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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on August 25, 2008 at 8:06pm

We are a one income family. My husband gave me the honor of being able to stay at home with our children. To me that is a blessing. But when times are rough it is kind of scary. We sadly are one of those families that got caught up in the forclosure downfall. You need to be really strong when that happens and thakfully we are. Scary thing is now even if I had to go out and get a job I haven't worked for over 10 years, I have been paid to do web design and that kind of stuff but again thats not steady. We have just managed to keep our bills down and cut back when we need to. And I do alot of praying that things will work out. There are so many others worse off than me, so I can't complain :-)

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Permalink Reply by Finn on August 25, 2008 at 11:40pm

We are living on one income. I became a stay at home mom after the birth of our third child in 2005. To be honest the salary I would make, would mostly go to daycare anyway. I am very happy and lucky to be able to stay at home with my kids. It can be a struggle at time financially ... but the struggles are worth me staying home to be with our kids instead of sending them to daycare for someone else to take care of... :)

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Permalink Reply by Natalie on August 25, 2008 at 11:41pm

I quit working in January 2007 and ever since we've been a one income family. It's hard and we definitely do without a lot of the fun stuff. But, it's something we feel strongly about, so we make it work. Some months (the last three especially) we hit the last day of the month and have less than $100 left in our account, but somehow we make it. I agree that it's hard and I too get discouraged.

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Permalink Reply by A Cowboy's Wife (Lori) on August 25, 2008 at 11:53pm

I'm sure many of my regular readers know how I feel about this subject. I think staying home and raising kids is the best thing a mother can do for their child. Obviously, not everyone can afford to stay home but we have always managed, even when we only brought home $800 a month. No, we weren't on welfare either. We chose to buy things we needed not wanted. I think those harder times have made our kids more appreciative of what they get now, unlike so many kids today.

You cut back spending, find creative ways to entertain at home, cook from scratch, and use coupons!..LOL

Don't be discouraged. They're are much worse things that could happen to your loved ones than financial matters.

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Permalink Reply by Alyssa on August 26, 2008 at 9:03am

Oh! This is definitely what is best for me and my family, there is no doubt about that. I just sometimes get frustrated with the money and other times I get scared to death. Though I know I shouldn't because God has provided for us time and time again.

Lori said:

I'm sure many of my regular readers know how I feel about this subject. I think staying home and raising kids is the best thing a mother can do for their child. Obviously, not everyone can afford to stay home but we have always managed, even when we only brought home $800 a month. No, we weren't on welfare either. We chose to buy things we needed not wanted. I think those harder times have made our kids more appreciative of what they get now, unlike so many kids today.

You cut back spending, find creative ways to entertain at home, cook from scratch, and use coupons!..LOL

Don't be discouraged. They're are much worse things that could happen to your loved ones than financial matters.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on August 26, 2008 at 10:20am

We've been living on one income for 10 years, since my oldest was born. I was a teacher prior to that. Although teaching is very flexible, we decided it was best for me to stay home full-time, like it was said, most of the PT income would have gone right back to daycare.

Although my Hubby has Crohn's and in 2002 was on disability for 5 months due to a flare up and eventually surgery, that can rear it's head at any time, we've made it work for us.

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Permalink Reply by Brooke on August 26, 2008 at 10:31am

I guess we are living on one income too. We own a business together. When business is slow, which it is right now --- the income is basically nonexistent. Good thing I have a side jewelry business, and a little rental income.

Jen said:

We've been living on one income for 10 years, since my oldest was born. I was a teacher prior to that. Although teaching is very flexible, we decided it was best for me to stay home full-time, like it was said, most of the PT income would have gone right back to daycare.

Although my Hubby has Crohn's and in 2002 was on disability for 5 months due to a flare up and eventually surgery, that can rear it's head at any time, we've made it work for us.

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Permalink Reply by Stacey on August 26, 2008 at 11:39am

We have one income & have since Jan 2003 when my childcare arrangements fell through right as my maternity leave ended. By the the time I found a place for DS1, I was pregnant with DS2, so there seemed no point in going back the cost of childcare would have sucked up 2/3 of my take home pay & by then I really didn't want to leave DS1. The first couple of years were hard. Adjusting to new buying/saving habits was difficult. DH & I had been 2 income no kids for 10 years when DS1 was born. The new budget was a challenge. Not buying things when we wanted was a challenge. We're still not 100% adjusted to it but we feel like we have a handle on it. Unexpected expenses throw us off ($2000 of car repair followed by $800 of dental) but we manage.

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Permalink Reply by Ali on August 26, 2008 at 12:14pm

We've been living on one income for 5 years now. The first year was a shock financially. We had almost depleted our savings when we wised up and got rid of everything that wasn't absolutely necessary: eating at restaurants, subscriptions to 2 newspapers, land line phone, internet, satellite tv, and even the dogs went from a pricey dog food to a cheaper one. Once we got used to our new budget, we slowly added internet and satellite tv (I can't live without those forever!). It's hard but it can work!

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Cook on August 26, 2008 at 1:24pm

Last year, I was running my own advertising and design agency in Chicago making well above a 6 figure income. My DH was more like the SAHD, since he was a school teacher with a less demanding schedule. But, due to some unfortunate circumstances, I could not work any longer. We could no longer live in our nice house or even in the same suburb that we were living in. We had to down size big time! We moved to rural town in another state and started over! We are now on a very tight budget.

I pretend that I am on vacation. It is actually a blessing to have our lives so much more simplified. I do miss shopping and the nice working lunch dates. In fact, I used to get pedicures on a weekly basis when I worked. Now, I get to take my kids to the beach every day and they bury my feet in the sand - this is much better than any $60 pedi in the city!

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Permalink Reply by Tina Fisher on August 26, 2008 at 10:01pm

We are living on 2 incomes but it feels like 1. My husband and I don't make much but with the increasing cost of fuel and food, we've learned to make adjustments in other areas.

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Permalink Reply by Deanna on August 26, 2008 at 10:56pm

If you set your mind to it, it happens. Power of positive thinking!! I recently lost my job and we are now on one income. I just click coupons, watch the bills and dont buy frivolous things. I refuse to go back to a FT job. So I will do whatever is necessary that I wont have to.

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