[conductr]

> Makes me think that in a lot of ways saving money is really tax efficient compared to slogging for more ordinary income.

It depends on how similar your wife's income would be to the cost of childcare really, which also depends on how many kids you have, etc. Also, what happens when your kid's don't need childcare? There's some huge(maybe) opportunity costs to account for from putting her career on hold.

Working moms (parents) can do most of the other stuff with a job so it's not really "savings". My wife does anyways. Only extra we spend is a couple hundred a month for biweekly housekeeper so we don't have to do the deep/detail stuff. I take care of all the house stuff and finances and spend roughly the same on outsourcing lawncare. It's not worth my time and effort compared to the cost and never ending hassle (I'm in Texas and it's 110F outside and grass grows 9-10 months out of the year)