AgsMyDude said:

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Admiral Adama said:

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I pay for childcare for two littles that attend a middle tier Pre-K and am reading y'all's figures for costs. *Cries in Californian*

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Can't you just take them to the lady down the street for a few nickels a week?

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I get the jab in your comment, but it just reiterates to me how out of touch with reality many upper middle class are. This has turned into a daycare expense discussion. But if you think a family of 4 living on $50,000 income is paying $1000 per kid for childcare, then go for it. And the vast majority of families are at our near that level.

Hence, $1000/month for someone to manage reach of your children while you go work is in fact a luxury afforded to the higher earners that the majority can't utilize, and any lack of acknowledgement of that shows lack of societal awareness.

So yes, there is some lady down the street, with no license or insurance and isn't providing any education or enhancement, for much less than $1000/child. Her home or neighborhood aren't like yours and you wouldn't feel safe leaving your kids there.. hence the luxury of solving that by paying $1000 to a reputable facility with an educational in a good part of town.

And back to the inflation topic.. those same people can't absorb a 10 % increase in their cost of living, in many cases, without skipping meals for family members. With each increase in costs beyond increase in income, there are a few more that go hungry, homeless, and lose a job because they missed work because they ran out of gas.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Wife and I just had our first. Luckily we are in a position where she will just stay home. But if we weren't, I can promise you we'd sell our house and buy a 30k RV to live in. Dual income isn't necessary.

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Congrats! We're about to have our third in March and my wife has stayed home for the last four years since our first boy was born. She really didn't have intentions to stay home even up until we went to the hospital for delivery, but her mind changed in those first few weeks of maternity leave and she hasn't gone back. It's been a real blessing that we're able to manage things on one income. However, it has taken real discipline to keep to our budget and still meet our commitments to give and save. It's made us more resilient to financial pressure and we take a proactive approach to our spending and try to be intentional with everything.

As DINKS we would get into these mindless spending habits and never really kept an accurate budget. We'd get to the end of the month sometimes and look at our credit card bill and think what the heck happened? We've worked hard to eliminate those practices and keep everything steady month to month. It's been a great thing for us as a couple to manage together.

cjsag94 said:

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AgsMyDude said:

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Admiral Adama said:

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I pay for childcare for two littles that attend a middle tier Pre-K and am reading y'all's figures for costs. *Cries in Californian*

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Can't you just take them to the lady down the street for a few nickels a week?

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I get the jab in your comment, but it just reiterates to me how out of touch with reality many upper middle class are. This has turned into a daycare expense discussion. But if you think a family of 4 living on $50,000 income is paying $1000 per kid for childcare, then go for it. And the vast majority of families are at our near that level.

Hence, $1000/month for someone to manage reach of your children while you go work is in fact a luxury afforded to the higher earners that the majority can't utilize, and any lack of acknowledgement of that shows lack of societal awareness.

So yes, there is some lady down the street, with no license or insurance and isn't providing any education or enhancement, for much less than $1000/child. Her home or neighborhood aren't like yours and you wouldn't feel safe leaving your kids there.. hence the luxury of solving that by paying $1000 to a reputable facility with an educational in a good part of town.

And back to the inflation topic.. those same people can't absorb a 10 % increase in their cost of living, in many cases, without skipping meals for family members. With each increase in costs beyond increase in income, there are a few more that go hungry, homeless, and lose a job because they missed work because they ran out of gas.

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Feds cover childcare for low income earners btw.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Wife and I just had our first. Luckily we are in a position where she will just stay home. But if we weren't, I can promise you we'd sell our house and buy a 30k RV to live in. Dual income isn't necessary.

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First of all, congrats!

Secondly, I had a mental note to come back to this thread and add a couple of thoughts about the Double vs. Single income lifestyle. We're a SI5K family, and not only do we make it work, we love the arrangement. No disrespect to those who choose the DINK or DI2.1K life, but I think there's a lot of pressure for couples to both work, and a lot of that pressure is unnecessary, or overblown.

Early in my career as an engineer, my wife was a practicing RN. Mathematically, it didn't take much to consider how inefficient her salary was. Right off the bat, between the higher tax bracket, and FICA, her salary was cut by a third. Start to add in extra fuel, wear & tear, insurance, etc. for her daily commute, there's additional cost incurred by working. We were able to reduce other costs like regularly eating out, maid service, more frugal shopping, no scrubs for work, tithing on one salary, etc. We hadn't even considered childcare expenses, and that full-time nursing job was making less than $15k/year.

When we made made the switch, you could just feel the benefits. My wife is an awesome woman - she takes the responsibilities at home very seriously. So my chores were reduced and she loves being at home over being in a hospital. She enjoys cooking and being a mother. She works hard to make sure we save money and can afford the lifestyle. It's a great partnership of equals with benefits for both parties.

However, there's one benefit I never could have anticipated. My wife and I haven't had competing priorities in our careers. I've been able to take every trip needed, work every emergency I was asked of, take opportunities that others couldn't because I have a good woman supporting me. I feel her support when I'm tired and overworked, and it is comforting. Over the years, I think these small moments have served us well, and I've been able to pursue career opportunities with better pay. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I've probably out-earned the lost earning potential of my wife bringing home a second income. Granted, it took some time in my career to get there. But for both of us, it's a shared winfall.

