Using your husband's income wisely

What Old-Fashioned Homemakers Knew (That We Often Forget)

There was a time when women instinctively understood how to make a home work on a single income. They didn’t see living off of their husband's income as a limitation—but as a calling. They knew how to ration food, stretch supplies, reuse, repurpose, and find creative solutions without running to the store or logging into Amazon. They built their lives around wisdom, resourcefulness, and quiet strength—not convenience and outward appearances.

In today’s world, this seems foreign. But it’s not impossible. In fact, reclaiming this mindset might be the very thing that strengthens your home and re-centers your heart.

A Challenge: Live Off One Income Before Starting a Business

If you're considering starting a work-from-home business, consider this first:
Can you live off your husband’s income alone—for one year?

Not because you shouldn’t earn or create. Not because your gifts are wasted. But because there is spiritual and practical value in learning to steward a household before you manage a business. Learning to thrive on one income strengthens your marriage, humbles your flesh, and stretches your creativity.

It also communicates something powerful to your husband: “I trust you. I trust God. And I trust that we can do this together.”

Practical Steps to Prepare

1. Make a list of what you think you'll miss by staying at home.

Be honest. Maybe it’s:

• Girls’ brunches

• Designer coffee

• Solo shopping trips

• Peaceful time away from the family

• Validation from a paycheck

• A sense of independence

Naming these things helps you process your grief—yes, grief—over what you're letting go. But it also prepares your heart to receive the greater treasures waiting at home.

2. Make a list of your strengths.

Ask yourself:

• What do I do really well?

• Do I plan beautiful holidays or birthdays?

• Am I a great home cook?

• Do I manage routines or cleaning schedules efficiently?

• Can I teach my children patiently?

• Am I the emotional glue in our home?

These skills are valuable and often overlooked. Homemaking is not laziness—it is a full-scale leadership role filled with quiet, daily triumphs.

3. Make a list of your growth areas.

Where do you feel ill-equipped?

• Time management

• Budgeting

• Meal planning

• Home organization

• Child discipline

• Contentment
  This isn’t to shame yourself—it’s to identify where you can grow and what you might need to learn.

4. Make a list of unnecessary spending.

Track your current habits:

• Drive-thru coffee

• Takeout or fast food

• Dollar store “quick stops”

• Impulse boutique shopping

• Subscriptions

• Frequent kids’ activities or events

Ask yourself: Are these things sustaining my family, or simply distracting us?

This list can be eye-opening. Not as a source of guilt, but as a road map for simplicity.

Honor Your Husband’s Provision

Sometimes, when the second income disappears, fear and resentment begin to creep in. Suddenly, everything feels “tight.” But this mindset can quietly dishonor your husband’s efforts. We say things like, “We can’t afford that anymore,” or “You don’t make enough for us to do that,” and without realizing it, we undermine his provision.

Dear sister, your attitude matters more than the income. There are families thriving on low incomes, and families in chaos with six-figure salaries. The peace in your home isn’t determined by the number on the paycheck—but by your heart posture.

Becoming a More Private Woman

In this season of transition, consider becoming a more private woman. Your family is undergoing a major internal transformation. Now is not the time to process it with everyone—especially not on social media or in casual conversations with friends like Bethany.

Keep quiet. Keep watch. Keep focused. Let the fruit of this season speak for itself in time. Right now, your heart and home need your full attention—not your commentary.

Final Word of Encouragement

You’re not stepping down. You’re stepping in—into a season of building, blessing, and becoming. It may not come with applause or validation from the world, but it is sacred work. It is kingdom work.

Old-fashioned homemakers weren’t perfect, but they had something we desperately need to recover: a spirit of contentment, a heart of resilience, and the wisdom to live below their means while pouring into the people they loved most.

Let’s follow in their footsteps—not to recreate a past era, but to reclaim the peace, order, and joy that comes when a woman embraces her home as holy ground.

- Jacqueline, the Unimportant Homemaker