In September 2006 our daughter Alice was born. The one thing my husband really wanted was for her to be christened in England, and to have a party for his family to introduce his new daughter. Since we had just done a huge move less than a year earlier (moving from the UK to the US), incurring a lot of legal bills and immigration bills, as well as having a new baby the money for a big trip was not there. In December 2006, exactly 12 weeks after I gave birth to Alice, I went back to work. By July 2006 we had saved over $12,000 and had paid cash for a first class trip to the UK, including the christening party for the baby. No expense was spared and we shopped til we dropped across England. We had a great time but the biggest lesson we learned was we could live off of ONE salary and use the second salary for things we liked, such as travel. In January 2008 my husband got a fantastic new job that paid more than what the two of us had been making together. We made the decision for me to stay home. During 2008 we bought a new house and moved to the area we wanted to live in- an area we were convinced we couldn't afford- and took another trip to England to see my husband's family and attend his best friends wedding. Life was good. We bought what we wanted, travelled when we wanted, and all on one salary. Though we weren't necessarily frugal (our food budget alone was close to $300 per week), we are both naturally quite frugal and we drive used cars and don't use credit cards. Then the bubble burst. In November 2008 my husband's company missed a pay day. He was paid 3 days later, but it was still worrying. There were several people Russ worked with who lived pay check to pay check who weren't able to buy FOOD for those 3 days. That scared me. While we weren't at that point, we definitely didn't have the suggested 6 months worth of savings in an emergency fund. We didn't have 3 months worth of savings. We started discussing me getting a job. We decided to pay off the small credit card balance we had and cut up the credit cards. In February 2009 my husband was sent home from work. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To this day my husband has not been paid for the last 40 hours shift that he worked. Because of forward thinking, our family did not fall apart. We have no debt other than our mortgage. At about the same time we refinanced our mortgage and shaved 1% point off of the balance of our mortgage, saving over $100 a month. Shortly after Christmas, with lots of rumors swirling around about the company, my husband contacted his old place of employment and negotiated a part time position. He worked full time at one job, and part time at another. The day after his job sent everyone home, he started full time at his old place of employment. Forward thinking saved us. However, my husband's salary has now been cut in half, with a much higher insurance premium. At this point I kept saying I should go back to work. Russ was pretty adament he wanted me to stay home to maintain consistency to our children and to provide as good of a homelife as we could. So my mission in life was to provide a happy, healthy home while trying to save as much money as possible. It doesn't seem like a hard ship, it feels natural. Currently we have no debt other than our mortgage (we have one credit card without a balance hidden in a drawer "just in case"). We pay cash for everything. I feel proud of my husband and myself for doing so well financially. Sometimes I almost feel like it's bragging but then I laugh. In this consumer society, don't most people brag about what they HAVE, not what they don't have?!
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