How to Live Off One Income: 15 Tips You Need to Know - Wealthy N Wise Woman (2024)

Living off of one income isn't easy. In fact, most people believe it isn't possible. But like anything else in life, choosing to be a one income family is about living the life we've chosen for ourselves rather than trying to live up to someone else's standard.

It's common to think that living on one income is only viable if the income is over a specific amount. But before I started this blog, our family lived on one very low income. As in, at times we were below the poverty line, depending on how many overtime shifts my husband was able to work in a given week.

It was definitely a learning process for us but lucky for you, I'm going to give you the nitty gritty! If you are already living on one income and barely making ends meet, feel free to check out the table of contents below so that you can skip ahead to the parts that will be helpful to you!

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If you're planning to live on one income, you'll need to sit down with your budget and start making adjustments. Start by writing down everything thats a necessity and the average amount your spending on it each month. If you aren't the organized type, you may need to go back through you bank account and search for each of the transactions.

When we began creating our budget, we sifted through all of the transactions in our bank account and wrote down all of our debts, utilities, subscriptions, food and necessities, and extras. Then we figured out what we could cut out to get our budget within my husband's regular income.

Wherever possible, you should start looking for ways to cut your budget. That could be as simple as getting rid of cable or possibly something more elaborate, like moving into a smaller home. Keep in mind that smaller doesn't have to mean less bedrooms or even less square footage! If the home your living in has large open spaces and high ceilings, it can cost quite a bit more on your utility bills! Also, contrary to popular belief, having a small home may actually make your housekeeping duties easier!

It may seem a bit counter intuitive to move into a smaller home, or you might even feel like it's admitting defeat. But living within your budget will feel more enjoyable and give you the ability to do more, have more and go more. So don't dismiss this idea too quickly. If downsizing is an option at all - it's seriously worth considering!

Now that you have one income freed up, use it to start paying off debts, especially ones with large monthly payments. Always be practical though and shoot for ones you can actually pay off before you quit. For example, you may have several small credit cards that add up to $100 a month worth of bills. If you can use your current income to get rid of that bill, you are automatically adding wiggle room to your new budget!

If you are able to pay off an even larger debt, like a car payment, that could make your one income budget quite a bit roomier. Some people may even consider getting a temporary part-time job to pay off a large debt! Those months of working two jobs are hard, but its all about prespective, being able to to quit your job to stay at home with your kids or pursue a dream is well worth a few months of double shifts!

I know what your thinking. But I promise you that this is possible. If you are reading this right after getting paid, you may agree with me. But if payday is still a few days away and there's a shut-off notice hanging on the fridge, you're probably rolling your eyes right now.

Think of it this way: If your monthly bring home pay suddenly went down by $50, you'd adapt. You wouldn't have a choice. You wouldn't like it but you would adapt. In the same way, if you start putting $25 per paycheck directly into a savings account, you'll find that this will actually help balance your check book in the long run.

And this is why: No matter how many budgets we make, unforseen expenses crop up. If we don't have any other place to pull them from, something will most likely go unpaid. Next month, that bill will be doubled plus a late fee and possibly added interest. It's a downward spiral. If you can get on top of that spiral by putting money into a saving account. You'll be off of the defensive line and can start making forward progress!

Walmart's online grocery shopping feature makes sticking to a food budget so easy! At checkout You can easily exchange items from your cart without embarassment when you realize you've gone over budget. Plus, if your not hurrying around a store with kids screaming in your ears, it's a lot easier to focus on making good choices, both financially and health-wise! As a bonus, the app keeps track of your orders to make it exceptionally easy to reorder it again and again, which means you can set up a meal plan once, and literally have your grocery shopping on autopilot! I like to keep this little grocery notepad on the fridge. Once every other week I sit down with my "list" and simply drop them into my walmart cart. (If you can't tell... I am absolutely in LOVE with this service!)

PS: You can get ten dollars off your

order with this LINK.

Bulk stores like, BJ's, Cost-Co, and Sam's Club have been offering bulk discounts for decades. But in my opinion, the Subscribe and Save feature from Amazon blows them all out of the water. Not only does Amazon offer bulk discounts but you will set them up to be automatically sent out in regular intervals. I like to set mine up on a six month cycle so I have different bulk items coming each month.

This way I don't have large amounts of money going out on any one month. I can budget a specific amount for items like papertowels, toilet paper, shampoo and condition. Plus, it helps to cut down on stress, knowing that I'll always have these things in stock!

Instead of using a coupons try using a rebate app like eBates. I installed the browser extension and now it pops-up to alert me whenever there's cash back on something I'm buying anyway! Umm- yes please!
(You can sign up for eBates HERE and don't forget to get the browser extension!)

The one downfall with eBates is that you can't use it in store. Simply fix: I keep the iBotta App on my phone for in store purchases. AFTER shopping, you simply scan your receipt and the app automatically gives you discounts for any items that qalify! You can sign up for iBotta Here.

When living off one income, it's often possible to have payments deferred on multiple types of loans. For your car payment, many companies will allow you to defer one payment per year as long as your regular payments are on time.

For student loans, you can apply for an income based payment plan, a forebearance, or a deferment. Keep in mind that deferring payments will add to the overall total because the interest on that amount will continue to build.