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Can You Afford to Work?
by Leslie Truex
Would you send your children to childcare for 45 hours per week so that
you could work 40 hours per week to make a measly $3.80 per hour? Of
course not, you say. But how do you know you aren't doing just that? I
certainly never thought as a professional social worker that I would be
making only $3.80 per hour. But that is exactly what I was doing.
When I worked as a social worker, I made about $28,000 per year. Not a
great salary but, combined with my husband's, was a decent income. So,
why was I always broke? Why did we have a good income but couldn't
afford to go on vacation? Worse, I couldn't afford to take the full 12
weeks allotted for maternity leave when my second child was born. The
reason was that I had no clue how much I spent to work outside the home.
Here is what I paid each year so that I could work:
* $3,000 for Federal and State government income tax, Social Security
payments and Medicare tax.
* $6,000 for childcare
* $2,400 extra for car payments, car insurance, and personal property
tax for a newer car.
* $1,700 for commuting 10 miles a day.
* $1,000 for clothes, dry cleaning and other items and services related
to my professional appearance.
* $1,000 for lunches.
* $2,600 for convenience foods and dining out because I was too tired to
cook.
* $2,400 for I-deserve-this-because-I-work-so-hard items and guilt
treats (toys, special outings) for my kids.
Total cost of work: $20,100!
I spent $20,100 to work! That equaled an income of $7,900 per year, $152
per week... a full $3.80 per hour!
Use the list below to calculate how much you pay to work.
Yearly Salary:
Work-related Expenses:
Federal Taxes:
State Taxes:
Local Taxes:
Social Security:
Medicare Tax:
Child Care:
Commuting (toll, parking, 2nd car):
Gasoline and mileage:
Car insurance (extra car, nicer car):
Clothing expenses (cleaning, new):
Gifts, special friends etc at work:
Convenience food for meals:
Eating Out:
Housekeeping help:
Grooming needs (hair, nails etc):
Guilt items for kids and family:
Extra cost related to lack of time to research cheaper prices:
Extra cost related to hiring help instead of making repairs yourself:
Total Expenses related to work:
Actual contribution to family income (salary - total work expenses =
family contribution):
What did you discover? Is one-third, one-half or more of your income
going to pay expenses just so you can work? It can be pretty depressing
to learn you work hard but reap little reward for it. However, if
working outside the home is costing you a lot of money, working at home
may be the answer.
Before you quit your job, you need to determine how much your family
needs to survive. This requires making a family budget with covering
every nickel and dime. Once you have your budget, you can calculate how
much money, if any, you would need to earn from home if you quit your
job. Take your Total Expenses and subtract the amount of money that
comes into your home without your income. For example, if your monthly
expenses are $2,500 and your spouse earns $1,900, you would need to earn
a net amount of $600 ($2,500 - $1,900 = $600). Or would you? While $600
isn't that much to earn it isn't that much to save either.
Look over your budget again and see if there are areas that you can save
money. Can you survive with one car or a cheaper car? Can you cut your
grocery bill? Can you use the library to borrow books and videos for
free instead of paying for them? Once you stay home, you will have more
time to bargain shop for clothes, repair services, and other needs
cutting costs on those items.
After doing the exercises above I discovered I could work outside the
home 40 hours per week to take home less than half my salary or I could
work from home part-time, be with my kids, and earn about the same
amount of take home pay. It wasn't too hard of a decision to make.
About the author
Leslie Truex has telecommuted for online companies as well as offline in
the areas of education and social work. She is the author of "Jobs At
Home: A Complete Guide to Finding or Creating a Work-At-Home Job" which
provided step-by-step details for finding and obtaining a work-at-home
job including over 150 telecommuting job resources. Visit her web site
at http://wahsuccess.com
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