From a dual-income to one-income household, these are the questions that we had to deal with in the past three weeks:
- What are our essential costs?
- How much can we realistically afford in terms of expenses?
- How will we cover health insurance?
- Is our life insurance adequate?
- How will we cut back on costs?
- How long can we survive with just one income?
- How will we fund the kids’ education?
- How will we fund our retirement?
- What are our options?
- Can we find/create a replacement income?
This is not the first time that our family plummeted from two incomes to one. Back in 2005, when I prematurely gave birth to our third child, husband and I had to make the hard decision of letting go of my salary to give childcare a priority. Although we knew we were not ready, we had to take the leap of faith and together resolved to make things work. It’s been more than seven years, and we have not regretted that move. I have since created a new career, and we were back to a dual income situation in no time.
Middle of last month, we were again put in that same situation, where we had to simply accept the cards that we were dealt with. This time, it’s the husband who’s losing the income. The same, but different. The blow is harder this time.
Losing the Benefits
Working as an employee has its perks. You get group life insurance and health insurance, you need not lift a finger in getting your income tax return filed, your SSS contribution is merely deducted from your salary, and if you’re lucky, you get transportation allowances.
When I gave up my job, we were still okay with it. He simply claimed the tax deductions while I went ahead to file my own, I just had to take over paying my SSS contributions, and changed my status to dependent for the health insurance. This time around, the changes brought greater impact. No more health insurance. Several trips to SSS and the BIR will have to be made, and we have to give up his car. Soon. But what breaks my heart is the way this change has affected him. Me, I’m like rubber. I bounce back easily. Him, he’s like glass. To say that he is heartbroken is an understatement. I know he’s trying to put up a brave front, but I can see that he is struggling with acceptance.
Facing the Challenge
One advantage of having to face the same predicament twice is that we were not totally blindsided the second time. What we have experienced before taught us not to be complacent with our finances. We’ve created safety nets that we are now bound to make use of. I know it’s going to be a bumpy ride, but we are here to take on the challenge. We survived the storm the first time, when we were neck-deep in debt, when the kids were still in their high-maintenance phase, when raising kids without a helper made our difficult situation even more strenuous, and when working from home was not as popular as it is now. This time around, we are in a better position than the last. Not ideal, but still better.
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Marge, also known as The Happy WAHM, is a virtual assistant who turned her passion for entrepreneurship into a worthy endeavor of offering complete business solutions to CEOs and business owners around the world. She turned her back on a thriving corporate career to become a hands-on mom and created a lifestyle that allowed her to build a homebased career, homeschool her children, and still have time to pursue her passion for arts and crafting.
She only posts her content on her website, TheHappyWAHM.com. If you see this content on someone else’s site then it is NOT by any means authorized.
