One of the first questions someone who is considering homeschooling has is, “How in the world do we transition to a single income family so that one parent can stay home with the kids?”. For many, this seems like an impossible task. It’s often the first reason why someone believes they absolutely cannot homeschool. That is usually the end of the conversation. However, I’d love to show you how to make the transition to a single income family. It’s certainly possible. I can’t promise you that it’ll be easy but it’s definitely worth it!
The Start of Our Transition to a Single Income Family
Our transition to a single income family actually started when we decided to start a family. I was fortunate to be covered by FMLA and had short term disability insurance. That helped with maternity leave but it didn’t cover all of our expenses. We decided to see if we could put most of my paycheck into savings before our first was born. It was tough but we slowly scaled back our spending in hopes of reaching this goal.
I had no intention of becoming a stay at home mom at that point. We were just trying to make it through my maternity leave without going into debt to cover our living expenses.
Once it was time for me to go back to work, I realized that none of my new mom friends were going back to work. It made me wonder if perhaps I could do the same. It was a huge leap! I started asking them all sorts of questions, but none of them had solutions that could work for us for various reasons. Their solutions were…
- move back in with my parents
- sell a car (or even both and take public transportation)
- get a roommate
- apply for WIC
When I tried to explain that these weren’t options for us, many of them said we just didn’t want it bad enough. I’m all for taking huge steps to achieve big goals but this was too much! We were 32 years old when our first was born, so moving back in with parents just for me to quit my job didn’t sit well with me. Quitting my job with the plan of going on public assistance also didn’t sit well with me. We lived in a tiny rural town (no public transportation) and didn’t feel comfortable being so far from the city without a car. So, what else could we try?
How We Cut Our Budget Drastically
We sat down to write our first budget but we only used my husband’s income. We tried to put all of mine into paying off debt and then putting it into savings. It took several months to make that budget work, but over time more and more of my paycheck went to debt and then to savings. I’ll touch on briefly how we made it work because I really want to get to the heart of this post. Ways we drastically cut our budget…
- Mortgage – We bought a house well below what we could afford. The payment was still reasonable when I quit working. Downsizing your house will make a huge difference. It’s drastic but not as drastic as moving back in with your parents.
- Cars – We made sure our cars were paid off before I quit working. Downsizing your cars will also make a huge difference.
- Student Loans – We both worked during college and had small loans. They were paid off by the time I quit working.
- Food – Living in a tiny town limited our eating out choices to none but we bought a lot of convenience food. Learning to cook with real ingredients saved a lot of money. Don’t let fresh food to go waste.
- Meal Plan – Make a meal plan according to the weekly sales and what is already in your pantry. Don’t buy something just because it’s on sale if you aren’t going to put it to use.
- Food at work – Bring your own lunch and drinks. I was spending $10 or more most days on lunch.
- Starbucks – This shows up on everyone’s “How to Save Money” list but for good reason. If you’re trying to drastically reduce your spending, you need to take a close look at this.
- Cable TV – This was really expensive for us. Even after being able to afford it down the road, we still don’t have cable. There are so many cheap options for watching T.V. but we actually don’t watch much at all. This frees up so much time!
- Emergency Fund – Make sure you have a solid emergency fund of 3-6 months of your expenses in place before becoming a single income family.
- Plan for Big Expenses – Make a plan for paying for expected expenses that come up such as car repairs and replacement, house repairs, medical bills, etc. We use sinking funds for this.
Just to be clear…You don’t have to be debt free before quitting your job to stay home with the kids. It certainly helps, though. You just need to make sure that your remaining household income will cover your expenses without going into debt. A bit of breathing room is nice too.
Related Post – How to Budget for Big Expenses
Best Tip for Transitioning to a Single Income Family
Our household income was cut in half when I quit working. About 2 years later, I had a huge ah-ha moment. I wish just one of those many stay-at-home moms that I talked to had mentioned this to me. It would have made a huge difference!
I quit working for a paycheck when our oldest was 1 1/2 years old. My husband, on the other hand, really picked up the pace. He realized that our financial stability rested almost solely on him. That was a big stress for him in the beginning especially when his company went through several downsizing cycles. It made us realize how easily our single income family could go down to a zero income family.
He started looking for ways to add value to his employer, BEFORE being given additional responsibilities, by going above and beyond his job description. He looked for continuing education opportunities such as seminars and certification classes that could help in his current and future jobs. He made a career plan for advancement and worked hard for it.
About 2 years after I quit working, his income was up to the level that our household income was when I was working. We had a reduced budget for only 2 years! While we were busy crunching numbers for me to quit working, it never occurred to us that this was possible. We were focused on making the budget work for his current salary but didn’t realize that the severe cut in income was only temporary. It doesn’t have to be a permanent cut.
Where you are now is not where you will always be.
But you have to work for it.
It Takes Two to Achieve a Single Income Family
It is up to the working parent to buckle down and increase their potential for significant salary raises. The stay-at-home parent needs to be understanding of the time, effort, and sometimes money (for additional training) that is needed for this kind of career advancement. It will eventually pay off.
Rarely does one double their income by only putting in the minimum required time and effort for the job. The working parent needs to step up and the stay-at-home parent needs to be patient with them. This intensity won’t last forever and it will give you much needed breathing room in your budget.
Cutting expenses and creating (and sticking to) a budget may get you to the point of having one parent leave the work force to homeschool. Making a plan for career advancement and working hard towards it will ensure that where you are now is not where you will be in a year or two. It IS possible but it’s going to take some work. Are you ready to make it happen for your family?
Our story is similar to yours; I hadn’t thought of staying home with my kids until I had my first, and then it was so hard to go back to work! But by the time #2 came along, we had paid off the majority of student loans and our cars were fully paid off, so our expenses were fairly low. We realized we would be totally fine on my husband’s income, so I stayed home for two years, starting when the kiddos were 3 and 1. It’s so interesting how many people don’t think through the options when it comes to family incomes. Mindset is huge in the choices you make. Once we had the mindset that we could live on one income, it became all about making it happen.
I love that your husband increased his income so much through hustling, too! What an inspiration!
Yes, it’s all about mindset! So many people just assume it’s impossible. It’s hard work but definitely doable.