient than we tend to think. I believe that they appreciate time that you spend with them. D. ended up graduating at the top of her HS class. She is a Sophmore in college and still doing very well academically and engaged in tons of EC’s, including the ones from her childhood. In regard to my much older S. - we were never at home at all, both working full time and going to school ourselves. And house might be taken care by Cleanning Lady (I gave up shopping, but not her).<br>
Your kids and house will be just fine. Everybody will adjust. They will appreciate what you are doing for them even more. The most important is to be satisfied with your own life. If you do not, that unhappiness will spill out to the rest of family. I have to work to be happy. You have to ask yourself if this is the case with you. The best wishes!</p>
<p>MiamiDAP–thank you for that encouragement and for sharing your family’s positive experience. I too know several families in which both parents worked demanding jobs (dean of college, lawyers, etc.) and the kids are some of the nicest, smartest, most compassionate (& achieving) that I’ve met. It absolutely can work. Whether it can for me (& my 7 year old–she’s the one I really worry about) is something to think/analyze long & hard. Very true about finding your personal happiness/satisfaction.</p>
<p>cangel–I’ve read the Tightwad Gazette for years! When we first switched to one income after my daughter was born, we accounted for each and every penny & I could feed the family (well) on about $60 a week. I really do get most of my clothes at yard sales & consignment stores & feel I dress better/more stylishly than I would ever be able to afford if I went retail! (due to yard sales stocked w/the barely-worn cast-offs of the many indulged teens in our area!). Currently – the 3 volume Tightwad Gazette is on my kitchen table–for inspiration and ‘getting me back on track.’</p>
<p>I worked out of home for 7 years and I have always been the major bread winner in my house. We cut out on a lot of nice to haves when I worked out of home - I was making 40% less - but I was able to drive my kids around and do all the mommy stuff. I was very happy until one day I stood in front of a handbag that I really wanted and couldn’t afford to buy. It reminded me how I used to get dressed up to go to work, how people used to listen to me at meetings (really listen) and have lunches or dinners with my colleagues. It was my sign that it was time for me to go back full time - my kids were older and they were start to have their own world. I missed my world.</p>
<p>It was a big change around the house when I first went back. My kids had to be more organized - no more telling us the day before art supplies/class snacks they need for next day, they needed to remember when they had to be at different ECs. It was hard on them, but I think it also made them more responsible.</p>
<p>I went back to work not just for my family, it was also what I wanted for myself.</p>
<p>I’m on my own and work at home most of the time…and make almost as much as I did in my crazy corporate job. My clothing and dry cleaning budgets are WAY down. And I make it a point to schedule lunches with colleagues and visit my clients in person so I don’t become a hermit! I’m very spoiled at this point and can’t see going back to an office job. I’ve kept this going for years and I hope I can sustain it going forward. I do sometimes miss the community at work - and I find I need to work a bit harder to keep connected.
But the pros far outweigh the cons. And I’m lucky to be able to take advantage of my h’s “bennies”.<br>
Jolynne - I have the tightwad books and used them when my son was small and I was not working. Made the robot costume for halloween! I think those books might come back in favor now that things are so bleak out there. And, good luck to you in figuring out your next move!</p>
<p>We haven’t changed our lifestyle but we’ve lived a frugal lifestyle for 20 years which resulted in a lot of savings which has taken any worry out of funding college expenses.</p>
<p>I have been a part-time (25 hours/week) lawyer for a large law firm for over ten years now, started when my kids were 6 and 9. I had worked full-time for nearly 20 years, a partner for 16 years. My practice area lends itself nicely to telecommuting, and when I put those hours in is mostly in my control. That flexibility was the key to the arrangement for me. My youngest is now a HS Junior. But I don’t see how I could go back to full-time work. I added so many other things to my life, church choir, art (sell watercolors) after I went part-time, that I just don’t see how I could give that up for more money. And there is a huge administrative side to law practice that just is not fun and wastes a boatload of time.</p>
<p>We skipped the vacation this year and decided not to replace my old minivan. Copays on ds’s medical bills, plus all of the extra stuff needed that’s not covered, have wiped out almost all other spending. Groceries and home repair stuff are the bulk of my expenditures. Christmas shopping will be cut way back this year.</p>
<p>After being at home full time for nearly 25 yrs., I am wondering about reentering the workforce. However, various health issues will make that difficult. </p>
<p>We had to move last year, and are finally under contract on our former home. The loss will exceed $200K, if we close. At least we were conservative about that mortgage and won’t have to take funds to closing. Things could be worse.</p>
