Not So Easy

[Carrie Earls]

My husband and I live off one income. He is a horseshoer (farrier) and trainer, by trade, and I am a stay-at-home mom.

Although I don't always like the way it feels to be a one-income family, I like our reasons for doing it. Let's face it, for a lot of people one income means less income! Less than is comfortable, at times.

Do we have everything we need? In light of the big picture, yes. God has faithfully met every need we have had. But we do have dreams that we sometimes wonder will ever come to fruition. I guess that God will help us to see those dreams come true if they are a part of His will for us.

It all comes down to trust.

Our reasons for my staying home are many, but mainly include child-training issues. Second to child-training would come marital and homemaking goals. The only reason child-training is first right now is that our children are so young (ages 4, 2, and in-the-womb).

The bottom line, then, is priorities. What would God have the Earls family to do, and why? Each of us has to answer that question for ourselves, I think.

What do you think?

[Carrie Earls]

Is there anyone else who stays home with their kids? Don't tell me I'm the only one! Maybe I am.

If you stay home, what are your reasons for it?

[jamesglewisf]

My wife stays at home for our daughter. Right now she has no interest in going back to work. She has so much fun with our daughter, especially witnessing all of the new things she does, that she can't imagine going back to work.

Heck, if we were independently wealthy, I'd be at home.

Please check out my article (http://marriedadults.com/one_income.htm) on living off one income and give me some feedback.

[Carrie Earls]

I have read your article, and thought it was excellent.

The only question that I can answer "yes" to is buying a vehicle every three years. Typically, we must buy another vehicle this frequently because we cannot afford to buy new. A new vehicle would be our top choice, but the expense is too great. So we buy used, which has to be replaced more often.

In fact, we were just considering this problem this month. My husband uses his truck every day for work. He puts a minimum of between 25 and 30 thousand miles per year on this truck. That's a lot of miles! We bought a used truck because a new one would have worn out within about 4, possibly 5 years. There is no way we could pay off a vehicle that quickly, given our income. At the end of a five year period, we would have had a worn out truck that we still owed money on.

As it is, we have a used truck that only gets 12 m.p.g., at best. It is diesel though, so it should run another 3 years if we take good care of it. So what's the problem? We spend $30-35 every other day on diesel! That'll hit your pocketbook!

Meanwhile, our minivan will be 10 years old in January. Still runs well, but you never know . . . It's an interesting saga!

The real question for me is, "Do we live beyond our means?" The answer is no. Our money mainly goes to church, utilities, groceries, clothes, insurance, etc. -- oh yeah, and vehicles. I really am not complaining, I am just saying it is tighter than we'd like at times.

If staying home weren't worth it to me, I'd go back to work!