Nix9to5

WAHM Tip #1: Start Now

// June 13th, 2010 // Money Matters, Saving, Work at Home

On the About Nix9to5 page, I wrote that this blog is about what works and what doesn’t as I try to become a work at home mom.  Since I have finally accomplished the goal of working from home, I can tell you a little bit about what I have learned as I tried to get to this point.

One of the first things I want to tell those of you considering trying to stay home or work from home is to start now.  Even if you think it is impossible–like I did–start now.  There are several reasons not to procrastinate your efforts.

First, you won’t accomplish anything until you get started.  My husband and I were married for 13 years before we had the Bear.  You would think that, in that time, we would have been able to save up a little money so that when we finally decided we were grown up enough to have a child, I would have been able to stay home with him.  Unfortunately, we did not plan ahead, we did not save, and we did not think we made enough money for me to be able to “quit my day job,” anyway.  Along the way, I heard people say that, if someone wants to be a stay at home mom, they should start banking mom’s paycheck at least a year in advance.  I think that is fantastic advice–but for us, it was not possible.  Therefore, what was the point?  I’d NEVER be able to stay at home, right?

Well, here’s why I’m telling you to start now:  you don’t have to bank your entire paycheck if you start early enough.  If I had known how much money I could have been saving with couponing and strategic shopping, I could have been putting $400/month in savings years ago.  If  I had been doing that sinde HH and I got married, since we took so long to have Bear, I would have had $62,400 in savings when he came along–that’s without interest.

Kind of makes me want to throw up to think about it.

Even if you can’t put aside $400/month for 13 years, think about what you could accomplish in just a couple of years with a little dedicated effort.

Plus, not only can you set aside what you are saving at the stores, you can save the money you make from odd jobs, garage sales, and any other extras along the way.

That’s what I’ve been doing–and in  less than 6 months, I’ve been able to save enough extra that I feel a little more secure in being able to quit a job with a steady paycheck.  The money in savings isn’t going to allow me to stay at home without working, but it will be there to fill in the gaps if there are any shortfalls in a particular month.  Or months.

Additionally, by starting now, you won’t have to try to cram so much extra work into such a short amount of time.  Rather than trying to do eleventy-hundred jobs at once, you could pick up one little part-time gig and save that money.  Less work spread over a longer period of time might make the transition less stressful, because if you are going to work from home, you can pretty much guarantee an overlapping of jobs between quitting your old job and beginning your new one(s).   Trying to overlap too many jobs can make you nearly lose your mind.  You’ll be exhausted, and you’ll cry a lot.  Or so I’ve been told.

That crazy busy workload as you try to transition is something nearly everyone who tries to launch their own business or work from home will have to deal with.  It is also the subject of a future WAHM tip from Nix9to5.  For now, though, I have to do some copywriting,  housecleaning, grocery list-making, cooking, showering, leg shaving, and toenail painting.  And while it might  not all get done, I’m making sure the leg shaving gets accomplished.