In this world that demands a lot, money-wise, it is hard to live well on one income. In fact, many financial experts advise against it.
You must have read or heard someone say that depending on one stream of income would make living very tough. Most people say also that having multiple streams of income is the best.
Now, all these are true. It is actually hard to survive in this world with one stream of income. But sometimes, life happens, and that is just what you have-a stream of income.
What do you do at that point? What if you are yet to set up a system that brings in other income streams? Would you still not live? In those hard times, it is imperative that you learn how to live well on one income and that is why I wrote this article, 10 Proven tips to live well on one income.
Is It Possible To Live Off One Income?
Before I dish out the 10 proven tips to live well on one income, let us find out if it is actually possible to live off one income. Here is the thing,
In general, it is possible to live off one income. This might be hard, but it is possible. You can make most of that one income and live well, without starving yourself off any of life’s necessities.
How Do You Live On One Income And Never Be Poor?
Now that we are certain that we can live on one income and never be poor, the next question should be how? What are the things you need to do, or not do, for you to survive with just one income?
The very first thing you need to do is decide to lead a frugal lifestyle. For someone who has to live on one income, there are some things you should not do and that is wasting money on frivolities. Eschew the extravagant lifestyle to survive.
How Can I Live With Very Little Money?
You can live with very little money by first planning your spending. You know the amount of money you rake in each month. Plan with it for the next month.
Make sure you cater to all the necessities of life first. After you have done that, set small cash aside in your savings account. This money can serve as your emergency fund later when a challenge comes, or you can use it for investments that would yield more money for you.
10 Proven Tips To Live Well On One Income
There are many reasons one might choose to live on one income. You may not have the option of getting another means of income or you want to practice the frugal lifestyle. Whichever one it is, in this article you will find 10 proven tips to live well on one income.
1. Live On A Budget
Budgeting is the lingua franca of anyone who wants to be frugal or wants to live on one income. Draw a budget that can help you track your expenses. It will also help you put your spending in check. You can ignore every other point in this post but do not ignore this.Budgeting will help you not to spend on a whim. It will help you allocate money to important stuff first. This will leave little or no room for you to do reckless spending.
Here in lies the truth, if you cannot budget properly and then stick to it, you will find it extremely hard to live on one income.So, pick up a pen and paper if you are old school or your spreadsheet and draw up a budget on how to spend money. At the end of the month, do a self-evaluation. This is to help you see where you had lapses and subsequently improve on them.
2. Create A Scale Of Preference 0f Needs
As someone who is looking to survive on one income, you should not really buy anything and everything you see. Your spending cash should rest on a scale of preference.
What is the most important thing you need to spend on? Have you settled your rent? Do you have clothes? Do you have food? These are the three most basic needs of man.
What about utility bills? Light, water, gas, data? Are these settled? Bus ticket and school fees? When you have settled these, keep some money asides for savings. The rest you can do what you will with it.
Always draw a scale of preference whenever you get income. Don’t buy stuff because your neighbor or friend did. Your realities are different. Get your priorities right.
3. Learn Contentment
Contentment is a great virtue to have. It keeps you grounded and makes sure you are satisfied with what you have. When you are content, you are not worried about material possessions others have; you are not envious of others.There are so many things one can cut out of life and still live a fulfilling life, but the dazzle we see in the media and around us sometimes blinded us.
If you intend to run on one income, learn contentment. Be happy and satisfied with what you have now.
4. Make Your Meals
The next tip on 10 proven tips to live well on one income is making your own meal. If you are to survive on just one stream of income, you must cut down on how much you eat out.
You may not have noticed but feeding actually consumes an enormous chunk of your money. Sometimes even more than your rent.But you can cut the expenses on food if you make your meals at home instead of eating out steadily. You get more value when you do so, as you can take more than one serving of the food you make.
Limit eating out only on special occasions. If it becomes a habit, then it will be quite difficult for you to live well on one income.
5. Recycle And Re-Use
Apart from saving the planet and going green, recycling and reuse is such a good thing to incorporate in the family. I could still remember that while growing, many of my textbooks were hand-me-downs from my cousin.
