looking for financial advice -off farm job

[rockridgecattle]

So I need some help here. Hubby and i are thinking on me giving up my full time job driving school bus. The hours in the day are just not long enough sometimes...alot of the times. What i am finding is, doing to many things, not enough time to complete the jobs i have...well. Taking short cuts that at times cost more in the long run. I have given up on my hobbies. Gone is cooking good home cooked meals (enjoy cooking), gone is the garden and, well, the flowerbeds became so weed infested, i closed my eyes every time i passed them. Gone is my yard (didn't help all the flooding last year), no time to cross stitch, etc.

School bus driving is a decent income. Not decent enough to support a family, but for 5 hours a day, not bad. Understand though, I work hard for that $ It is not like how it use to be...put it in drive and go. It is stressfull. I drive 224km a day, if i figured it right 134 miles a day. Rural gravel roads, poor driving conditions, special need students, regulations, and parents...sometimes the parents are the hardest. Oh and the biggest downer....getting sick. If it's going through the school... On the flip side, I have a brand new bus, automatic, air ride, mostly good students (two special needs who take my concentration from the road), and a decent income. Not to mention, it costs me nothing in gas or vechicle depreciation to go to work. I walk out my door and walk into my bus.

Hubby got laid off a few years ago and we adjusted, our master card came down considerably after he was no longer working full time. He does spare drive when needed, and i would too. If i needed to find a job in town later on, that should not be too hard... just will not pay as well. Shortage of workers in our area. I should mention to those who do not know, the farm is diversified...commercial beef, honey and retail of the honey and products.

If we were just cows, I would not give it up, but with the bees and the retail, keeps me hopping.

So I am trying to put together a budget of proposed house hold expenses and figure how the farm can pay for some living.

A thought i had was gross farming income...10-15% off the top into an account to pay for groceries and necessities of life. Still trying to complete last year's bookwork and so not 100% sure on the income ratio.

Have you ever done this? Any advice from the seasoned farmers out there who jumped ship on the full time job and relied on the farm to meet the needs?

 

[Howdyjabo]

Staying at home has saved us money- I am cheap and a penny pincher , not having a job gives me time to squeeze those nickles.
The farm can do more because I am here to help.

Downside- as we get older the health insurance is eating us up- without either of us with a job with benefits.

 

[djinwa]

I'm no expert, but I have to wonder how people can give you advice when they don't know how much profit the farm makes or could make. The job is guaranteed income, the farm is not.

I always recommend a government job, as most governments have unlimited funds and don't have to balance the books. Usually benefits well beyond the private sector. Do you get benefits like health insurance?

 

[dieselbeef]

my wife weks seasonal garding oranges...werks good for us..i werk a little ot to cover the reduced income..our farm could never make us 20k she makes wrking part time...

 

[bigbull338]

the big q is can yall make it without the added income that youd be giving up.if the answer is yes then id quit.because you might find what i call day labor jobs.thats where you work a day or 2 here an there when needed.

 

[backhoeboogie]

My dad went full time. Budgets for everything and it all looked good on paper. They even had supplement plans. The '83 drought wiped them out. With gas income, farm income and other opportunities I have dwelled on it myself. Then I think of dad. Company pension builds. 401K builds. Income is sure. I won't jump. If you have to it's one thing. Choice is another. I dwell on a dozen nurse cows in addition to the herd etc. Can't do that with a full time job.

It worked good for Dad for a while. I had to buy him out to keep him afloat. Figured he buy it all back some day. He never did.

 

[shaz]

My days are 16 hours and I have a thousand different projects. Many projects started virtually none finished and I find that I'm half-a$$ed doing a lot of stuff. I can relate to what your going thru.

I had a former business partner who quit a factory job (with insurance) and farmed full time. (DISASTER!)
He underestimated what that day job contributed to his lifestyle. Make sure you have some savings.

 

[m&kCattle]

How do you know the 10 - 15% is there? IMO with a business you take 25% off top for taxes, keep an emergency fund for breakdowns and losses, pay all expenses, reinvest into business, and then whats left you write yourself a check to take home. If that happens to be 10 - 15 % great. If it is only 3 % then that's what it is. If you take 15% and its really only 3% you set yourself up for a surprise, and not the good kind. Another piece of advice would be to make sure you have no debt before you consider it. Might not be advice some like to hear but it is well worth it.

 

[dcara]

So what is hubby doing to contribute if he's unemployed? Could he drive for you, or do the cooking, or the bees or.... You said it would be easy for you to find a job in town later on, so why isn't it easy for hubby to find one. Life is supposed to be a team effort when you are married.

I'm not really looking for answers to the above, but you should be.

 

[dieselbeef]

prioritize...my wife just came to working days after being on nights for 20 yrs..she is having alot of the same issues as you are since she doesnt have the whole day to do all the cooking/cleaning/childcare things she did all day long. now she has about 4 hrs at nite. we ge up at 430 am so we in bed by 10...after the driving home and any errands time is short. we get things done...if yer biggest problm is money then youll need to analyze that on yer own and see where to cut corners..theres only so much daylight...then you come inside and do the things you can do in the dark

 

[rockridgecattle]

Thank all, will weigh all everyone said. I still have some time before the start of the new year. Right now i have two options, quit driving bus or end the retail side of the honey and candles. Hard decision. Will weigh it all carefully

Thanks for the input

RR

 

[hillsdown]

Thank all, will weigh all everyone said. I still have some time before the start of the new year. Right now i have two options, quit driving bus or end the retail side of the honey and candles. Hard decision. Will weigh it all carefully

Thanks for the input

RR

If you can hold out longer I think you should keep your honey business. Your products really are above par , the candles and honey are unique and very good. Also ,you have just started your Internet business, so you need to give it time but you said you have already gotten a lot of hits and orders . Remember it takes 5 years average to get a return on a retail or even private business.

Best wishes for whatever choice you make .

 

[Howdyjabo]

What about hiring help

When I got overwhelmed I hired someone to come in and clean my house once a week- what a difference to my attitude coming in to a clean house.
then I hired kids and adults looking for some part time work and gave them routine jobs to do- freeing me to do the stuff that took skills(or the right motivation -our livelihood) to do it right.

You could probably hire help- for less than you are making driving the bus and will give you some transition time - to see if you can do with less money.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Hiring is a good idea. We have been trying to get help for 3 years now. Everyone who wants to hire is experiencing the same trouble. Some of the local shops having a hard time keeping staff. No one wants to work. Couple of years ago there was a family in our church who needed money. They could not find work. We offered the husband a job. He was all gung ho to work...never showed up. Welfare was better I guess. Last summer i hired two college students. They worked part time and helped out well. Thing is, their parents are farmers too and they need the summer help. So i am very accomodating. Take what i can get. The only thing i asked was that they called if they could not come.