[Advice] we really need money.

so, my parental leave payments from centrelink have finished. and we have been watching our finances over the last couple of weeks and its obvious we are spending more than we are earning.

put simply I need to find a way to earn money. but how do you do it with a 4month old baby??? She is BF, and won't take milk from the bottle. IRL advice on this was 'she will just have to, don't give her a choice, its that or starve'. This seems so harsh to me. I can't just leave my baby for the day on the hope that she might take the bottle and not starve! =( I can't do that to her.

DH's suggestion was i take a job as a nurse at the nursing home in town (we dont have a hospital in our town but we do have a nursing home). I got, thats fine, but what do I do with Spock? as the shifts don't work with his work hours, his solution..."take her with you". I can't take a baby to work, let alone to work with me IN A NURSING HOME!!!

A job I can do at home, like being one of the nurses/midwives on those health on call phone line things would be perfect. except if i get the job, I have to go to Sydney for a week to do the training. once again, what do I do with Spock?


and I know people will be thinking, you should have thought about this, you should of a) not had a baby or b) made plans so you wouldn't be in need of money. we did make plans. what we didn't plan on is all of DH money and 75% of our savings (which was in his accounts) get taken in one huge sweep with no notice.

so far my only option is to use my savings. the money I just got that I plan on using for our next lot of IVF next year. and it breaks my heart to use it because it may mean no more children =(. if we didn't have to do IVF i probably wouldn't be stressing so much.

I can draw, and have drawings for sale. but no one buys art. and i've only sold like a handful in the last 3 years. only enough to basically cover my art supplies.

*sigh*

Can you ring the place that does the training and explain your circumstances. A 4 month old baby wont be a big distraction and you can feed her while learning still.

Are there any other work from home jobs. I always said I would even consider delivering pizzas if I really had to.

I hope you find something that works for you.

I agree, I'd call the training and explain your situation, and see if you could take DD with you. I'd even weight up whether its worth DH coming too, so he can mind DD at the times where you really can't have her with you.

I had money saved and on paper was able to afford to be at home. But it didn't work, so I get where you are coming from.. I also wasn't soley BF so I was able to leave my DD..

I don't think anyone is going to tell you that you should have considered this before hand. It happens with the best laid plans..

What type of hrs does your DH do (I am sure I have read it before, but can't remember).. My DH is a shiftworker and just did not get how hard it is to find work around his hrs, especially when they change all the time..

I know you are in a small town, what services are in the town?

he works 530am to whenever he knocks off... the earliest is 2pm as that is his 8 hours, but rarely finishes before 3pm.

it is the worst to fit with nursing shifts...morning = 7am - 330p. evening is 130p-10p, and nights are 930p-730a.

our town doesnt have much. no childcare at all. there is a supermarket, a chemist, a butcher, an op shop, a hair dresser, a medical centre (might be an option but i dont know what/if the nurses job is there) and a nursing home.

could you find someone who could watch Spock for a few hours if you only did afternoon or night shifts?

ETA just realised that won't help with the feeding issue. I agree with PP's, ask the nurse on call people if you can take Spock to training with you.

Is there any jobs around your town where you go into people's homes for an hour or two to help care for them (kinda like nursing homes but in their own home)? If so, you might be able to take Spock with you.....if they are living on their own they may love to have someone come help them AND a baby to visit!

What about something completely different? nightfill at a supermarket / partyplans / housecleaning?

Delivering catalogues???

Don't shout me down, but would it be easier at this stage for your DH to pick up a few casual shifts around town, doing something like night fill after his other job? Juggling feeding etc gets easier in a few months once your lo is taking solids and drinking from a soppy cup. You can reassess your own job prospects then.

I couldn't think of anything different to what has already been suggested above, and I think they are all really great ideas.
No one should say that you didn't plan or anything like that. Even the best laid plans can and often do come undone. We have been in the same broke boat many times too. :hug:

I think it also depends on how much you need to earn. Some jobs may not be worth it financially once you take into account deductions in FTB.

Ahh T, no good! :hug:

Can you compromise - dip into your savings now, with the plan to replace it in time when Spock is older and you can leave her somewhere? Problem being I know how hard it is to "replace" savings...

What about something short, three/four hour shifts where Spock can feed before and after, so you can leave her? Like supermarket or something?

Call the medical centre - see what positions they have and if any of them are available?

oh I know where' you're at. I considered phone based counselling work two years ago, but they wanted 3 weeks of training in Melb, which wasn't possible.
As others have said, check out the training and see if you could take bubs with you, especially if you wear her and she'll sleep on you.
I'll try to think of some suggestions. Somebody I spoke to recently did admin work, in the evenings from home, something to do with invoicing the Govt re: houses that needed repairing after they were trashed. Will wade through the fog of my baby brain to remember who it was and ask them about it.
Not sure if your local council run family day care? If there isn't any childcare in town, could you offer to mind another kid or two at your house?
There's got to be something online that you could do. Will have a think...

:hug: It's so hard, isn't it?
I know what you mean about no one buying art. Have you thought of maybe doing something more practical, but still arty - e.g. wedding invitations, birthday cards, etc.
Would you be eligible for Parenting Payment if you're not working? If so, maybe you could put off returning to work for another 2-3 months until Spock is old enough to take a sippy cup?

TT could you see if there are any casual shifts at the nursing home, some do half shifts ie you are there for the drug round in the morning/evening and thats about it. Is there someone who could watch spock who could bring her to you when she needs a feed? Im a nurse and when I worked in paeds one of the girls would get her bubs carer to bring him in when he needed a feed and she would take a break to feed bubs then. A NH is a bit different to a hospital in that there are carers to see to most of the clients immediate needs so taking a short break to bf a baby may be possible? Does your dp work weekends? Could you look at weekend work and get your dp to bring baby to you, depending on your employer you might be able to make it work that you take your breaks when needed to feed bubs or take extra unpaid time for feeds

Have you considered doing a round delivering junk mail?

Could you do night fill and see if the same set up could work with dp bringing baby to you? Keep trying with the bottle and EBM all of mine refused a bottle to start with, my youngest two were much more stubborn than my eldest. I found trying different teats, using a sippy cup, sitting bubs in a bouncer while offering the bottle and getting someone else to offer the EBM were stratagies that worked

I hope things work out,