How Many Here Are Two Income Families?

[Ron]

I in wanting to have a family, also wanted to be able to have my wife stay at home.

Alas that hasn't happened.
While I make a decent pay cheque and am grateful for every penny, we also find it hard to provide a living for our family on just one Paycheque.

I often comment when people look at my signature that upon seeing my signature for the first time, my then future wife to be said, "you should have been a Doctor!"
I then say, "yeah, and when she sees my paycheques she says, you really should have been a Doctor!"

Seriously, am I the only one who finds things expensive, or is it just because I live in a major city with a high cost of living?

My wife started a second job that goes from 9 PM till 1 AM Mon-Fri just because she can find no baby sitter in the daytime.

This isn't a thread to complain, but to compare.

"Do you think that parents need a dual income nowadays to make ends meet?

[Darcie]

We did one income for six years and it was not easy. I just started working part-time and it's still not easy. I guess we are just not suppose to get to comfortable here. This world is not our home, we are just passing thru.

[J-Roc]

We're just a one income family, but I have been a good steward of our finances, and we get along just well on one income...my wife has been a stay-at-home for about 2.5 years...


....bro, do you live on a budget? Have you managed your finances with a program such as Quicken to see how your bottom line is doing? You will find that helpful, IMO.


The question we have to ask ourselves is: How am I managing "Me, Inc"...would I invest into my company as a shareholder because of how my company "Me, Inc" is managed....tough questions to ask, but necessary.

[Darcie]

Originally Posted by J-Roc

We're just a one income family, but I have been a good steward of our finances, and we get along just well on one income...my wife has been a stay-at-home for about 2.5 years...


....bro, do you live on a budget? Have you managed your finances with a program such as Quicken to see how your bottom line is doing? You will find that helpful, IMO.


The question we have to ask ourselves is: How am I managing "Me, Inc"...would I invest into my company as a shareholder because of how my company "Me, Inc" is managed....tough questions to ask, but necessary.

I agree about the budget. We do it too, but a lot depends on the income (jota-piedra).

[Ron]

Originally Posted by J-Roc

We're just a one income family, but I have been a good steward of our finances, and we get along just well on one income...my wife has been a stay-at-home for about 2.5 years...


....bro, do you live on a budget? Have you managed your finances with a program such as Quicken to see how your bottom line is doing? You will find that helpful, IMO.


The question we have to ask ourselves is: How am I managing "Me, Inc"...would I invest into my company as a shareholder because of how my company "Me, Inc" is managed....tough questions to ask, but necessary.

True, but in Canada Gas is almost 5 bucks a gallon! House prices are $800,000
for a new house in the cheapest part of town.
Rent prices reflect that.

We don't live in a major city with high cost of living!

I don't know of one couple that one ofd them didn't make a hgundred grand or more a year.

[Darcie]

Originally Posted by Ron

True, but in Canada Gas is almost 5 bucks a gallon! House prices are $800,000for a new house in the cheapest part of town.
Rent prices reflect that.

We don't live in a major city with high cost of living!

I don't know of one couple that one ofd them didn't make a hgundred grand or more a year.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Darcie

Yeah, and the clincher is we make more oil than we consume.
We export a Million Barrels or more a day to the States every day!
Gas prices should be about 2 bucks a gallon!

[commonsense]

When our children were small I was able to be a stay at home mom since my husbands' job was adequate for our needs.( this was the 70's)
We moved to another state, and instead of the good railroad job my husband chose to pastor a home missions church in a small town in a state with low wages. In less than a year I had to find a job in order to keep us afloat.
When we moved our youngest was 2 yrs old. I didn't take a full time job until she was 4. In a perfect world I would have stayed at home, but it wasn't a choice.
We had a low interest home loan as 1st time buyers,and were very careful with our finances but ....sometimes there just isn't an alternative. This particular state has one of the highest rate of working mothers in the usa.

In todays' world the wages are better, inflation is reasonable>>>except for gas and medical expenses and health insurance, but when I see young couples I wonder how they survive.
Our kids are grown , we both work fulltime , and we have enough, but not if I had to buy groceries for 5 or 6, and school clothes, etc
I admire the stay at home moms, but would never judge the gal who had to find a job.

By the way, I had no idea expenses in Canada were that much more than in the USA. I live in a metro area over 800,000, and for $500,000 you're in the classier neighborhoods and have a four car garage. The median income is about $ 52,000.

[Hoovie]

One income. My wife is an unemployed RN. I work long hours to make the numbers come out, but we feel it is worth it.

Kristin and I feel it is the will of God for her to be with the children at this time, so the monetary value is not a primary factor in the decision.

Yes everything is expensive, I agree.

[Newman]

Originally Posted by Ron

I in wanting to have a family, also wanted to be able to have my wife stay at home.

Alas that hasn't happened.
While I make a decent pay cheque and am grateful for every penny, we also find it hard to provide a living for our family on just one Paycheque.

I often comment when people look at my signature that upon seeing my signature for the first time, my then future wife to be said, "you should have been a Doctor!"
I then say, "yeah, and when she sees my paycheques she says, you really should have been a Doctor!"

Seriously, am I the only one who finds things expensive, or is it just because I live in a major city with a high cost of living?

My wife started a second job that goes from 9 PM till 1 AM Mon-Fri just because she can find no baby sitter in the daytime.

This isn't a thread to complain, but to compare.

"Do you think that parents need a dual income nowadays to make ends meet?

Rob- Some choose to have the wife work a little bit so that Dad can spend some time with the kids rather than working a second job and never being home. Many ways to skin a cat...