One Income Living in a Two Income World
by Deborah Taylor-Hough
I hear it all the time: “It must be nice making so much money you can be home with your kids. We could never afford to do that.”
Excuse me?! Our family of five lives on an income which could easily qualify for several low-income programs. We make so much money, huh? Where is it?!
Now please don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. My husband and I have voluntarily, and quite happily, chosen this frugal lifestyle. But it’s funny to hear the misconceptions others have about our finances.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
The assumption seems to be, if you’re home with your children full-time you must be rolling in piles of money. Common urban folk-lore unsettles us with the “fact” that it will cost over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to raise each child to adulthood.
According to those figures, it would cost over half a million dollars to raise our three children! Gulp. . . .
Maybe the numbers are accurate if I bought my children’s clothing exclusively at up-scale specialty stores, sent “Buffy” and “Skip” to ultra-expensive private schools, and outfitted their rooms with the latest audio/visual equipment and top-of-the-line designer crib ensembles.
REALITY
But the reality in our neighborhood is drastically different. Nearly every family on our block has consciously made the choice, at least for a time, to make the necessary sacrifices so one can parent can be home with their young children.
I hope you won’t think we’ve all dropped out of life and taken up an existence of soap operas and bon-bons. Far from it. Many of the women have cottage industries or attend college. Some do consulting work to stay abreast of their professions. A neighbor stays home with her children, actively pursuing a writing career.
But even with additional part-time incomes, the families on our street don’t make the money that statistics claim we’ll need to adequately raise our kids. But raise them successfully, we will!
THE SECRET
So, what’s the secret to “one income living in a two income world?”
Read her tricks HERE in the article.
