Need: "Costs" of What a SAHM Does, Every Day- Riley?

I read a while ago that the total amount of what a SAHM is actually worth is somewhere around $150K/yr. That's been quite some time ago, so I'm guessing it's much higher now.

Well I just steam cleaned my carpet b/c my 3 yr old just colored a "man" on it with black marker. Then she called me rude for making her man "ditapeared". Pretty sure that would at least cost $100 for someone else to do it. Lol.

Okay - when we set up life insurance for me, we got $750K and then moved it up to a million.

It's more than just being a "mommy"...
1. Care for the home....(I pay a company to come in every two weeks and that's $85 each visit)
vacuuming
dusting
mopping
*laundry (collect, separate, wash, dry, fold, put away) *mommy does this
general clean up
2. Care for the family:
child care (infants here in DC are $400 per week for 12 hours per day)
nurse
doctor (when my boys are playing WAR I wear MEDIC Helmet!)
psychiatrist (Lord knows we are this!)
social worker
social planner
3. Chef
short order
detailed meal planner
day to day meals
4. Organizer
accountant - pay household bills, etc.
cab driver - soccer, football, tae kwon do, baseball, la crosse, swimming
grocery shopper
coupon organizer
dry cleaning drop off/pick up
donations gatherer (for Purple Heart, etc.)
seller - yard sales, ebay craigslist

I know I'm missing a ton of stuff. As it justs get shoved into the day-to-day tasks of running a home. When I was a "personal assistant" for people, they would pay me $25 per hour to do their grocery shopping, dry cleaning, etc. even start their meals for them.....

I didn't put costs next to the categories...it's been 30 years since i've lived in Hawaill - I was a young kid and $5 was like a $100!!! :) but you can show him the want ads for Hawaii - Pearl Harbor, Aiea and see what people are charging!!!

Ask your husband to run the house for a month. Or have him take a week off work and do it. Maybe then he'll get a grasp of just what you do. I know that when my husband was laid off when we had two young ones (2 and 6 months) he changed his tune is a HUGE way!!!

I did see Riley say she was going on strike until monday.

Riley J is on a 7 day mamasource strike. You might try looking up her profile, then go through her answers to find what you are looking for.

Good Luck with that!

tehehe

:)

(The national debt is about the same as what your husband would have to pay to hire someone to do EVERYTHING you do!)

**But why oh why is our RILEY on strike I wonder?

One way to do this is find out the cost of day care and then multiply that for 24 hours. This is just basic care for the child/children. Then find out the cost of a housekeeper, a personal cook or eating out every day, cost of sending all clothes to laundry. this is just a start. You'll need to do it for your location. The cost of living varies greatly across the United States. I think Hawaii is one of the higher cost of living states.

Start with Riley's figures for daycare. That in its self should blow your husband's mind. Could he afford day care and would he be willing to provide all that his children need if you're not there?

A life insurance office could tell you what they've figured a spouse needs in life insurance to pay for services that the loss of a spouse incurs.

I also suggest that you suggest to him that you'll take a week off and leave town so that he can experience what you do first hand. Let him figure out how to take care of the kids and house just for one week.

Or make a list of everything you do and let him decide what he's willing to do without. Then don't do those things for a week.

Or just go on strike. this has worked effectively for many wives. Take care of the kids and yourself but don't do the laundry, cook his meals, do his dishes, be an intimate partner, etc. Do this with a gracious and kind attitude. Anger will deflect away from the lesson he needs to learn.

One easy way would be the cost of a nanny for say 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. And remember that it's after-tax dollars that you pay a nanny with. So if $50k a year and you're in a 40% overall tax bracket, you need to make $83k to pay her. That doesn't include the brain power and organizing that working moms still use/do while at work. Unless you have a super star nanny, there's still stuff only the mother can do. So you have to add something in for that. I think I've seen the $150k number too and that strikes me as a 7 day a week/24 hour a day figure. I'm not sure that's fair to compare to a salary bc working moms are still doing weekends etc. So to eliminate you altogether - ie; your husband is solo, then $150k seems right. If he just means you're at work and commuting 50 hours a week, then $80-$90k seems more accurate as a "gross salary".

I remember seeing something like this somewhere, and while I can't recall the exact amount, I believe it was somewhere in the 6 figures.

I heard on Today Show or another morning show that a SAHM "earns" around $115K a year and works the hours equal to 3 full-time jobs.

Sorry you're having a hard time, S.H. Not the best of days, is it.