We are a family of 3 and my dh makes roughly $25,000/year.

We have always lived on one salary. When we were both working we saved my entire salary. Before that, when my husband was in school, we saved all the money he made from his part time job. It's harder now because we don't have some extras we could have taken from my money, but since we never relied on that money, we don't miss it too much.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

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I also Wanted to add that you Kind of always Do what you have to Do.
I Have Found Ways to Make Money through the Yrs. and so Has Dh.
As I said before with Kids and Pets and Cars there are No Set in stone Bills ...

But We Never Died from Having to Cut thee Grocery Bill in half For a Couple weeks , And It Didn't Kill Me to Pick up some babysitting Or House Cleaning Jobs. I think Most things can Be Dealt with along the Way.

Keep in mind that although your income will be less, your quality of life will be immeasurably better. You will be providing your family with something invaluable...the best care for your kids, healthier meals, and the opportunity to truely live your values. You will have peace of mind in knowing what your children are doing all day, what they are eating, that they are getting fresh air and exercise and that their abilities are being nurtured as they are raised as individuals with unique needs and personalities. You'll have time to explore your own hobbies and to develop new skills together.
Years ago Mary Ann Cahill published a book called The Heart Has It's Own Reasons, through La Leche League, of which she was one of the founders. It is full of ideas for (and by) mothers who stay home with their children and live on one income. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend it. Gail

When we had our first dd, my dh was making significantly less than he makes now. It was really a tight time, but we were so happy. You'll be so busy falling in love with that little one that you won't mind not spending $500-$1000 on eating out (not picking on you, we spend a lot on dinners out/take out, etc at times, too.)

You'll make do. I'm sure you won't regret the choice you've made to stay at home.

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Vicki
Mama to Princess, 5 and Wild Thing, 3
Progress Since 1/6/09:

It might help to think of it as living an alternative lifestyle (an alternative to out-of-control-consumerism!) that allows you to use your creativity and intelligence to make a great lifestyle. Instead of eating out at restaurants, we would invite a couple of families with little kids to come over for a potluck, so each family would only cook one dish and everyone would get to eat some things they didn't cook. Rotating hosts meant "going out" to eat somewhere besides home every so often (which also happens to help little kids learn a bit about public table manners as well as encouraging them to try different foods.)
It is surprising that when you shop at second hand stores you can find great clothes, sometimes with the original store tags still on them, that may have been more expensive originally than what you would have been willing to pay even when you were making a regular salary. You'll get to know which stores are best for this...and also which areas of town to yardsale in for good clothes at giveaway prices.
As others have said, eventually your husband will be making a bigger salary and things won't be so tight, but if you dive whole-heartedly into living creatively, you probably won't spend it so fast when you do have it....it will seem more like one tool in the toolbox, rather than the only one that will do the job. Gail

I agree 100%! Very well said. Welcome to the boards. I like your posts!

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Mom to dd (age 9) and ds (age 11)
blogging daily about purpose and personal identity

Before we had kids our combined income was 110K. And now with two kids and me being a SAHM my DH makes about 115K.

Funny thing is we as a couple were never good at saving. I did a lot of recreational shopping and DH would splurge a lot too. Then we had kids and our priorities completely changed.

Compared to most families we probably spend more on groceries since we eat mostly organic, but we probably spend less on eating out in the last year since I have gotten on board with cooking waaayyyy more than I did before.

We have two homes with one being a rental.

We use one CC and pay it off monthly.

We take one week long vacation a year (usually to visit family) and one or two short vacations (like camping or a weekend trip to Disneyland).

We have some money saved, but need to get better at saving more.

We have about 20K in college loans that we are paying off montly.

Other than the mortgages, 1 car loan, and two small college loans we are debt free.

Changes we have made to accommodate my being a SAHM:

I pretty much just wear wash and wear type clothes.
I shop the thrift stores for my kids clothes and only buy new clothes from the mall or regular stores for them if they are on sale for really cheap
I do my weekly meal planning and weekly grocery shopping around whats on sale that week
I stockpile when things are on sale for a good price
I coupon for EVERYTHING
We have a gift budget of $25 per person or $50 per family for holidays and birthdays
We live in a modest and small home (1300 sq.ft) in the best school district in San Diego. We could have bought a bigger more expensive home, but we knew that buying an investment property AND a small home to live in would be better financially for us in the long run.

And the bottom line is.....there are MANY times when we just have to say "No". No to people asking us out to dinner, no to grandparents asking us to bring the kids to visit them if we don't have the money, no to invitations (for birthdays, engagements, weddings, etc.) from people that are not in our immediate circle, just plain No to a lot of things that we don't need.

It's definitely a financial sacrifice, but I wouldn't trade being at home with my kids for anything. Plus after we added up all the numbers (cost of FT daycare for 1 child at the time versus my paycheck) we would be in the red. Now with two kids, we know we are definitely saving money in the long run by me staying at home. Plus I/WE are the ones raising our kids everyday, not a daycare worker or a babysitter or nanny. I know that for some Moms they have to work and that is the best for their situation. But I just couldn't take not being with my kids for most of the day and missing all their milestones, kisses, hugs, and smiles. Now on the other hand, I wouldn't mind missing a few of their tantrums .

I think I had an advantage in a way b/c we started out as a one income. We got married right when I got out of the Army so instead of getting back to work I travelled with him to Korea and ended up getting pregnant just 6 months after we were married. Since I didn't work during my pregnancy we were used to being one income. However he was enlisted and making a pathetic amount of money, less than 15K a year. We had one car that was mine and paid for before our marriage and we sold his truck. We did just fine, of course we were stupid and piled up alot of c.c. debt real quickly. (hey I was 20 let me blaim my age on something!) But compared to most young couples even then we had a nice standard of living. My dh got out of the Army and got a contractor job paying 75K and we worked on paying off our debt really quickly. Then we bought a second vehicle for him and sold my car and got me a mini-van. By that time number 2 came along, then number 3. My dh moved around a few companies and makes around 150K a year now. Our standard of living isn't much different except we have two nice cars, own a home and have savings and investments now. But I was never a frivolous spender and have always been frugal. I am able to buy organic food now, which i never would have done before on his Army pay. We definitely don't have to eat ramen alot anymore, but we sure made some good recipes with it when we were broke! My dh teases me about mommysavers and using coupons but we sure wouldn't be as comfortable today if it hadn't been for my frugal money management!!

Since you have the opportunity, I would try to live like a single income while you have the chance. Put all of your income into a savings account and see what you can cut. Cable and grocery bills are the easiest to trim. We went without cable the first 6 years of our marriage and I went without a cell phone the first 4 years. It can be done, they aren't really needed.

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt