Simple Little Moments

As maternity leave payments come to an end, it’s the beginnings of our life on one income. Ah!

It’s hard to believe that our baby boy is a year and a half now. He’s walking, saying words, and is a sponge to everything we say & do. Since I took an 18 month maternity leave, that means government assistance has officially ended. Although I gave my employer my resignation a long time ago, we still relied on money from the government for the first 18 months of my son’s life.

Since that’s over, we’ve made some changes to our life to simplify things and improve our financial situation.

I’d love to share those changes with you in case you’re also adjusting to life on one income and need a little inspiration!

Big Garden Plans

One area that we’re focusing our attentions on this year is our garden! I’ll be the first to admit that I find gardening really difficult; we’ve had many failed attempts over the years. However, that means we’ve also learned a lot over the years and thankfully have more time to dedicate to gardening this year since I’m not working. We’re excited to plant some veggies in our garden beds, and my husband even built a chicken coop so little chicks are on the way this spring.

Even if you don’t have a large yard, you can still garden in small spaces. You can even have a little garden on your balcony if you’re in an apartment. It’s a beautiful way to learn a new skill and save money on veggies or herbs!

Selling our Car

A huge decision we made recently was to sell our second vehicle. We found we were constantly having to fix it up, and since my husband and I would both be out driving, we were paying double the gas and double the insurance. It began to cause more anxiety for us than it was worth. Since we knew our one income lifestyle was approaching, we decided to sell it and adjust to life with one car! My husband takes the car to the city for work 5 days/week and we live outside of town. It’s been a big adjustment for us (mostly me!) but I’m focusing on looking at the bright side of life with one car:

• Saving money on gas, insurance, and by not going out for errands
• Looking forward to the weekends so we can go on family outings
• Build a routine at home and get creative with our time
• Going for lots of walks on the property and along our dirt road

Meal Planning & Budgeting

Meal planning and grocery budgeting is always something I wished I did, but was never previously in a position where I needed to do it. I seemed to get around just by going with the flow, and having the ease of frequent grocery trips meant I never really had to plan anything out..

Well, now that I’m a toddler-mom (and do all of the cooking for our family), it’s essential that I have a rough idea of meals we’re going to be eating in the run of the week. Since we’re on one income, it’s also important that we make all of our meals count, don’t waste food, and stick to the necessities. Here are some of the tips that work for my family:

• Create a list every time you go grocery shopping and stick to it: a list will help you to not make purchases on a whim or on things you don’t need
• Take advantage of meat sales and stock up when there are good deals: we always buy ground beef and chicken thighs since they go with many different meals. When either of those are on sale we buy a bunch and fill up our deep freeze!
• Shop in season for veggies/fruit: out of season fruit and veg can be so expensive. Save money in this area by purchasing in-season produce.
• Save your receipts: either literally save your receipts or simply write in your phone/planner how much money you spent on the grocery trip. We always go grocery shopping on Sunday mornings, so each Sunday I’ll write in my planner how much the trip was.

Changing our Mindsets on Living on One Income

I think a lot of the trouble with adjusting to living on one income and making the necessary changes for your lifestyle is in changing your mindset.

Before having a child, back when both myself and my husband were working, it was so easy to spend money freely! I loved going shopping, buying new clothes, and using my Amazon Prime subscription to it’s fullest. After having my son and transitioning to living on one income, the biggest thing we’ve had to do in our life is change our mindset.

We live in a society where we always “need more.” Because of this, it can be really difficult to look around your home and feel satisfied.

I’d encourage you first, above all else, to start looking at your life and belonging with gratitude and thankfulness. More than likely, you have enough! I’d like to finish off this post by sharing a few tips with you that have helped me to change my mindset and feel satisfaction in my life in this area:

• Stop comparing on social media: whether it’s Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube or Pinterest, social media in general is a major cause for comparison and making us feel like we need more of this, less of that, different this, new that. I love my mismatched home but then tend to feel really insecure when I see beautiful aesthetically perfect homes on social media. So… I don’t go on those social medias anymore!
• Focus on hobbies you enjoy: I feel like the best way to improve your mindset and happiness is to focus on what makes you feel good. When you are doing hobbies that make you feel fulfilled, I find that this trickles into other areas of your life. When I’m in seasons of reading, crocheting, and exercising, I tend to feel really happy overall.

I hope you found these tips helpful and that this post gave you some insight into how you can adjust to living on one income. Please leave a comment with anything you’d like to share!