Day 3 Will You Keep Working?

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CRUNCH THE NUMBERS

Whether or not you’ll be staying home full-time or working full-time, the new duties you take on for Baby are worth something—in particular, the money you save by not hiring someone else to do them.

We’ve developed a calculator below that will determine the value of all the extra work you’re doing. Input all the new duties you expect to be taking on and how much time you imagine they’ll require. (When you become a mom, and you see how it all really shakes out, you’ll want to recalculate, but for now just go for a rough estimate.) The calculator will then determine how much you would be paid if you received a salary for all that you contribute to the household.

RESOURCES: BABY EXPENSES

• Budgeting for a Baby
• The New-Baby Expenses No One Told You About
• Can You Live With One Income?
• 7 Things Every Mom Should Know Before She Quits Her Job
• Does It Cost More to Raise a Boy or Girl?
• Two Mothers Debate Staying at Home Versus Working

We’re basing our calculations on the national average salary for each of the professions below (right column), but you can change the base salary if you know that it is different in your city or region. As you input each number, you can watch your “mom salary” automatically change below.

Although moms are traditionally not compensated for their work, as you can see, what they do is very valuable. If you had to hire someone to do all the things you’ll do as a mother, it could be quite costly.

CONGRATS DAY 3 IS COMPLETE!

Now that you’ve crunched some numbers, you might have a better idea of whether or not you’ll go back to work after Baby is born. Whether or not you decide to stay home, every mom could use some tips to keep from feeling overwhelmed.

BE A HAPPY MOM

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