Can a young couple live on one income?

Some young'ns think a couple needs two incomes to survive these days. Not true. You just have to rein in the gottahaves to the essentials. In the old days of the 1970s, we didn't have cable contracts, phone contracts, eating out several times a week, computers to play with, 2 or 3 cars, homes where everything matched or it got replaced (we even got by with laminate counter tops), TV in every room, college debts, credit card debt, very few people I knew were paying support for another family in another house and few took vacations except the rich (a cottage at Lakeside was $45/week). We didn't have a paid vacation or paid health insurance. And at our house, no one smoked or drank alcohol, and that is a HUGE savings. Refigure your budget with a 1970 plan, and see if you really need to go to work, ladies.

That said, today so many things are cheaper. Computers, TV, microwaves, clothing, even food are a fraction of the cost of 40 years ago. And compared to the 80s, mortgage rates are laughable. A tithe is still 10% and that's the best budgeting tool.