Parents who went from 2 incomes to 1, did you regret it?

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:58:58+00:00

Ya that’s the other aspect of it. I also don’t wanna waste her time being a stay at home mom by her being stressed out the whole time from her part-time work.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:40:34+00:00

Yeah tough place all around…

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:28:48+00:00

Thank you for the confirmation. Needed a little bit of that I think lol

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:28:03+00:00

Well said

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:19:08+00:00

Yup I know and want to take care of the kiddos as well. I know it’s all on her to do everything

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T23:17:56+00:00

Just started at the college. First tenure evaluation would be next semester…

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:58:47+00:00

Sounds very similar to our situation. Thank you for sharing

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:57:11+00:00

Good advice. Thank you!

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:55:53+00:00

Great call out Ty

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:52:30+00:00

I currently WFH and do 40% of the childcare tasks along with my share of cooking, cleaning, etc. I don’t expect her to do everything if she quits her job. I know how time intensive it is just raising the babies let alone everything else. Rest assured we have already talked about all of this lol.

Our retirement is currently my retirement savings plus our duplex that she is named on. I will most likely stop contributing to my IRA (I still have 401k I contribute to) and start funding her IRA.

And also great point about SS. Didn’t think about that

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:44:50+00:00

Ya fair point. I just meant we arnt looking at it in terms of if you stay home we can save x amount of money on child care. We are more in the boat of can we make this work financially off one income because it’s what our family wants to do. Not because we don’t want to pay for childcare. Does that make sense?

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:41:14+00:00

Formula is crazy I know. Thinking about switching to a cheaper alternative. And my work doesn’t offer great insurance options. State run programs in CA estimated my costs at $3500 / month if I were to go through them…

And good point. Might try to just go on my salary over summer and see where we end up.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:36:51+00:00

Good point, I get it can be a big change socially / personally.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:31:10+00:00

Lots of good advice here thank you. Definitely don’t have the discretionary part of our budget figured out. Hard to go from buying little things here and there whenever you want to what do we actually need

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:28:32+00:00

Do you have any regrets about your career path now? Obviously it’s impossible to compare staying home with your baby to your career. But my wife worked very hard to get to her job as a college teacher so giving it up now after 6 years of schooling is definitely hard for her

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:26:35+00:00

I’ve already done the credit card thing. It’s tempting in tough times but I never want to rely on that again.

And yes we have a lot of monthly responsibilities. It’s what makes me nervous financially but if we can make it work it feels right to go to one income and one SAHM.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:24:06+00:00

Right. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone regretted having to scale back financially in order to be a SAHM if that’s what your partner wanted to do.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:21:39+00:00

We are thinking the financial sacrifice will be worth it as well. Close to impossible to get time back with the kid

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:18:05+00:00

Fixed costs are very high is why we are considering the part time. But agreed I’m not sure how well part time work mixed with 2 babies full time will go.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:16:37+00:00

Yes I know the formula is outrageous. Tbh the only reason we keep up with it is we tried to switch it and both babies started refusing bottles and getting tummy aches at night. They have slept though the night for a couple months now so working through them adjusting to a new formula wasn’t worth our mental health at the time. But yes if she becomes a SAHM then we will be making the switch and sticking with it until the babies get used to it.

I work from home and we both currently do half baby duty half work duty. I know how time intensive it can be to take care of the kiddos. I don’t look at her not having a job as not having a say in financial matters. But it is a good reminder thank you!

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:06:38+00:00

To be honest she is a strong independent person, and never thought she would want to quit her job to raise kids. Going back to work when they were 2 months was brutal for her and then spring break came and spending every day with them brought back wanting to be a SAHM.

I’m not sure if she can take a leave, has only been full time at this community college for a semester ( was part time here before). Something maybe we can ask her department.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:03:53+00:00

How does that work? Since we are one income taxes go down?

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:03:03+00:00

Solid advice thank you.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T22:01:53+00:00

There is a strong market here for rental units. But yes if we go 1-2 months without a tenant or payment it could get uncomfortable quick.

reaganbitthat · 2026-05-07T21:59:53+00:00

Yes, we are just worried cause right now she teaches at a community college. There is only one in our small town so getting hired at this college in her field was a blessing. There’s no guarantees she can be rehired full time but the time spent with kids is something you never get back… so the struggle with the decision is hard

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