Anonymous wrote:I've read and followed some of Ramsey's philosophies. He's great for getting out of debt, bad for long term investing.

Are you willing to post your budget here? There are probably places to cut and rearrange so you aren't broke. You may need to get a job opposite your DH so that you can bring in some income as well. Retail is hiring like mad and would be getting paid almost immediately.

You need a snowball to pay off the debt, but you need an emergency fund first.

This is the answer. 2nd (but not one that starts as early as 3:00 — they do exist) or 3rd shift. Almost no one on DCUM is ever willing to do it, though.

I'm too lazy to read the whole thread OP.

Sounds like you need to get a job and find a part-time nanny for like 2-5:30pm. Maybe that could be $1500-2000 or less, and your take home income would be at least $1000/month more than that I'm guessing. I'd try that and pay off your credit cards.

Also, consider when your interest only period on the HELOC will end. If it's soon, eventually you may need to move into a cheaper home to live more within your means. I'm sorry though you're going through this.

Anonymous wrote:
Substitute teach. If you can commit to that even maybe 2 days a week, the same days, I bet a school would be thrilled to have that reliability

Depending on where she is after taxes it may be like $150 a week. It’s not nothing but not enough to make a dent. She needs a full time job and to accept there will be sacrifices and hard times.

This. Once you have children you have made the decision to sacrifice and that there will be hard times. Lots of women and men are doing this. OP, you have a degree that is in demand. You might not love teaching, but maybe with a different mindset you can do what you need to do for your family. Find a preschool/daycare that is all day for the preschooler. The need for money is not going away if you have several children. You need to get started working somewhere and your highest potential value right now is in school. There are plenty of jobs out in the suburbs if you don't like the city schools. Plenty.

You’d make bank as a nanny.

How much is your mortgage? How much does your DH make? How many kids do you have?

OP, is the prek child autistic or have another type of special need? If not, pull them out of prek and save the money to repair your windows. I would actually look into an evening gig. Can you tutor in the evenings for one or two hours between 7pm and 9pm? You can also tutor on weekends. Or get a weekend job and have your DH take the weekends with thr kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a background in education why not tutor kids after school?

What do I do with my own kids after school in that scenario?

Tutor at your home and keep them occupied with tv. When I was in high school my SAT tutor had kids and it wasn’t a big deal. You seem incapable of coming up with any solution and just have tons of excuses.

That’s just not realistic with multiple little kids, including one who is autistic and ADHD. You can think it’s an excuse if you like. I’m not comfortable charging parents $80-100/hr for sessions that could potentially include several distracting interruptions.

So tutor in the evenings when your husband gets home from work

Or on saturdays and sundays while husband looks after kids

What does you spouse think about fact you guys are broke and you arent working while the kids are in school?

She could also try doing TEFL/English tutoring via zoom with students who are in another time zone where it may work with her schedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a background in education why not tutor kids after school?

What do I do with my own kids after school in that scenario?

Tutor at your home and keep them occupied with tv. When I was in high school my SAT tutor had kids and it wasn’t a big deal. You seem incapable of coming up with any solution and just have tons of excuses.

That’s just not realistic with multiple little kids, including one who is autistic and ADHD. You can think it’s an excuse if you like. I’m not comfortable charging parents $80-100/hr for sessions that could potentially include several distracting interruptions.

So tutor in the evenings when your husband gets home from work

Or on saturdays and sundays while husband looks after kids

What does you spouse think about fact you guys are broke and you arent working while the kids are in school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is full of excuses.

+1. You should teach of you are that desperate. I know it’s a tough career but your kids in elem should have before/after care and what is up with preschool? It’s free but not the same school as your older kid? If you’re paying for preschool then the answer right there is pull your kid out

Right, if you’re not going to work and preschool isn’t free, pull the kid out of preschool. It’s not a necessity.

Or, get an all day preschool option and go be a teacher

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - my kids are in different schools bc I have preschool and elementary aged kids. 2 more years until they’re all in elementary. Pre kids I was a public school teacher in a different city. I have a masters degree. I have no interest in returning to teaching. I will do anything work wise but I’m reluctant to take a job with strict hours. My husband has zero leave left after our year from h3ll. Happy to do some household repairs myself (like painting) but can’t replace the two broken windows on my own.

Substitute teaching at one of your kids' schools would be a good option. I know you don't want to return to teaching, but it's a bridge that allows you to earn some money until your kids are all in the same school and you can use aftercare for all of them.

I signed up to sub this fall. But can’t do full days bc of preschool pick up.

You know there are plenty of parents out there who work even when their kids are in preschool? If you were working full time as a teacher you could afford after school care.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - my kids are in different schools bc I have preschool and elementary aged kids. 2 more years until they’re all in elementary. Pre kids I was a public school teacher in a different city. I have a masters degree. I have no interest in returning to teaching. I will do anything work wise but I’m reluctant to take a job with strict hours. My husband has zero leave left after our year from h3ll. Happy to do some household repairs myself (like painting) but can’t replace the two broken windows on my own.

We don’t always get what we want. You have the ability to teach, plenty of people do jobs they don’t like out of necessity. Get a teaching job and put the kids in after school care. In the meantime, sub.

What kind of reputable PT remote work is out there? OP, you are not alone. Plenty of SAHMs run into financial trouble. Especially with multiple children and special needs. Nobody plans for that and it’s much harder to juggle than people realize. It likely makes the most sense for you to stay home a couple more years. Make ends meet by working weekends and doing remote work if you can find something decent.

Get a job. Any job. Work nights. Tutor. Be a driver.

No after school activities. You can’t afford them.

How broken are your windows? Can they wait?

No eating out.

I think you are scared and you should not be. Take Dave ramsays advice to get out of debt and your head above water.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a background in education why not tutor kids after school?

What do I do with my own kids after school in that scenario?

Tutor at your home and keep them occupied with tv. When I was in high school my SAT tutor had kids and it wasn’t a big deal. You seem incapable of coming up with any solution and just have tons of excuses.

That’s just not realistic with multiple little kids, including one who is autistic and ADHD. You can think it’s an excuse if you like. I’m not comfortable charging parents $80-100/hr for sessions that could potentially include several distracting interruptions.

Sometimes religious organization have free babysitters for parents in need. Is there one you can real out to or work with?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a background in education why not tutor kids after school?

What do I do with my own kids after school in that scenario?

Tutor at your home and keep them occupied with tv. When I was in high school my SAT tutor had kids and it wasn’t a big deal. You seem incapable of coming up with any solution and just have tons of excuses.

That’s just not realistic with multiple little kids, including one who is autistic and ADHD. You can think it’s an excuse if you like. I’m not comfortable charging parents $80-100/hr for sessions that could potentially include several distracting interruptions.