Well, we just bought a 2nd car today...
: We've survived with just one for many years, but we need more seats and would have gotten virtually nothing for a trade-in. Our first car will be paid off in the spring, so we're just going to squeeze through the next 10 months with 2 car payments. We got a really good deal and 0% financing... It should be delivered sometime this evening!
We decided when dd1 was a baby (after I had worked outside of the home for a couple of months) that it is a high priority for us to live off of one income alone and to always have 1 parent home with our children. Dh totally supports me in my work and academic pursuits...if he could be the stay at home parent, he would(!)...but we rely on them only for my personal growth, enrichment, spiritual callings, etc.
I have to be honest with myself and other, though...the reason we are able to do this and live the lifestyle that we do is that dh is an officer in the military and an academic. So, we have good pay, good benefits, ultimate job security...plus he gets grants, etc, for his research.
We don't have any savings to speak of...don't need to save for retirement...we do save for the kids' college, etc. We rely on our home equity and on credit (and family) for emergent large expenses. We are temporarily comfortable with this...because our children's childhoods are temporary...and we trust that we will be able to build savings, etc, and pay off debt when the kids are older. Dh is really diligent about keeping the credit cards paid down and/or off...so we try to have mostly "good" debt.
Anyway...I think this article is ridiculous for those of us who have young children. If parents choose not to be at home with their kids, so be it...I totally support them and think that their kids should have access to safe, affordable, quality childcare. But, I get tired of hearing about how much money I should be saving, etc. No amount of money could ever come close to the value of being with my kids while they still want to be with me!
One mistake that we have made and will be changing is that we haven't had disability insurance for me. We have really struggled financially during the times when I've been really ill (like my pregnancies) or injured. For example, having to eat out, not being able to shop frugally, needing extra childcare assistance, etc, etc.