How Much am I Worth?

I recently read some very rude comments about stay at home moms (which I will not link to because the author does not deserve any publicity). And while I am not officially a SAHM because I still work two days a week at the hospital, I do consider myself to be (mostly) a SAHM. Being a mom is harder than any other job I've ever had. So I started thinking about it. How much is my time worth? How much am I worth? In dollars.
So what is it exactly that I do and how much should I be making? I am a ...

Teacher

My husband’s cousin’s wife (I know- random) said that she is starting out at 30k a year –best case scenario. And, to be fair, I actually have one year of experience in teaching elementary school computer classes (best job ever) so I am going to give myself the typical one year raise here. Oh wait, yeah – that still makes it $30,000 a year.

Maid

My fabulous local classifieds are advertising a job at a local maid service company for $9.00 an hour. Now, truthfully, I don’t spend my ENTIRE day cleaning. But I would definitely say that I spend at least half an hour a day doing general upkeep and pickup and several times a week I take on larger projects that need to be done. I would estimate that I spend a total of 10 hours a week on just straight cleaning (which has all been MUCH easier since I started FlyLady.) So 9/hr for 10hrs/week. That’s 90.00 a week. 52 weeks a year (because even if I manage to go on vacation for a week, which RARELY happens, I put in extra effort the week before to get ready and the week after to recover) $4680.00 a year.

Cook

To be fair, I’m really not what anyone would call a great cook. I thought about substituting “Cook” for “Nutritionist” because, hey, they make more - but then I remembered that I fed my son chicken nuggets and crackers for lunch and so decided that I was most definitely more of a “Cook” than anything else. About ten years ago I got a job as a cook at a local restaurant (compares to Denny’s or IHOP). They paid me $8.25 an hour. I probably spend one whole hour a day on actual cooking. But once a week, I spend time putting together a menu, looking through ads for sales, and going out and purchasing food. That probably takes three hours out of my week. So I average 13 hours a week. But I’m going to be a very honest employee here and only give myself ten, because sometimes we go to other people’s houses to eat, and sometimes I just microwave leftovers. So, without taking inflation into account, I should be making $8.25/hr for 10hrs/week. So that’s $4290.00 a year.

Bookkeeper

Indeed.com says that the average bookkeeper salary is 35,000. If you’re wondering why I didn’t write “Accountant” as the job, then I should tell you that not only do I NOT do our taxes every year, but I also do NOT manage things like retirement accounts, nor do I ever bother(or remember) to research things like refinancing our mortgage, etc,. My husband is the “Accountant” for this organization. I'm the Book keeper. So there you go. 35k a year.

Personal Assistant to the CEO

I have a very close friend who actually was an executive secretary to a CEO and she made only $15 an hour (in my opinion that is TERRIBLE pay for this job). They paid her for 40 hours a week, so that she could be on call 24/7. So, 15/hr. 40hrs/week is 31,200.00 a year.

Nurse

It is most certainly a full time job changing diapers, bathing someone, getting them dressed, feeding them, and assisting them with Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) and comfort. Assisting physicians in examinations and treatments, responding appropriately to emergencies, and dispensing medications are all part of the job. Monitoring vital signs, and making and managing care plans is ongoing. Starting pay for an RN around here is only about 20.00/hr (no joke – another HIGHLY underpaid job). I am nice enough not to add what a CNA makes on top of that (a HIGHLY, HIGHLY underpaid job). So, $41,600 a year.

Family Counselor

Payscale.com says that a marriage and family therapist averages between $36 - $58k a year. I’m giving myself $36k for now. Prices will increase as we add more children to our family.

Chauffer

GreyHound pays its drivers around $18 an hour. Of course, I don’t drive all day long. But I estimate that I drive about (and keep in mind that I live in the middle of nowhere) 5 hours a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. That’s an average. $18/hr for 5 hrs/week = 4680.00 a year

Repairman (woman)

I would say that a very modest fee for general repairs and handywork would be about $50 per incident and (since we are homeowners ) I estimate that we have an “incident” once a month or so. $50 times 12? $600 a year.

So, let’s do the math here…

Teacher 30,000.00

Maid 4,680.00

Cook 4,290.00

Bookkeeper 35,000.00

Personal Assistant 31,200.00

Nurse 41,600.00

Counselor 36,000.00

Chauffer 4,680.00

Repairman 600.00

Grand Total?

$188,050

I’m not even tax deductible and I do it all free of charge.

Am I missing anything?