Mission SAHM Update: This Thing Called Money…

Anything worth having is worth the wait, and that, loyal readers, is what we’re doing. Waiting. Not long, just two more months.

I know, I know, I already said that I was going to quit my job at the end of June. And I wanted to. Man, how I wanted to. But there’s this thing called reality. And the reality is: we’re not financially ready quite yet.

See, June was a bit more of a challenge for us than April or May. There was this thing called vacation wherein we visited my father who lives far away, some unexpected car repairs, and I’ll be honest: we were lazy and ate out more than we budgeted for in June.

And while we still came in under budget in terms of living on just The Hubs’ salary, we fell a little short of our six-months-of-expenses rainy day fund. Because the reality is this: we needed this three-months-on-one-salary trial to determine precisely what amount six-months-of-expenses would be.

Having documented and completed three months of our spending habits we now have an exact number. We averaged our total spending for April, May and June and then multiplied it by six. Our actual savings came out a bit short.

Two more months of working should easily make up the difference.

So that’s the plan. I will officially be a stay-at-home-mom as of September 1 – and oh, let me tell you that day will be glorious!

We have a firm, realistic date and a plan – something that in spite of the fact that it means I will miss the summer at home, is an incredibly wonderful thing, and I’m thankful for it. Because, while I want to stay home with my baby girl more than anything (I hate missing just a single moment of her life), I want to be able to do so responsibly.

Remember, this is a choice we’re making because it’s what’s best for our family. And in this economy, job security is not what it used to be. That is something we need to take into consideration. We certainly don’t expect The Hubs to suddenly lose his job without warning, but in this day and age, it’s becoming a more regular occurrence and we need to be prepared in the meantime. This rainy day fund, six months of living expenses that will not be touched, will give us the padding and time to make a sudden transition should that ever be required of us.

So yes, our plans have been delayed, and I’m not going to tell you that it’s not devastating a bummer, because it is. But on the positive side of things, I know that when I’m finally able to leave my job on the last day of August, I will be able to plunge confidently into this next phase because we took this time to prove to ourselves that we could do it.

We will be prepared financially for any curveballs life throws at us. And there will be curveballs – you can count on it. With these extra two months we’re taking to plan for them though, we’ll be able to tell whether or not to swing.

This post is linked to Thank You Journal over at Alli ‘n Son. Head on over there to see what others are thankful for.