Hi, I’m Rhoda Dermer, and I started the Pay-at-Home Mother Project to help stay-at-home mothers lead happier, more financially secure lives.
A Yale-educated lawyer, I didn’t set out to become a pay-at-home mother. I became one entirely by accident.
About eighteen years ago, following a typical marital spat over housework, I started withdrawing a portion of my husband’s salary from our joint checking account in order to pay myself for running our house and raising and our kids. Though all I wanted to do at first was make a statement, I realized almost immediately that becoming a pay-at-home mother was changing my life in real – and fantastic – ways. Taking a salary made me a more efficient homemaker, a more supportive wife, and a more patient mother. It made me and my family wealthier. And most surprising of all, it made me happier.
For a long time, I didn’t understand why paying myself had any impact on me. My husband and I have always shared money, so I knew that the cash wasn’t driving the change. I’d also always been taught that homemaking, like virtue, is its own reward. Why did I need to pay myself for the work I did at home when everybody I knew was doing the same work for free?
Today, after years of research, I know that the factors that drove me to pay myself are more widespread than I believed. More important, I know that stay-at-home mothers like you can transform your life for the better—simply by becoming pay-at-home moms.
Still skeptical? Read The Pay-at-Home Mother to learn why the method is so successful and how you can become a pay-at-home mother—whatever your family’s income may be. Then make sure to let me know how your Pay-at-Home journey has improved your life!