Nowadays it is really tough to get by on one income, especially in this job market. While I do recommend living on at least two sources of income, that may not always be possible these days. If you are living on one income, you leave yourself vulnerable to losing that source of income at any given time. Even if your one income source is giving you a lot of money, and a steady income, there are some measures that you can take to ensure that you will have money, in case that source ever dries up temporarily.
Above all, make sure you have a savings account, and that you make a regular deposit into that savings account. If you ever lose your income source for any period of time, you will have to fall back onto something, and your savings will be what you fall back on. It doesn’t really matter how much you save, just as long as you save at a regular rate, so even if your not making a lot as it is, you will have a little something to make life easier if you ever lose your source of income.
If you have one source of income, make sure that you try and diversify that source of income somehow. Invest it into a Certificate of Deposit or a CD, and let your savings accrue a little bit of interest. It won’t be much, but it will provide you a little bit of extra income after a long enough period of time, and can come in handy if your bills go up due to higher interest rates, or ballooning payments. The interest I gained on a few of those helped me cover my bills for awhile.
If you only have one source of income, make sure that it is a steady source of income. Get a job that pays at least weekly, as you never know what can happen over the course of a month, or even a two week period. The bills have to be paid, and that requires money. If you only have one source of income, make sure that you have access to that money on a fairly regular basis so that you can get to it easier.
if your living on one income, make sure that you have a budget, and that you stick to it. If you go over your budget, and you live on a single income, or a fixed income, you can’t go over that and still live month to month. You will get into debt, and have problems making ends meet. Make sure that you have a plan for your cash and stick to it!
Living on a single income is tough, I should know I have been living on one income for far too long. It takes a lot of planning, and making sure that you don’t spend more than you make. If you can, get a second source of income just in case the worst happens, or at least make sure that you are saving in case you ever lose your income. If you can stick to a budget, and save regularly you should be OK, and be able to live on a single income.