I realize that may not work for all situations/couples, but I don't think there's enough people out there talking about the great lifestyle that a single income can offer, and how it easy it can be to afford if you work at it.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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[

However, there's one benefit I never could have anticipated. My wife and I haven't had competing priorities in our careers. I've been able to take every trip needed, work every emergency I was asked of, take opportunities that others couldn't because I have a good woman supporting me. I feel her support when I'm tired and overworked, and it is comforting.

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Great defense of the single income lifestyle. Your "if your wife quits her job, you too can be the office doormat" pitch sold me.

Howdy Dammit said:

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Wife and I just had our first. Luckily we are in a position where she will just stay home. But if we weren't, I can promise you we'd sell our house and buy a 30k RV to live in. Dual income isn't necessary.

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Another amazing defense. "You don't need two incomes, just buy the tenement on wheels from Christmas Vacation!" is something I'd never thought of before.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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and that full-time nursing job was making less than $15k/year.

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I know travel nurses in their 20's making 5-7k per week, and more with OT

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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Howdy Dammit said:

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Wife and I just had our first. Luckily we are in a position where she will just stay home. But if we weren't, I can promise you we'd sell our house and buy a 30k RV to live in. Dual income isn't necessary.

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Another amazing defense. "You don't need two incomes, just buy the tenement on wheels from Christmas Vacation!" is something I'd never thought of before.

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Not sure why the sarcasm. Just stating that my wife staying home is so vastly important to us that we'd make almost any sacrifice to obtain it.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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BenTheGoodAg said:

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[

However, there's one benefit I never could have anticipated. My wife and I haven't had competing priorities in our careers. I've been able to take every trip needed, work every emergency I was asked of, take opportunities that others couldn't because I have a good woman supporting me. I feel her support when I'm tired and overworked, and it is comforting.

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Great defense of the single income lifestyle. Your "if your wife quits her job, you too can be the office doormat" pitch sold me.

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Feel better? I agree with the above poster - sarcasm seems pretty unnecessary here.

Well I'm being sarcastic to make people laugh at my quip/chase blue stars so that I can feel good about myself. But in all seriousness, I personally think "if your wife doesn't work then you're free to become the office grunt and spend more time away from your family" is a regrettable reason to move to single unless income. Very regrettable.

Also, unless your story is 25+ years old or you live in a third world country, I don't buy that your wife was making under $15k as a full time nurse. $15k divided by 1920 hours (full time with 4 weeks off) works out to $7.81/hour. The Chick-fil-A across the street from me is hiring high schoolers for literally twice that. The federal minimum wage is what, 7.25?

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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Well I'm being sarcastic to make people laugh at my quip/chase blue stars so that I can feel good about myself. But in all seriousness, I personally think "if your wife doesn't work then you're free to become the office grunt and spend more time away from your family" is a regrettable reason to move to single unless income. Very regrettable.

Also, unless your story is 25+ years old or you live in a third world country, I don't buy that your wife was making under $15k as a full time nurse. $15k divided by 1920 hours (full time with 4 weeks off) works out to $7.81/hour. The Chick-fil-A across the street from me is hiring high schoolers for literally twice that. The federal minimum wage is what, 7.25?

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He says the 15k was AFTER taking into account all the extra costs/expenses related to her working outside the house.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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Well I'm being sarcastic to make people laugh at my quip/chase blue stars so that I can feel good about myself. But in all seriousness, I personally think "if your wife doesn't work then you're free to become the office grunt and spend more time away from your family" is a regrettable reason to move to single unless income. Very regrettable.

Also, unless your story is 25+ years old or you live in a third world country, I don't buy that your wife was making under $15k as a full time nurse. $15k divided by 1920 hours (full time with 4 weeks off) works out to $7.81/hour. The Chick-fil-A across the street from me is hiring high schoolers for literally twice that. The federal minimum wage is what, 7.25?

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My 2 cents? A sarcastic putdown is an odd play if you're really concerned about me regretting my life decisions. This isn't the GB or F16.

Otherwise, I think you've read too much into what I shared. I have busy seasons, like nearly every working person out there. Unplanned emergencies come up. But on average, I work a pretty typical 40-50 hour week. I manage to travel pretty minimally (5-7 quick trips per year). I'm just giving my wife a lot of the credit for the success I've had in my career when seasons got tough, and opportunities came up. I've made it further with her support than I ever would have on my own. And my 8 hour days are laughable when compared to the 16 hour days my dad and grandad put in for decades on our family farm.

$15k salary - As already mentioned above, I'm talking about the real net effect of her working as a nurse after all the added costs were considered (which was more in the spirit of the thread). It's been several years, nurses make more now, and there are more opportunities (like traveling), but they also come with their own costs. The point was - consider the net effect of a second income before assuming it's the right solution for your family - and consider the intangibles. It doesn't work for everyone, but it works for us.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

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Yea I read it out of breath between sets and got distracted by the cost savings descriptions between the 15k salary with the pay reductions. My mistake and I deserve the ribbing that I'm sure is coming my way :-D

I still think he's understating the net benefit - a nurse can fall out of bed these days and land on a 6 figure job, and even after extra costs and taxes that generates a lot more than 15k - but that's their decision and I certainly don't fault somebody for living on less money to spend more time with family.

The part I disagree with is how awesome it is that a spouse at home frees you up to take more business trips and be the go-to guy to head into the office on the weekend or at night when something goes wrong. I personally think that's a lousy reason to move to single income.

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I don't see why you feel the need to pick apart his life choices. He said it's not for everyone but did articulate pretty well how it benefitted his family.