Living on one income

pnutg · September 2014

Ok, ladies, I love hearing all of your different perspectives because we come from all walks of life. How many of you raise your families on one income? We've been doing it for a while and luckily my H makes pretty good money. But we are facing the issue of moving, due to a job transfer, and after researching the cost for a new house + the new vehicle we are going to need, I'm sincerely wondering how people do it on one income.

I'm ok with making certain sacrifices to be home with my kids but with #2 on the way, and more expenses on the horizon, I'm wondering how realistic I'm being.

Any insight or tips appreciated.

tee18 · September 2014

We live on one income in a really high cost of living area. I'm definitely not in the majority in my area for staying home. My h makes an average for the area salary and our overall household income is low compared to others in our area (we think it's decent though!). We manage it by having cleared out almost all our debts (just one student loan left) and we really manage our budget very closely (I love YNAB!). We use Dave Ramsey principles. We do sacrifice compared to our friends (don't go on big vacations, don't go out much, cut cable, h doesn't have a smart phone, etc). It's worth it to us though.

(For cars, we bought a used 2004 minivan that had high consumer reports ratings for reliability. We traded in for it, so we didn't pay much out of pocket. So for cars, do lots of research and buy used! Try to buy cash/trade in if possible. We know it's an older car, but we were surprised how affordable a nice reliable used minivan was)

jesselayne8 · September 2014

My husband makes decent money for our area. We have no debt except our mortgage (our cars are paid for and no student loans). The one area we are lacking is starting a college savings for the kids. I am trying to find a job where I can work one night shift a week (I'm a RN) and put that money towards college funds

Blueyed228 · September 2014

We live on one income.

H makes a lot of money.

I do try to save money here and there with couponing and stuff, but H just laughs at me for doing it. He thinks its silly. I still do it so I can feel like I am "contributing" in that way.

fancefpp · September 2014

We live on one income, basically. I do a little contract work but it's very slow right now. We just try to be smart about spending - only buy what we need, buy on sale, cook as much as possible, etc. DH does make enough for us to save, save for college, pay more toward mortgage each month and go on vacation once or twice a year. We don't buy super fancy clothes or eat at expensive places but that's just us, we think it's wasteful. I should say, if I worked we'd be much better off but know child are is very expensive.

beatlechicksteph · September 2014

We live on one income, and money is tight. DH is a teacher, and we just bought a house, so we're working on how we're going to afford to live. DH is considering getting another job. He doesn't want me working, because I already do enough with A. We've just decided we need to stop eating out and buying random stuff, and reevaluating our grocery bills. I'm still considering picking up a few music students to bring in a little extra money every month.

bishbecraycray · September 2014

We live on one income and own a house. We have sacrificed a lot, like not eating out, and driving older cars, in order to save money for the future. We also do cash budgeting which has helped our spending immensely. It's broken down into categories... groceries, clothes, baby stuff, home improvement, household items, eating out/fun, etc. There's no question on whether or not to spend now... if the money is there, we do and if it's not, we don't. I thought I would really dislike the cash system but it has completely reigned in our spending, enabled us to save way more, and pay off school loans ahead of time.

ordinary1 · September 2014

We live on one income and have one on the way. We live in a low cost of living area and H makes slightly above dual income so we don't do too much, but we are used to living in a high COL with average so some things we do my habit.

Meal plan
Drive as much as needed
Be realistic about renting vs owning (last place rent was super cheap here buying is cheap but wasn't realistic for us at the time)
Subscribe and save from amazon
Basic cable (or no cable)
Buy meat on sale
Fun money in cash
Eat out once a month
Buy in bulk when able
Car that has best gas mileage
Pack lunch

We have some debt (credit, student loans, Annabelle's birth).

pnutg · September 2014

I too, love Dave Ramsey and have intentions of following the system even better than we've done in the past. We don't have a lot of debt, two small student loans and 1 car loan currently. We are trying to hold off on getting another vehicle until after the truck is paid off. I just wish there was something I could do from home to bring in a little extra for fun money, more savings, etc.

pnutg · September 2014

3timemom said:
Do you have hobbies where you make things? Hair bows, wreaths, cakes, stuff like that? Or even babysitting at your home. I may look into doing that once we get moved next month. It's a way to get a little extra money but be at home.

No, I'm not really crafty. I considered watching a couple of children in my home in the past, when I was working part time at the hospital. It just sounds like a lot of work. Haha. Daycare providers are saints. But I'm not totally ruling it out in the future once we get into a new house.

