Deciding To Become A One-Income Family

This week’s column is about shifting from a two full-time income family to a sole income family, which is a transition my husband and I made in March of this year, after the birth of our second child.

If you’re in a situation where daycare encompasses your entire salary (or nearly that amount), it’s not as tough a decision, from a financial standpoint. However, I had my kids after years of working towards a career, so financially it made more sense for me to work. Emotionally, of course you always want to be present for your kids, but part of being a parent is providing for them, so each of us has to make decisions that work best for us and our families. 

There were two primary reasons for me deciding to stay at home:

1. Neither my position, nor my company was family-friendly. Decisions, such as giving two weeks lead time before mandating half-day Fridays in exchange for putting in 50-hour work weeks, did not consider those of us who relied on daycare and had set drop-off and pick-up times. Managing deadline-driven projects meant long hours at times, so the position itself fell outside daycare timeframes.
2. My husband’s company relocated to New York, which made me the single pick-up/drop-off person. Previously, when he was in New Jersey, his company understood picking up a sick kid or leaving a little early to attend a Halloween party at daycare. His new schedule made it nearly impossible for me to work late, go in extra early, etc. and would have made it difficult for him to assist with early sick day pick-ups (not uncommon in group daycare). With just the two of us balancing two kids in daycare, we felt the only option was a nanny--not a good idea since my husband and I are both reserved people who feel awkward and uncomfortable with the idea of someone else being in our home with our kids.

 We prepared for the possibility of being a one-income family:

• Reduce bills. After having our first daughter, we saved aggressively. We took advantage of the low finance rates and re-mortgaged. At that point, we took a significant amount of our savings and used it to pay down the amount we owe on our mortgage, which lowered our monthly payments.
• Budget. We tracked expenses using an Excel spreadsheet like this, in order to ensure we could cover our bills and have some savings for other unexpected expenses. We looked for ways to reduce regular expenses, such as cutting down on premium cable channels and finding an alternative energy supplier, Verde, which offers cheaper rates.

Maintaining Employability & Making Some Cash Part-Time

My biggest work-related fear, aside from my husband getting laid-off and essentially being without income, is for me to lose the dues I paid all these years toward my career. From sitting on long bus rides into New York to evenings spent furiously typing to finish proposals before deadline, I don’t want to go back and be a grunt.

• Have a support system. In my case, within the Parsippany Moms Club East, I found some professional women who shifted to part-time successfully. It gave me a lot of hope and inspiration.
• Volunteer to gain experience. In my case, I was a business writer, so I began by offering to write grants for a for a nonprofit. In addition, I volunteered to join/write for Parsippany Patch’s Moms Talk forum.
• Be flexible. I was a proposal manager. Writing was part of my skill-set that given the right position, could be done remotely. So, I widened the field to look at all writing jobs.
• Search for jobs. I found that larger search engines like Monster.com don’t feature many part-time positions. Craigslist and Twitter were where I found opportunities. In addition, there is a New York-based job site called Mom Corps that is worth a search.

There are a lot of variables to consider when deciding to become a one-income family. I don’t think there is a single right solution, but I did a lot of research and planning prior to making my own decision.

So, if you are a working mom, would you consider part-time work? If you’re a part-time mom, what financial or career tips would you give others?