Mar 14, 2025
Many married couples opt for dual-income lifestyles. Among married-couple families in 2023, both spouses were employed in 49.7% of them, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s up from 48.9% a year prior.
While the prospect of dual incomes may sound appealing, doing so really only makes sense if it doesn’t compromise the family budget, especially if there are kids in the mix.
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A report by Care.com put the average cost of infant daycare in 2024 at $343 per week. For a toddler, the weekly cost dropped to $315. If you're a married couple with multiple children in need of care, the cost of securing it could easily wipe out the paycheck of one spouse.
If you have three young children, for example, as a couple you may calculate it's best for one spouse to work while the other stays at home with the kids. But what if you’re in your early 30s working 70-hour weeks making $70,000 as the sole earner, and you’re not only exhausted, but stressed about money?
You may be tempted to ask your spouse to pick up some work, at least in some capacity. And there may be ways to do that while limiting child-care costs, such as if your spouse works at night once you get home from work.
But in that scenario, neither of you would ever get a break — nor would you get much time with each other. So, a better solution may be to try to find a way to make things work on a single income. Here are some strategies that can help.
Stick to a strict budget
If you want to survive on one income, it’s important to keep tabs on your spending and know where every single dollar you earn goes.
To that end, get into the habit of following a budget, and feel free to play around with different ways to maintain one. You can write up a budget on paper, create a spreadsheet to track expenses or even use the assistance of an app.
If you’re limited to one income, it’s important to put every dollar you have to good use and understand what it’s being spent on.
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Keep your housing costs down
In 2023, housing costs accounted for 32.9% of consumer expenditures, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it the largest expense category for Americans.
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If you’re trying to live on one income, aim to keep your housing costs as low as possible. That will serve the important purpose of freeing up more money for your remaining bills.
As a general rule, housing costs should be kept to 30% of your take-home pay or less. But the lower you can go, the more flexibility you’ll have with the rest of your budget.
Be mindful of non-essential spending
It's natural to want to spend some of your money on non-essential expenses — things like leisure and entertainment or purchases that bring you joy. A late 2023 survey from Empower found that 42% of Americans go shopping to treat themselves at least once a month, while 21% do so at least once a week.
But if you’re trying to get by on one income, you may need to be more mindful of your non-essential spending.
To that end, consider sitting down with your spouse and working together to identify your priorities. It’s OK to make room in your budget for indulgences, but make sure you’re choosing yours carefully if you don’t have a lot of money to go around. Be sure your non-essential spending isn't causing you to land in debt.
Correction, March 14, 2025: Care.com's average daycare cost figures were from 2024, not 2025.
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Maurie Backman has been writing professionally for well over a decade. Since becoming a full-time writer, she's produced thousands of articles on topics ranging from Social Security to investing to real estate.
