Tips for living on one income?

[diznee25]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all the advice and support during this difficult time.

I do have good news; looks like I do qualify for short term disability so that's great. (So I'm not quitting my job.) Also I'll be getting more than a month off. My doctor doesn't think I'll be ready to return to work this month, so I'll get some extra time off. It's nice to see that things are working out for me in this time of need.

As a few of you have already mentioned, my therapist also recommended that I get out of house every now and then. She is concerned with me having all this time off work that sitting at home 24/7 will worsen my depression. So I've been getting out and running errands, stuff like that.

Thank you for the ideas of free entertainment, couponing, and living off of one income. I'll try to put all this into action and hopefully I'll see results.

diznee25

 

[goodeats]

If you aren't quitting I guess this point is moot, but when I quit to be a SAHM our tax expense went way down. We changed DH's witholdings (after double/triple checking on the IRS.GOV calculator). I would much rather have that money each money to put towards savings than get it once a year in a lump sum.

Also, make sure you have adequate life insurance on your DH if you do quit. You'll have a much harder time finding a job if you don't have a job, and the life insurance will cover expenses for awhile. I know it's no fun to think about, but necessary.

 

[Tink-aholic]

Wow, thank you everyone for the well wishes and advice!

Right now I am actually on "forced" leave from work. My boss can see that I am unable to preform my duties and they really don't have the patients to wait for me to get better. So I was told to take 4 weeks unpaid time (to get better) or get fired. I had asked if being laid off was an option so I could collect unemployment, but my boss's lawyer said no. (The lawyer says since the company shows there is a lot of work, there would be no justification for laying me off. And I completely get that.)

So I "agreed" to take the time off, and had my doctor also submit forms for short term disability but that is still pending. So while I've been home during my "break" I received a letter in the mail from the company I work for. In so many words it said that I needed to be at 100% at the top of my game when I get back otherwise they would fire me. (I figure it's better to quit then to get fired. Because if I need to find a job down the road, my chances would be better if I wasn't fired from my previous job.)

DH and I are just trying to stay positive. For anybody dealing with mental/physical health issues you know how challenging life can get.

So I just got what may be my "last" paycheck. I dumped all it into savings to see if we can live without it. So far so good.

Thanks for all the tips! I just want to stretch every penny we have. I am trying to buy more products in bulk and I started cutting my dryer sheets in half, (a tip I got from another thread!)

diznee25

You should file for unemployment TODAY! It is based on your most recent wages...and you don't want to wait until you have no wages to report. File now. You have absolutely NOTHING to lose and everything to gain!

 

[diznee25]

If you aren't quitting I guess this point is moot, but when I quit to be a SAHM our tax expense went way down. We changed DH's witholdings (after double/triple checking on the IRS.GOV calculator). I would much rather have that money each money to put towards savings than get it once a year in a lump sum.

Also, make sure you have adequate life insurance on your DH if you do quit. You'll have a much harder time finding a job if you don't have a job, and the life insurance will cover expenses for awhile. I know it's no fun to think about, but necessary.

Just not quitting now since I'm on short term disability. Once my disability leave runs out I will either quit or be fired, one of the two.

We always dread tax season because we always owed money. (Our combined income was a lot.) It'll definitely be nice being in a lower tax bracket and we may even get money back!! Or like you said, change his withholdings so we extra each paycheck.

thanks for reminding me about life insurance. My DH does have it, but I want him to increase the amount for when I'm unemployed.

diznee25

 

[abcboys]

Living off one income really doesn't mean anything. If one person earns $100K/year, that's the same as two people each earning $50K/year.

My only suggestion is to sit down with a budget. Do NOT include the OT. Designate every dollar of income. If/when DH gets OT, pay down the princple on your loans to get rid of those.

I've never understood the "living off one income" I see so often here, either. It could be 2 people working mcdonald's making only 30k or 1 brain surgeon making...whatever brain surgeons's make but yet the brain surgeon's family is "living off one income"

OP, looks like you are getting some good advice, though!

 

[monkey30]

Looks like everyone has given some good imput!

I hope things work out for you soon. We are a family of 5 living of Dh income. He gets a decent wage that some would love, but he works hard at it!

We Budget on his base pay, and any OT he gets goes into the bank, at this point in time, we have only a mortgage and my truck payment (which is only 1/2 the cost of the truck as we paid it down alot already!) but have a lot of extras as well. So Budgeting is the key!!
GOOD LUCK!

 

[starry_solo]

1. How many employees does your employer have? If more than 50, FMLA may help (for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave). See:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm

2. What state are you in? In California, they have a similar law that provides for additional time off. Perhaps your state does this as well.

3. Can your medical condition be reasonably accommodated? You mentioned depression - is that the reason for not being able to work? I wouldn't really believe the company's attorney but you might potentially be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
See:
http://depression.about.com/cs/disability/a/ada.htm
and
http://www.discriminationattorney.com/lawyer-attorney-1288620.html

The key, though, is whether there is a reasonable accommodation that can be made. Are there other jobs which are open and available and for which you qualify to be moved to (that is, you meet the requirements to get the job - education, experience, etc)?

Typically employes have to make reasonable accommodations but they don't have to create a job in order to accommodate you - it should be one that is already open and unfilled.

4. HR is there to help the employer but you should make it known to HR that you have a disability (so there is no way they can say they didn't know).

 

[jrnunzio3]

Agreed. Ditto for meals out and other luxuries. Yeah, you can go a week without spending on ANY luxuries, but you're going to reach the point that you'll say, "Forget this!" and throw the budget out. Instead, budget a reasonable amount for fun and stick to your plan.

We do this. We each "get an allowance" every week for our wants, not our needs. It is $25.00 and we can spend it on whatever we want. Usually, at the end of the week, we both still have most of it left. Mine always goes in a jar and that is my "fun" money at Disney.