Originally Posted by jojosmommy:
Because I am a Dave Ramsey nerd I would say that unless you have all your debts paid off, no car loans, no cc debts, no med bills, no misc school debts etc you should work to pay those things off. If you are spending money on fun things like you mentioned and want the time with the kiddos I would stop spending money on the extras for 3 months. See what it feels like to not have that money. Use the fun money you are currently earning to pay off some of the above mentioned debts or put it in savings if you don't have those debts. Then after three months of living like you will when you no longer have daycare income (ie less spending money, less luxury money) you can make a fair decision.
This is kind of what we're planning to do in the short-term future. There are two small loans I need to pay off within the next few weeks, and then we want to bank the rest of it until I do actually close. That money would be available if we need it until this other business (design & printing) gets going. It would also put us in the position of not having any "fun money" from now on, and it would give us an idea of whether it's feasible.
For those that have suggested downsizing, I'm hesitant to do that because I would have to give up all of the full-timers I have now and interview for those willing to come only 2-3 days/week, and that seems impractical for something that could be temporary. I could downsize the number of full-timers I have, from 5 to 2 or 3, but I'd still be working the same number of hours, for less money
. And really, if I keep doing daycare in any format, we'd still be sharing the house, I'd still be missing appointments, school assemblies, etc., and I still wouldn't have a whole lot of time to develop the printing company.
I could see converting the house back to a home, and then offering to do drop-in or occasional care for other providers who need a sub, or for parents who only need care once in awhile.
I think we'll do our "trial period" of not using daycare money for anything and see how it goes. I'd like to make a decision by the end of the month so that I can give two months notice for the end of the year. My contract only requires two weeks though. How much notice would you guys give?