Sign up for our free newsletter:

 2 of 4

• Tithe/charitable contributions (10 percent)
  
  
• Savings/investments (10 percent)
  
  
• Clothing/dry cleaning (5 percent)
  
  
• Education/miscellaneous (5 percent)
  
  
• Food (10 percent)
  
  
• Housing/utilities (30 percent)
  
  
• Insurance (5 percent)
  
  
• Medical/dental (4 percent)
  
  
• Recreation/vacation/gifts/Christmas (6 percent)
  
  
• Transportation/car loan/gas (10 percent)
  
  
• Debts (5 percent)
  
  

There are some variables that will automatically reduce your overall cost of living once you're on one income (such as childcare, a professional wardrobe, commuting expenses, meals eaten out). You'll factor those in later.

Determine your current assets
The next step determines current assets and establishes net worth. Once you have a clear idea of your assets, you'll also know what you might be able to liquidate in order to reach the goal of one-income living. In rare cases, couples find that they need to move to a less expensive home or sell a car to pay cash for an older vehicle. You'll need to conduct your "due diligence" with research to get an accurate number. For example, you may have more equity in your home than you thought. Call the mortgage company and see what numbers they have. Then go to a website such as zillow.com to get a rough idea of the fair market value of your home. Do the same for car loans (edmunds.com or kbb.com) to determine the "private party" value of your vehicles.

On a piece of paper, list each asset. Next to the asset: list the amount still owed (if applicable), the equity or acv (actual cash value), and whether or not you can sell or liquidate. The final part of this step will be a time of self-reflection. Are you willing to part with assets to meet the one-income goal? These are some items to consider:

Home • Other real estate • Savings • Checking • Mutual funds • Money market • Stocks/bonds • Retirement plan • Other funds • Cars • Furniture • Jewelry • Household goods • Boat/RV/luxury items • Antiques

Then list the totals for each.

List your current liabilities
This is the step where you may feel you're having the dream that you're walking down the street in your pajamas. This is where you find out how much debt you have. This step helps determine what needs to be paid down before living on one income. Next to each liability or loan, list three things: total balance due; minimum monthly payment; and months until it's paid off.

next page... |  2 of 4

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

RSS Feed   RSS Help