Hey Firedup,

Do you have a pension that you can borrow against? That way you don't end up putting you're house on the chopping block if it all goes pear shaped? Also,its not really a selling market right now but you may also find a way to "rent" the house out for a bit (to cover the mortgage) and then rent an apt in domicile for the first year or two and when the "big bucks" roll in you can go back to it. I would think that giving up a property for a year of losing half of your current salary may not be the best option. Personally, I'd keep the house and try really really hard to find a way to "tough it out" the first year, low/no interest credit card for a year some alternative to a HELOC or selling. I wouldn;t sell for the sake of a year in this market! FWIW. Good luck.

BTW - I know you're not a fan of daycare BUT, for 1 year if your wife can earn $40,000 vs. daycare (or a nanny) that will cost say <$20,000 then I'd say do that, but if your wife working vs. the kids daycare is a wash economically then, by all means, certainly keep them at home, watch free network TV for a year, use your neighbors Wi-Fi, drink 7-11 coffee vs. Starbucks and after 12 months. At least at the end of it all, you still have the house and back to some "normalcy."

PS, you have any vehicles you can trade down for? Car payments you can get rid of perhaps, another big drain for most!?