My parents did not have to buy some school texts afresh because I had someone who had already used those books. I simply picked them up and used them.
In the same vein, I had some textbooks I also gave my brother, who was three years younger than I was. I also handed down shoes, trousers, jackets, suits, and even school notes and school bags.This helped to save some money for my parents which was channeled into some other important things.
6. Home-School Your Kids
Homeschooling is a lifestyle that you can adopt if you are a one-income earner. It is one of the 10 proven tips to live well on one income. You do not need to pay school fees for your child.
You can just be their tutor at home. Sometimes, some people pay a private tutor to handle their kids at home. The salary of the tutor is way less than what the parents would have paid if they sent their kids to school.
Education is vital and education is quite expensive and asides from the school fees there are so many other things that can cause few dollars to slip out of your pocket.
You don’t need to worry about someone kicking your kid in the eye and warranting him to need treatment which you’d have to pay for. Get the curriculum operational in your area and teach your kids at home. You can put the money for school fees elsewhere.
7. Fix Stuff At Home By Yourself
One thing is sure, things are going to need fixing at home. The sink will clog up, the bulbs will shatter, the fan will go stiff or will not rotate as fast as before, the kids will spoil the door hinges, the grass on the lawn will overgrow and will need mowing.
The roof may also leak, and you would need to fix it. This is another opportunity to save repair costs.
Available online are a lot of do-it-yourself resources that you can learn and practice. YouTube has a vast database of content that you can use to learn.
When any breakdown happens, you can quickly put your skills to work and come to the family’s rescue instead of calling someone who would charge for it.
You can as well involve your kids in the repair process. When they watch, they learn, and before you know it; they become fixers themselves. This is not just a good means of saving money; it is also a good way to develop the problem-solving capacity of your children.
8. Trim Your Lifestyle
Since you have decided to live well on one income, the next thing you need to do is cut your coat according to your cloth.
Scale down your lifestyle to suit your budget. If you are a fan of basketball or football, instead of buying game tickets for your family, you can opt to watch the game from home.
If you use a laundryman before, stop and do laundry by yourself. Reduce the number of times you go shopping for a change of clothes.
If you take vacations outside the country twice a year, go just once and then spend the other time at other cheaper options at home. Basically, spend less on everything you once spent on before.
9. Haggle And Use Promo Codes
Even though the goal is to spend less, know that you cannot totally avoid spending. So, besides cutting the cost of living, add the skill of spending money wisely.
If you want to survive on one income, ensure that you get the best price and bargain for everything. Take advantage of promo codes, coupons, price slash, and discounts. Do not just dish out money at the first instance, haggle.
Find alternative options e-commerce sites sometimes have different prices on the same products. Scour the web and purchase from cheaper stores. Or maybe do delivery for free.
This way, you spent, but you got value for your purchase. Again, go for quality and not for brand names. Sometimes the only thing brand name does is to increase the price of the purchase and not necessarily the quality. Don’t do brand buying.
10. Sell Off Things You No Longer Need
If you are going to live well on one income, get rid of stuff you no longer use or need. Most of our homes have lots of things we don’t need.
Items that have stayed in the store or garage for years that no one even remembers. Why not sell them off? You could place a listing and sell them.
Some engineering companies might be interested in the metal wastes in your house-the irreparable TV, engine from grandfather’s car, tins that housed canned foods. You can sell these off and make some money.
What about clothes you no longer need? You can sell them to a thrift shop or place them on sale at Facebook Marketplace. Last, would it really make sense to fuel and maintain more than one car if you are interested in living well on one income? Would it not be less burdensome on your income to have only a car and sell the rest?
Conclusion
In this article, tips to live well on one income, I have outlined some things you need to do for you to live well and not struggle if you are depending on one stream of income.
Time and space will fail me if I were to put down all the things you can do to make the journey smoother.
The summary of the whole undertaking is this: if you want to live well on one income, think of ways to either not spend at all or spend less and yet live a life of value.
If you have any other ideas on how to live well on a single income, feel free to use the comment section. I look forward to hearing from you.
