From Two to One: Choosing to Make a Change

Some of you may have read this post, where I announced that MM and I had decided that the most important place for me to be was at home with Bunny.  While we're certainly excited about the benefits this will bring MM, Bunny, and I, we are still apprehensive about the financial aspect of what we're doing.

First off, I'll run down the basic math.  I was making a whopping 45% of our income.  For all intents and purposes, we're cutting our income in half.  Sure, we won't be paying for daycare anymore, but we will have the added expense of me being added to MM's insurance premium.  He is also adding me as a dependent for his income tax withholding, but that doesn't make a whole lot of difference.  Once I make adjustments for the costs of daycare, extra gas, and the difference between the additional insurance premium and the new withholding amount, we are looking at a 40% reduction in monthly net income.  On top of that, we still have a substantial amount of debt that we would like to not just pay, but pay off way ahead of schedule.  Can you say YIKES?!

It's time to tighten our belts!!  

So, how are we going to do it?  Well, over the next 6 months, I plan to detail for you our journey of going from a two-income family to a one-income family in the midst of a recession.  We know we are swimming upstream.  We realize that what we are doing is not the norm.  We also know, however, that God's plans are central to this decision and that He will provide.  No, he probably won't provide a raise for MM, or a sudden windfall, but what he will provide us with is the tools, discipline, and determination to make our financial goals possible.

I'd love for you to follow along as we work through this new chapter in our lives.  There's sure to be successes, but failures as well, and I assure you, some of my efforts will probably have comedic, catastrophic results, so be ready to laugh and learn from my mistakes.  My hope and prayer is that it may be an inspiration to someone who is struggling to make the decision to stay home or not, is feeling trapped in an ever-expanding sink hole of debt that seems impossible to conquer, or is just looking for some ideas for how to trim the fat off of the family budget.  And if I don't inspire you at all, at least you'll be able to laugh along with me & my mistakes!!

Thank you for reading and God Bless!