Can we afford to SAH?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been a non-practicing attorney for going on twelve years now. This allows me to devote my time to raising our children in a way I did not when I had the obligations of a full-time professional commitment. My spouse of twenty-plus years is blessed with a career they absolutely love, and that pays well.

I meant to add this: When I first left my career OP, our finances were no stronger than yours and we had more children. Trust that God will find a way to provide when you make the choices that are right for you.

What are you envisioning as strong finances to SAH? A DH making $250k is barely enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been a non-practicing attorney for going on twelve years now. This allows me to devote my time to raising our children in a way I did not when I had the obligations of a full-time professional commitment. My spouse of twenty-plus years is blessed with a career they absolutely love, and that pays well.

I meant to add this: When I first left my career OP, our finances were no stronger than yours and we had more children. Trust that God will find a way to provide when you make the choices that are right for you.

What are you envisioning as strong finances to SAH? A DH making $250k is barely enough?

No, not at all. In fact, I specifically say that we were able to make it work on a similar amount and with a bigger family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL. What government job has a 250k salary? Did I miss something? Who can't live on 250k in this area? You didn't even say what your mortgage is, or what your budget is. You just want a reaction. You can live on a 60k salary on this area if you want to, you just have to budget.

This seems like a trolly post.

Not a troll, just wondering how expensive kids are. I'm not a mom yet so I put it out there. DH's salary can obviously support the two of us, but what if we become a family of 4?

We are a family of four living quite well on less than $200k.

Same here. I don't feel like we are "sacrificing" anything.

[Anonymous]

Still not seeing where 250K income as a Fed is coming from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An SES at the SEC is paid at close to this level, I expect awards would get you there.

Is anyone else worried that a family that is possibly employed at the SEC cannot do the budget math for an HHI below 300K?

-Grumpy that government physicists don't make this kind of money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An SES at the SEC is paid at close to this level, I expect awards would get you there.

Is anyone else worried that a family that is possibly employed at the SEC cannot do the budget math for an HHI below 300K?

-Grumpy that government physicists don't make this kind of money

Government biologist here. Yeah, if this were our decision the question would have been whether we could get by on a salary of $80k. DH has more promotion potential than me but according to our calculations we'd have a hard time saving for college on his salary alone, and just less flexibility for unexpected expenses. OP it is really not that hard to sit down and do the math.

[Anonymous]

He could be a physician at the VA in a specialty like cardiothoraic surgery or orthopedic surgery. They are paid on a different pay scale than the GS and make significantly less than they would in the private sector (often half) but do make up to $350K as federal employees. However, there are only a handful of these in the VA system so it would be exceedingly rare for OP's husband to be one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still not seeing where 250K income as a Fed is coming from.

I think CFPB and OCC are somehow able to pay higher than the $230K pay cap that other government agencies have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An SES at the SEC is paid at close to this level, I expect awards would get you there.

Is anyone else worried that a family that is possibly employed at the SEC cannot do the budget math for an HHI below 300K?

-Grumpy that government physicists don't make this kind of money

The SK scale tops out at 235.

[Anonymous]

Govt doesn't necessarily mean Fed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Govt doesn't necessarily mean Fed

Right. Could be defense contractor.

[Anonymous]

So irresponsible to quit when you make 40% of HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So irresponsible to quit when you make 40% of HHI.

Regardless of the actual salaries involved. Oh wait...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trust that God will find a way to provide when you make the choices that are right for you.

This is just the worst advice! What about all those folks living in poverty?

Ditto. Nutty advice.

[Anonymous]

OP you can't afford a nanny if you stay home.