I am a nurse and I work 3 days a week 12 hours. Dh and I are doing ok but there really isnt a whole lot of extra money right now and we have a few bills we would really like to get paid off, and we need a deck built and new furniture as ours isnt going to make it much longer. It is sooo bad I am embarrassed for anyone to even sit on it. Also dh needs some dental work done. I have the opportunity to work at another hospital 3 days a week 12 hours for about 4 weeks. It would be about 2 hours away. I would then be working 6 days a week for a month. But my take home pay for the month would be about $9000.00. We could really use it, but it would take me away from home ALOT for that month. I would also get a rental car and a hotel. DH could come up with kids on the weekends and have fun with the kids that way I would see them in the evenings. Still I probably wouldnt see my kids for more than an hour a day except one day a week. I also would have to take the whole month off of school. :roll: My kids are 3 and 5 ... What do you all think would you do it?? It would wipe out all our debt plus the dental work, deck and furniture would be paid for. ???? Jill
I wouldn't hesitate! If it would really help your family out and your husband is in support of it...I would say, go for it. Esp since its TEMPORARY. Yes, it would be working hard, for you...but you could always have that end date in your mind, ya know? And your kids are young...a month of school is not going to permanently damage them. What does your husband say?
Well.. I am a "you do what you have to do" person. "Have" being the weighted word. Have you considered the cost of the hotel, the gas, food, laundering, etc that you would need? If I were you, I would sit down and do the math for all of the take-home pay vs. living expenses and time frame.. then I would put that against the projected cost of the dental work/ furniture/ debt. If it was actually going to pay off the debt and clear me of my worries, and if we were talking about one month, I may do it, but only if it would not harm me or my child in some other way, kwim? I think you have to weigh all the costs. As far as something like that being "wrong".. you won't get that out of me, regardless, because I am from the "gotta work to eat" club, long-time member, and until recently, a lot of SAHM's would have not liked me much, because I had to work.. As a side note, there is no greater feeling than balancing what you "need" with what is really important, for me.
I'm with flowerchild. Personally if it was me the value of the time lost with my kids would be a huge factor when I weighed out the pros and cons. We do ok with money for the most part, we don't have much for extras, but there is a decent roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. When we think of what we could do with extra money from me working and then figure things like the cost of daycare for the kids if I went days or the loss of companion ship of hubby if I went nights then it is easier to see things are best with our tight budget.. but then your aren't talking long term... so that makes a big difference too. As far as furniture.. your kids are young, I would look into second hand stuff. We bought a second hand living room suit last Feb for 100 bucks, the people we bought it from paid over 1500 for it, we also bought our dining room set second hand. The table alone was 3,000 new, the chair over 100 each, and the hutch that was custom made and we paid 350 for it. Just a thought.
Well dh kinda leaves it up to me, he hasnt given a strong opinion either way. I think he wants me too, but would never say it. Also i forgot to say they pay for the hotel, and I get a rental car. I would have to buy food, laundry I would do at home. I wouldnt stay at the hotel every night just if I was working 2 in a row. I would have to pay for gas, but I would get an economical rental car of course, it probably would cost me about $40.00 in gas a week. It would cost if dh came up on the weekends if I was working a Sat/Sun for food and gas for them, but not hotel. Unless we brought food from home or something. I am worried about my kids not seeing me except one full day a week, and evenings. That is why I would only do it for a week. They have 4, 8 and 13 week assignments. I would never do it more than 4 weeks. Then depending on how it went I probably wouldnt do it again. My other option would be to go to CA and do per diem work which is $550/day bring home, they pay for hotel and car rental, but I pay for travel to get there and I would have to get a nursing license there and blah blah blah it seems like too much work. I could go out there and work 7 days straight and bring home $3850/ for a week. But then I have to minus alot more expenses so it would probably be about $3000. Which would do about 1/2 of what we need, but I would only miss my kids for a week. WWYD?
Hmm... Well I really don't know what I would do. One one hand, the month seems longer, but you would see your family through that time. A week seems shorter, but you would not. Also, with the month-long, most of your expenses would be covered, and with even a week in CA it may run you over 850, depending on what exactly you would need to pay for. Not trying to get too personal here, but is your debt of the kind which accumulates interest? Or are you just wanting to be out from under it? I think Sommer made a great point with the second-hand furniture. I know I had a CC once that I had to pay off in a lump sum or else I would continue to be buried for years..
