Monday, August 30, 2010

Living on One Income: How to Make it Work

Living on One Income: How to Make it Work billeater.com

Living on One Income can be by design or circumstance. Jessica Bosari from billeater.com has encouraged us to look at the big ticket items to find ways to stretch your budget. Attached is the link to hear her suggestions.

Billeater.com has a neatly organized site to help you save money in all spending categories and shows where you can get coupons and freebies.

Living on one income can be tough but there are often opportunities.


As a single person:
1.  Better focus.  As a single person you know what you have and what you can spend.  This often can provide clarity of purpose to help keep you on track. 
2.  Tax breaks for single parents.
3.  Networking.  When I was a single parent I had lots of friends and we tended to help one another out in everything from a coffee break to helping with big projects. 

As a couple typically one person works outside the home giving the other opportunity to manage the home.  This can provide savings in a number of areas that are more difficult in a single parent family:
1.  Save on childcare.
2.  More time for meal preparation.
3.  At home income generating projects.

This is just a few but the point being that every situation has pros and cons.  As we make an active search to find and capitalize on the positive aspects of our situation we are better able to maximize the benefits.

4 comments:

joe said...

Here at back to basics we are self-sufficient just from our homestead. I do have a home business also, but the homestead pays for it's self. Anyone can do it it's a matter of choice. Anyone can work from home once they learn. Knowledge is power.

Everyday Tips said...

We are a one-income family, and our costs are so much less than when I worked. Less eating out for lunch and dinner (which is also healthier). I do all the cleaning, cooking, and I have time to menu plan, clip coupons and combine my coupons with store sales. Not to mention the stress in the house is much less because I generally take care of all the errands and such.

Carol said...

Joe, I enjoy reading about managing small acreages in a manner that pays for itself. I had not achieved that level yet but was making progress. I raised poultry - peacocks, pheasants, chickens, and ducks. When I get back am looking forward to adding fruit producing crops.

Carol said...

Tips - can you estimate how much you were able to reduce your food bill? Do you still have two cars? Would be interesting to see a before and after budget.