Whether going from a two-income household to a one-income household was your choice or not, like if someone will now stay home with kids or someone has recently become disabled, adjusting your finances and your lifestyle to this change can be quite the transition.

But if you’re determined and disciplined, you can find a way to support a family with just one income.

To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for transitioning your family from a two-income household to a one-income household.

Start Practicing Before You Lose That Income

For those who are planning to go down to a one-income household, it’s wise to start practicing this way of living before it becomes your reality.

To do this, you should try to live off of only the income that you’ll be keeping to see what changes or adjustments will have to be made in order to make just one income work. While you’re still getting that second income, you can simply save all that money against a time when you might need extra cash that won’t be available now that you just have one income.

Pay Down As Much Debt As You Can Beforehand

While paying off debt as quickly as you can is always a good financial idea, if you’re planning to have only one income to live off of soon, knocking off as much debt as possible before that happens will make budgeting so much easier for you.

When you have debt payments that you’re required to pay off and into each month, that money can take up part of your budget that you might want or need to be spending elsewhere. But when you’re able to pay this debt off, you’re opening up so much more money for yourself each month that you can use for other purposes. And when money’s going to start being tighter already, you’ll need as much wiggle-room as you can get.

Understand What Benefits You’ll Be Losing

If the second income that you were bringing in also supplied your family with benefits of some kind, you’ll want to consider how losing these benefits will affect your overall budget. In many cases, health insurance and other benefits that can come from a full-time job are subsidized by the employer.

So if you’re going to have to start paying for these things completely on your own, your out-of-pocket costs may be much higher than what you were paying before. But by knowing this beforehand, you can prepare for these costs and figure out how to get the benefits you’ll still be needing.

If your household is going to be losing one of your incomes in the near future, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you make this transition as smoothly as you can.

Shift Frequency © 2021 – Tips For Transitioning Your Family
From A Two-Income To One-Income Household