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(12-10-2018 08:34 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  

Cars + insurance
Health insurance
Mortgage (higher if you wanna live in a nicer area)
private school
Property taxes
Food costs

I think the above are becoming non-negotiable in the modern US. And why I would argue that women, unfortunately, have to also work in order to support a family.

Are they all really non-negotiable? Or are they lifestyle choices that people have locked themselves into?

You can definitely get away with not having a car. You should read Mr Money Mustache's blog, he explains it much better than I can.

Health insurance - admittedly I don't know the US system, but you can probably find affordable options if you're healthy and don't really need extensive care. Here we just have our tax-funded medicare, which costs us nothing extra after gov takes it from my tax.

Mortgage - this is the highest costing item, but can be managed to something decent if you are smart about which house to buy. Minimalist mindset is critical here, so you don't buy one you can't really afford.

Private school - definitely not needed, a SAHM can homeschool the children.

Property taxes - similar to mortgage

Food costs - grocery shopping at farmers markets, SAHM cooking for the family. This part is what I envy Americans, yours can be even so much cheaper than ours.

There are lots of families that have done this successfully with the wife staying at home. They're all frugal minimalists though.