Roll-N out in style

The final train shot: Saying good-bye to Roll-N Saloon

I woke up to a disturbing phone call a few days ago. It was a friend calling to tell me she had gone to the Roll-N-Saloon over the weekend and, to her dismay, she was informed that it has lost its lease and will be closing its doors for good effective this Saturday.

Located in a strip center at San Felipe and the railroad tracks, the bar opened on December 15, 1969 as the Al Lee Lounge. The owner, Joe Lee Thomas, changed the name to the Roll-N-Saloon in 1972.

I mentioned the Roll-N in my “places to go on Thanksgiving night” piece not only because it was open on turkey night, but also because this quintessential dive bar has been a favorite haunt of mine for many years. When I was home from college and wanted to meet up with old friends over the holidays, Roll-N was always one of our first stops. Now that we are a little older, it's still one of the top picks for drinks when “the marrieds” have a hall pass for a night out.

Yes, it's run down, there are no windows and the décor is reminiscent of an episode of Dukes of Hazard, but this place is a treasure. And not just because the drinks are cheap and stiff, or because the jukebox is full of classic hits to which someone in my party always decides they need to sing along to karaoke-style or accompany with air drums (no names shall be mentioned), but because the people and the atmosphere are so easygoing.

People from all walks are welcome and, although the Roll-N is located on the edge of flashy River Oaks, you can leave the fancy attire behind, show up in your shorts and flip flops and feel right at home. Before the implementation of railroad quiet zones a few years back, it was customary for everyone in the bar to do a $1 “train shot” every time a train passed by and blew its whistle.

I plan on grabbing some friends and hitting the Roll-N for one last hurrah. There may not be a whistle blowing, but we will definitely have a few “train shots” in honor of this fallen landmark.

unspecified

income analysis

This is the salary needed for a single-income family in Texas in 2026

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

The income needed for a single-income household to raise a child in Texas is lower than it was last year.

With childrearing costs in the Lone Star State adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per year, many Texas families are navigating a difficult decision: should both parents work or should one parent stay home to raise the child?

For Texas families that choose the latter, the working parent needs to make nearly $73,000 per year to support their child and the stay-at-home parent, a new income analysis has revealed.

The newly released SmartAsset report used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to estimate the annual living wages needed across all 50 states for a three-person household with two working adults and one child, and a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. Costs included food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes, and "other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent needs to make $72,925 to support their stay-at-home counterpart and their child, the study found. That's $1,809 less than what was needed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the combined income needed for a household with one child and both parents working full-time is $85,030.

Texas ranked No. 42 in SmartAsset's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working parent, one stay-at-home parent, and one child. That also situates Texas as the 9th most affordable state for single-income families. But there are risks associated with only having one breadwinner in the family.

"A single income family with small children potentially saves in child care costs over a household with two working parents," the report's author wrote. "The main disadvantages are the lost salary and retirement contributions, Social Security earnings history and employer health benefits."

There aren't any specific tax benefits to having a parent stay at home to raise their child full time, but SmartAsset says single-income families can claim a tax credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"[S]ingle-income families may claim the Child Tax Credit — up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 ($1,700 refundable) — on the same terms as any other family," the report said.

SmartAsset's latest report only looks at costs on a statewide basis, but the cost to raise a child will also vary greatly depending on the city you live in. Raising a child in Houston might pose a challenge for some families, where the cost for childcare alone adds up to $10,265 and overall costs can surpass $22,000.

For households with two children, there might be additional strains on what a family might consider a "comfortable living." A March 2026 SmartAsset study determined a Houston-based family with two working parents need to make a combined income of $204,672 to have a financially stable life while raising two children.

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income needed for single-income families are:

Arkansas ($68,869)
Mississippi ($70,054)
Kentucky ($70,179)
West Virginia ($70,283)
North Dakota ($71,219)
Oklahoma ($71,365)
Louisiana ($71,406)
Missouri ($72,862)
Texas ($72,925)
Tennessee ($72,946)

smartasset reports texas family income