How does a mother make money?

How does a mother who wants to stay home with her kids, make money at the same time? How does a family survive and prosper on just one income?

I have every intention to stay home with my children, and homeschool them rather than subject them to the many disturbing issues of public (or even private) school. The problem is, however, how do we afford to pay our bills?

Let's do the math here, a four person family makes $2000 take home a month (this is a pretty good salary, over $15/hr, a far cry from minimum wage). Subtract from this $1000 for rent/mortgage, $600 for heat (gotta love the frigid winters of Vermont, and the old houses with no insulation), $120 for electricity, $170 for car/renter's insurance, and $300 for gas (to get to the somewhat decent paying job, as nothing in the immediate area pays more than minimum wage), and you're already digging more and more in to debt each month. This doesn't even include food or diapers or medical care.

What is a mother to do? Even if I DIDN'T want to spend my days taking care of my own children and teaching them what I feel is necessary for them to know to survive in the outside world, daycare is so outragious that even if I did work full-time and leave the kids in the care of someone else, we still wouldn't make any net profit from my efforts and time. In order to find care for a one-year-old and a four-year-old, I'd have to spend at LEAST $300 a WEEK, and that's IF I can find a decent care provider who has space for a child under the age of two. Add to that work clothes (not many employers would be happy with me showing up in stained t-shirts and sweat pants everyday), more gas for yet another vehicle to drive out of town to a somewhat decent paying job . . . Let's say I can find another $15 or so per hour job, and bring in another $2000 a month. Subtract from this another $300 a month for gas, $1200 a month for daycare, never mind what clothes cost, we still don't have any money left each month after our necessary bills . . .still not even including food, phone, internet, or cable.

If anyone has any legitimate suggestions, that don't require a buy-in fee, please let me in on it!!

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