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When people find out that I stay at home with my kids, I get the look. It is usually this puzzled look of wonder and confusion all in one. How can you afford to live on one income? Then they start to ask questions. Even after the questions, I don’t think they fully understand that it is doable to live on a single income.
I will admit that it is difficult at times. We don’t take fancy vacations, or go to the mall for random shopping trips. Those are luxuries that are not necessary, and we survive just fine without them. However, We don’t go without necessities. My kids all have new clothes, a roof over their heads, food to eat, and toys to play with.
It takes cooperation between my husband and I. We both have to agree on a budget. We both know where our money is going. We both agree on how much we have to spend on extras, and how much to save. There are times when some of those pennies get pinched a little more than others, but we manage.
Our society is hung up on who has the finer things; nicer house, the fancier car, & the most expensive jewelry. At the end of the day, those things don’t matter, but my love for my family does.
The bottom line is…how are you comfortable living? It was very important for my husband and I that I stay home with the kids. To be a stay at home mom is a very difficult job, even though there isn’t a paycheck. It is a personal choice for every family.
Can you live on one income? Of course you can. It just depends on how serious you are about it, and what you are willing to sacrifice to do so. That is why I shop sales, use coupons, and look for shortcuts. Every little bit that I save helps our family to be able to do more.
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You’ve said it best. It’s about wants rather than needs nowadays. My friend remarked to me the other day “I really wish I could stay home with the kids, but we can’t afford it.” then not 10 minutes later “We have a cabin in the mountains, you should come stay with us sometime” They have so much stuff! If people would just concentrate on what really matters most *family* then, everyone could afford to stay home!!
We actually added it up once – since there are no jobs within a 20 mile radius of our house, with gas, the added maintence on my truck, daycare and other expenses (work clothes, etc) it would be pointless for me to work! My whole paycheck would be going to these “work expenses”.
You’ve said it best. It’s about wants rather than needs nowadays. My friend remarked to me the other day “I really wish I could stay home with the kids, but we can’t afford it.” then not 10 minutes later “We have a cabin in the mountains, you should come stay with us sometime” They have so much stuff! If people would just concentrate on what really matters most *family* then, everyone could afford to stay home!!
We actually added it up once – since there are no jobs within a 20 mile radius of our house, with gas, the added maintence on my truck, daycare and other expenses (work clothes, etc) it would be pointless for me to work! My whole paycheck would be going to these “work expenses”.
I love this it is so true!!! Sacrifice is the Key word… I am a stay at home mom also… Most peoples wants out ride there needs!!! You worded this very well…
I love this it is so true!!! Sacrifice is the Key word… I am a stay at home mom also… Most peoples wants out ride there needs!!! You worded this very well…
We live on one but not by choice. I am unable to find a job. Because of health reasons I can’t just go to McDonald’s. I have to stick to secretarial work that is mostly sit down. Currently my hubby is on workman’s compensation. He was crushed by a semi trailer 1 year ago next month. This lowered our montly income by $1000 a month! This is when I became a extreme couponer. However, we have learned to live very comfortably on this lesser amount with 2 teenagers to feed, cloth, sports, car etc. So when he finally goes back to work in another month or so we will continue living on our current wages and SAVE everything above for that emergency fund!
We live on one but not by choice. I am unable to find a job. Because of health reasons I can’t just go to McDonald’s. I have to stick to secretarial work that is mostly sit down. Currently my hubby is on workman’s compensation. He was crushed by a semi trailer 1 year ago next month. This lowered our montly income by $1000 a month! This is when I became a extreme couponer. However, we have learned to live very comfortably on this lesser amount with 2 teenagers to feed, cloth, sports, car etc. So when he finally goes back to work in another month or so we will continue living on our current wages and SAVE everything above for that emergency fund!
There is no way we could live on one salary. I would love to but my husband’s salary wouldn’t even pay the house and power bills
There is no way we could live on one salary. I would love to but my husband’s salary wouldn’t even pay the house and power bills
My husband and I made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom when my son arrived 16 months ago. As soon as we found out I was pregnant, we began trying to save all of my income, to see if we could live on one. We ended up saving $900 a month until he was born, and when he was born I quit my job. As my husband puts it, “He hasn’t seen a change in our lifestyle from when I was working.” I began babysitting to help bring in a little extra money, and I began couponing, thrifting, and just being very careful as to where our money went. That’s not to say that we don’t occassionally splurge. Everyone needs to spend something on himself/herself every once inawhile.
