budget and financial help please?

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txgirl

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My husband makes enough money to pay the bills and that is it. We only have one car and it is paid off. Our goal is in 2 years to buy a house and have a big downpayment.

I stay at home because we only have one car and cannot afford another one and cannot afford daycare for our son. If I was to work 40 hours at 7.00/hour(that is the pay around here-rural area) I would end up barely making anything after gas/daycare expenses.

What are we supposed to do? How can we make money and save in this situation? Our only bills are rent, utlities, gro, gas and st. loans(mine) We have no debt
 
What do you do right now? You are staying home and watching your kids. There is your answer. Could you add another kid to your existing day care? And get paid for watching that kid(s)?

Do your research and find out what you need to do to open your own small daycare. In most states you can babysit for one family without the day care license but you should definitely do a CPR class at the Red Cross and get the guidelines for day cares in your state.

One word of advise: Only take on kids from strangers. Your friends and family usually have a real problem when it comes to paying up.
Make sure that you have a contract that is signed by the parents that specifies the conditions and how much you charge per week or hour and when the charges need to be paid. Upfront flat fee for the week is the safest bet for you. But don't get taken advantage off. A weekly flat fee does not include overnight stays or more than 10 hour stays in a day.

And keep in mind that the fees need to cover all extra expenses like food and an emergency stash of diapers... but you will need to show a profit after the expenses are deducted or else you are not running a good business. (Parents need to bring diapers and formula but you need to have some emergency supplies and you need to feed older kids their meals and snacks).

If you have a bigger house and a decent play yard.... then definitely go for your day care license and run a real day care with up to 12 kids for as long as your own kids are too young and keep you at home.
 
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