For us, it was mostly a lifestyle decision. My husband works a lot of hours, and we worked together (though not in the same dept), so when one of us worked late, we both did, since we commuted together. We'd get home at 7:30, eat dinner at 8:30, go to bed at 10, and wake up at 5:30 to do it all over again. Weekends were full of errands that we didn't have time to do during the week. We had no time for fun, and were really going crazy. Shortly before we got married, I quit my job and never looked back. For about 2 years I was a stay-at-home-
wife. That doesn't happen much these days! I didn't know whether to feel conservative and anti-feminist like June Cleaver, or so radical that I was an
ultra-feminist.
That being said, it wasn't a huge financial sacrifice for me to stay home. I made enough for me to support myself when I was single, but my salary wasn't a lot by any means. Daycare costs and costs of work would have made my salary negligible. It's just not worth it to me. I'm much happier making sure everything is well-kept and organized (or at least
semi well kept and
semi organized!) around the house, and raising our baby the best way I know how.
Sometimes I think about maybe getting a P/T job once the kids are in school. Maybe work just enough to be able to qualify for health insurance and a 401(k). I'd like to be a front desk person. Answer the phone... greet people... type a letter... mail packages... and not think about my job when I go home at night. Maybe I could have a job-share with another mom or something. Or maybe I could work retail -- Pottery Barn or something -- and get a discount. Eh, that'll probably never happen. But it's kind of fun to think about!
I do worry about "The Three D's" as zetta called it. Not divorce so much, but my biggest financial fear is that my husband dies or gets sick/disabled and is unable to work. All our eggs are in his basket. We have good medical coverage through his work, but I'm sure we're not as insured as we should be... and I'm also not sure where to go to find out what we need to do to get there.