One major decision many women face after having a child is whether or not to return to work. Financial considerations are most likely the basis of whatever decision is made. Some families have to have two incomes in order to make ends meet. But very often people fail to realize that there are costs associated with any job you take. You might think you’re bringing home a certain salary every month, but in reality you don’t have nearly that much money available for spending.

I’m not saying that you should quit your job and become a stay at home mom. I’m just putting forth a few considerations to review before making a decision one way or the other. You might have an ideal work situation where it’s close to home and you can work a flex schedule, or maybe you have family nearby that can stay with your children when you work. This is just a blog post putting out some ideas to think about before you make a decision one way or the other.

Every job has certain costs associated with it. Some of the costs are obvious – transportation, for example. Do you take public transportation to work? Do you need to pay to park your car each day? How much in tolls do you pay every day to commute to work? There’s also the wear and tear on your vehicle, as well as the cost of gas.

Next, you need to have a certain wardrobe in order to work. I’m not talking a designer wardrobe here. You need to have a wardrobe that is appropriate with the official or unofficial dress code at your place of business. For many people you need to have a summer and a winter wardrobe, winter coat, brief case/tote bag, etc.

How about the cost of food associated with working? You might bring your lunch to work, but what about your morning coffee, the Diet Coke in the afternoon as a pick-me-up or the weekly lunch out with the people in your office?

Then there are the sneaky costs associated with any job. I call them sneaky because you often don’t think about them – the weekly lottery pool, birthday gifts, sympathy gifts, baby shower gifts, the Girl Scout cookies, the fundraiser for the local dance school, and so on.

Finally, and probably the most important out of all these expenses, is the cost of quality child care for your children. I used to work with a guy who would rush out of the office every day, because if he didn’t get to the day care by 5:20 he was charged PER MINUTE for each minute his children were left there. I don’t remember exactly how much he had to pay, but it wasn’t cheap.

Once you add all this up you can see if financially it is worth your time and effort to take a job outside the home.

There’s more to this equation than just financial considerations. Think about the following:

• You might be required to work overtime on very short notice – do you have contingency plans in place for child care?
• What about snow days? Do you have anyone who can watch your children when school is called off for inclement weather?
• How long is your commute to work? Do you have to get your children up and out of the house before 7:00 a.m. so you can make it to work on time?
• How does working impact your ability to parent? Are you always tired, frustrated and stressed out by the day at work?

These are all things you need to consider when deciding if you are going to become a stay at home mom or go back to work. Don’t think I’m advocating becoming a stay at home mom. There are a whole other set of challenges that go along with that. I’m just saying that when you look at the big picture you might see that you kill yourself working 40 hours a week or more for a very little bit of money when you tally everything up.