family lives off 44thousand a year......yah, ok

[ShellVera777]

Originally Posted by starsinnight

this reminds me of an article i read way back in People magazine (not a scam) about families that live off half their income in which they donate the other half to charity. ... at my work (i work at a nonprofit organization for low income people) the families total income is always about $5000 for the year!! and somehow they make it!!! ...*sigh* but it does help me appreciate what I do have ... which isn't much! lol

I am with you that it makes me appreciate what I have. I mean, if I paid off my debt (when I pay off my debt), I will be in a great place. I have a great career with potential if I just keep up the good work. If I don't get this position, I have to believe the references will help me somewhere else. (I am a contractor right now.) I can't imagine living off so little. I can't imagine how they pay for anything. My goodness, for a family of three I am paying $7200 a year in insurance costs. Those families making $10,000, $20,000; I hope they are on a state insurance program. And that is just what I pay to have it. That doesn't include the other money I have to pay just to use it! Co-pays, office charges, etc. It adds up. I mean I make a good living and I am on what I consider to be a bare minimum budget. Maybe need to talk to some of these people and find out what I am considering a necessity that they don't - shoot, my mortgage alone is $14,000 a year and I don't have a luxurious house at all! I really can't imagine how these people live. Maybe they are in areas that have a cheaper cost of living?

[mdowdy]

Originally Posted by ShellVera777

I can't imagine living on that. I can't even fathom on the lightest of nothing how you three survive. I am a family of three also: me, a teenage girl, and an infant (toddler?) girl. We do not live extravagantly at all and yet I see you saying you live on $18,000 and I want to cry for you because I can't even imagine how little extra you must have. Is that super materialistic? I would sure love for you to start a thread on how you do it.

~Shell

Sure Shell I will be glad to let you know how I do it, I will get that thread started in the finance section in the next couple of days. I will try to get it done tonight but have a couple of calendars to finish for my little girls playgroup tomorrow so that will determine if I get it done tonight or tomorrow.

What do you consider extra? Are you talking extra material things or extra money LOL A lot of things people THINK they need they realize they don't need at all if it comes down to it. I am always looking for more ideas on how to bring the figure we live on down even more which is what originally brought me to this site.

I think part of what helps us is we live in a city where the cost of living is not that high, so what we can get for a certain amount may not be an option for everyone.

[redring]

I know a dozen corners I could cut if I could be home. the problem here is how when DH and I both work 10 hr days. I do good to get laundry and dishes don. The weekends are a disaster of doing errands. this week I forgot to put a stamp on our house payment and got it back in the mail. We work factory and now we are worried for our jobs. things just keep getting harder. I am happy for any tips tricks and saveings I can find.

[ShellVera777]

Originally Posted by mdowdy

Sure Shell I will be glad to let you know how I do it, I will get that thread started in the finance section in the next couple of days. ...

What do you consider extra? Are you talking extra material things or extra money LOL ...

I think part of what helps us is we live in a city where the cost of living is not that high, so what we can get for a certain amount may not be an option for everyone.

Thank you! It may be that we can help each other out. Even though I can't imagine living on such a small salary, I do know how to save money, as I don't like to waste it. Ending up in so much debt and realizing that I may not have anything for my kids when they are older really hit home when my grandma died in 2006. For example, I live by freecycle. I think it is great to see what people are giving away. Sometimes you can really get some great things, depending upon where you live.

I guess for me there are certain things I don't consider extra that others would. Like a cell phone. It is not an option NOT to have one. My daughter is in daycare and I spend most of my day in meetings, so having a cell phone makes me feel comfortable. BUT, do I need the ability to see email from that phone, to use the internet, to text message or have I just become accustomed to it? I don't consider the internet an extra since I attend school online and use it for school, work, my daughter's homework, etc. I could consider cable extra, but it is a package deal with the internet and house phone ($60 for it by itself but $99 for all three for two years).

Will you send me a PM with the name of the thread or a link to it so I can be sure to come be involved! Thank you so much!

~Shell

[ShellVera777]

Originally Posted by redring

I know a dozen corners I could cut if I could be home. the problem here is how when DH and I both work 10 hr days. I do good to get laundry and dishes don. The weekends are a disaster of doing errands. this week I forgot to put a stamp on our house payment and got it back in the mail. We work factory and now we are worried for our jobs. things just keep getting harder. I am happy for any tips tricks and saveings I can find.

I am happy to not be home and to work full time, but I hear you about it being easier to save money and cut corners when you don't work outside the home. I am learning discipline though and how to say no to the extras, like lunch, clothes, etc. I am learning how to invest in gift cards, freecycle, and other ways of getting things free, cheap, or for less than full price and only when NEEDED.

~Shell

[mdowdy]

Ok guys my post on how we live on 18000 a year is in the general budget finance section.