One or Two Income Household?

I'm wondering how many of us are in one income or two income households!

Before our little one came along we were a two income family. I worked in finance and my husband has a role in a government department. When we found out we were expecting we decided that I would take time off to be the stay at home parent. It hasn't been as difficult adjusting to one income as I thought - I tend to be pretty frugal (I guess that's part of having worked in finance - I am used to educating our customers about saving and planning for life events financially!) so that has helped.

I don't think I will return to work until after my child is at school, so that's still a few years of doing this though - we do have a mortgage and so forth to consider as well.
What about you?

I also used to work until we had our child. I was able to scale down, work from home and part time at the office for almost a year, then we moved so I had to leave my job. I haven't worked since. I was always looking for something and thinking about what I would do for work, but yet at the same time I never pursued anything. Now my child will be starting school, and I finally became comfortable being a stay at home mom! That's exactly what I feared too, that finally I would feel too far removed and not wanting to reenter the workforce.

BarbieDoll said:
I also used to work until we had our child. I was able to scale down, work from home and part time at the office for almost a year, then we moved so I had to leave my job. I haven't worked since. I was always looking for something and thinking about what I would do for work, but yet at the same time I never pursued anything. Now my child will be starting school, and I finally became comfortable being a stay at home mom! That's exactly what I feared too, that finally I would feel too far removed and not wanting to reenter the workforce.

Honestly, I worry about that a little too. The finance area I worked in was quite a niche specialty for a large bank, and I worry that after too long out of the workforce I just won't have the knowledge that I need anymore - it's a rapidly changing industry too which is also hard. But I'm happy to be a stay at home parent - it's rewarding getting to see my little one grow and change and learn!

I was working as a teacher at a High School when I got pregnant with my first baby. Adjusting to being a one income household has been really difficult. When she was 1 year old we decided to put her in a creche and for me to start working again. But I didn't go back to teaching, I went back to working as a Clinical Technologist in a dialysis unit. The hours were crazy and I really missed my little girl, but seeing her enjoy school so much and really physically and emotionally benefit from the social interaction she had with the other kids made it worth it. But, I didn't work for very long when I found out I'm pregnant with our second baby. The maternity benefits that I would have received vs the amount of money my husband had to spend on petrol a month just didn't make sense. So we moved closer to his job and I became a stay at home mommy again. Now we had to adjust to being a one income household again, and this time round it is even more difficult. I am continuously online trying to find work from home opportunities that's not trying to scam me out of money. We are literally living from paycheck to paycheck with no extras.

I got separated when my son was 3-4 years old. Since then I am the one taking care of him. I am the earning member of my house. However, my father also support me a lot.

I just returned to work last month after many years as a stay-at-home parent. I'm only working part time right now, but it feels good to be contributing financially after so many years of making sacrifices so I could stay home. That being said, I do not regret my decision to stay home with my kids when they were younger one bit. It was worth the sacrifices we made, even if I did stress sometimes because we were one-income.

I am a one income family with myself being the bread winner which is a little hard right now since I have lost my job. I am learning to be more wise about my money and being as frugal as possible until I get another job. In the meantime, I am doing work online to make a few bucks here and there. I get child support but that will only go so far. It is scary to think that I have to support my children and there is not a lot of work where I live. Thankfully, my sister is here to help me out.

I think we may have an interesting case when it comes to this question because we have really been off and on throughout the years depending on whether my wife was working. She has really been blessed to have a career that allows her to take these long breaks and return without any real delay, so when it came to raising a family we were really in a good spot. I think that regardless of the spot you are in though, if you are smart and plan and live within your means it is all possible.

I worked until I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. Then for the next 17 years I was a stay a home mom, so we lived on his income.

rz3300 said:
I think we may have an interesting case when it comes to this question because we have really been off and on throughout the years depending on whether my wife was working. She has really been blessed to have a career that allows her to take these long breaks and return without any real delay, so when it came to raising a family we were really in a good spot. I think that regardless of the spot you are in though, if you are smart and plan and live within your means it is all possible.

Yup, I definitely think living within your means is key. It's been an adjustment for us, but all things considered we live fairly comfortably right now on one income. Childcare here is expensive, so if I was to put my little one in daycare and work I wouldn't really be that much better off!

For us it's really been about establishing what are "wants" and what are "needs" and then prioritizing our finances according to that!

I would vote for two incomes because it helps saving a lot of money. We used to be a two income family but after relocating, my husband's job seemed more steady than mine which always had delayed salaries and led me to quit till I found another. It has been difficult living on one income but I recently got a position for an online magazine and we're back to two incomes which means we can resume saving.

Either myself or my husband has always stayed home with the kids. For the past few years it has been me. I now homeschool the kids which is a full time job in itself. I love being at home with the kids. I do not plan on ever having a job outside of the home again.

It's not always easy living off of one income but since we always have its not an adjustment for us. I bring in extra money by babysitting, dog sitting, selling things on craigslist and other sites. For awhile I had a tastefully simple business but then I got ill and could not keep up the business along with homeschooling.

tina122321 said:
Either myself or my husband has always stayed home with the kids. For the past few years it has been me. I now homeschool the kids which is a full time job in itself. I love being at home with the kids. I do not plan on ever having a job outside of the home again.

It's not always easy living off of one income but since we always have its not an adjustment for us. I bring in extra money by babysitting, dog sitting, selling things on craigslist and other sites. For awhile I had a tastefully simple business but then I got ill and could not keep up the business along with homeschooling.

I think it's really quite challenging to homeschool and work from home at the same time, I am trying to find a balance between these two as well.

I am not sure if mine is considered as one or two income household. I quit my full-time job before my son turned two, and I became a freelance programmer. I still work from home, but not with stable income monthly. My husband is also working on a part-time job and work from home as well. Though our monthly income is not as stable or luxurious as we used to be, we are happy to live in this simple and frugal life, and we spend more time together as a family.

I also homeschool my children, so I don't think I will return to the outside corporate world anytime soon until all my children have finished schooling. Though I do not worry about returning to work as I have been working in the same area just as a freelancer, I might just continue to be a freelancer even when my children have grown up, as I enjoy staying at home and being more flexible now.