Comments on: Wife = asset or liability?

By: Michele

Michele — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:37:58 +0000

Do you have any friends? Dateable I mean.

It can be done, but Americans have learned to become "fat" cats. If they really saw how people lived outside of this country. They don't need to get a bigger place just because you have a kid – stop buying cr@p for your kid. We moved here from another country, but I have lived here most of my life. We were a family of 7 living in a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house . I slept in my parents room for over a year until they could afford to make the kitchen two rooms and moved my brothers bunk bed in there.

As long as you and the potential Mrs. Ninja are on the same game plan of goals, it is DEFINITELY doable. You just have to decide to live differently than your friends…

A man with a financial plan – that's what I like to hear! Now if you just had an older friend…

By: livinglargevegas

livinglargevegas — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:40:44 +0000

my wife makes over 250K and I make about 100K. We basically save my income and live on hers.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:28:41 +0000

It really depends on how much money each of you makes. I have a master's degree, but could maybe clear $35,000 a year max because I work in social services. My husband has a high school diploma but makes about $60,000 a year because he works in IT. Two people who each earn less than $40,000 a year would probably have a hard time sustaining a one-income lifestyle with any comfort or flexibility, especially once children come along.

By: Investing Newbie

Investing Newbie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53:24 +0000

Oh that's great. If she's on board then I think this is a great plan. So I brought this idea (the operating on one income idea) up to the BF yesterday (in the car, you know, the perfect place to have PF discussions) and he thought it was a fantastic idea. I think you just changed our lives with this post!

By: @MoneyMatters

@MoneyMatters — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:43:20 +0000

At our house we have two incomes, and after we paid off debt a year or so ago it has been all gravy. Only debt we have is a manageable mortgage. Being a DINK is awesome!

At our house we live on a small portion of my income, and the rest of my and my wife's income goes to saving/investing/giving. We're nowhere near where we want to be – but even after having my wife go through a series of health issues and surgeries in the past two years (and 250k+ in medical bills – thank God for insurance), and a variety of other things, we're still in the black and racking up the cash.

So yes, it can be done, and it is awesome! We also want to have the option of my wife staying at home with any kids we might have. I don't think it's sexist to talk about that or even say that having that option would be great – I think being a stay at home mom is an honorable and laudable choice!

By: PunchDebt

PunchDebt — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:11:26 +0000

Girl Ninja is all about the stay at home mom deal. I wouldn't mind if she wanted to stay working. All I want to do is be able to afford the option for her to stay at home if she so chooses. I probably sound sexist, when I say things like the wife will stay at home, but I'm a little old school and so is Girl Ninja, so I think that is our plan at this point. Once we actually are engaged and start talking about marriage more, we will fine tune our ideals.

By: Investing Newbie

Investing Newbie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:57:11 +0000

I'm pretty stoked to hear that living off of one income will be possible. I've never considered it, but I may bring that up to the BF when we have the next in line in our series of "talks."

Interestingly only one commenter hinted at Girl Ninja's thoughts on this. It's not really the point of the article, but I notice these things. I'm assuming you've already talked to her about this and she is ok with staying at home. RIGHT? If she says no, the plus side is you'll still have the money coming in. And can you really say no to more money? But I understand the importance of having the option to stay home with the kids (which is ultimately the best for the family in the end)

By: MattyIce

MattyIce — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:17:25 +0000

I was taught this in High School and it makes total sense. You live off of one income just in case two things happen, one persons loses a Job or you pop out a kid. I read so many stories in Total Money Makeover about people making a combined $93K and still they were in debt because they lived off of every cent of that $93K. When you live off of $45K then you start to become Financial Stable. Get rid of Debt, and start saving for Retirement, House, or whatever your future goals are.

By: jessica

jessica — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:35:36 +0000

Yes, this can totally be done, provided you keep the baby ninjas out of the picture for a while. Those little tykes are money-sucking black holes let me tell ya. Good luck!

By: PunchDebt

PunchDebt — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:57:08 +0000

Ladies, I like your "assets" ya'll seem to be doing very well for your family! I'm stoked most people seem to say the Dink Formula works wonders, I was scared there would be a ton of horror stories.