Well actually maybe I am worried about me not seeing my kids... they might not notice =) Dh did say if I do the 4 week one, he would take a week off of work to do fun stuff with the kids. He has 3 more weeks of vacation, plus what he will get next year. (he gets alot of vacation, just low pay job) Also my mom said I could bring them there and she is only about 30-40 min away from where I would be working so I would actually get to see them more that way too. However I am worried about how hard it will be to get us all back on track with school and we are just learning to read, and doing so well, will I have to re-teach everything?? Crazy-mama- most of our furniture is second hand or dh made it. There is a new set we want though, dh really has his heart set on it. It would hold up forever, b/c of the way it is built. It is oak framed with cusions instead of a traditional couch. A local person builds it so we get a good deal, but we dont usually buy new stuff and we would NEVER put it on credit or anything. The deck has needed built for going on the second year. Right now the door opens to a 3 foot drop! LOL needless to say we dont really use that door. And the dental work- well that has to come first, as dh really needs repair work done, nothing for looks just for health. Now if I could spend that money friviously the way I wanted too--hmm that would be so fun.... but I am not even going there! Jill
No flower child we do not use credit cards. We pay cash for everything usually. But I have an $1800. medical bill, and dh is in school and that runs us about 1300 every semester (3 per yr) and we have been trying to pay that off b4 Jan so he can register for Spring semester. We did finally get it paid off. We have one other loan (other than house) on our truck--which we will never do again. We will always buy a car with cash from now on. (we did for my mini van) but we owe about 2000. on the truck loan. We will have that paid off by June but it would be nice to have it paid off sooner. The rest of the money would go for dental work (first dentist told us $10,000! we are getting other opinions though) and hopefully some for furniture. We do not have any other debt.
wow, thats a hard one, I don't know what I would do.. first of all they are young and school should be fun, so a few weeks off here shouldn't hurt a thing they could read to daddy couldn' they. I would be lost it has to be what your own gut says to do..
That is tough. Could your dh possibly "sell" his vacation time.. i.e. work instead of take it, and recieve his regular pay? My dh did that this year with his two weeks because we needed the money.. but I know that not all places will let you do that. Just a thought. I hear you on the dental bills. It is very hard without the insurance coverage! We easily paid 1000 last month on the three of us for visits. We don't use CC's either.. this was way back when I was 18, and I used one to buy a crib, etc., because I had no other means at the time. Needless to say, over the next few years, $800 turned into several thousand, so when I was able to, I paid it in full. I can certainly understand wanting to be out from under loans, as well. They can feel like a rope tightening!
I did not read the other respones because I was too quite to want to say: DO IT!!!!! OH MY GOSH....DO IT! I am in a similar situation as yourself and would love an opportunity like that and would NOT turn it down. I am so happy you have a solution! That is awesome! You will miss not seeing your kids so much but you will feel SOOOOOOO much better after it is over! So worth it!
yea I have to agree with Ava Rose, right now money is very hard for us, if anyone offered me anything right now I would jump right at it. to help my family...
I would do it. I think the kids missing you would be only a temporary thing. It's not like a thing they're going to remember the rest of their lives. And if for some reason they did, they would know you were helping the family be debt free. I mean, how many things can YOU remember from when you were 3 or 5? I don't remember much. I don't think it would be too traumatic for them. You could make it fun. DH could have them write you notes and draw pics and you could do the same to trade with them when you see each other (or mail them, either way). TO make the time apart not seem so bad.
I'm a "do what you have to do" type of person too. The kids are young enough that missing a month of school isn't going to matter in the long run. If there's things you really need the money for and it will really help out- which it sounds like it would, then I'd do it in a heartbeat. I had to work full time the first year we were stationed here. I HATED dropping dd off at daycare at 6:30am and not picking her up till after 4. But we needed to get out of debt and dh couldn't work a 2nd job. Dd was 3 1/2 at that time. The only thing she remembers about it how mean her first preschool techer was. The little time we did have together as a family we really made count. It's only a month. A month of you doing whatever you need to do to help out the financial situation. Don't feel guilty for doing that.
I just wanted to pipe in with another thought for you.. Remember that when you are doing anything to better the situation for your family and children, you are being a good mom, because you are loving your kids.. and it doesn't matter if you are doing it at home or at a job. That realization kept me going for years.
That is beautifully put!!!! You may even hear me applauding all the way from Ohio! Being a working mom or a stay at home mom does NOT make you a good or bad mom. If you are a good mom you will be a good mom no matter what.
I'd do it. Yeah, it sounds like a really long time, but it IS just 4 weeks. It'll go by faster than any of you is thinking it will. I personally think it would be worth it just to get the financial stress off your backs. The less stressful you are as a parent/teacher, the better job you're going to do. Your kids will enjoy the time with you more if you're not carrying a financial burden around with you. I'd think, as a kid, I'd rather see less of my mom for a month than deal with a stressed mom and dad for many months.
I'd do it too! Take it from the wife of a soldier who has been gone 3 of the last 5 years to the Middle East.....my older kids remember Daddy being gone. My son has no clue. He remembers some of the last deployment because he was older but in another 6 months, he won't (he's 5). I realize you aren't accustomed to being away from them (and either am I) but 4 weeks in the scheme of things (with the opportunity to see your family from time to time) is nothing compared to the tremendous help and stability those 4 weeks of pay can provide. If you were doing it just to buy a big plasma tv or something, I'd say no (lol) but for essential health concerns (dentist) and to get rid of debt (to help with college, etc.)....go for it. Rhonda C.
plasma tv- hmm no time for that If I could spend it friviously I would get a boob job LOL After nursing and losing weight the girls need help! LOL anyway thanks girls youve made me feel a ton better! Jill