My husband and I made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom when my son arrived 16 months ago. As soon as we found out I was pregnant, we began trying to save all of my income, to see if we could live on one. We ended up saving $900 a month until he was born, and when he was born I quit my job. As my husband puts it, “He hasn’t seen a change in our lifestyle from when I was working.” I began babysitting to help bring in a little extra money, and I began couponing, thrifting, and just being very careful as to where our money went. That’s not to say that we don’t occassionally splurge. Everyone needs to spend something on himself/herself every once inawhile.
I deal with the same thing. My husband is a maintenance man at a small university in town. We have 4 kids now but I have never had to work outside the home. God has always provided us with what we need. He even has provided me with babysitting jobs when things got real tight. One income is doable but not without sacrifices.
I deal with the same thing. My husband is a maintenance man at a small university in town. We have 4 kids now but I have never had to work outside the home. God has always provided us with what we need. He even has provided me with babysitting jobs when things got real tight. One income is doable but not without sacrifices.
I have been the only income in my family for approx 6 years now. We are a little different, I work and my husband stays home with the kids. He does all the cooking and cleaning, I do major couponing and the shopping. I used to make enough by myself to cover all the bills, have savings and be able to do things. With the economy I took about a $20K a year pay hit that’s when things got real tight. I can usually just cover the bills but I am mostly commissioned based so some months I come up short. I am very thrifty but it does get old after years of struggling to make ends meet, the stress and then never being able to do anything extra, like take family vacations and things. I feel like my kids are losing out on some things and us as parents only have so many years to be able to do those things with our kids. I feel guilty that I don’t get to spend much time with them, but my husband could never make the money I can. You can do it if you have to but it’s not always great.
I have been the only income in my family for approx 6 years now. We are a little different, I work and my husband stays home with the kids. He does all the cooking and cleaning, I do major couponing and the shopping. I used to make enough by myself to cover all the bills, have savings and be able to do things. With the economy I took about a $20K a year pay hit that’s when things got real tight. I can usually just cover the bills but I am mostly commissioned based so some months I come up short. I am very thrifty but it does get old after years of struggling to make ends meet, the stress and then never being able to do anything extra, like take family vacations and things. I feel like my kids are losing out on some things and us as parents only have so many years to be able to do those things with our kids. I feel guilty that I don’t get to spend much time with them, but my husband could never make the money I can. You can do it if you have to but it’s not always great.
We cannot afford to live on one income because my husband’s salary isn’t enough to cover our needs… let alone our wants. I have recently cut my hours at work to get some more time with the kids. For me this was the best of both worlds. I am now working half days three days a week and can spend that time with my children. My middle daughter is now able to ride the bus home as well instead of going to after school care. I enjoy having the extra time with the kids and am able to get more done. I would love to stay home all together, but since that wasn’t exactly doable for us this was a compromise that both I and my husband could be comfortable with. On the up side, letting go of the after school care and taking the boys from full day childcare to half day preschool offset a lot of what I was losing. We have made up the difference by cutting some unnecessary expenses.
We cannot afford to live on one income because my husband’s salary isn’t enough to cover our needs… let alone our wants. I have recently cut my hours at work to get some more time with the kids. For me this was the best of both worlds. I am now working half days three days a week and can spend that time with my children. My middle daughter is now able to ride the bus home as well instead of going to after school care. I enjoy having the extra time with the kids and am able to get more done. I would love to stay home all together, but since that wasn’t exactly doable for us this was a compromise that both I and my husband could be comfortable with. On the up side, letting go of the after school care and taking the boys from full day childcare to half day preschool offset a lot of what I was losing. We have made up the difference by cutting some unnecessary expenses.
