Let me start off with the thought that we're very blessed to be a one income family. I appreciate every day that my husband goes to work, that he has a job to go to and that I can stay home and continue homeschooling our daughter who will be in 11th grade this year.
It's not always easy budgeting all our needs on one salary but we do okay. We don't have a big savings account, don't take big vacations, there aren't any new cars in the driveway and none of us wear name brand clothing (unless it's found at a garage sale). And we do have some luxuries such as high speed internet, cable tv, cell phones and two cars instead of just one.
I will admit, I'm not a financial guru, but I'm not completely out of it either. We've filed bankruptcy once (in 1998) and have tried to learn from that humbling situation. The very situation that we created ourselves because we truly didn't care like we should have. We had our car repossessed in the middle of the night. We went out to eat way to much, even in the middle of a bankruptcy. We refused to face our financial problems. We refused to act like adults. And who knows why...
We've been behind on our bills. We've taken out loans through payday loan companies and then would swear we'd never do that again after paying them off. Then we'd do it again and repeat the process. We didn't even have a debit card because in the past we would forget to write down a transactions and then the bank notices for bouncing checks came. And the credit cards... ha, we had one with a $200 limit because they didn't trust us anymore and who could blame them. And all throughout this... we both worked, but we never talked about the problems we were creating or about the fact that we were broke.
It's been a few years, but now our marriage is stronger and we talk about money issues before they become an issue. We don't have a credit card anymore because it's too tempting for us. We finally broke down and picked up a debit card from our bank, but only one so we don't forget to write it down when we use it (so far so good). We've been paying our monthly bills on time, which seems to rule out the need for a payday loan. Making the changes weren't easy, but looking back on what we've done and where we've come from, I can see clearly how blessed we are to have only one income.
It's not always easy budgeting all our needs on one salary but we do okay. We don't have a big savings account, don't take big vacations, there aren't any new cars in the driveway and none of us wear name brand clothing (unless it's found at a garage sale). And we do have some luxuries such as high speed internet, cable tv, cell phones and two cars instead of just one.
I will admit, I'm not a financial guru, but I'm not completely out of it either. We've filed bankruptcy once (in 1998) and have tried to learn from that humbling situation. The very situation that we created ourselves because we truly didn't care like we should have. We had our car repossessed in the middle of the night. We went out to eat way to much, even in the middle of a bankruptcy. We refused to face our financial problems. We refused to act like adults. And who knows why...
We've been behind on our bills. We've taken out loans through payday loan companies and then would swear we'd never do that again after paying them off. Then we'd do it again and repeat the process. We didn't even have a debit card because in the past we would forget to write down a transactions and then the bank notices for bouncing checks came. And the credit cards... ha, we had one with a $200 limit because they didn't trust us anymore and who could blame them. And all throughout this... we both worked, but we never talked about the problems we were creating or about the fact that we were broke.
It's been a few years, but now our marriage is stronger and we talk about money issues before they become an issue. We don't have a credit card anymore because it's too tempting for us. We finally broke down and picked up a debit card from our bank, but only one so we don't forget to write it down when we use it (so far so good). We've been paying our monthly bills on time, which seems to rule out the need for a payday loan. Making the changes weren't easy, but looking back on what we've done and where we've come from, I can see clearly how blessed we are to have only one income.
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