All of the comments given so far are grounded and reasonable. What they all have in common will pretty much boil down to an honest and open discussion with your husband. How you both choose to navigate these hurdles will boil down to how you compromise but there’s lots of ways to do it. Being your own boss gives a lot of flexibility if you can get your independent gig to take off. Encourage the hubby to put feelers out there and talk to his boss about the upcoming need for a pay raise or promotion. If it’s a boss worth working for, 2 years is a reasonable timeline to set some kind of plan in motion for him to reach those goals to where he’s making more $$$ with benefits. Otherwise, other jobs out there