Yesterday, I had to let our nanny go. It was really hard, since she’s been with us for three years. However, in a nice twist of events, our family is going to get to spend more time together.
When I mentioned that Scott was considering switching to a new career [1], but ultimately passed on the opportunity [2], I casually mentioned that we were tossing around some other ideas…
We finally decided our plan for the upcoming year. After the baby is born this summer, Scott is going use FMLA to cut back his work schedule for the next year. He’s going to take off a month, then work 4 days a week until next summer.
He’ll still be entitled to full benefits. His leave will be unpaid, but since we’ll both be home, we’re going to let our nanny go, which will free up about $7,000 per year. (Even after I quit my job, we kept our nanny on two mornings per week so that I could write.)
Once you consider taxes, retirement contributions, and the cost of our nanny, our monthly cash flow won’t actually be reduced by much!
However, the part that is the most exciting right now is that he’ll be able to enjoy life even more, by working less!
By the way, we gave our nanny 3 months notice so that she’ll have plenty of time to find another family. We didn’t want to cause her any money troubles by being out of work.
Saving
- Financial Literacy Month Continues and Thoughts on Emergency Savings [3]
- Save Money on Moving [4]
- How To Make Cheap Phone Calls and Lower Your Phone Bill [5]
Investing
- Dividend Payout Timing for the Monthly Cashflow [6]
- IRA vs Roth IRA [7]
- Target-Date Funds Aren’t That Safe [8]
- 529 Plans: Ranking the Best and Worst [9]
By the Numbers
- 5 Key Sacrifices to Make if You Really Want to Save Money [10]
- 28 Ways to Slay the Delay [11]
- 4 Ways to Lower Your Auto Insurance Premiums That Your Agent Won’t Tell You [12]
- The Three Most Influential Lessons My Parents Taught Me [13]
- 2009 Tax Brackets [14]