How many times have you heard parents complaining that they don’t have enough time with their children, or that they repeatedly have to miss school events because they have to work?  There are a number of families who would prefer to have one parent stay home with the kids while the other parent works, but most believe without a doubt that it would be financially impossible to raise the family on one income.

Despite some trying economic times, the majority of two-income earning families could absolutely find a way for one of the parents to stay home if they adjusted their lifestyles to a single-income earning family.  What happens for most people is this:

The More We Earn, The More We Need to Spend.

It’s pretty simple, actually.  I personally know a family who insists that both parents must work in order to raise their family and pay the bills.   They have three children, one in school and the other two in daycare while both parents work.  Daycare for the two younger children costs $320 a week.  It seems obvious to me right away, that if one parent was home in that family, they’d save $320 a week in expenses, immediately.  That’s $1280 per month! I also know that the wife’s income, after taxes is about $1800 per month, so after paying daycare expenses, she is really only earning $520 per month, or $130 a week (for 40 hours of worktime).

Seems to be, that if the wife was to stay home the way she says she would like to, she would only need to save an additional $130 a week in order to live off the husband’s income- since they would no longer be paying $1280 a month for daycare out of her paycheck.

Because both parents work full time, they also have a housekeeper come in twice a week to help keep the home tidy.  I don’t know exactly what they pay the housekeeper, but it seems the average hourly rate for housekeepers is around $15.  I can make an educated guess that the housekeeper is costing them $60 to $90 per week, based on 4 to 6 hours. 

They’re also probably too busy to concern themselves with using coupons at the grocery store or looking for sales, clearance prices and discounted items.  Their lifestyle would not even have to change all that much to accommodate the wife staying home with the children- which is where she wants to be.  (I’m all for parents working if they want to work- but I can’t stand it when people work when they’d rather be home with their children, just because they think there are no other options financially).  There’d no longer be a need for full time daycare for two children, and they wouldn’t require a housekeeper.  Those expenses alone are almost equivalent to what the wife makes a month!

There are always ways to cut back on your living expenses.  Some may not seem obvious until you actually sit down and take a close look at what you pay for each month, and why you  need it.  It could be that you built your lifestyle around two incomes; and that with very little changes, you could very well afford to be a stay at home parent in a one-income home.



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