What income category do you place yourself?

[Danestress]

Do you include the households of retired people who are only earning off investments?

[Jill- OK]

My answer to the poll, re: our income.*

 

:-)

 

And dh looked at me like I was crazy when I wondered out loud about the upper ten percent earning $100K/year figure.

 

So much for my big, adult conversation contribution of the day, LOL!

 

(In my defense, about getting our household income wrong...dh doesn't work as a contracted, fulltime employee in his new job, so I don't know his exact earnings until after the fact, and he only recently started receiving disability benefits (as a military veteran) in addition to his military retirement. We've been paying off debt incurred through our move and temporary pay decrease, and...ah, forget it. No excuse. I'm simply brain fogged. Logging off now, lol.)

[Colleen]

Do you include the households of retired people who are only earning off investments?

 

I don't think so. I'm not entirely sure, though, and can't find the answer readily...

[Colleen]

And dh looked at me like I was crazy when I wondered out loud about the upper ten percent earning $100K/year figure.

 

So what does he think it is?;)

[Jennifer in NH]

I've been debating posting, but here goes...we are in the upper range. However, we chose to live an hour away from dh's work so that we could still be in the country and not the suburbs. Therefore we have a nice sized, but not huge, house on 15 acres of very sloping land on the side of a small mountain. We paid very little for it, around $100 grand about 10 years ago. it is worth not quite 3 times that now, but would be very hard to sell. The road we live on is a dirt road that the town does not maintain. again, we chose this and I love it! It takes me 45 minutes to get to a decent store (of any kind). The kids are young now, but so far we take no classes and mostly stay at home. last year we did by a vacation home near my inlaws and then also near my parents...best thing we ever did! I spent the whole summer up there and on Labour day my dad passed away...I will never regret buying that place...of course if DH quite tomorrow we own it outright so we could move there...it is smaller though. Now as far as are we in a nice neiborhood??? well, we don't have a neighborhood!;) However, we can now see a house from our front yard and at night I can see a few lights from a house or two through the forest.

Now, would I do it all the same way...no..I'd have more children and probably less expendable income if i could do it over! enough of my ramblings tonight. have a good evening Ladies!

Jenny

[Janet in WA]

I expected higher incomes on this board than you'd be likely to find among an average group of homeschoolers -- but I'm still very surprised that the greatest number of responses were for more than 100K.

[LisaKinVA]

My dh and I joke, that it's time to have another baby because it's the first time in 5 years we've had to pay taxes this year. We only have four children... and the oldest is 8, so that should tell you where our income HAS been.

 

Up until 2003, I was the major breadwinner of the family. I couldn't handle it -- and being a FT mom to 2 youngsters. DH stepped up, and it's been a l-o-n-g hard road to where we are today. 6 years in a 900 sq. ft., partially finished basement.

 

Due to the area housing bubble, we haven't made enough to purchase even a modest home until THIS year (I'm talking 2,000 square feet fixer-upper).

 

Starting July 20th, our income doubles, and I will be responsible for only 20% of our income.

 

I don't feel like we should be in the top 10% of households. But, we are.

[Antonia]

I have to say it... I am frankly quite surprised that so many of us are in the $100,000 range. We spend so much time here talking about cutting costs, and so many of us have financial problems or hubbies who are out of work, my perception was that there would be only a few in that category, not the majority. Anyone else surprised?

[Antonia]

I expected higher incomes on this board than you'd be likely to find among an average group of homeschoolers -- but I'm still very surprised that the greatest number of responses were for more than 100K.

 

Sorry, I didn't see your post. I posted the same thing. Quite surprising.

[Tutor]

I thought the majority of people would be fairly evenly divided between the 36,000 - 50,000 or 51,000 - 75,000 range.

[Colleen in NS]

I have to say it... I am frankly quite surprised that so many of us are in the $100,000 range. We spend so much time here talking about cutting costs, and so many of us have financial problems or hubbies who are out of work, my perception was that there would be only a few in that category, not the majority. Anyone else surprised?

 

As I type, there are 253 votes. That's out of over 3000 board members. Maybe the low-enders aren't voting - I know I felt a little intimidated when I viewed the poll results. However, I realize that circumstances vary widely.

[Asma_08]

I have to say it... I am frankly quite surprised that so many of us are in the $100,000 range. We spend so much time here talking about cutting costs, and so many of us have financial problems or hubbies who are out of work, my perception was that there would be only a few in that category, not the majority. Anyone else surprised?

 

I am shocked. I kind of wish I didn't look at the thread. I am struggling with contentment as it is. It also makes me wonder if its really true everyone can homeschool. Is this group representative of your average homeschooler? Half of all households make less than $48K, many times with two people working. So $100K seems quite out of the norm for most families.

[Jill- OK]

20%.

 

:-)

 

I just can't wrap my brain around that, for some reason. His argument was that $100K now isn't what it was, say, a decade ago, and that makes sense, but...that number is stuck in my head as 'high'. And I've lived in areas that aren't as great (cost of living-wise) as Oklahoma, so it's not simply a location situation.