<p>Jolynne, I left law 16 years ago for more time for family. I had gone from large law firm to in house counsel, and that still was too much for me (plus commute). I really wanted to telecommute, and even back then, I knew it could be done, but the General Counsel was unwilling to even try. I had my MBA as well, and “for fun” I began to work in my husband’s medical practice. This of course expanded to much more time, but I always was able to balance work with child care. I had some regular child care arrangements, so that my time there was more or less set (except for illnesses), and I did a lot of work at home.</p>
<p>If you are not set on the big bucks, you could try to work in a small medical office in the billing/collections end, if you are willing to work for a lower wage that an attorney. Usually, the potential applicants for such positions lack higher education. Where we work in the suburbs, salary requirements for good workers with only high school are fairly high. If you tried for something like this, it may not necessarily have to be done in their office, you might be able to work at least some from home. You might work out some creative compensation too if you are good at it.</p>
<p>The best part time law gig I ever heard of was a job sharing at one of the big pharmaceutical houses. Two days one week and three the next, shared between two women. I would have liked to try something like that, but I guess that the opportunity is rare.</p>
<p>People in my old law firm also worked part time 40 hours per week. Of course the money is better than what I make, but it is not everything. My salary is not like a 25 year law grad, but neither is my lifestyle (fortunately).</p>
<p>Thanks much for those personal experiences and encouragement. It means a lot! </p>
<p>Since I can substitute for a few days (no school) I’m going to focus on ramping up the frugality in our house, so two full-time jobs won’t be a ‘necessity’ driven by the purchases of indulgences. :-)</p>
<p>Just finished creating a family budget on excel. And–as I told my husband—it’s a wise investment of my time right now to be looking for thousands of $$ in scholarship for son for college, rather than (at this moment) earning a pittance as a sub. Although, that pittance will surely be helpful, soon! I figure, for each day I work, I can pay off the cost of one of son’s college apps/ACT score requests. lol. (true).</p>
<p>I am cutting back a lot. Holidays are downscaled. No more extra spending. I go to the Salvation Army on half price Wednesdays if the kids need clothes and ask parents of kids who are a bit larger than my two younger ones if they have outgrown items. I just got boots and other things that way. I’ve always cooked a lot, but have planned my meals even more cost effectively. Not buying a new car. Putting off some repairs and replacements. Cut back on cable. Movies only with coupons. We are holding tightly onto the cash. Have to. Taxes for house went up. Had hoped to sell house this year, and market tanked. H’s bonus will be trimmed. Anything in stocks has gone way down. Needed to do some emergency repairs and had some other things that needed to be done that were not in the budget. Am hoping H gets enough in budget for some breathing room. We are considered well to do, however, we are stuck in some high fixed costs right now.</p>
<p>We are always frugal but we borrowed money when W asked us to, and bought a new car last month (Prius) when W again asked us to spend money but save oil. Doesn’t seem to help.</p>
<p>One thing that really helped this year was having a Christmas club. I put $25 dollars a week in it, and just got a check for $1275. Since I am a really frugal shopper, that gives me a extra money for the holiday dinners as well. </p>
<p>I have to admit , after being so tight this year, to the point of excluding almost everything, it’s kind of fun to spend a little. I’ve been enjoying buying pretty things for my girls with no guilt. I’m still shopping for bargains so that I can get myself a new winter coat as well.</p>
<p>This is the 3rd year I have done the Christmas club. If your bank does not offer it, you can open an ING account online and do essentially the same thing.</p>
<p>Vderon–I like those too. You can start them for large purchases, also. We did an auto-savings into a “Christmas-club-type” account to fund the purchase of a new dog (ultimately didn’t get the dog, but accumulated a decent amount of $$!).</p>
<p>Jolynne - if you keep the budget, how much are your groceries nowdays?</p>
<p>I’m trying to be more careful or observant of spending. H isn’t quite on board, but I’m working on him. He spends money more freely than I do. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease last summer, and that means I can’t eat anything containing wheat, barley, rye or (most) oats. So that really limits what I can eat at a restaurant. I think we’ve saved a lot in this regard already, as we rarely go out to eat nowadays.</p>
<p>I work part-time. Starting last May, I picked up an extra day a week (now I work 3 days a week), so that is helpful in contributing to our bottom line, too.</p>
<p>We are also savers but find we are spending now and getting good deals. We are looking for a new car for D2 to take to college next fall and will be putting in a new hardwood floor in the dining room before graduation. Our retired handyman is looking for work so we plan on helping keep him busy this winter with little projects. I feel really bad for those who are retired!</p>