We are closing in on a major change at home, with DW leaning toward not returning to work and thus cutting our income in half. We are considering moving about an hour away where the housing prices are considerably less in order to ease the financial pressure. Did anyone out there have to face a similar scenario? How did it work out for you? We could possibly stay where we are, but I doubt that we could generate much of a savings account(retirement, college fund, leisure) and do things like vacations, etc. We have a 9 year old that will bear the brunt of the impact if we do move and we are worried about what all this change will do to her. The addition of the triplets and the toll of her loss of time with us is already evident. Any insight would be appreciated!

Ken
Husband to Ann
Dad to Sarah-12,
Joshua, Kyle and Jessica(07-07-
03)

My situation is a little different. Our income was cut shorter when I went to part time nights. Day care was going to cost us more than I was making in a week so I was able to arange to work at night (we do not have a night crew at my job) to keep some money coming in. We live in a very small house in the Chicago suburbs and I would love to move to a bigger place.
If it were not for my DW's job, which she started about a year ago and is doing so well at, I would consider leaving the area (her family lives in Saint Cloud MN area). I have been here for almost 30 yrs., there have been alot of changes since I came here, the traffic sucks, home prices suck, there are almost as many people in the burbs as there are in the city now.
We will need to soon discuss about a bigger home, can not see staying here for too many more yrs.
But the thing is, we will do what we have to do. It is not always what we want but is what we can or need to do.
That is what you need to decide. Good luck.

Steve
Dad of Meghan, Nichol & Christopher (5/8/99)

Steve
Dad of Meghan, Nichol & Christopher (5/8/99)

We were faced with DW leaving the workforce also. To help financially, we refinanced the home and took out enough to buy the minivan for the main family transport and cashed in all my 401k's to pay off all outstanding debt. Payroll deductions were changed to bring home more and get less back at the end of the year. I also traded my full-sized truck for a toyota 4x4 that just turned 221,000 miles. With the addition of the babies, we also saved a ton by just not going out as much. It was an eye-opener when we actually saw how much we spent on dinners out.

We had to move when the babies were 7 months old, due to lack of space in the house -- we couldn't set up the third crib. Luckily, I earned a promotion that offset the additional expense. We are currently looking at breaking off a building lot from our current property, building a new house for ourselves, then selling the current house and cut our mortgage in the process. It does work out.

Jonathan
Dad to Al 18), Dan(16)
and Aidan, Zachary, and Jillian (9-01)

Dads - Ask me about the new father's forum!

Jonathan
Dad to Ally(25), Dan(23),
and Aidan, Zachary, and Jillian (8)

We had just sold a house and moved to a house with a better lay out for our then just moving son. Less than a year later we find out (yikes!) we're having triplets and this house isn't set up for that! Same time, my wife's firm started to nose dive, and just this week she was "down sized" with no severance, etc., cutting our income in half as well. Plan had been for her to go on disability, short, then long term, and then quit when that was over giving us time to adjust to the loss of her income. As part of that plan, earlier this summer we decided to stay put and make this house work for awhile, refinanced, traded in two vehicles with payments for the dreaded minivan and one stretched out payment, and I'm driving my paid off, 8 year old, 113K mile pickup 70 miles RT to work. We're continuing to sort through the budget, knowing that we are all of a sudden going to do without a lot of extras and our saving for college may have to be put on hold for awhile (military academies are looking real good now!).

I also understand your concern about impact on your daughter. Our biggest concern by far has been how this is going to affect our son, the center of the universe for the past two years. We're working on that, but from reading your post, I'd minimize the impact on her if you can and stay put, get through the birth and first year and see where you are then. You didn't say how far along your wife is, but I can tell you from having moved 23 times over the course of 23 years (career military) moving is a pain in the butt and it's really a pain if you haven't done it much. It can be very stressful on everyone (although there are ways to mitigate that stress) and if your wife is very far along at all, she shouldn't be up and about packing, etc. But, you know your finances better than anyone here. Perhaps do a full blown household budget, list everything!! ATM's, insurance payments, coffee stops, everything in the check book, etc. and see where the money is going with an eye for where cuts can be made. You might be surprised.

Sorry for the long post, but your situation caught my attention when I read your post. If you want some insights into moving if that's what you decide or doing a real household budget, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Best of luck to you, your wife, your daughter and the upcoming miracles! Later!

Gary
DW - Jeanne
DS - Sean (8/7/01)
GBB (ODD 12/20/03) Maggie, Mo, & Curly

Gary
DW - Jeanne
DS - Sean (8/7/01)
BBG (ODD 12/20/03)