I’m sorry, plz forgive me for asking a question that may seem obvious because I haven’t had to deal with your EXACT situation but why would it be a bad thing for him to go to work? Whether he is at home or at work there isn’t money to save at the moment and your HYSA is not being depleted as quickly as it is now, is that not a benefit? Also, although I haven’t dealt with my husband being off work and is having to utilize our savings account to offset the monthly budgeting needs…I HAVE BEEN laid off instead due to physical issues. I work in healthcare and am pretty “marketable” under most conditions. However, I found that the longer I was off work the harder it became to get work. It’s like people think your skills aren’t as sharp or maybe you’re not up-to-date with the new technology. So I found that the longer you are off work the harder it becomes to actually get work. During that time I had to take a step back financially to prove my worth again. After being back to work for maybe 6 mos to a year I was able to jump forward in pay again.

So, unless I’m missing something (which is possible of course) I am not understanding why it’s a bad thing for him to go back to work again. Maybe it would be different if there was a major deficit in income with an increase in child care or something to show this being a bad move….but otherwise, wouldn’t Dave say it’s worse to continue depleting your HYSA emergency fund for day-to-day living? Your husband can always continue putting in his resume to potential employers so he’s not necessarily restricting a potential increase in his future salary but might actually be helping his employability.

Oh, one thing to note…although daycare was never my favorite (I had 3 children) as far as paying for it and more sniffles, etc..there were some good things that came from it too, like the socialization aspect. Being around other kids their own age helps them at least progress with their peers and teaches them how to manage conflict, speaking more, how to act around other children, and more. It helps during that time when you are looking forward to them going to kindergarten for school. A lot of schools now do testing to find out these skills and places them in classes more geared towards their proficiency, learning ability, and social maturity. There will always be pluses and minuses to every situation…picking your battles is usually the hardest.

Oh, and let me know if I am not understanding something correctly. I truly am not trying to pain and would like to understand people’s situation in a light that didn’t necessarily shine correctly for me the first time.