My husband works two jobs and I stay home with our 4 yr old son. I haven’t worked since hes been born and I do not plan on it for awhile. My husband does work ALOT since he has a full-time and part-time job but he does that for us. I do EVERYTHING around the house. He is not in charge of cleaning, etc.. I also coupon
We make all of our bills and also have money left for fun stuff! I say if you can’t have fun then it all really isn’t worth it. (We go to waterpark/thempark hotels a few times a year and in the summer we go for the day OFTEN. Thats our thing
My husband works two jobs and I stay home with our 4 yr old son. I haven’t worked since hes been born and I do not plan on it for awhile. My husband does work ALOT since he has a full-time and part-time job but he does that for us. I do EVERYTHING around the house. He is not in charge of cleaning, etc.. I also coupon
We make all of our bills and also have money left for fun stuff! I say if you can’t have fun then it all really isn’t worth it. (We go to waterpark/thempark hotels a few times a year and in the summer we go for the day OFTEN. Thats our thing
We became a one income family due to my layoff. We stayed a one income family when a surprise child came along. We struggle to make ends meet right now. We can not pay all of our bills where we are at so we are moving with tax money to a much cheaper area, a much cheaper house. The house may be cheaper but it is bigger, it is also on land that we can garden on (helping supplement our food budget) and my landlord has asked me to do childcare from time to time in exchange for more taken off the rent. I have learned to coupon. That saves us about 50% per week, if not more on food and diapers. We don’t have top notch electronics and brand new cars but we get where we are going and I get to see every new thing my son learns to do (be it bad or good). I can’t say we are stress free YET but we are working on it.
We became a one income family due to my layoff. We stayed a one income family when a surprise child came along. We struggle to make ends meet right now. We can not pay all of our bills where we are at so we are moving with tax money to a much cheaper area, a much cheaper house. The house may be cheaper but it is bigger, it is also on land that we can garden on (helping supplement our food budget) and my landlord has asked me to do childcare from time to time in exchange for more taken off the rent. I have learned to coupon. That saves us about 50% per week, if not more on food and diapers. We don’t have top notch electronics and brand new cars but we get where we are going and I get to see every new thing my son learns to do (be it bad or good). I can’t say we are stress free YET but we are working on it.
Good word. I am pregnant with twins and these are our first babies. I am going to quit my job and be a stay at home mom. Scary decision, but I know that it is what needs to happen for our family. We will have to sacrifice, but will be well worth it.
Good word. I am pregnant with twins and these are our first babies. I am going to quit my job and be a stay at home mom. Scary decision, but I know that it is what needs to happen for our family. We will have to sacrifice, but will be well worth it.
When my husband and I got married almost 8 years ago we decided that when we had children that I would stay home. I was still in collage when we did marry, I only worked about a year before our first child arrived! We have from the start of our marriage only lived off one income so that we would not be dependent on two. The money I made that first year went towards paying off my student loans (I also worked while in collage to help pay on this!). I know not all families can work it out that they can stay home but onc peice of advise I do tell family and friends is to start off by living off one income, if you have two incomes bank the other (make a nice reserve for rainy days)!! That way when you make the transition you are not shell shocked at the amount of diffrence. We are expecting our fourth child and it is acctually cheeper for me to stay home with our children then it is for me to work and pay child care! It has worked very well for us… Good luck to those who are trying! Many Blessings!
When my husband and I got married almost 8 years ago we decided that when we had children that I would stay home. I was still in collage when we did marry, I only worked about a year before our first child arrived! We have from the start of our marriage only lived off one income so that we would not be dependent on two. The money I made that first year went towards paying off my student loans (I also worked while in collage to help pay on this!). I know not all families can work it out that they can stay home but onc peice of advise I do tell family and friends is to start off by living off one income, if you have two incomes bank the other (make a nice reserve for rainy days)!! That way when you make the transition you are not shell shocked at the amount of diffrence. We are expecting our fourth child and it is acctually cheeper for me to stay home with our children then it is for me to work and pay child care! It has worked very well for us… Good luck to those who are trying! Many Blessings!
