I was having a conversation the other day with one of my colleagues. He and his wife are expecting twins in the next couple of weeks and she will be staying home after the babies are born. We were talking about the challenges of going from being DINK's (double income no kids); to being dunked under water (financially speaking). When my oldest daughter was six months old, my husband and I made the decision for him to become a stay at home parent; and we went from being DINK's to becoming dunked under water.
We have been a one income household for 11 years now. During this time, there have been many financial downs; I can say we were not prepared to go to one income. During the early years, we tried to maintain the same lifestyle we had enjoyed on two incomes. Although we had what I thought was adequate savings, it only lasted a couple of years. We did this through the use of credit cards. We ran up way to much debt. During this time, I was also going to graduate school, and managed to run up more debt through student loans. It took a few years to settle down, but we finally got it.
The reward for having my husband stay home with the kids is immeasurable, and if this is a decision you make for your family-my advice would be to prepare as much as you can and to save as much as you can. Before becoming a one income family, I would say to start living on one income and to put your second income in a savings account. If you can, pay off as much, if not all of your debt. Reduce your expenses as much as you can and save save save for all of the unexpected expenses.
This is so true. My husband and I are self-employed business owners. Ten years ago we thought it would be a good idea if he quit his corporate job and help me build a retail store I started several years before. OMG...I had no idea I bad it could get! We had to put four kids though out-of-state colleges, it was so hard! The kids are grown and things are getting better, but my advise is like yours...try it out before you really do it.
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