 

I'll just have to adjust my compass, I guess. (!)

[Plaid Dad]

I've hesitated to post (although I did vote) because we are in the lowest category in the poll. If others are church mice, we are the fleas on the church mice! :D

 

I did want to add our experience to the mix, particularly regarding big city cost of living. Our family left San Francisco in 2001 a few months after our dd was born. We were living in a rent-controlled "junior one-bedroom" (think overgrown studio apartment). Our annual income was about $52K before taxes and we had great health insurance, but we could not afford to move into an apartment large enough to accommodate our family. A two-bedroom in a scary neighborhood (gang territory, drugs, etc.) would have run us $2200/mo. minimum. At the time, a "starter" one-bedroom condo was about $400,000; the tumble-down house we lived in, which consisted of three rental units across the street from a notorious park (pick-up area, drug deals), was worth about $1.5 million. Housing was bad enough; the public schools were abysmal, and most parents who could sent their kids to private or parochial schools. One family I knew made about $120K a year and spent about half their income on schools for their two girls. They were barely getting by.

 

We moved to a small town in western Massachusetts. My wife was able to telecommute to her Silicon Valley job for two years, until her whole division was sacked and the jobs sent to Bangalore. After six months and sending out literally hundreds of résumés with nary a nibble, dw decided to try freelancing. Since that time - 4 years ago now - she's been building a web design business, working as a doula, and, for several years made Waldorf dolls. I've been writing, editing, homeschooling dd, working odd jobs, and more recently, tutoring. A year and a half ago we finally gave up and applied for food stamps. When MA made health insurance mandatory, we got on the state's program to avoid being fined. This year we qualified for fuel assistance as well.

 

Now I am not happy about the state paying our tab, and we are doing our d*mnedest to get off their rolls. But - and this is a big but - had we been in CA when dw lost her job, we would have been homeless within two months, even with the "generous" severance package dw's company gave her. If you haven't been there, it is hard to imagine how little of a safety net there is in big cities and how quickly one can go from fancy dinners to dumpster diving. I'm not exaggerating here: I have several friends who did end up homeless in SF - literally sleeping on couches or in shelters - as a result of dotcom crashes and overseas outsourcing. These were highly skilled computer professionals with stellar résumés. They couldn't even afford a bus ticket out of the city.

 

I am just grateful that we got out when we did and that we are able to survive as well as we do on an income that dances along the poverty line. That would not have been possible in a big city.

[Sunny]

I thought so too! What a surprise it is.

[Sunny]

I can totally relate to this.

We came from southern CA just this last year and moved to Idaho. We live in the next to bottom rung of the income, by about $100 according to our last tax return. We only survived in CA by eating only what we found in the dumpsters. Now, Trader Joes has some really good eating, and even when it has been in the dumpster is mighty fine eating, but still, we did not spend more than $200/yr in groceries, or we couldn't pay the mortgage.

This year, life has totally changed, and because of the cost of living, we go to the inside of the grocery store for the first time in 8 years!

 

I'm grateful for what we have. I am, however, really amazed at what this poll revealed.

[KristineIN]

Well we do live in a good area of the country where things are pretty low, but we are in the bottom, dh makes about $26,000 a year. Things are tight, we don't do a lot of extra curricular things, but my kids are clothed, happy and we make do. We recently had help from my father in law and we are in a much better position than we were a year ago, but it was very humbling, we didn't ask for help, he offered and we would have been stupid to turn him down. There are times when I have to remember that God is in control and not worry about what others think.

 

Kristine

[Colleen]

If he's talking household income, he's right. But I don't think that's what you were referring to originally, were you?

[Colleen]

I have to say it... I am frankly quite surprised that so many of us are in the $100,000 range. We spend so much time here talking about cutting costs, and so many of us have financial problems or hubbies who are out of work, my perception was that there would be only a few in that category, not the majority. Anyone else surprised?

 

Let's just say I find it interesting to consider today's conversations in light of the game the other day, wherein people shared what they'd never give up, no matter how poor.

[Danestress]

 

Let's just say I find it interesting to consider today's conversations in light of the game the other day, wherein people shared what they'd never give up, no matter how poor.

 

Yep! That's what I was thinking too. I was thinking it even AS we were posting on that thread. It was an entertaining thread, but let's be honest, the only reason we think we would never, no matter how poor, cut up raw chicken, buy cheap Toilet paper, or save foil, is because we have never really truly been poor. When you can't feed your kids, you do what you have to do. Even the dreaded raw chicken. I mean, I'm sure we all know that already and that the thread was in jest, but I was wondering how it would make someone feel who actually struggles to eat.

