Is it at all possible?

I’d say, yes, it is!

My husband and I are work-at-home parents, and we are a one-income household.

Errrrrr… how is that again?

We are both working from home, but we are a one-income household.

Simply put, both of us are earning, but we are living on one spouse’s income.  The other spouse’s salary goes to a bank account.

Why are we doing this?

My husband and I started a family at a time when we were both gainfully employed.  Both of us were enjoying the tenure and all the benefits that go with that tenure.  We were with a company that was part of a conglomerate.  The pay was good, and so were the benefits. So we enjoyed life.  Regular lunch outs.  Weekly out of town trips.  Two househelps.  Living on no budget.  We simply spent on what we want.  Although I was already saving, it was being done without a clear purpose.

But our circumstances changed.   I had to give up my salary and benefits.   But of course, we all know how I thrived on my WAHM career.  And then, it was his turn.  So we had a lot of practice on being a one-income household.  We had a lot of practice on putting all our ducks in a row and making them stay there.  Now that we are both freelancing, we have decided to forget about the rehearsal and make it the main show.

Again, why?

Because freelancing actually offers no safety nets.  We are not getting any younger, and we have three kids.  One started college last year. And our youngest is only ten.  A lot of years ahead that we have to prepare for.  So we need really deep reserves.  Health, education, daily living, emergencies, investments, retirement.  These are the major items in our list.  I don’t want for us to grow old and be burdens to our children.  Or if we go early, we want our kids to have something to start with.

We need to always be prepared for emergencies, like when Glenda happened and we needed to have repairs done around the house.  Like when we were burglarized and we needed to install security cameras.

As online workers, we have to always be on top of our game with gadgets.  We have to always have some amount stashed, ready for equipment repairs or replacement.

We have three kids, all needing dental braces.  We already started our middlechild’s treatment.  In summer, the firstborn has to start hers. Two kids are already wearing prescription glasses.  These are maintenance expenses.  And God forbid, if any one of us gets sick, a single hospitalization can create a big dent to our savings since we no longer have health insurance coverage.  Just the SSS.

And just today, we had to pay our daughter’s mid-term tuition, and I have to renew my business permit, while hubby is out renewing our car’s registration.  Tomorrow, I need to pay our real property tax.  And it’s not even middle of the month yet.  Imagine if we don’t have funds stashed somewhere.

So yes, we are living (or trying to live) on a single income.  And yes, it is possible.

How?

On Part 2 of this post, I’ll share with you how we’re doing it.

Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.

The Happy WAHM
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The Happy WAHM

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.

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