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Permalink Reply by Lorela on August 27, 2008 at 11:00am

hi, i am a single and stay-at-home mom living on one income. i used to have two freelance jobs, i recently gave up the other one (which sucks). im thinking of focusing on my current writing job (which is actually a good one) or probably get a second one. sometimes, it becomes a bore for me to do the same thing for a long time, so i need another stuff to get my mind going. but definitely im not giving up what i do now - writing. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Merrie on August 27, 2008 at 1:52pm

For the last 2.5 years I've been the sole supporter of my family, but we've been a one income family for nearly five years. We were lucky to have bought in an area that was very inexpensive nine years ago, so one income is doable as long as we're "sensible." We don't eat out a lot, don't have extra money to throw around and don't take too many vacations, but we find ways to have fun. Right now things are scary with the economy the way it is, but my job is secure, and I've taken to carpooling a day or two a week to save on gas. I'm still working on Hubby to be a better coupon clipper and do less grocery trips.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Clary on August 28, 2008 at 9:57am

My hubster, my hero, made it clear to me that he felt it was best that I stay at home with Alex full-time. At first, I was eager to go back to work just out of habit. I learned quickly that most of my pay went to paying for Alex's care and the rest went into my gas tank. At one point, my hubster worked 2 jobs just so I could stay home. I couldn't believe the sacrifice he was making for the good of his family. He's amazing.
Since then, we've been blessed with a far greater job for him that pays better and allows us more family time. God is good.
We stick to a strict budget to ensure we're saving money as much as we can. Michigan's economy stinks and we need to be prepared financially for anything.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on August 28, 2008 at 10:04pm

We have been since last Dec and will be for the next 9 months (because I'm doing an internship for grad school).

It's been rough to say the least. And for someone like me, who's had thier OWN income and supported herself financially from a fairly young age, it's a bit of the blow to the ego to not bring in any money.

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Permalink Reply by Robyn on August 28, 2008 at 10:35pm

We are a one income family for 19 months now. Right before my daughter was born I basically was replaced at my job that I'd been at for 11 years. I won't get into the detail, but basically we became a one income family with a new baby on the way. It was a rough cut too, and I've had to dig into my retirement fund once (yikes), but I THINK we are on track now and trying to be more wise when spending and paying off bills.

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Permalink Reply by jyl_momitforward on August 29, 2008 at 11:00pm

My husband got laid off right around 9/11 and in the middle of graduate school. I was on maternity leave and ended it early to go back to work. No recruiters came to campuses that year. No one was hiring marketing professionals at that time. So, he started his own business. This lifestyle continued for us for quite some time.

After 6.5 years of being a working mom, providing full time while my husband got his business up and going, I quit my job to stay home with my kids. I always thought there would be a right time to quit--like we'd be financially established, his business would be secure, etc. etc. I saw the toll it was taking on our marriage and our family to work the hours we were working just to get by. Then I knew that there was never a perfect time. Sometimes, you just have to make a decision and take a leap of faith.

We determined to try and sell his business--even though it wasn't in the best position to sell--and I would quit my job and stay home. It hasn't been financially easy. In fact, it has been downright difficult. But, I have been able to be present with my children and raise them--for better or worse, right? This was what I wanted for my kids. Now that they are both in school all day, I am taking on 15-20 hours of freelance writing a week to help us get back to normal. But, I am firm in my decision to only work while they are gone or asleep--unless a catastrophe hits.

One thing... sorry to be so long... I think this is such a personal decision. I think everyone has their own situations and can only judge for themselves if working or not working is right for them, their marriage, and their kids. Having been in both situations, I know that sometimes, the right time isn't when we want it to be, but it can come and may have to come with a sacrifice.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela M. Kramer on August 29, 2008 at 11:26pm

We are a one income family. It's tough but we take a look at our finances quarterly and figure out where we are and where we have been and make changes if we need to. It's tough!

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Permalink Reply by Tena on August 30, 2008 at 2:57am

we have been a one income family since Dh and I married back in 2000

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Permalink Reply by Allison on August 30, 2008 at 3:13am

This is our first year being a one income family. I used to substitute teach and with the birth of the new baby my working would just pay for day care, so we decided that I would stay home. I will work on days hubby is off during the week... which will be only one day a week. This is for me to get out once in a while.

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Permalink Reply by Renee @ fefyfomanna on September 1, 2008 at 1:17am

We've been a one income family since we got married 16 years ago. We make it because we take a hard look at what we need versus what we want. Now I'm not saying that we're deprived...we so totally are not. We just don't have the newest of everything.

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Permalink Reply by lonestar818 on September 1, 2008 at 3:08pm

We have lived on one income for over 7 yrs now, since our twins were born and my husband became a SAHD. At that point it was only about a year since we had finished college / grad school so we really didn't have that much time to get used to having two full-time incomes. It was still a big adjustment though, going from 2 people with 2 incomes to 4 people with 1 income. We kind of just reverted back to college-mentality, being careful about where we shopped and what we spent money on. Not like we got out much with two babies anyway ;). But it was expensive!! At the time, his job actually offered him free daycare for both babies (which from a $ perspective that was huge) but we both felt strongly about one of us being home to take care of them so we declined.

We clip coupons, look for deals online, buy used, do our grocery shopping at walmart and buy clothes at the outlets. The Oshkosh store at the outlets has a twins discount so that helps a little, and we save all their clothes for our younger son :). It is sooo worth it, I know it's not an option for everyone but we feel very blessed that we're able to make it work.

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Permalink Reply by Christina on September 1, 2008 at 9:35pm

I became a stay-at-home mom after our twins were born a year ago (I also have a 3-year-old). It's tough, but I primarily view my new "job" (outside of taking care of the kids) as being a "home economist." It's my job to stretch the budget as much as I can. That said, I'm making a tiiiiiiny bit of money from my blog, and I'm doing a little bit of bookkeeping for a friend, so that helps.

The key is to really track every penny... that's a huge eye opener on what things you can scale back on. I don't view the one-income lifestyle as deprivation... I view it as a beautiful opportunity to raise my kids to be awesome adults! No one can raise your kids better than you!

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