THE THIRD METRIC
Sarah and Jeff Russell hadn’t been
in the work force that long when
it stopped making sense to them.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2006 with
a degree in environmental studies,
Sarah, now 28, couldn’t find a position in her field, so she worked
in 9-to-5 administrative jobs. Her
husband Jeff, now 30, worked as a
bartender and a bouncer, a drain-
HUFFINGTON
08.18.13
40 hours a week regardless of
what jobs actually require to get
things done.” Her frustration and
restlessness became even more
pronounced when she and Jeff decided they were ready to have kids.
“Thinking about how we want to
run a family, it isn’t two parents
working two jobs running around
and not having quality family
time,” Sarah said. Both she and Jeff
“If both people are stressed in their jobs, I think
you bring that home. Some of that anxiety
and frustration transfers to the relationship
with your spouse — how could it not?”
ing gig involving long, late hours
with a demanding (read: drunk)
clientele. Their individual unhappiness put a lot of strain on their
marriage, as did the fact that they
worked almost opposite schedules.
“It’s hard to connect when you
only see each other in passing,”
said Sarah. “If both people are
stressed in their jobs, I think you
bring that home. Some of that
anxiety and frustration transfers to the relationship with your
spouse — how could it not?”
In 2010, Sarah started to question “this model where we work
had been raised by stay-at-home
moms. ”We always had it in the
back of our minds that if we could
do it financially, we would love to
have one of us to stay at home.”
So they decided to do something radical: Quit their jobs. As
Sarah described in a blog post
she published in April 2012, the
couple had a six-month plan to
get their finances in order. They
worked longer hours, paid down
some debt and saved money to replace Sarah’s $36,000 salary and
everything Jeff earned in tips, and
also cover the cost of individual
health insurance. “We knew we
were taking a big risk, especially
given the state of the economy