Only One Income
Only One Income
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Thinking about quitting your job and staying
home? More parents are finding their family can make it on one income.
My husband and I had to stop and ask ourselves if the money I brought home
was worth all the time I would be missing with our daughter. In our case,
the answer was no.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau nearly half of two-parent families with children under six have a parent at home. I think that a lot of parents assume they need two incomes to survive. In our case we had to really look at our situation and get it under control. How much money does your family need to get by from month to month? I found several recommendations on the Web for figuring out your monthly needs. One of these was to make a worksheet with three columns: one for fixed expenses like mortgage and insurance payments, one for variable expenses such as groceries and utilities, and one for discretionary expenses like restaurant meals and clothing. Try adding up old checks and credit card receipts and keep a running log of cash expenditures. If you are expecting, do not forget to budget for baby. Carefully examining where the money went was an important step in our decision for me to quit work. Before we decided that I would stay home, any time my husband and I wanted something, we just bought it. By writing our expenses down, we realized how much we were spending on nonessentials like take-out food, and immediately started cutting back. If, after a careful review of your finances, it's apparent that you cannot afford to quit, don't be upset. It may be possible to go part-time. Instead of going from two incomes to one maybe you can go from two to one and a half. I never considered how expensive my working was. I earned a good salary as a paralegal, but after I subtracted taxes, the cost of daycare, clothing for work, dry cleaning, and lunches it did not look as good. When you are earning less, you have to learn to spend less. We made the most immediate changes in our eating out budget and with entertainment and food. The typical working American is on the job for more than 40 years, so in the scheme of things, taking off a year or two or five is a relative drop in the bucket. Still, it's important to stay up-to-date with professional organizations, keep in touch with former colleagues, and take advantage of continuing education opportunities. If you stay current and maintain some ties to the workforce, your time at home may not have to mean a professional setback. I will probably go back to work when my kids are in school, but right
now, everyone is happier with me at home.
Would you like to know just how much your second income contributes to the family? Check out the daycare calculator here.
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