How Our Frugal Life Changed After We Went to One Income

Saving money with frugal living on one income and debt free living looks different for us now than three years ago.

After paying off our house in 2023 and spending almost three years as a one-income family, we changed how we budget, spend, save, and manage money together. In this video we share what changed — weekly budget meetings, putting savings and retirement first, working as a team on groceries and homestead projects, scratch-made cooking, intentional spending systems, and everyday frugal habits that lowered our electricity use.

We talk through funding Julia’s Roth IRA that first year on one income, keeping our average grocery spending around $250 on a $350 budget, filling the oven to save electricity, delaying online purchases to month-end, and building room for unexpected costs like replacing our backup battery system. This month our usage was 543 kWh vs 692 kWh last year, a 21.5% drop.