Going from 2 salaries to 1?

[Meshell2002]

I quit working about 4 years ago I made 60% of out household income. DH and I have always been planners financially so when we got married we both had little debt.

I agree with paying off all debt before you do it....maybe not your mortgage but everything else including your cars and student loans if you have any.

we saved a ton not needing childcare, eating out because I didn't have time to cook dinner, commuting expenses (I drove to a neighboring county for work it took a lot of gas), work clothes allowance, malpractice insurance/ license renewals, ect. IT ALSO LOWERED our tax bracket substantially.....we didn't even think about how much that would save us.

We don't have cable but don't miss it, we do Netflix streaming for most shows and have about 8 channels thru our digital antenna. We swap babysitting with another family that has kids the same age as ours. We cloth diaper to save money. we buy a lot of children's clothes through consignment and adult clothes are sales or outlet prices.

We refinanced about 5 years ago and just recently paid off the house INSTEAD of moving into a bigger house. My girls have to share a room but it is our house! Paying off the house and waiting for (probably) another 10 years before we move again we hope will off set the drop in property value since we bought our house.....we didn't pay off our house until all other debt was paid off including student loans and cars.....this has been huge we now only have utilities, groceries, and taxes.....except clothing and lastly trips (we only vacation longer than 3 days about every other year or so unless my parents cover us)

We do pay for private school....where we live it is not an option our public schools are all underperforming.....but we found the most reasonable one tuition wise and since we have no mortgage it is doable.....having that mortgage debt gone is not for everyone but it really helps if you can swing it.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We went from 2 to 1.25 a few years ago. I won't lie, it's been a struggle at times and we've had to sacrifice a lot. We still feel it's worth it for my wife to get to spend as much time with the kids as she does, but on the flip side I have had to pick up a ton of overtime to make it work (just as an example, 200+ hours so far this year).

 

[shortbun]

I recommend using your current salary to either pay off debt OR create a rainy day fund for a year. If you are able to do this, smooth sailing. We did this prior to my retirement. It was tight but we pulled it off. I'm back to doing part time work now as I found the perfect job; I have summers off and only work 20 hours a week during school time.

 

[Katy Belle]

We did it 18 years ago. I decided to become a SAHM. We cut out everything. No cable, no newspaper, no vacations, we ate out once a month, usually fast food or with a good coupon, I cooked everything from scratch. We drove old cars until they fell apart. It was important for us, so we did it.

We were young and it was the beginning of DHs career. He has worked hard, we have moved several times, and he has continued to go up in his career. Now we really sacrifice nothing and will be able to put our 3 kids through college and retire with enough money. We still are thrifty. No way would I ever spend $500 a night on a room at Disney when I could stay in a Value for around $100. I still cook from scratch. We watch our pennies. Our kids are not in every single activity, they have to choose.

 

[Narnia_girl]

We did it 18 years ago. I decided to become a SAHM. We cut out everything. No cable, no newspaper, no vacations, we ate out once a month, usually fast food or with a good coupon, I cooked everything from scratch. We drove old cars until they fell apart. It was important for us, so we did it.

I still cook from scratch. We watch our pennies. Our kids are not in every single activity, they have to choose.

Same here. We sacrificed a lot when I left work 18 years ago, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Ironically, while our friends were going to WDW for vacations we took local camping trips--but it meant I was at home with my children. Absolutely the best decision we made as parents.

As far as activities/entertainment, I bet your area has lots of inexpensive or free options: outdoor concerts in the park, library crafts or puppet shows, free days at museums. Try letterboxing--it's the low-tech version of geocaching. It's very cheap and fun for kids.

Follow Dave Ramsey's advice: sell so much the kids think they're next! But seriously, eliminating all the excess stuff from your home is freeing--you make some money and you don't have to worry about upkeep/storage, etc...

Best wishes!

 

[powellrj]

We did back in September so I could take over caring for my parents. My mom has dementia and I was out of town most days with my job and it just wasn't working out.

We were doing pretty well by cutting back on things like eating out, gifts, cut back on cable. I was involved in a car accident in January that really shook our world. I am just glad we had savings to fall back on.

Our kids both got jobs which also helped out. Now they take care of their fun money and we just cover normal expenses like insurance and education.