Live off 1 income - become a millionaire

[moneyclass]

So I read alot of money articles. And just actually finished one and want to get others opinion.

It says to become a millionaire (one way) is to live off 1 income if there is a husband n wife. Can people still do that with this economy n gas so high?

[mom-from-missouri]

yep. live off of one, and invest the others pay.

[disneysteve]

Can people still do that with this economy n gas so high?

Absolutely. People make all kinds of excuses about why they can't accomplish this but the main reason is that they choose to live a lifestyle that requires both salaries to support.

Of course, the primary income needs to be sufficient to support a reasonable lifestyle but if you always want more, a bigger house, a newer car, a more exotic vacation then you will always find a way to spend the additional income from the other spouse.

We have never lived on 2 incomes. That made it simple for my wife to become a SAHM when she got pregnant. She remained a SAHM for 10 years before returning to the work force. She now works 3 days/week and puts 50% of her income into her 401k. We actually wanted to put 100% in but 50% was the contribution limit.

If you commit to living below your means and build your lifestyle around the one income then you can bank the 2nd income and watch your savings grow.

[TheMom]

Well, we only have 1 income and are doing fine. When I was working, we lived off only 1 income and paid off our house with the other income. We looked at it as short-term savings as we knew we'd move once we had kids. It worked out well for us. Now, we have kids, have moved, and live on DH's income alone. It's fine and while it would be nice to have more discrenary money, we are doing fine this way.

[moneyclass]

well heres my situation i dont have a wife yet. i have a house so there is only 1 income in my household. i live off like three qaurters of my pay and invest the rest for my retirement. times get tough but i stick it out.

i know one thing i do alot is keep revisiting my monthly budget to see where i can cut back at to save even more money.

[disneysteve]

well heres my situation i dont have a wife yet. i have a house so there is only 1 income in my household. i live off like three qaurters of my pay and invest the rest for my retirement.

Perfect illustration. So if you ran off next week and got married to a woman who has a steady income, that money wouldn't be needed at all to run the household. It could all go to savings if the two of you chose to do so.

[maat55]

So I read alot of money articles. And just actually finished one and want to get others opinion.

It says to become a millionaire (one way) is to live off 1 income if there is a husband n wife. Can people still do that with this economy n gas so high?

We live off my income and save all of DW's. We could save part of mine if DW was fully on board.

[Andrew Jackson]

Perfect illustration. So if you ran off next week and got married to a woman who has a steady income, that money wouldn't be needed at all to run the household. It could all go to savings if the two of you chose to do so.

Although we are only renters at the moment I feel like my fiance and I could be in a similar situation if we so desired. Currently she is finishing up her masters degree in Biology this spring. She works as a TA and nets about 1,000 a month. I manage a pizza shop and net about 3,000 a month. I am able to save half my income (need to save up for that house down payment) and we get by paying the bills just fine. Assuming my fiance is able to find a nice job paying at least equal to what I am making (hopefully more with her masters) that would leave us with a lot of "extra cash." The key I think would be to not get in over our head with a mortgage payment. I would like to put down at least 20% and just by something modest.

[disneysteve]

The key I think would be to not get in over our head with a mortgage payment. I would like to put down at least 20% and just by something modest.

The two biggest mistakes people make is buying too much house and too much car. They lock themselves into huge payments that suck up way too much of their income for up to 30 years and that ties their hands as far as cutting back, living on one income, having a stay at home spouse once a child comes along, etc. We bought a modest home that was well below the 28% rule and that largely enabled us to live on one income while still saving significantly.

[moneyclass]

Perfect illustration. So if you ran off next week and got married to a woman who has a steady income, that money wouldn't be needed at all to run the household. It could all go to savings if the two of you chose to do so.

Yep thats what I would like. Still trying to find that girl that has the same financial goals as me. There tough to come by. These girls like to spend money now a days.

[krantcents]

We too live off my income and invest my wife's income through 403B, IRA and Roth IRA. We have been doing it for ten years. Our children are grown and we downsized so it is relatively easy.

[LoriMcDevitt]

Great Idea!!

We too live off my income and invest my wife's income through 403B, IRA and Roth IRA. We have been doing it for ten years. Our children are grown and we downsized so it is relatively easy.

My husband and I have decided to do this as well. We will live off his salary and sock away mine.

Lori

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Same here, SAHM. When we both worked my income was enough to pay taxes.

[snshijuptr]

We sock away more than my income every month. When I graduate and get a real job, I'm excited to double our savings. One big trick is to avoid lifestyle inflation after marriage and kids. It really is easy after the wedding to think that "growing up" means you need expensive, "nice" things. Just because your married does not mean you need silver flatware, fine china, and expensive furniture. Same goes for babies and all the stuff the industry tries to tell you is necessary. Budgets should inflate based on the CPI, not lifestyle.

[disneysteve]

Budgets should inflate based on the CPI, not lifestyle.

I think it is okay to gradually improve your standard of living as your means allow. Just don't go to extremes. If you go from taking home 30K to taking home 40K, don't increase spending by 10K. Perhaps you could increase spending by 3K, which would be a 10% jump in spending while simultaneously increasing savings by 7K. You need to enjoy life and you need to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I could still be living like a poor college student and socking away 100K/year but I wouldn't want to be doing that (and I'm sure my wife wouldn't go for it either).

The same goes for debt repayment. Each time we've paid off a debt, we've put most of the payment amount into savings but added some of it to general spending. So if a loan had a $200/month payment, we upped our savings by $175/month and added $25/month to our spending budget. That way we gradually got a nicer lifestyle while also increasing what was being saved.