It's Not About Being Poor

When you get your groceries do you pick up the more expensive item simply because you think it will taste better?

Image found here

Becoming a stay at home mum was a conscious decision for us.
I went back to work when Bluey was only a few months old and it shattered me mentally. Not the job, I loved the job. Not the people I worked with, I loved them too. I just found that it was too much, I was stretched too thin, and it wasn't something I enjoyed, and so after a lot of discussion and a lot of tears Mr Black and I decided that my happiness was more important that a bit of extra cash.

That's how we came to the decision that I would be a SAHM for as long as possible, and that I would look for work once the kids were at school.
There wasn't any point in having extra money and an unhappy household. It wouldn't work, and at least this way we had a fighting chance.  

It's not easy.
It is far from easy, but as two people who started with nothing previous to having children, we haven't had to feel the sacrifices as heavily as others may have. We have tried to make our bills work to our income as best as possible with the crazy increases to rental properties.
It has also meant that we sacrifice our true dream of buying a house for our family, to save that for later.
This is possibly the most painful decision for us.
We both itch to plant our roots. To get our hands dirty and renovate.

It also means budgeting for everything, and because we believe in living within our means, which means we do not have a single credit card to our name, that sometimes things can get tough. Especially when unexpected costs arise.

Two years ago, the day that my Nan died, our car was stolen.
Mr Black relies heavily on our car for work. There was no getting around that we needed another car and fast. We just wanted something as cheap and as reliable as possible. Getting a small loan however wasn't easy with us being a single income family.
It was hard because it meant Mr Black having to take time off of work to meet with banks, to share loads of paperwork, which was different from one bank to the next and just taking the money from the first bank who finally said yes.

Now, it's easier.

Are you a stay at home parent? How did you come to that decision? Have you had to give up dreams because of your decision not to work? Do you struggle to make ends meet too? Would you buy the more expensive apples? Really?  

This is a RocketFuel sponsored post.