Tips on Going from 2 Incomes to 1

[cutenirish]

TOO FUNNY I'd like to do bingo for a living I'm supposed to go Monday with a group of friends :) Maybe Lady Luck will come my way and I'll WIN some cash - when i go just buy 12 dollars worth of cards (minimum amount I think).

[hotcouponmama]

The minimum here M-Th days is $1 per packet with 6 cards per page, minimum 2 packets, for $2 gets you through the door, then you buy into all the extra games. And then 1x a month, they give you a coupon for $5 off your buy in, so free bingo!!!

[asalvato]

Can you manage with one car? Some can, some cannot. If you can, then you save on car payments, maintenance, insurance, and some gas. If you have public transportation or working person can carpool--two cars becomes unnecessary.

Cut down on driving. Plan to run errands while going to necessary places. Don't just drive to be driving.

Cook. Anytime you take raw unprocessed foods and make a meal it is less expensive than if fully or partially prepared.

Cut out "junk" food. Popcorn is less expensive than chips if you pop it yourself (not microwave). Make your own cookies. Ditto for other desserts. Don't indulge anyone with a lot of "junk." If the nutrition isn't there, serve something else.

Cut down on eating out.

Check out thrift and consignment shops for clothing and household goods. You spend time sifting through the junk but bargains are there. Some for yard sales.

If you smoke, give it up.

If you drink, give it up or cut back significantly.

Don't play the lottery.

Give each partner an allowance. When it is gone they do without until payday. No exceptions.

Only use credit cards for planned purchases. Using them can give you a cash reward and that is good but paying interest is bad. Pay in full each month. Too often we think we have an emergency and pull out the CC when we could find a less expensive way to solve the problem. Ask yourself--what would we do if we didn't have a CC?

Do creating gifts. Give a homemade gift certificate redeemable for your time to do something or for something you cook, make, make that is wonderful. I would rather have my kids come and help us clean (we are retired and heights have become a hazard) things we find hard to reach than to have another piece of clothing or nick-nack for the house.

Spend time finding the least expensive way to accomplish the things you want to do. So many folks just pay whatever is asked because they don't have time to do the research.

[BzyBee DH]

Make a written budget. Plan on living on less than 85% of take home pay.
15% for retirement. If possible, try to accomplish this 3-6 months before eliminating the second income. This will allow time to tweek the budget and make lifestyle adjustments.

To get there - most likely requires elimination of all non-house debt (no vehicle payments). Have a budget that allows an account to grow to account for purchasing a vehicle with cash when needed.

It might require a revisit to what kind of a home (and monthly $) to have.

I believe that when there is a stay at home spouse, the monetary lifestlye is completely different (lower), but the overall satisfaction is worth it.

Cash Basis for all purchases.

Build savings to cover 6 month of expenses.

The issue is to have financial peace and a safety net while relying on just 1 income. The key is a budget - to make the numbers happen, adjust "fixed" expenses, like eliminating debts (car and credit card) and potentially reducing expenses to fit the income like home.

Though this might be a hard pill to swallow, I believe it is definitely, absolutely worth it.

Planned 1-income families can translate to living a peaceful lifestyle as opposed to the norm in America - (get the biggest house you can, etc, etc working more to get more stuff, sometimes less really is more)

When my DW was working, we planned for the time when she would not work, so 100% of her income went to savings. We never extended our lifestyle (house, cars, eating out, etc) to the dual incomes. Even now, she is considering a business in the next few years, that income will be added to savings, not increase lifestyle...we will do that when the kids move out....:Nod:

[cutenirish]

Great tips TY!

We only have one car (I don't drive).

I redid my budget as soon as I found out I was getting laidoff :) and redid it for when there is no more unemployment (NOT GOOD) hoping some job leads come through by then!

Still plugging away at the debt (should have been gone Jan 2007 if I'd had my job til then)

Eating out less, spending less, and (poor) DH working his tail off so we can still save money!

How can I cut household bills (electric/gas)????

