When my husband and I were dating I told him that it was my desire to be a stay-at-home mom whenever we had our first child. I knew that would mean we would have to become a one-income family.
My husband gladly agreed and vowed he would do whatever possible to make that a reality, as we both currently were in the professional workplace. He knew the benefits of having his wife be a full-time mother and homemaker.
Raising your children at home has invaluable rewards. Not only do you get to raise your child as you see fit, but you also avoid the extensive childcare cost of someone else raising your child. Plus, your child will feel a deep rich love that no one else will compare to yourself.
But, becoming a one-income family isn’t always an option for everyone. However, I think more people could make it possible with a few changes.
I want to share with you the changes we made and the steps we took to become a one-income family. We were each making around $45,000 a year. To cut our income completely in half is certainly not easy, but the benefits of it were entirely worth it.
If we can do it, I believe you can too! Let’s jump in…
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Lifestyle And Mindset
The fact is that if you want to become a one-income family, then it starts long before you are forced to make that decision. It starts with cultivating the mindset as early on as possible.
My faith in the Lord and the beautiful example of other Christian couples around me taught me that God designed men to be the providers of their homes, while He designed women to be the nurturers.
I want to encourage those that desire the lifestyle of a one-income family, not to shame you if it is not possible for your family currently. From a young age I prepared myself for the moment that I would, Lord-willing, become a stay-at-home mom, and thankfully it came true, but it was not guaranteed to me.
I worked hard at a job to pay down my debt. I didn’t buy fancy new cars and gadgets. Living simply became my motto.
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So often people can’t imagine transitioning to one income because their lifestyle makes it impossible to do. They have fancy houses stuffed full of items they don’t use. They have expensive cars, boats, and motorcycles.
You can start creating a simple, (cheap yet beautiful) lifestyle today that will make the transition easier.
But, first, you have to believe in the vision of wanting to become a one-income family. Change your mindset and start making lifestyle changes today that reflect that goal. We’ll dive into some examples in just a bit.
Benefits Of Being A Stay At Home Mom
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest benefit to being at home with your child/children is that you are the one that raises them. They say, “The hand the rocks the cradle rules the world.” And, rightly so.
You are the parent of your child. You know what is best for them and the character traits you want them to learn and exhibit. No one else can love your child as much as you can. A mother’s love is unthwarted.
The Proverbs 31 woman in the Bible is my favorite example of how God designed women – to care for their husband, children, and the home. When you are not gone all day at another job you have the opportunity to take care of your home, making it a warm and inviting place for your husband to enjoy.
Also, being a stay-at-home mom causes your husband to be the breadwinner of the home. He needs to provide for his family and that level of pressure is healthy for the family unit.
When each partner is living into the roles that God designed them for, love, joy, and peace are exuberated throughout.
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Payoff Debt
One way you can begin setting yourselves up for success to become a one-income family is by paying down your debt.
Debt is a burden. The payments quickly suck all your money away and before you know it, you are a slave to your job. The borrow is a slave to the lender.
When you eliminate debt, you free up extra money in your budget to make living off of one income easy. My husband and I both paid off all our debt from school and other purchases before we got married. We entered marriage with only our mortgage payment, and we praise God for that.
Our hard work was entirely worth it. I’m not sure we would have had the opportunity for me to quit my job after our daughter Harmony was born and become a one-income family if we still had debt outside of our mortgage.
Move To Lower Cost Of Living Area
I know this may not be an option for everyone but, with technology now, it has increasingly become more of an option. Moving to an area with a lower cost of living was one of the best decisions we made.
In fact, when we moved from southern Wisconsin/Chicagoland suburbs to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the cost of living was so drastically different we were able to save so much money in new areas. We moved from a 2,300 square foot house on 1.6 acres to an 80-acre homestead and the monthly mortgage payment was the same, but we went from a 30-year mortgage to a 10-year mortgage!
If your payments are just too high, see if a work-from-home job for a time being is an option. Or, get creative and find a way to offer your services or product online through various routes. Then, move to an area in the country, out of the city, and experience the joy of cheaper and less bills.
Likeminded Community
To become a one-income family focus on surrounding yourself with like-minded people. We noticed this was a game-changer when it came to us staying focused on our goals.
Find someone else hustling to pay off debt. Make friends with someone living in the country. Meet other couples living on only income and learn from their experience.
When you interact regularly with people that have similar goals, it only encourages you that it is possible!
Declutter And Organize
The next step we took, was to declutter everything! Becoming minimalist (we live in a tiny house currently!) and organizing our things gave us so much freedom. It also helped us save our money and not spend it on things we don’t need or use that often.
This relates to creating the lifestyle of one income family. I love how this article puts it. Being content with less, without having all the new fancy gadgets, and simply enjoying life with only the basics makes it possible to live on one income!
Also, becoming more organized helped us save money by not accidentally buying duplicates of an item we couldn’t find or losing items we needed.
Cancel Credit Cards And Budget
As soon as we become a one-income family I canceled our credit cards. We never used credit cards unwisely or go into debt from overspending on them.
However, now that we were only a $45,000 income for a family of three, I wanted to be sure that we would never accidentally go into debt again.
We also created a very strict budget. And yes, we have budgeted before, but with two incomes there was a bit more flexibility. Now, we were much stricter on our budget. We are also saving to pay off our mortgage as soon as possible to make being a one-income family a bit more fun with some extra cash!
Keep A Side Hustle
Being a stay-at-home mom now and a one-income family doesn’t mean I can’t help out with income at all. Even though I am not going into the office for eight hours every day like I used to, I am still finding little ways to help out our family as we pay down our mortgage and save for other financial goals.
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One way I do that is by babysitting a few hours each week, watching our neighbor’s dog for them, and working on my blog and essential oils business while my daughter naps.
My husband has also become creative with making extra money. He sells mini disc golf markers on Etsy, which fund his disc golf and fishing purchases.
You too can look for ways to still have a side hustle and bring in some extra cash.
Share Everything
After making some lifestyle changes – paying off debt, downsizing your living situation, decluttering your house, and picking up a side hustle – you can still make some more lifestyle changes to make a one-income budget more feasible!
That includes reducing to only one family car, skipping eating out, taking fewer vacations, and buying cheaper groceries.
Start sharing everything as a family – bedrooms, cars, computers, tools, etc. That way your lifestyle will still decrease, and you’ll be able to make the budget work!
If you desire to become a one-income family, I believe you can do it. Where there is a will there is a way. Let me know in the comments below what questions you have! I’d love to help where I can.
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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It makes total sense that you would start planning way before you actually do it! Definitely ideal.
Yep! (: