photo by hagwallOne of my great desires with this blog is to teach people skills that can help bring families financial freedom and help them reach their financial goals. I know that one goal many of you have is to be able to spend more time at home with your kids and less time working. Couponing and spending money intentionally is a great way to work toward staying home.
I am currently working on an upcoming series giving practical ways families can move towards living on one income and I need your help! If you consider yourself (or your spouse) to be a stay-at-home parent*, would you leave a comment with what your family’s monthly take-home pay is and how many people live in your home? Anonymous comments are okay on this one! This will help me put together the series in a way that is most practical and helpful. Thanks for your help!
Angela
*Some of you work very part-time, but really consider yourself to be a SAHM. Include your financial contribution in your calculation.
A quick note: I am not mandating what each family should do nor is my intention with this series to make anyone feel guilty for working outside the home. My desire is to give encouragement and strategies to those of you who desire to be at home more.
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Family of four in Portland.
Hub's annual gross – $48K
after healthcare, 401K, savings (us and kids), taxes
Take home is approx. $2K a month.
Mortgage is $1000 (w/o prop taxes & home insurance).
we do not have cable tv, credit card bills, or car payments and we are lucky that my hubs employer pays his cell phone w/ unlimted mins – so we pay $20 a month for two extra lines (mine and teenage son) on his plan.. otherwise we would not afford cell phones.
My son does have braces, which we are making payments at $150/month (dental insurance covered 50% thankfully!!)
We do have rental property, but income covers that mortgage, taxes, insurance plus a little left over for savings that used only for rental home repairs or if it goes unrented to cover mortgage. However, we do gain quite a bit on having the property in our tax refund.
My 6yo. daughter attends private school with tutition of $500 a month (10 months) however, I work 20 hours a week (1000 per year) unpaid at the school year round in exchange for 50% reduction..
we have no debt other than mortgage.
couponing has helped make it less "tight" for us each month.
Hubbie's take-home pay after taxes, 401k, health insurance = $5K.
Family of four.
I'm noticing that many people in this comment thread may be eligible for food stamps (maybe they just don't say they get them). There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of programs your taxes help pay for. That's why it's there!
Here's a link to the tool that DHS provides to estimate if people are eligible:
https://apps.state.or.us/fsestimate/
It's really helped our family, and every little bit helps!
I'm a SAHM (I do MK at home to help out, usually contributing about 500-1000 a month). My husband is a teacher and he brings home around 2100 a month. We are renting, at 800/mo. We are a family of four!
We are 3 adults (we care for my father in law) and 2 children. I am a SAHM however with the rising cost of medical insurance and some previous hospital bills, plus the use of credit cards and the resulting bill while I was in the hospital for 8 weeks has me looking for a part time job. Husband brings in 69k. We live on about $50/mo of groceries thanks to couponing. About every 3 months we do a meat party with a butcher friend of ours and for $50 we get enough beef and pork to fill our chest freezer.
Take home is 3,000. 10% given to charity, $800 put in savings each moonth. Family of 6.
Addition to post 1/28 at 7:40am.
I am a SAHM. Couponing is something I've always seen as part of my contribution to our family's finances.
Blessed to have $6600 take home per month for our family of 2 adults & 3 children.
SAHM- family of 4. Take home $2400 approx., with 10% to church Tithe, and $1500 a month in mortgage.
I have always been frugal which has allowed me to stay home with my 2 kids, this blog has not only helped me but countless other. I dontate so many things to local charities from all the free deals posted here. Even my 2 1/2 yr old helps me cut and organize coupons.
I am a sole parent to one 2 year old son. I work part time at 33,000$ a year. Couponing and frugal ways have given me the opportunity to work less and spend more time together.
We are a family of 4. 2 adults, 2 kids. I'm a SAHM. We take home about $3600/mo. with 10% of that going to our church tithe.
Family of 6 including my mother. Husband makes $2,400 a month after insurance and small 401k contribution. Add in my mother's social security and subtracting her meds and depends brings the total income for us to $2,700. Our mortgage including insurance and taxes is $1,200 a month. Own two used cars outright. I don't know how we make it most months…but by the grace of God! 🙂 I was kind of depressed reading how so many others make so much more than us…but I guess we should be proud we make it on what we do and that I'm able to stay home with our baby!
Forgot to say that I'm a SAHM (I'm the one with 5 kiddos)m Thanks again for all you do!
Our family of 7 lives on 2800-3400 a month with every extra penny going toward getting out of debt. Almost there! Your blog has really helped to stretch our budget.
I am a SAHM. We are a family of 5. I homeschool our 3 girls. Hubby brings home approx. $2800 (w/OT).
I'm unemployed (recent college grad) and partner is full time student. We're living on savings, but that's not going to last much longer. Financial aid take home (after tuition) is about 5000 for the term (Jan-March). We get 320 or so in food stamps, and that's our whole food budget (and usually have $ roll over to the next month). 2 adults, one preschooler.
Rent:750
Util: about 100/mo average
Health insurance: 735 (and we're looking for cheaper!)
Car: 30 in gas a month or so (we don't drive much)
We are a family of 6.Husband is full time employed and a student. I am a SAHM who occasionally makes a couple hundred contracting some work. We live with one car and have a small home with mortgage of $1100. No other debt. Live on 4K a month but have paid for all higher ed and vehicles in cash. Four kids under 11 and we feel like we have a great life!