We did the opposite about 6 months ago, my husband quit his job and now stays home with our 2 and 5 year old. You can do it, you just have to budget to the penny! I did a series on by blog about going from 2 incomes to 1!
http://spendless2savemore.blogspot.com/search/label/Two%20Incomes%20to%20One
We did the opposite about 6 months ago, my husband quit his job and now stays home with our 2 and 5 year old. You can do it, you just have to budget to the penny! I did a series on by blog about going from 2 incomes to 1!
http://spendless2savemore.blogspot.com/search/label/Two%20Incomes%20to%20One
We are also a one income family. I agree with you that it can be done and it is all about sacrifices. We don’t do vacations, but we have family outings that cost little to nothing and have just as a good time. We don’t own fancy things, but we do have, we are very grateful to have it. My husband is facing a hour cut with his company due to the company cutting back on expenses. It is going to be pretty tight but we fully trust God to provide. We don’t go hungry, we have nice clothing, dependable vehicles and a home that is totally paid for. So I feel like we have been blessed beyond measure. Also we do not own any credit cards, as we have the motto, if we don’t have cash to buy it then we don’t need it. We are totally debt free except my husband’s truck and my daughter’s car (which she pays for) and our utilities.
We are also a one income family. I agree with you that it can be done and it is all about sacrifices. We don’t do vacations, but we have family outings that cost little to nothing and have just as a good time. We don’t own fancy things, but we do have, we are very grateful to have it. My husband is facing a hour cut with his company due to the company cutting back on expenses. It is going to be pretty tight but we fully trust God to provide. We don’t go hungry, we have nice clothing, dependable vehicles and a home that is totally paid for. So I feel like we have been blessed beyond measure. Also we do not own any credit cards, as we have the motto, if we don’t have cash to buy it then we don’t need it. We are totally debt free except my husband’s truck and my daughter’s car (which she pays for) and our utilities.
We lived on one income when my spouse taught at a bare bones private school, We lived on one income when my spouse quit and went back to school, living on a TA stipend with three kids. We lived on one income for years when we were repaying student loans. I worked full time for a couple of years and instead of saving enough to buy a nice car like I thought we would, something always came up and we ended that period no better off than when I started, so I stayed home again. We live in a very old home and drive very old cars. I had always thought we needed a newer home and nicer cars, but we don’t. There are more important things.
We lived on one income when my spouse taught at a bare bones private school, We lived on one income when my spouse quit and went back to school, living on a TA stipend with three kids. We lived on one income for years when we were repaying student loans. I worked full time for a couple of years and instead of saving enough to buy a nice car like I thought we would, something always came up and we ended that period no better off than when I started, so I stayed home again. We live in a very old home and drive very old cars. I had always thought we needed a newer home and nicer cars, but we don’t. There are more important things.
Please, please don’t assume that all two income families are just “hung up on who has the finer things.” Some are, yes. Maybe a lot are; I can’t say. I was a latchkey kid from pretty early on; my mom worked very long hours to keep us going,, since her income was more stable than my stepfather’s. We lived in modest homes in working class areas. We lived with my grandparents for a while. We clipped coupons and shopped sales (and this before the days of Internet deals) and put school supplies on layaway. Our only vacations were family visits, and we didn’t have designer clothes or brand new cars. My brother and I didn’t have cars at all until we were able to buy our own junkers. The ability to *choose* to make these sacrifices is a luxury my mom never had.
We still had a good life. My mother was still a loving presence in our lives, despite the hours she had to work and the school functions she had to miss. Judging from the way my friends talk about their families, we may have been more loving than most.
I’m happy for you that you’re able to choose a one-income lifestyle and make it work. I hope when I have my own family, we are able to make a similar choice. But please don’t tar all two-incomers with the same brush. Some of them make the same sacrifices you do and still struggle to get by.
Please, please don’t assume that all two income families are just “hung up on who has the finer things.” Some are, yes. Maybe a lot are; I can’t say. I was a latchkey kid from pretty early on; my mom worked very long hours to keep us going,, since her income was more stable than my stepfather’s. We lived in modest homes in working class areas. We lived with my grandparents for a while. We clipped coupons and shopped sales (and this before the days of Internet deals) and put school supplies on layaway. Our only vacations were family visits, and we didn’t have designer clothes or brand new cars. My brother and I didn’t have cars at all until we were able to buy our own junkers. The ability to *choose* to make these sacrifices is a luxury my mom never had.
We still had a good life. My mother was still a loving presence in our lives, despite the hours she had to work and the school functions she had to miss. Judging from the way my friends talk about their families, we may have been more loving than most.
I’m happy for you that you’re able to choose a one-income lifestyle and make it work. I hope when I have my own family, we are able to make a similar choice. But please don’t tar all two-incomers with the same brush. Some of them make the same sacrifices you do and still struggle to get by.