Me (26) and my wife (26) have been AGGRESSIVELY paying towards the mortgage principal for a long time now. Before purchasing the house, there was a mutual agreement that we would grind for a few years and prioritize paying the house off with the goal of her becoming a SAHM once it's paid off. We bought in 2021 when rates were low, and we secured a 15 year fixed rate at 2.25%. The house cost $230,000, and it's a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1,800 square feet home.

We absolutely knew that making extra payments with a 2.25% was not the optimal financial choice. We valued peace of mind more, and our want for a more traditional lifestyle trumphed any investment gains. We have managed to get the loan balance down to $29,000. At this moment, we currently make $82,000 combined, with me making $42,000 and her making $40,000. We used to make more money, but had unexpected career changes. Nonetheless, we continued to pay towards the principal with lower amounts.

We have been making great progress and are almost to the finish line, but then my wife starts telling me that she wants to quit asap. She broke down and told me she doesn't want to work anymore. I keep telling her that we're almost done, but she says that we have knocked off enough together and that I can handle the rest by myself. Being away from our son everyday for most of the days is her reasoning for not wanting to see this through. Our mother in law watches him, and I assured her he's happy and content and that she can be home with him soon enough. She isn't budging and is telling me she's going to put her 2 weeks in.

I'm stressed out because we only have about $5,000 in our emergency fund right now. Our mortgage is $1,200 a month. If we rely on just my income, my take home is only about $2,600$ monthly. Once I factor in all of the utility bills, insurance, groceries, gas, we're only going to have $300 left over every single month. We would be going from $2,400 positive every single month, to $300 positive every single month. It isn't feasible on just one income right now but she isn't LISTENING. I'm so stressed out and I don't know what to do. One unexpected emergency could wipe out of savings, and then we wouldn't have any money to even make our regular mortgage payment. I dread being in this situation because had I invested our money, or built up my savings account instead of throwing every penny at my principal, we would be way better off. I can't change the past and I'm just trying to make sure we don't end up homeless or foreclosed. What could I do? Should I get a credit card with a decent max, just in case I run out of cash and need to borrow money? I don't know what to do at all. Any suggestions would be appreciated.