I am a sahm. Our family of 6 lives on about $3200 take home. Plus we are making bigger payments on our home with a 15 year mtg.
Couponing is so helpful to make ends meet.
I am a SAHM. We are a family of 5. Yearly salary is 63,000 but take home per month is 4,555. We pay 10% to charity and a house payment of 1,575. We have a car payment of 351.
Good luck with all the info!
Oh, yes. Mortgage is only $665/mo. We donate 10-15% of take-home.
$4000 for two adults, one kid and one dog.
We are a family of 2 adult and 2 kids. Our monthly take-home is about $4000. Hubby works and I stay home. We also have no debt other than our home. Saved up so I could stay home once we had kids. We were married 6 years before our first came along and hubby now makes 1/2 what I made when I was working. That savings pile paid for the minivan, down-payment, big car repairs, sudden health expenses, travel, etc.
We are a family of 4, 2 adults, 1 teenager and 1 preschooler. My husband take home about $3000 a month. But we have average about $500 a month in medical that is not covered by our insurance. We have no debt and live on cash for everything. WE live in portland area.
We are a family of 7. I am a SAHM and we home school. My husband brings home right around $5000 a month. We have no debt other than our house.
about $3500/mo take home pay. I work, hubby stays home.
2 adults
2 kids
2 adults
2 kids
TTC
$4100/month – husband
I'm unemployed
$2500/month – mortgage (can we say ouch!)
Currently making bankruptcy payments.
SAHM of family of 7 (mom passed away and brother lives with us) and we live in Seattle!
w-4 said 50k
i have been blessed that we are able to allow me to be home with the kids. we live super tight, but still have a lot of fun. coupon started for me in April of 09. i needed to get a job this has allowed me not to do that.
Take home pay about $2600/month after insurance, 401K, etc. (my husband gets paid monthly); 7 people (2 adults, 5 children ages 1-11). We do have food stamps and WIC. We pay a 10% tithe, $1300 mortgage, $198 car payment. Couponing has really stretched our budget! And helped me have a 'storage' of items like I've never been able to do before.
we are a family of 2 adults 7 children I am a SAHM. Hubby brings home 3,200/month. I hardly coupon at all just know my prices and bulk cook whenever I can.
We are a family of 5, and I am blessed to be a SAHM. We have a monthly take-home of $4400/mo, of which over half goes to the house payment. We bit off a bit more than we can chew w/ the house, but luckily we are quite frugal in other places. We currently only have a car pmt. and the mortgage. NO CREDIT CARD DEBT! Woo hoo!!!! I am only into my second full month of couponing, and I can see a big difference already. Thanks for all your help!
Stay-at-home mom of 14-1/2 years, my husbands monthly income (averages) $2800 after taxes, insurance, 401K.
Family of 5 – 2 adults, 2 teen boys, 1 5-yr old girl. We have a $1200 credit card balance we will pay off by June – then our only debt will be our mortgage – $87,000! Couponing since last August has cut my grocery bill from 750/month to 450/month – yeah!
oh, 2 adults, 1 toddler (3) and 1 baby (6 mo)
I'm a SAHM and my hubby brings home about $2200 a mo. I'm a photographer but my income isn't steady so I don't "depend" on it!
$4000, 2 adults, 2 boys under 3
We are a family of 5, and I am a SAHM. We live on an income of $3600/mo.
Thats for a year! Sorry…wasn't thinking monthy!
2 adults 4 kids
48,000 before taxes and all that fun stuff
2 Adults
3 Teenagers
DH brings home $3700 per month
I work part-time and bring home around $300-$400 every two weeks.
3 people (one of which is a baby) on $1800 a month.
I am a stay at home mom. We are a family of three and my partner brings home about $1700 a month, including tips. Our rent in Portland is $1100 and we are actually getting about $210 in food stamps, which is all we have to pay for food.
We are a family of 4 and I am a home-schooling SAHM. We live off of my husband's $2,900 monthly take home base pay. He earns commission on top of it but we can't count on it to be there every month.
I`m a SAHM. My husband is a truck driver so it varies on what he brings home but on average it is between $4,000 and $6,000/mo. Last year he made $64,000. We pay $1,000 for mortgage, $350/mo van payment, which I am excited to say will be paid off next month!! YEAH!! Other than that we have our visa, $350/mo. We only have 1 visa, we dont have boats or RV`s. Like an above post said we dont live in luxury but we make ends meet and most of the time have the money for what we want. Coupons have helped tremendously. I have been using them for the last year and have been able to stock up on items and cut our grocery bill in 1/2. My husband is always amazed when I leave a store and call him and tell him how much I saved vs how much I paid.
Monthly take home pay is $6300. I am a WAHM. My contribution is $1700. Family of 5: 2 adults, 6yr old, 4 yr old, and 15 month old.
Family of 5. I'm a SAHM. Husband brings home just over $3,000 a month with bonus it ends up being $4,000 a month. Our Mortgage is $1500.
Ok so currently my husband's yearly income is 66,000 but he puts 10% post tax into his Roth & with other (medical, taxes, stock plans ect) his take home pay is 3k a month. It is currently just us two and I am working but we will be having our first baby in 7 weeks and I will become a SAHM. (yay!) All of my income is going towards paying off my debt and none towards "our" monthly bills. I coupon, but am still getting better at it. (Also 10% gross income is donated to church) Hope that helps a little!