How I am Able to Finally Be a Stay-At-Home Mom

Today is my last day in corporate America, folks! I have been working in Information Technology (specially Information Security) for seven years now. Day in and day out I am in a cube, alone, staring at a computer. Don’t get me wrong, I actually love the work – I love solving problems, working with others, and using my brain in a technical way. I do not however, love leaving my baby every morning and not being creative whatsoever. I created Mindfully Gray as a creative outlet because I needed it to stay sane. *Literally* I am not passionate about technology, I am passionate about design and interior styling. Now I am finally able to pursue my passion of staying home and working on Mindfully Gray full-time. I took a survey on Instagram, asking what questions you have about how to take this leap and I’m sharing the answers below.

Who has been watching your baby up until now?

We have had an amazing nanny (I hate the term “nanny” because she is a friend more so than a nanny). She is a photographer and told us months in advance that she planned to pursue photography full-time beginning June 1. Brett and I weighed our options – We could hire another nanny, put Bennett in daycare, or I could stay home. I have been dreaming of staying home since I went back to work after having Bennett (10 months ago). I told Brett my first choice would be to stay home and work on Mindfully Gray full-time. He said “Then why are we talking about any other options? Let’s go with your first choice!” From that day forward, we decided I would stay home beginning June 1.

What are you going to do for insurance?

The one thing that ALWAYS stopped us from taking this leap was insurance. Brett is self-employed so I’ve always carried the insurance. I called to inquire about traditional insurance for us through the marketplace – It was $1,200 a month for the WORST insurance plan ever! Crazy expensive and terrible benefits. Hard pass. We ended up talking to several people who are self-employed and learned about Medical Share programs. We inquired specifically about three of them – Medishare, Samaritan Ministries, and Liberty Healthshare. We then narrowed down our options to Samaritan and Liberty.

How Samaritan Ministries works (in a nutshell): Members pay $495 a month for a family (i.e. your premium, although they can’t call it a premium because it’s not traditional insurance). Any bill you receive that is $300 or less you pay in full – Any bill you receive that is $300 or more, you pay $300 and Samaritan pays the rest up to $250,000 per need. With Samaritan you send your monthly “premium” to individual members – Meaning, your monthly payment is going to pay for another members medical bills. Cool, right?!

How Liberty Healthshare works (in a nutshell): Members pay $479 (under 30 years old) or $529 (over 30 years old) for a family. For a family the “unshared amount” (i.e. your deductible – again they can’t call it a deductible because it isn’t traditional insurance) is $2,250 for a family up to $1 million per need. With Liberty you send your monthly payment (premium) to Liberty. They reimburse members (rather than members reimbursing members).

I may have made this sound complicated but it’s really quite simple and AFFORDABLE! Medical share programs are a great alternative to traditional insurance. After weighing our options we decided to go with Liberty Healthshare. The “deductible” with Liberty is a lot less than our current deductible with Cigna (meaning when we have another kid it will be a lot less!) We select Liberty over Samaritan because we weren’t crazy about the $250,000 cap per need / incident.

How did you plan your finances / budget? How are you going to transition financially?

I wish I could say we have a budget and are following it to a T. Honestly, we don’t. We have a Mint account we use to see how much we spend in various categories. This has been eye opening to us for many reasons – Especially around much we spend on childcare. We recognize there will be growing pains during this transition. Until I am able to up my game blogging, designing, and on social media – It will be difficult for us. We believe we can get through it and that overtime it will only get easier as we adjust.

How can I supplement income if I were to do the same? Are you making a comparable income working vs. blogging / doing social media? Advice on becoming an influencer.

I could talk for days about each of these questions. The first, you can supplement your income in so many ways! Simply Google “How to make money as a stay at home mom” and you will find so many ways to make money from home! Call centers, online surveys, tons of options! I have chosen to go down the influencer route, personally. I never expected to be labeled as an “influencer” when I started Mindfully Gray however, it grew into an actual business (much to my surprise). I am not making a comparable income as an influencer as I was as an IT analyst but I am able to contribute something! Mindfully Gray has been my “side hustle” for a couple years now. Because I have been working full-time I haven’t had the time / energy to truly invest in it. I believe I can grow on this platform when I begin to treat it like a full-time job. I might never make what I made in corporate American (salary-wise) but happiness (and doing what you love) is worth something in my book.

Advice for someone interested in becoming an influencer – Go for it! Start sharing and start engaging with others (a lot)! You will learn as you go what works and what doesn’t (heck, I’m still learning this myself). I don’t feel you necessarily need a blog in the beginning – Start small by sharing on social media and expand onto other platforms over time.

Click here to read more about why I created Mindfully Gray.

As a believer can you talk through how you felt the Lord calling you to stay home vs work? Advice for someone that wants to be a SAHM but God keeps saying “Wait” or “No”.

The desire to stay home with our daughter has been on my heart from day one. We want to be there to raise her and see so much value in that. I also have had a desire on my heart to follow my passion and pursue design / blogging as a full-time career. I truly believe the Lord placed these desires on my heart (Psalm 37:4). We responded out of fear (and lack of faith) when we have told ourselves that there was no way for me to stay home right now. The Lord has been calling me to pursue my passions and stay home and I was telling him no because I didn’t truly believe he would provide. Now we are stepping out in faith believing the Lord WILL provided. We watched a podcast called “The Power of Rest” by Gary Keesee that has changed our lives. If you have a desire to stay home, quit your job, buy a car, etc. and don’t believe it’s possible, watch this series! It will change the way you view your finances and ultimately your future!

I hope this information helps anyone looking to make the leap and stay home! I wish every mother who desires to stay home with their babies could. I realize many working moms appreciate “adult conversations” and feel they are a better mother because they work. Everyone is different! Staying home isn’t for everyone! I found (for me) the bond I formed with Bennett while on maternity leave made returning to work next to impossible. People kept telling me “oh, it’ll get easier over time” but for me – It didn’t! Every Monday morning on my way to work I would cry. I craved more time with Bennett that just a Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to be there when she reached new milestones. We made the decision that I would stay home and haven’t looked back. If you have the desire on your heart to stay home, don’t wait! Take steps today to make it happen. Your baby is only little for a short period of time. You won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading, friends!

Jamie