I have been a stay at home dad by default since Obummer was elected. I feel your pain. Thank God for a wife with a job and a refinanced mortgage,. Coupled with the fact that I am the cheapest man alive and always saved lots of money. Just wish I had saved even more.
Well, in my case, the house is really a second house, necessitated by my layoff under President “BJ”, and subsequent move first to San Antonio, doing real engineering, and then to central Texas in support of the Army. We’d bought a house in San Antonio just 8 or 9 months before I was involuntarily transferred. Kept that as a rental for a year or so, but that was a money losing proposition. Bought the current 2nd house in Cen Tex.
But 6 years of supporting the Army has left what skills I do have, very rusty.
What’s the matter with me? Well, I’m old, and all my experience is with military systems, and I work at the system level, so much of the knowledge and skills are not transferable, and civilian market companies don’t understand that some are transferable.
Luckily, like you, I have a wife with a good job, (and tenure) although making less than I did. I’ll be moving back with her shortly. Which, after 13+ years living mostly apart, could be “interesting”.