Family Budget For Single Income: Living On One Income Is Possible.

When the pandemic hit, so much changed with the corporate world. It seemed like business did not know how to navigate with working parents and being at home with kids should be easier. It was just the opposite. I had a one year old and a 4 year old and our daycare was shut down for three months. My company gave us free 80 hours which totaled in two weeks of extra PTO. It wasn't much especially when we had no childcare, but I was grateful as most companies weren't helpful at all. My husband was forced to work 70 hours due to a new system coming out at his company at the time. So everything was pilled on me to not only work but to take care of our kids who weren't exactly self sufficient yet. I would work up to 5 to 6 hours a day when I could so I could make the 80 hours last. The majority of when I worked was after the kids were in bed because my husband was forced to work 12 to 15 hour days. I would stay up till midnight most nights to get my extra 2 hours to make it to 5 or 6 hour days.

After the first 4 weeks I was physically and mentally exhausted and my 4 year old just cried because she wanted to play and didn't understand we had to work. I ended up just draining my PTO and taking two weeks off until the daycare opened. Then after that constantly my kids were sent home I had no PTO and a job that just didn't understand. I worked for another 8 months and sat down with my husband and decided to go through our budget.

As I stated in my story, me and my husband have always been frugal with our money. I hadn't had a car payment in 10 years. We had the mind set if we couldn't buy it cash then we couldn't afford it. We didn't use credit cards, and if we did use my husbands it was to get gas and we would pay it off the following day. We did that to keep his credit score high so we could get a bigger house so we could have our second daughter. My credit was shot due to student loans. When I was 18 and starting college at IU I sat in the school library and took out loans so that I could pay for school. A girl down the hall I became friends with that's how she was going to pay and I wasn't getting help so I did the same. I had no guidance and no idea the affects it would have on my future I just knew this is where I wanted to go to school and I needed money. In total I ended up taking out 40,000 in loans to get through college. And after I graduated the phone calls started within a month after graduation. I took five private and 5 federal out and within a year in jumped with the interest to 100,000 not even close to what I initially took out.

I graduated in 2008 and couldn't find a full time job for over a year had to do part time at minimum wage. The first full time job I got in 2009 was making only 24,400 and after takes I was maybe bringing home 1400 a month that's right a MONTH!! I couldn't make a single payment on loans because I wasn't even making enough to live off of. I know so many people can relate to this story with student loans. I met my husband at my first full time job out of college and fast forward we have been together 12 years. I still never made the amount of money I paid for my degree. My husband just got his degree 3 years ago and even with out it he still made more always. Its been a tough road but 4 years ago he sat me down and made me look at my loans and what I had left to pay and how much I had paid over the last several years. I had been paying extra to principle so I thought. It turned out they didn't put any of the extra money I had paid toward the principal and over a 8 year period I had only paid 9 thousand off of 28,000 I had left. I was so angry and frustrated so we came up with a plan to set money aside and pay them all off at once.

We lived off less than we were making on a dual income home and starting saving. We were lucky enough to get gifted money from family out of the blue and within a year we paid off my loans right before the pandemic first started and the daycare shut down the next month. So back to the daycare shutting down, then when they did open my kids were constantly sick and sent home and I eventually used all PTO. Me and my husband went through our finances, and started listening more and more to Dave Ramsey. We realized we could make it happen. We had no car payments, no credit card debt, the only payments we had were for our house, gas, electric the normally. We had no debt what so ever; because of that we were able to keep me at home with the kids.

We already lived frugal so it wasn't a big adjustment and having no debt was a big deal. We have learned over the years what is important and what isn't and time with our kids is what matters not stuff. We aren't car people and cars are not investments and only continue to loose value as years pass so having a brand new care was never important and not added value for us. I was floored hearing from Dave that many had care payments of 4 to 500 dollars and that wasn't including insurance. We learned that so many people were making well over 100,000 but were struggling living outside their means to just keep up with the latest and greatest cars, phones, going to top rated colleges for their kids pushing these parents farther and farther into debt. We listened to Dave's podcast almost daily and hearing most people had debt well into the 400 to 500 hundred thousand was jaw dropping and most was college and cars. We knew that was not what we wanted for our future or for our kids. We don't want to work until we are 70, that is just not life to us.

We have continued on that path and continue to have savings automatically taken out of my husbands paycheck every month. We have an emergency fund and savings that we don't touch. Which if you haven't heard or listened to Dave Ramsey I highly recommend. We have learned so much and we have never looked back. We always here friends some family say we couldn't live off one income with our debt and when people hear what we live off which is well under three figures they are shocked. We have had a lot of speechless friends say we would have never guessed. I mean its not been easy but we have never had to struggle or live pay check to pay check and that's just because we have been smart. We don't eat out maybe once a month, we don't go to star bucks ever. My kids cloths and shoes are from Walmart and they are great price and cute. I don't get my nails done and my hair I get it cut twice a year. My cloths are from Amazon and Walmart and I'm able to provide for my kids whatever they need when they need it.

The stuff just doesn't matter because at the end of the day are you working to afford the stuff that once you pass mean nothing but the debt left behind becomes a burden. Me and my husband have made sure if something happens to one of us that even with me not working me and my kids will be financially fine for a couple of years or when I find a job. I know many that would be in a big whole if their significant other passed just due to all the debt they won't be able to pay on one income. I don't see how that would not scar people. We live in a world where tomorrow is never promised, life is so unpredictable. It would be a big disservice to not make sure your family is set up to be ok if something does happen to one if not both parents.

If you are a mom and are wanting to stay home it is possible, very very possible. It comes down to looking at what is more important time you want with your kids and you being the one to take care of them; or is it the stuff you need. If it's something you want to look into starting to look at your debt is the first thing and start to snow ball that debt to pay it off, living on less than what you make is how you can start paying that deb off, start eating at home instead of eating out and going out for lunch. Is getting your nails done and having new cloths all the time important. your Starbucks and fast food trips necessary. You really have to start thinking about what is important to you and if you want it you will make it happen. Again I highly recommend listening to Dave Ramsey he has podcast and so many books, so many strategies laid out in how to become debt free and set your future up. Its never too late, he is very blunt which some people when hearing the truth can be hard for anyone to hear. But it makes sense and for us it's been truly eye opening. You can live the life you want if you set your mind it it.

I'm so excited to share with you our families journey and share budgeting tips, talk about parenting tips and tricks, our favorite stores, products that we love. I'm looking forward to a year of change, and I hope you join me!