<prompt> Human: Hello,I will likely be getting married soon, and realistically my spouse wont be working. After doing some back of the envelope calculations, it seems however that I cant afford this scenario.Here is my current situation:I have a 112k base salary. I max out 401k and HSA as pretax accounts, and for post tax deductions I contribute 10 of my paycheck to an ESPP, and max out the annual ROTH IRA limit 5500. Post deductions, my biweekly paycheck is 1850 of which 450 dollars goes to a ROTH IRA. So per month, I have about 3250 raw cash to use.My current expenses as a single person are:800 rent500-1000 in combined expenses for utilities, insurance, food, travel, etc.So, my total cash savings rate per month is: 3250-800850on average1600month19000yearAfter getting married, my expenses are likely to go up. Being married and with bay area rent being what it is this Im estimating about 2500 for rent and at least 1500 for expenses per month. Which would make my savings rate:3250-25001500-750!!I would like to continue to max out my retirement accounts, HSA and contribute to ESPP if possible. Also, ideally I would like to retain a similar cash savings rate. Given my current situation, this seems unlikely. Even if I completely get rid of all post-tax deductions, I would only have an extra 1300 USD per month! This is from adding back my ESPP contribution and my ROTH contribution:1120010124501383With the above estimated expenses this would mean I would be saving:3250-250015001300550month6600yearWhich is still a pitiful savings rate! I would basically be living paycheck to paycheck! What can I do to improve this? How does a single family income in the bay area manage their expenses? I never thought I would have to resort to pinching pennies on a six figure salary...Assistant: Why wont your spouse be working? Are they working now?Human: Theyre not working right now, and they plan on being a stay at home parent. We plan on having kids within the next 2-3 years, if our expenses permit doesnt look like they will though :  <response>: ...How about they work until kids come into the picture?Thats like asking for the week off work cuz youre not working on saturday and sunday anyway. Makes no sense. 