Tips on Going from 2 Incomes to 1

[cundiff2001]

I am working way more part time than before...

a little way to make a little extra money on ebay or craigslist......

buy items, esp. children's clothes, when they are super cheap and resell them. This is esp. good for holiday items. Buy those after the holidays are over and resell the following season for a nice profit. It is worth it to hang onto for awhile if you have the space.

Make sure you do regular home maintence. Changing furnace filters will save monthly, but also the life of your furnace.

Replace light bulbs w/ high efficiency ones. Little money up front, big savings over a year.

Kids clothes are super cheap at resale, yardsales, freecycle, craigslist, etc.... They grow so fast, they don't get worn out, esp. very young children.

The crockpot can become your best friend. Very cheap cuts of meat and random ingredients can be turned into wonderful meals and take almost no time. Great for busy families.

Rebate as much as posible. I saved $150 in meat/cheese/deli items last year during the holidays alone.

[nicellis0325]

Here's an idea, get another income! lol..But seriously, get a smaller second job..Could be anything---substitute teaching, teach for an online college-I teach for University of Phoenix, transcriptionist, babysitting, selling items on Ebay...

[momo4]

I took the advice the past couple months to sell some things we were not using. I made 275.00 off of clothes and kids toys at a fall consignment sale. I have also made a little over 200.00 on selling a few things on ebay. I've cleaned out the closets, and toys my kids were not playing with anymore. Now I have money for Christmas without having to use a dreaded credit card.

[neelia]

We went from 2 incomes to 1 in October, I posted in here a little. We're doing ok, I'm making money on the side with ebay & just random little things. But I've decided to take a part time nanny "job". About 15 hours a week at $12/hr should help out A LOT. I guess that could be considered another income.. but since it's so part time, I'm not sure how to think of it.. lol. I know there are a lot of moms on here, but if your kids are in school.. maybe see if anyone in the neighborhood needs a few hours to themselves each week and you can make a good chunk of change to help out the "bread winner"! (And yourself!)

[gr8tdiva]

This is an old thread but I thought I'd post since I have experience with this.

In September of '06 we went from two incomes to one. Not only did that happen but we also went from being DINKS to having twin babies! Since we had nine months to plan, we saved, saved, saved as much as we could so it wouldn't be an immediate shock. I also continued doing singing gigs part time on weekends and still occasionally do (got 2 last weekend!!).

I started selling on eBay and CL making a nice amount of money but never as much as my salary was.

As my kids have gotten older (will be 3 next month), believe it or not, I have less time to coupon or sell goods on the auction sites. Luckily, DH is a teacher so that gives me a good 8 weeks every summer to focus on rebuilding the stockpile, ebay and for the first time this summer, do a couple of yard sales!

I also do mystery shopping regularly and started hard core couponing about 2 years ago. That helps A LOT but it is like a job too!

For people who say you cannot live happily on one income, I respectfully disagree with them. We were able to save enough cash for a down payment on a new construction home, buy two new cars, we have no credit card debt (we only use cash) and still take an occasional trip here and there. Granted things are not the same as it was when we were DINKS (in so many ways!) but our life is complete now.

[allcash]

Don't think of it as going from 2 incomes to 1 income--the second "income" is now "money saved."
The person who does not bring the bulk of the money in should be the person keeping the bulk of the money from being paid out.
DH spends 60 hours at work; I spend 60 hours budgeting, meal planning, couponing, reading up on everything finance...to make sure we maximize every penny earned.
Follow all the great tips and advice here and do not play down the importance of the financial role of the one who does not bring home a paycheck--it is often that person whose actions determine whether the family sinks or swims financially.

[TheWoman]

If you want to be a SAHM but don't have kids yet: Switch from 2 incomes to 1 right now. Don't quit your job, but put every penny of your paycheck into savings. Then, when you have kids and the increase in expenses that causes you won't also have to adjust to less income. Not only that, but you will have a nice nest egg built up.

[neelia]

Looks like we'll be going back to one income again :( and when you live in southern california and that income is only $20k, it's much more than a challange.

[MommytoBenjamin]

Great thread! Here's what we do:

* We haven't bought trash bags in 2 years. We recycle most of our trash items and use plastic grocery bags for the rest of it.

* We get all of our books & movies at the library.

* Try making everything last longer by using less of it. We do this with laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, toothpaste, etc. We were surprised at how often there was no difference in the cleanliness of our clothes, etc.

* Plan, plan, plan as much as you can in advance. The longer you have to look for an item the cheaper (generally) you can get it for. I try to think about what we'll need 6-12 months ahead of time if possible.

* We buy used summer clothing in the winter and vice versa as there's the best selection at thrift stores.

* Eating out is definitely a luxery. We always use a coupon which can cut our cost in half.

* Don't forget about gift cards at the grocery store if you get points for buying them. We get fuel perks at Giant Eagle for using these at others stores that we would shop anyway.

* We cut down our paper towel usage awhile back by using rags when cleaning.

* We visit our local (free!) parks for entertainment.

* Our house is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. We adjust the thermastat a bit on the weekends.

* We cut back on gift giving to our family members. Now, only the kids receive gifts.

* No salon visits in this house, we have a member of the family who cuts our hair.

[TBEventer2002]

What wonderful tips!!! And so timely that this thread has resurfaced. :) It's so nice to know that it can be done. Currently DH and I are both employed and working on going debt-free. But my job is wreaking havoc on my mental health and we both want me to be a SAHM when we are ready for kids, so we are seriously considering me quitting.

I especially like the idea about using the future-unemployed's paycheck as savings to see how it works on one paycheck! Brilliant!

Also a big fan of hanging clothes to dry. ;) We have two bathrooms. I bought several cheap shower hanger poles and put four of them across the shower in the one bathroom -- wala! Instant indoor clotheslines! And when they drip, it just drips right into the tub. When they are pretty well dried, I chuck them into the dryer for about 15-20 minutes just to get the dampness out of them and soften them a bit (DH doesn't like stiff jeans, lol).