Top Tricks for One-Income Living

In the interest of honesty, I have to say at the beginning that you cannot live a two-income lifestyle on one income. Dropping one income necessitates dropping a few rungs on the lifestyle ladder. However, for most people, a lower level of lifestyle is worth it when the reward is a lower level of stress and more time with family.

Here are the most important things you need to do when you want to drop that second job:

1. Get Out of Debt. Whether you have one income, or two, or even three, if you are stuck in a revolving door of debt you will never feel like you can manage with a penny less. Debt can easily become a nasty cycle, and you need to determine that you will stop relying on credit and start paying only with money that you actually have.

2. Re-examine your spending. Do you know how much money you spent last year on fast food? On vending machine treats? Lattes? Parking? Impulse buys? Have you ever heard the phrase "nickel and dime yourself to death"? In these days, it's more like five- and ten-dollar yourself to death. These seemingly insignificant expenditures add up to much more than you think. For example, feeding a family of four at McDonald's three times a week suddenly turns into over $200 per month. Do you really think food that has no nutritional value at all is worth 200 bucks? Isn't there something more valuable you could spend your money one?

3. Make an expenditure list. Before you dive into one-income living, take a month to write down every single expense, from $1 soda's to $300 home repairs. This practice goes part and parcel with re-examining your spending. Holding a magnifying glass up to your spending habits will probably shock you, but you will never look at a purchase the same way again. How many hours did you have to work for that $60 shopping spree at BigLots? You didn't intend to spend that much, but they just had so many things that you "needed" and you couldn't miss the deals, right? For a lot of people, that $60 was a full day's work. Were those "deals" really worth it?

4. Make a budget (and stick to it). A written budget is necessary to living well on one income. It keeps you accountable, and shows you very clearly when you've overspent. You don't have to go all high-tech and complicated, either. A simple notebook with college ruled paper will serve just fine. All you need to do is write down your income, and then list, in order of importance, your monthly expenses (food, electric, gas, mortgage, giving, car expenses, household "stuff", clothing, outstanding debt, savings, etc)

5. Cut your spending. After you've examined your spending habits and set up a budget, stop overspending. Don't go into a store with your credit card and no list. Don't shop when you're hungry. Don't go "window shopping" with a wallet full of cash or plastic and no spending plan. Don't spend to soothe emotional turmoil. Don't buy anything you have to hide from your spouse (does he/she know about that must-have outfit you bought at Penney's blowout last month?). Stop buying unhealthy fast food and snacks. You have to bring out of control spending to a screeching halt if you want to live on one income (you should do that even if you have two incomes, but you've got to be really determined if you want to be home)

6. Learn to find sales and use coupons. But be careful. Never buy something just because it is on sale, or just because you can get fifty cents off. You'll end up spending more that way. Use your shopping list to determine what sales and coupons you need to take advantage of. If there's something you use a lot (like toilet paper or skinless, boneless chicken breasts) buy lots of it when the discounts are deep. But don't go overboard with bulk buying if your savings will only be a few cents. An example from my own life: There is a community grocery store that regularly sells 3 lb bags of boneless chicken breasts for $4 each. Our local Aldis usually sells the same thing for $6 each. The local larger brand stores sell the same thing for upwards of $10. Obviously it is worth it to me to make the trip to the community store to stock up on our favorite kind of chicken.

7. Learn to cook. Don't think you need to be a gourmet chef to make your family happy at the dinner table. Cooking can be basic, quick, and delicious, with a little effort put into planning and preparing. Women's magazines always have quick and simple recipes, and you can start your collection there. Learning the basics like how to cook rice or noodles, what spices taste good with what foods, and how long to bake chicken will quickly get you out of the fast-food habit. Along with this, eating breakfasts at home, and packing lunches rather than buying them will dramatically cut your food expenditures.

8. Find free entertainment. Rather than spending money renting movies, check out the libraries nearest you and see what their movie/dvd collection looks like. You can usually request movies through interlibrary loan, too. If you hear about a must-read book, don't buy it, head for your library again. Find out where your local state parks are, and take your family hiking, swimming, and picnicking. Check out a city publication to see what free or inexpensive entertainment, festivals, theater, and music are available year-round.

9. Cut your monthly spending. Look for ways that you can cut your regular basic bills. How many cable channels, exactly, do you need? Call around to phone companies and see what package deals they offer that could save you money. Set the a/c a little higher and the heat a little lower. Turn off lights when you're not using them. Plan to do most of your baking on one day (you can bake and freeze many casseroles) so you're not heating up the oven and the house several times a week. Look into getting a laundry line to save on the electric or gas that dryers take. Challenge yourself to turn off the a/c if the heat and humidity isn't at killer heights, and learn to use strategically placed fans, instead.

10. Learn what's really important. If you really want to stay at home, you probably already believe that family is more important than things. But sometimes even we stay-at-home moms need a little reminder that our kids and our role at home is so much more important, and will last so much longer than living in our dream home or following every whim and fad of fashion.

With a lot of determination and some good money smarts, you can live on one income. Yes you can, and if that's what you want, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!