Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 2, 2008 - 7:36pm.
My wife and I live on a percentage of what we earn. Some goes to retirement (10%) and taxes eat up the rest of the percentage. We take home about 80-85% on average. We then take a percentage as an "allowance" for private spending money that the other has no say in. Finally, the rest is spent on the family - period. This leaves us comfortably living at/below our means and we budget for what we want (e.g. our toys) from our pocket money. Granted, the "staycation" and "brown bag lunch" was what we were doing before it was popular and we do not have much (I'm a teacher, she's a secretary) but we have what we need. Because "fun stuf" isn't daily, it becomes more fun when we actually do it (e.g. eating out once/twice a month; movies every 2-3 months; etc.). We have a 2-yr old and I take "my time/wife time" after his bedtime, his time is during weekends, and family time is all the time. I feel that one's level of what is correct/right is based on one's comfort level. I too want "more" but I see that money doesn't solve everything or get one what one wants all the time. In other words, I try to balance life/career/responsibilities/fun/money to simply live and be realistic. I'm comfortable and happy, want more, but don't want to give up my family time and fatherhood time for my job/career. Good luck with the journey.
Re: The Economics of Fatherhood
My wife and I live on a percentage of what we earn. Some goes to retirement (10%) and taxes eat up the rest of the percentage. We take home about 80-85% on average. We then take a percentage as an "allowance" for private spending money that the other has no say in. Finally, the rest is spent on the family - period. This leaves us comfortably living at/below our means and we budget for what we want (e.g. our toys) from our pocket money. Granted, the "staycation" and "brown bag lunch" was what we were doing before it was popular and we do not have much (I'm a teacher, she's a secretary) but we have what we need. Because "fun stuf" isn't daily, it becomes more fun when we actually do it (e.g. eating out once/twice a month; movies every 2-3 months; etc.). We have a 2-yr old and I take "my time/wife time" after his bedtime, his time is during weekends, and family time is all the time. I feel that one's level of what is correct/right is based on one's comfort level. I too want "more" but I see that money doesn't solve everything or get one what one wants all the time. In other words, I try to balance life/career/responsibilities/fun/money to simply live and be realistic. I'm comfortable and happy, want more, but don't want to give up my family time and fatherhood time for my job/career. Good luck with the journey.