The money post

So, the topic of the day is money. Specifically, how the heck will DH and I support ourselves once I am a nurse. Don't get me wrong, nurses make pretty decent money (though not as decent in these parts as I've heard in others). But he is a SAHD, which means I make 100% of the income. And we've build our lifestyle (admittedly a pretty modest one, but we do get to take vacations and go out to eat and do a lot of fun stuff) around my current salary. And that salary is about twice what I will make as a new nurse. TWICE. Meaning my salary will be cut in HALF right out of nursing school.

We have a lot of ideas on how to deal with this, but we don't really know how it will turn out, which makes me nervous. Some of our ideas:

- save up enough to make it through the first 6 months or so, then rely on me getting OT and/or a PRN job on the side
- hubby gets a job
- try to stay on part-time in my current job and work full-time as a nurse
- cut WAY back on expenses
- continue full-time at my current job (or cut back just slightly) and work part-time as a nurse (don't love this options as a new nurse)

The big question is - will DH need to get a job? We are totally spoiled by having him as a SAHD right now. I never have to worry about calling in to work when the kiddos are sick, etc. He take care of all of the dr. appts. I'd hate to lose that, but we might have to. We can cut back a bit on expenses, but really we don't carry a whole lot of extra expense around. And our cars are getting old (both paid off) and we will need to replace at least one soon. And the house needs to be painted. And the roof is old. And the heat pump isn't so new, either. And neither of the kids have college funds. Perhaps you can see why I get a little nervous?

But then I take a step back. We have a safe roof over our heads. We have plenty of food to eat, and we are all comfortably clothed. We have the luxury of taking a vacation (almost) every year. Becoming a nurse just FEELS right. I know that it's what I'm supposed to be doing. I feel that I am being led to do this, and I trust that we will make this work, that God is there taking care of us.

But MAN, that control freak-ish side is hard to tame! I'm sure I'll be worrying about this more as the time draws near (2 years and counting).