The Stay-At-Home Mom:
It’s challenging enough to survive on two incomes in this day and age. When the difficult (and of course rewarding) decision is made to stay at home with your children, what can you do to fill the income void in your household?

Your children are the most important things in the world to you. They deserve your full attentionand you have gladly chosen to stay home and care for them. You know that you have made the right decision.

Your choice to be a stay at home mother has come with a price though. Careful budgeting alone cannot offset that missing second income. Yes, you and your husband are getting by and your family is enjoying quality time together, but you have sacrificed income and benefits to raise your children.

Depending on your profession, your financial sacrifice can be very significant after a few years. In Ann Crittenden's book "The Price of Motherhood," she calculated that a couple that once earned over $80,000 annually could lose over $1 million dollars in lifetime earnings after they have a child and the woman leaves work and stays at home.

Your retirement is in jeopardy as well.

No matter what level your previous earnings were, there are long term consequences on your finances for the years spent raising children instead of earning a paycheck. Aside from salary, you are not earning any pension benefits from an employer or medical insurance, both of which are quite valuable.

And few women when they decide to stay home consider that they will cease to accrue any social security benefits from the federal government. No income for you means that your benefit rating with social security is stagnating.

It's a shame that there has to be such a cost for you to stay at home with your children. You certainly value your work as a mom. It's nice having time to nurture your children's education and interests. You even get to have fun, and you do not envy the scheduling hassles that working mothers face as they juggle job commitments and children's appointments.

You are not alone either. More women are deciding to leave the career track and stay at home with their children. There is a growing trend for families to decide to make it with only one person working outside the home. A report from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2001 showed that in 1998 59% of mothers with infants worked at a full time job, but that had dropped to 55% in 2000, only 2 years later. The appeal of actually being the one to raise your children is undeniable and more families are pursuing this important goal.

Being a stay at home mom has many positive points, but you still miss being able to earn an income. You want to continue developing your skills and creativity. Maintaining your professional skills that you worked hard to