Downsizing and living off one income intentionally. Have you done it? How did it work for you?

I'm a single parent and I don't get child support or government assistance. I drive a car that I paid off, I have almost no debt. I have a very old phone with basic functions. We don't have cable at home. We rarely eat out and only when we have coupons or free meals. We keep lights off, we keep everything unplugged until it is needed, we only buy absolute necessities. I learned how to cook big and cheap meals. I ask for gift cards for holidays. I did buy a house that's only as big as we need and it actually saved me compared to the rent we were paying. I don't ever go to the salon and the boys get their hair cut at great clips with a coupon.

Dave Ramsey has tons of articles about budgeting and living off a tight income.

If you feel as though you are missing out on so much with your kids, then you probably are. I chose, many years ago to be a stay at home Mom. I have NEVER regretted it. Those kids are young for such a very short 18-20 years. When they are grown and gone like mine are now, you will be a much happier Mom if you know in your heart that you chose what felt right for you. I spend a lot of time now with my grandkids and they are always asking can we go to Mama and Papa O's house. They do this because we give them time, not just "stuff". Some people like stuff, some people like time with those they care for. It is really your choice.

Hi. I gave birth to our first child Dec. 30th, 2015. Prior to this I was working in a very demanding profession and although I made a very good income and spent 13 years in university to get to where I was I was miserable. The few female colleagues I did have only took 2-4 weeks of mat leave with their children and have had nannies ever since. One of them even has 3 nannies (a day nanny and 2 night nannies). This is not at all what I or my husband wanted for our family. So we made the decision early on that once I gave birth I would not be returning to work and we would be living solely off my husbands income. We also hope to have 2 more children and will be trying for the next soon. Fortunately there isn't too much about our lifestyle we will have to change, we aren't big spenders at all. We took stock of extra expenses and really our weekly food budget and amount spent on supplements (protein powder, bars, vitamins) is mainly what money is spent on. We don't spend money on clothes or frivolous items. There are things that we have always done to not waste money such as we never buy coffee or food at work always bring our own (a daily starbucks can add up to 100$ a month, and buying lunch or snacks can be even more), we make sure we do as much as possible in the house during "off-peak" hydro hours (we live in an area where hydro is double the price during certain hours), getting rid of all unnecessary bank fee's, insurance fee's etc. (I actually got rid of 150$ per month of expenses this way... who knew I was giving all my money to the bank for no reason... well my husband did, but I'm very ignorant to all these hidden charges etc.) and pay off your credit cards every month don't let there be a balance for interest. After seeing how much I spend on groceries I really pay attention to prices at the store now, I used to just grab what ever I wanted. Once I started doing that I cut our weekly grocery bill by 100$. I buy more canned beans and things like that, stopped buying fancy new marinades and sauces every week (really I was spending like 20 dollars a week on that stuff and then accumulating like 20 in our fridge), buying produce that was on sale that week or less expensive ( I wanted asparagus last week and went to grab it and then noticed it was 10$, this week it was only 3$, go figure), looking for sale items etc. There are certain things we won't change though like buying organic, local, hormone free meats (they are totally worth the price), and buying our sports supplements and stuff. The best thing is to just go through your expenses and see where you are spending money and how to cut things down. We printed out all our credit card statements and account statements for a year and went through them all.

We are a one income family with 3 kids. My husband is a stay at home Dad, it made much more sense for him to be the at home parent because I make more money and have good benefits etc. We have 2 vehicles but one is paid for. We carry no debt, we can't afford to. We don't have takeaway very often, we don't spend thousands on vacations, we go camping instead. We look on kijiji before buying in a store whenever possible. Like everyone else has said, it's about choices.
Probably one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is a year down the road, when things are financially difficult....again....that it will pass. This time of hardship is temporary. Remember your choice and why you made it. You are giving your children the gift of your time until they are grown. Then crack open that box of KD and dig in lol
OH and do your bday, christmas etc shopping early! the earlier the better!

I have been blessed to be able to make it all work on one salary. 3 tuitions right now. The price of that is to work until later in life and forgo some vacations and other material things although we do live in a great home.

It made no sense for me to go back to work after the birth of our son since my salary would basically pay for childcare. So we survive on one income. We are not the norm as hubs makes a very good salary and we are able to afford vacations and whatnot but if you can afford to stay home with the kids do it. If you are home making meals and such you can easily cut costs but making more home cooked stuff and you don't need work clothes the mom uniform of t shirt and jeans is super easy.

When I was working, and had a wife and daughter, I took the approach that one of us (me) would put in the time to make the "dime" , so that both of us didn't have to live to work. This allowed my wife to finish her degrees, and get a comfortable job (she still wanted to work) that was only 36 hours / week with very good vacation / holiday time off...no weekends. This allowed her to spend more time with our daughter. This worked well for us. After I retired, my non-investment income (the only one as we divorced and I remarried someone whom didn't work), is half of what I once earned. However, it is still substantial enough to give us a comfortable life in Florida. I've found you don't need all the trappings you thought you needed. Visiting family in other states, or them visiting us is our vacations; we eat well, but don't waste money on eating out a lot or on expensive food items, and we drive a car we purchased new, but no longer a Mercedes. Bottom line for me was my realization that I could have retired to this life sooner and didn't need the salary I once made, and could have saved more money along the way if we had realized what was important and what really wasn't.

Bubba1922 wrote: »

I am now retired and have been forced to downsize my expenses. I wish I had done it years ago.

Face cream - I now buy low cost cream/ ointment - The skin is like a piece of leather and any kind of cream works - three years on and my skin is as good as when I was using a top brand. Wasted money on top brands for years.

Face and body Scrub - best scrub ever is granulated sugar - amazing soft skin - wet body and rub until skin is warm and then shower. That shop stuff can cost loads and does not work as well.

Clothes, household stuff. I always ask myself - do I need it? have I got one already? Why buy another pair of jeans when you have got six pairs in the wardrobe.

Food - I make loads of fresh soups in my pressure cooker - soup and omette to follow are favourite in our household,nourishing additives free and cheap.

I love spending less without feeling my lifestyle has been compromised. People matters not stuff.

I love love love coconut oil for just about everything, make up remover, moisturizer, deodorant, cooking, healing skin wounds, sunburn, so many uses AND ITS CHEAP

Wow! Great thread and nobody is trying to hook up, haha.

I just recently left my job to start my own business venture. Luckily my wife makes good money so if the original posters husband makes good money then it may be less of a stretch. Time with the kids is precious and I applaud you for doing it!

My story is different because I have no kids by choice but my SO and I do live very cheaply. We both have pretty moderate incomes but we have still downsized but cutting absolutely everything we can. Every year, I go over the budget and find ways to reduce our spending, calling companies to arrange a lower payment on things like phone, internet, etc. We live in a small house, ride the bus, walk when we can. Groceries from the cheaper store, etc. We only go out once a week. Our biggest expense are our overseas trips but those are because that's what we want to do - that's our splurge.