[MoJo]

Originally Posted by cutenirish How can I cut household bills (electric/gas)????

We sweat in the summer (and use a fan at night) and shiver in the winter (with a space heater in the room we are occupying). We also run a "Chinese laundry" in the bathrooms; I give easy-to-handle items (shirts, pants, towels, etc.) a quick spin in the dryer, then put them on hangers/racks to dry at room temperature. These cost-cutters are pretty easy to accomplish.

The other things we have done to cut utilities cost a bit up front. I'm absolutely AMAZED at how much money we have saved in water (our bill was cut in half) when we moved to a high efficiency washer; this is in addition to the savings in laundry supplies (we use a regular load's worth of detergent/fabric softner for a big load in the high efficiency washer). Please note, we probably do 15 big loads a week, so our savings may be exaggerated. We recently bought a tankless water heater (it heats water as you need it instead of keeping hot water available at all times); I'll have to look at a few month's of gas bills before I can quantifiy the savings.

Good luck!

[cutenirish]

TY - i do hang wet clothes to dry started about two months ago hoping that will help

the heat only goes to 62 when home/awake down to 55 when away or sleeping in the winter months Nov-April and May-Oct we have an A/C unit the runs about 18 hours a day (DH and I work diff shifts) and it's in our bedroom just for sleeping I do turn it down or off and just use a fan most days! The dehumidifer isn't helping the elec bill that's for sure- but that will be unplugged come Fri once our draintile gets fixed in the basement WOO HOO!!! No more mini floods or rivers!!!!

[boycrewof7]

JO

I would love to get a tankless water heater.

But afraid my kids would stand in the shower for hours on end.

They will stand in the shower till it runs cold. I time them but sometimes I forget or don't hear them.

Please let us know how it works out.

If you don't mind or pm the price of the unit and instilation.
OUr water heater is old and I am sure it will need replaced very soon. Like
Christmas eve.

I too have a front loader and love love love it. Would love to hang dry but don't have the time. And I usually wait to wash lots of loads together maybe twice a week.

[cutenirish]

Laundry is faster for me now than before! I can get a load of wash done in about 45-50 mins -washed 30 mins, hung to dry 10 mins and put away the next day 5 mins verse washer 30 mins dryer 60 mins hang and put away 15 mins = 105 mins (get it done in half the time and don't use the dryer just for socks/underware one load a week and sheets once a week) so two dryer loads a week instead of 6) :) I would love one of the tankless water heaters :) But I think they are pretty expensive from what I've heard. Ours is from 1983 (guessing it will need to be replaced along with sump pump 1978 and furnace 1978 all at the same time)

[BzyBee]

We also have an old water heater. Made a repair while it was still under home warranty but would not be surprised if it dies anytime soon.

That reminds me...We are overdue to drain our tank. It will extend the life of your heater. Here are general directions but you should always refer to the manual for your own heater for specific directions.

Heater Handling

If your hot water heater starts to sound like a distant earthquake, or it seems a little under-powered, or to prevent it from getting in those conditions, it's time to flush it. What's wrong? Basically, impurities in the water drop toward the bottom of the tank as it heats. Over time, this sediment builds up, adheres to heating coils and can shorten the life of your heater and clog the drain valve. To avoid that, plan on flushing the sediment out every six months or so, more often if you're in a "hard-water" zone. Directions should come with your heater and it's a pretty simple procedure. Of course, you may not have the instructions, so this is all you need to do:
1. Turn off the power and the incoming water

2. Open the relief valve at the top of the heater

3. Drain the water--using garden pipe connected to the drain valve--toward a floor drain (or outside).
Caution Be careful of scalding yourself with the hot water. When you drain the water make sure to keep kids, pets and other valuables off the floor and at a safe distance.

4. Close the relief and drain valves.

5. Open a nearby hot water faucet and the inlet water valve to refill the tank.

6. Once the faucet has a nice flow going you can turn the power back on.

Maintaining major appliances will extend their life and possibly cut down on repairs.