IT IS POSSIBLE
In this article, I will show you that dreams of freedom are not whimsical, they are very much attainable. It all begins with proper financial literacy, the courage to take action, and the willingness to forego nonsense consumerist luxuries. No one is going to hand you your dreams, you have to make them happen, with God’s help of course.
NOT BECOMING THE CEO THEY WANTED YOU TO MARRY
You may have discovered that unlike what you were told all your life, there is little joy and fulfillment in becoming the rich man your mother wanted you to marry (in the word of Cher). Rather, for you, like me and most women, certainly not all, a peaceful and quaint life taking care of our family and community is much more satisfying.
Picture having more time in your day for your husband, your children, and even if you don’t have those yet, for your community, for yourself, for the arts, for long meditative walks, for caregiving to sick relatives, and volunteering at charities both local and abroad. You may dream of a life where your days don’t consist of the endless drudgery of meetings and a cubicle that reminds you of a casket. You may think your dreams are unrealistic because… well… because bills. So here’s how to sort out your finances and become a trad wife.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES
There are two basic ways you can quit your 9 to 5 (or 8 to 10 for some of us) and have time for family, hobbies and charity. The first way is by reducing your spending to fit just one income (your husband’s). This is very much possible for some of us who, for one have a husband, and second, have a husband who makes enough money that could sustain a family. In my country, that is most men working office jobs. The problem of the present human condition is that we usually increase our spending to match or even outdo any income. We have all seen millionaires go bankrupt. If you are able to downsize, you could comfortably live on one income.
The second principle is to find a way to make more than you spend and save up towards being able to invest in something that will give you income after you have retired from the corporate workforce. Another option is to work on a side hustle that takes less time but brings in enough money.
The way to get to your dreams faster is to combine both methods. Reduce your spending and invest in passive or semi-passive income or get a job you can do part-time. Let’s get into specific steps now.
1. CONSUME LESS
In a consumerist society, we have been taught to spend so much money on luxuries to the point that luxuries have become staples: a second car, a bigger house, vacations, expensive gadgets, and clothes. We have also been conditioned to think that giving our children anything less than what everyone else is giving their children makes us bad parents. The reality is that in order to give your children more materially, you will have to sacrifice giving them your time. If you have to choose, give them your time, love and attention over electronic gadgets and expensive toys.
Step 1: You can use one month as an observation and recording period and begin making changes the following month. Take stock of all your household income and how you spend all of it. Just to track where ghost money really goes to. Ghost money is money that you don’t remember spending but you cannot trace it. Most of the time ghost money is taken up by old subscriptions you don’t remember you have, hidden charges in purchases, or accumulated small impulse purchases like a Starbucks here and a pair of earrings there.
Step 2. Look at your current financial situation. What do you need to do in order to stay afloat when you quit your job and stay at home. Do you need to move to a cheaper apartment? Can you reasonably survive on one income if you made changes to your lifestyle? Minimalism, simple living, and downgrading have become more popular and do not hold the same social stigma they once had. If anything it has become trendy to live with less.
3. Move to cheaper areas. If possible, begin looking for work in areas where the cost of living is cheaper and even move to neighborhoods where housing is much more affordable (of course taking security and schools into consideration). In my country, the outskirts of big cities are the most affordable and convenient areas to live in especially if there’s a train going into the city.
If finances are already tight on two incomes and there is no reasonable way you can downgrade except maybe selling organs or living off of the street, then you have to buckle up and get creative for the next couple of months. It is possible to make a reasonable living out of what people used to (still do) consider side hustles which will allow you to work far fewer hours and still earn a decent living.
2. MAKE MORE
Step 1: In this category, as a couple, you must come up with a modest financial goal that will allow you to stay at home more. For example, depending on where you live, you may need $10,000 every month in order to stay in a two-bedroom apartment with two homeschooled kids with all bills paid and some amount saved. In my country, $600 every month is enough for a family of four to live comfortably. You know how much you need for a very simple beginning. Get that figure, that is your goal.
Step 2: Now you need to make a plan to achieve that goal. How can you make the extra income you need to achieve this goal? You need to take stock of career opportunities, your skills, business and online opportunities. You can either temporarily take on a bigger burden just to reach your goal and then quit your job or you can slowly work on something that will replace your income. I strongly suggest working on a side project that will eventually replace your income even if it is just half your current salary.
DISCLAIMERS
1) Avoid scammy get-rich-quick schemes. Do your due diligence before investing your time, effort, or money in any part-time job or side hustle no matter how legit it seems.
2) When you start making money from home, there is the temptation to scale up and make more money sacrificing the very thing you quit your 9 to 5 for, time. I would advise that you schedule out time for working and never go past it. For example, you could work on your blogging business only in the mornings up to 9 AM or only in the evenings from 5 to 7 pm. If you want to scale, hire freelancers to take on some of the work.
With that out of the way, here are some options for making more money working fewer hours:
a) Offering your professional expertise part-time rather than full-time. You can take up work that takes up half your day rather than the full day and for sure, this will also bring in half the pay but it is better than no pay at all and certainly better than full pay and no time for your family or yourself.
b) Also becoming a consultant in your field rather than a full-time employee. Before joining full-time employment, I used to have a legal consultancy business. The majority of my clients were just friends and family and people they referred to me. There are numerous other ways to get clients for your own consultancy. If you have professional skills such as law, accounting, personal relations, and a host of other skills, you can set up an independent consultancy for yourself.
b) You can also take remote jobs for freelancing or employment with companies. You can find several jobs with flexible hours. Jobs such as being a virtual assistant, copywriting jobs, book and movie reviews, social media management, translation, etc. Be very careful not to trap yourself in another 9 to 5 only difference being that now you’re working from home.
c) Learn a new skill you can use to make money working fewer hours. There is so much knowledge on the internet and most of it is free and accessible to you. You can teach yourself any skill or you can even go back to school to learn a marketable skill. For example, you can learn how to restore and sell antique furniture, how to write and sell your writing, how to manage social media for brands, UX design, accounting for small businesses, etc. The list is endless.
d) Finally, you can start your own business either online or otherwise. Just be sure to understand that some businesses take much more time than others so be very careful. There are a variety of businesses that you can comfortably do from home such as starting your own blog or youtube channel, having an online store for digital or physical products, selling your art online, selling your services and the list goes on and on and on. Share what you’ve been thinking about in the comment section for the rest of us to encourage you and give some insight we have about it.
This article obviously could not go into all the details of all your options, but I do hope that at least it got you thinking. Do you have any more ideas for other aspiring homemakers? Share with the class in the comments section. I hope you stick around as we build this army of feminine, free, and thriving ladies.
