How does one become a 'money saving mommy'? Well, for me it started in November 2007. I was working part time in the local health department and our kids were both in full time day care. Our savings was dwindling and I felt hopeless to stop it. Along that time I did a no-no, I lied to my husband about how much money we had in savings. The guilt of it all was eating me up, and after 4 days, I fessed up. My husband was upset, but gracious. From that day I set out to be more responsible with our finances.
Come January, I had the desire to leave work completely and become a stay at home mom, but we did not see how it could be done. We crunched the numbers, but couldn't make it work. Finally in February, things beyond our control put us in that very position.
My youngest son was 17 months old. I went to work Jan 30, and it was February 12ish before I returned. My son had developed a fever of 104, so I treated him and stayed home with him for a couple of days, then on Wednesday, he had high fever again, he was lethargic and wheezing. I took him to the ER, he was treated and sent home with RSV. I stayed home with him the rest of the week because he was still fighting fever. That Sunday, we were back in the ER, his Oxygen level was in the very low 90's, he was wheezing again, and his fever was 104 again. Not only was he battlling RSV but now he also had pneumonia. We were admitted to that hospital then transferred to the Children's Hospital during the night. We were discharged 2 days later. Things went well for a few days and I went back to work for a week. Then on the following Tuesday, while I was working, the sitter called and said his fever was 104 again. I took him to the office, his oxygen level was 85% and he was very lethargic. It was the first time I saw our pediatrician run. He was getting the O2 tank and a breathing treatment. We were sent to the ER and transferred to Children's Hospital again. This time he had influenza, bronchiolitis and an ear infection. His RSV and pneumonia had left atelectasis (small portion of lung collapse). We had a hard time getting his oxygen level to stay above 90% without the oxygen tank. The doctor at Children's remembered us from our previous visit. I will never forget what she said "Ma'am, if there is any way that you and your husband can make it off of one income, you really need to. This child needs to come out of daycare. He needs at least one full season of not being sick in order for his lungs to heal." That was it.
He had a few issues with asthma during that first season out of daycare, and by the time we finally had completed a season without illness, I had been home for 8 months and we were suprised at how much money we had saved and how we had managed to make off of one income. So I didn't return, and here we are.
