Everyone knows that prices are high—especially where gasoline is concerned. And high gas prices affect prices on other goods and services too. So it is extremely tough for a young couple with small children just starting out. And this is the reason why both the husband and wife work outside of the home. They both need to work so that enough disposable income will come into the household to pay the expenses plus buy things for a better quality of life. But many young mothers want to stay at home with their young children during their formative years and are torn between having a career and being a mom.

If they have a career, they will help their family with living expenses at the expense of time with their children. If they are a mom and do not have a career, income will be low and they will have to struggle as a family. It is probably safe to say that your family needs multiple sources of income and expense management in order to be able to pay for everything. But those multiple sources of income should not be from both parents working outside of the home.

Let’s start with expense management or budgeting. Let’s start with the single most expensive money pit we have in our homes: the second car. Seriously consider getting rid of it or at least not driving it every day to work. Use public transportation. You are young—ride a bike. Look at how to cut your vehicle expenses by cutting your vehicles.

Generating any kind of significant income from home is difficult. Don’t believe those claims many make that you can earn thousands of dollars in a short time and do very little work. It will not happen. Honest home jobs usually are found in careers of writing, web design, language translation, and computer programming. And even if you have skills in these fields, you will find that trying to make any kind of significant income from home with them can consume many hours which will rob you from time you’re your children too.

The best is to find your niche and market your own product for selling outside of your home. That takes time too but you can set your own hours as you try to build product recognition and sell it. People working from home have been known to design creations in apparel and jewelry that they can sell from a website or catalog.

So your best bet in shaking off dependence on two incomes is to closely look at and cut nonessential household expenses and then look at ways to generate income from your home in such a way as to not consume too much of your time away from your small children.

Remember that the first years of your child are the formative years. This is a time when you will be able to form a special bond with your child and keep in mind that you will never get another chance to do it again. This is when you as a Christian parent will have the time you need to teach your child about God and be able to do it every day. Keep this Bible passage from Deuteronomy in mind:

Deuteronomy 6:7 (KJV) – And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

The verse tells us to teach the ways of the Lord to our children. When? You teach them when you sit in your house (at the dinner table), when you walk to and fro, when you lie down to rest, and when you get up in the morning (and feed your children breakfast). When both parents work outside of the home, they don’t have time to this. Remember, you do not get a chance to do it over with your kids.

Suggested Reading:

The Working Parents Handbook

Ellen Melinkoff (Contributor). Fireside 1996, Paperback, 320 pages, $2.94

Working Mom’s 411

Michelle LaRowe. Regal 2009, Paperback, 224 pages, $4.49

• BREATHE. Rest assured that you can beat your budget! So many people let their money woes get the best of them, and it negatively affects their decision making. Yet, there are people who remain optimistic (and realistic) and stick to their goals of paying off debt/cutting expenses/increasing income and succeed! You can be that person, too. Just be very clear about what your goals are, remind yourself of these goals every single day, and work towards achieving those goals every single day. It’s no walk in the park, but we have to do something differently to get something differently, and if you’re committed to improving your financial situation, then you will make the difficult decisions necessary to achieving such.

What are your main money concerns?

1. Is it debt?

i. Who do you owe and how much to each?
ii. What types of debts do you have? (Ex. installment, revolving, medical, utility, other)?
iii. Which debts are most important (ex: most expensive/highest finance charges, closest to your limit (if a revolving debt), due date)
iv. What are the minimum payments for each debt?

1. Is it unexpected expenses?

i. What types of expenses are these? (ex: car repairs, medical, job related)
ii. How often have these “unexpected” expenses occurred in the past three, six, and nine months? Perhaps it’s time to look at factoring this expense into your budget or making an investment to eliminate maintenance costs (ex: newer car, surgery to keep away from patchwork fixes, etc.)

• Two ways to “find” this additional money is to increase your income (ex: overtime, part-time job, bartering, yard sale/consignment shop etc.) and cutting back on your expenses (ex: eliminate cable or cut back to basic, don’t pay for what you don’t use, use coupons, shop on sale only, etc.)

• Track your expenses for at least a month (i.e. write down where every single penny goes). This will give you a bird’s eye view of where your money is going and you’ll be better equipped to make decisions on cutting expenses. For example, if you notice you spend $400 a month on eating out & groceries, you can make decisions to cut back by shopping at food closets, Farmer’s Market, coupons, sale only items, etc. The savings that you reap should go towards your financial goals. Categorizing your expenses is also very helpful (ex: transportation = gas, oil changes, auto insurance, car washes; food= groceries, eating out; bills= rent/mortgage, utilities, phone, cable/Internet; savings= emergency fund, vacation money; etc.)

• SAVE. SAVE. SAVE. Your money is cheaper than anyone else’s. In case of emergency, or you spot something that you want but isn’t accounted for in your monthly budget, having a little money on the side will allow you to weather the unexpected and/or purchase what you want. Financial planners recommend that we have at least three to six months of our living expenses set aside. A more realistic and immediate goal, however, may be several hundred dollars. To ensure your success with saving, automate it (payroll deposit or automatic transfers after you get paid; you can’t spend what you don’t see).

• If you consider increasing your income, think about the additional costs of doing so. For example, if you work overtime or get a part-time job, and it requires you to drive a lot (gas/tolls) or increase your child care expenses, would the income you generate exceed the expenses of earning that income? If not, think about other alternatives; if so, go get that money!

• Stop using credit. If that means cutting up or placing your credit cards in the freezer, do it. The progress you would make paying down your debt would be defeated by the additional purchases you make. So please, stop using credit.
• Start today: procrastination is a dream killer. Even if you start saving five bucks a week, it’s something! 1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV) says on the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

A little something extra…

I absolutely LOVE www.bankrate.com. They offer great insight on debt management, budgeting, saving, and so on. Check it out!

You might also want to pull your credit report and see if all of the information being reported about you is accurate. Misinformation on reports affects tons of people’s ability to get credit and maintain good credit scores. Visit www.annualcreditreport.com to get a free copy from all three of the credit reporting bureaus.

Lastly, Proverbs 27:12 (NIV) The prudent see dangers and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. Simply stating that those who are committed to a budget refusing to take on unnecessary debt are wise, but those who go out and buy, buy, buy knowing that can’t afford are setting themselves up for major financial and emotional suffering.