Blueyed228 · September 2014

If you join a local.mom's group ($30 a year) most do biannual sales where you can sell your gently used stuff.

I sold last weekend at mine and made $650. I was pleasantly surprised. I also cleared a lot of clutter.

pnutg · September 2014

@beaubecca‌, I'm a big ebay-er! I buy and sell all the time. I just got C a brand new (with tags) Gap winter coat for $30. Tags say $88. You should check it out for your shoe addiction!

@Blueyed228‌, I'm going to check that out!

telicious2 · September 2014

DH stays home with DS, but we are hoping DH can get a job soon. But for the moment it is just my income. And I am working 3rd shift to get the extra 15% shift differential. I budget where all the money is going, use eMeals. I might invest in a printer to be able to print out coupons.

May I ask why you will need to get a new car? Do you only have one car right now? Does it make financial sense for your DH to take the job transfer?

Could you get a part time job in your line of work and work opposite hours from DH- if the job isn't too far from home? Don't want to work to just pay for the gas.

pnutg · September 2014

@rea1687‌, we will need a vehicle to accommodate 2 car seats. Mine will work for a while but it will be very crammed. And yes, we need to take the job transfer. It's a promotion as well. I worked 3rd shift for a few weeks at the hospital and it was awful. I give you a lot of credit. Working opposite of DH is not an option for us.

ordinary1 · September 2014

One thing we looked at was going down to one car instead of two. We ended up keeping both cars but dropping insurance to liability only. We also checked to see if the second car was driven so many miles for cheaper insurance.

telicious2 · September 2014

@pnutg Oh ya... 2 car seats! And congrats on your DH's promotion! I also wish there were legit WFH jobs. My mom had one many years ago folding tissue paper and sealing it into packages.

I am sure everything will work out. Good luck!

surpriseaddition · September 2014

We are back to one income again. I stayed home for awhile when we had our 2 older kids, and then I began teaching to have the best of both worlds when the kids were school age (summers and holidays off, but working when the kids were in school). I decided not to go back to teach this year. We have 3 cars that are all paid off (we just bought a used car for our 16 yo DD....the insurance costs are ridiculous!) and only have our mortgage. Although we don't have debt currently, our oldest will be off to college in less than 2 years. I'm going to start watching another teacher's infant beginning in a couple of weeks to make a little extra money, and I also tutor. Watching a teacher's child is always a good option, since you would have the summers off, along with school breaks. To me, having the time with my kids far outweighs any material items I would need to sacrifice. If it's something you really want, you can make it work. GL!

c-elizabethf · September 2014

We are a one income family. We have one car right now and it's paid off, in the future we plan on getting another one. Right now we rent a place, i do budget for groceries and stuff, i usually will try to do a meal plan. We still have some debt from just medical stuff that we are paying off right now. We try to limit to eating out once a week or so. Dh and i both decided to go back to college....so that's new for us this year. I was starting a photography business but i had to put it on hold and i've been asked to do family pictures and other things this year...so i might do that for extra money on the side.

snowgirl427 · September 2014

We are a one income family. DH has been looking, but not able to find a job. He's only looking because he's bored vs,. financial reasons. I'm very blessed to make a very good salary and live in a pretty low COL area. That being said - We have a significant sized mortgage, 2 cars (1 paid off). I'm not a couponer or anything of the sort, but I am also not a shopper. We eat out once or twice a week but will stop that soon just because we are trying to lose weight.

I think eating in and actually cooking all of the food you buy at the grocery store is a big thing. Farmers markets etc usually allow you to get higher quality stuff than at grocery stores for not much more (and you are supporting local farmers).

The biggest thing I can say is to not have cc debt. Other than our home and mortgage, DH and I do not typically have cc debt. We put everything on the card to earn points, but don't spend more than we have and can pay off (usuallY).

Good luck!! I'm definitely jealous of all the SAHMs...

pnutg · September 2014

@snowgirl427‌, cc debt is the worst! We learned that the hard way in both our young lives. Luckily, we have zero cc debt now and plan to stay that way.

snowgirl427 · September 2014

pnutg said:

@snowgirl427‌, cc debt is the worst! We learned that the hard way in both our young lives. Luckily, we have zero cc debt now and plan to stay that way.

That is great!!!

Want a personalized experience?

Living on one income

Re: Living on one income

Choose Another Board

Search Boards