[Jennifer in NH]

I may have to go find this thread...When DH and I were first married we both worked 2 or 3 jobs each...barely got by..eventually things got better, then they got better and even better...bumpy occasionally but usually in the right direction. That being said, I save my foil, I always cut up raw chicken because how does one use chicken without cutting it up?:confused:..just having a roast chicken all the time would be boring...that confused me..still don't quite get it...we don't use the toilet paper that my husband calls (excuse this) "macho wipe" but we don't use an expensive brand either...so, those of us who may be in the upper regions of income...might still be very frugal. Hey, my parents grew up in the Great Depression! Saving every possible thing just in case you need it again was ingrained into me as a child! heck, I reuse my plastic storage bags..but not as often as my mother does!;)

[Janet in WA]

 

Yep! That's what I was thinking too. I was thinking it even AS we were posting on that thread. It was an entertaining thread, but let's be honest, the only reason we think we would never, no matter how poor, cut up raw chicken, buy cheap Toilet paper, or save foil, is because we have never really truly been poor. When you can't feed your kids, you do what you have to do. Even the dreaded raw chicken. I mean, I'm sure we all know that already and that the thread was in jest, but I was wondering how it would make someone feel who actually struggles to eat.

I didn't participate in that thread because dh and I were very very poor in the early years of our marriage, and I can honestly say that there is nothing that I wouldn't live without if I were that poor again. I lived without it then, and I'd live without it again. But I don't want to.

[homewithtrinity]

We have enough on our double digit income to do what we need although we do not always have what we want.

[melissel]

It was an entertaining thread, but let's be honest, the only reason we think we would never, no matter how poor, cut up raw chicken, buy cheap Toilet paper, or save foil, is because we have never really truly been poor.

 

Wow, we're currently in the one of the upper segments, and I do all of those things by choice! I'm going to have to go look for that thread--it sounds interesting.

[MJN]

with as many posts as we've had about cutting back on groceries and gas lately. I am really surprised. If I *could* live on 100,000, I'd be one happy woman. We'd have more than enough money to live on and wouldn't have to worry about gas or groceries. Surely that must be counting two incomes? Or maybe they are including their benefits? Seriously, I know very few people IRL that homeschool and make $100,000 salaries.

[gardenschooler]

It also makes me wonder if its really true everyone can homeschool. Is this group representative of your average homeschooler?

 

We're in the lower ranges, and I've always homeschooled. It can be done.

[melissel]

Surely that must be counting two incomes? Or maybe they are including their benefits? Seriously, I know very few people IRL that homeschool and make $100,000 salaries.

 

My calculation does include two incomes. I work 30 hours a week from home, and I've had my job for 12 years, so I make a pretty good salary. Plus, we live in an area where salaries are high, but COL is also high.

[gardenschooler]

I think we don't feel poor because the cost of living here is pretty low, and $100K will buy you a fairly nice house in a semi-decent neighborhood.

 

I really think where you live is much more important than the size of the house. I like being able to walk down the street and have a nice environment, but I can live without extra rooms. The girls aren't that happy about sharing bedrooms, but it works out okay. They can always go hang out outside, which they couldn't do if we were in an iffy neighborhood.

[Kris]

.

[Melora in NC]

Well, I Am surprised by how large a percentage of the voters here earn what seems to me like a tremendous lot of money. As others have said, the many threads on budgeting/frugality had given me a different impression.

We just barely squeaked into the second from the lowest income group, but I feel like we are pretty comfortable. As with posters who have high incomes but live in very expensive areas, our income is a little deceptive because we purchased our home outright when we moved here from Florida. I do wish that I had health insurance, and dh sometimes talks about wanting to go on a vacation, but, for now, we have enough to meet all our needs, and a fair number of our wants.

[Antonia]

Seriously, I know very few people IRL that homeschool and make $100,000 salaries.

 

Again, I think a lot of it goes back to where you are living. Most of the homeschoolers I know IRL do make that much.

[readwithem]

Oh, I agree.

We have friends who used to live here. They owned a really beautiful, spacious home on at least an acre of land here. The rooms were large and airy, they had an eat in kitchen, formal dining room, living room, family room that they used as a school room, four bedrooms, 3 baths, mudroom, finished basement, deck, 2 car garage. Lovely home.

 

They moved to the San Jose area about 18 months ago and are living in a 1 bedroom apartment. The 2 kids have the bedroom and the parents sleep on a pull out couch in the living room. They made the move because he received a good job offer that allowed him to stop traveling 5+ days/week. They get to all live together full time for the first time in maybe 5 years, and he enjoys the new job, so they're happy. But the housing market is so crazy there that they could not afford to buy a comparable home in that area despite the fact that when they sold theirs while the market was favoring the seller.

 

Amazing. Just amazing.

 

They went from him traveling all week to living on top of each other all week. I can't imagine sleeping on a pull out couch for 18 months!! Ugh I'd have back trouble all the time.

[readwithem]

I expected higher incomes on this board than you'd be likely to find among an average group of homeschoolers.

 

I would have guessed that as well. I wonder why? Is it because we have more intelligent conversations than other groups? :)

[*anj*]

..so, those of us who may be in the upper regions of income...might still be very frugal. Hey, my parents grew up in the Great Depression! Saving every possible thing just in case you need it again was ingrained into me as a child! heck, I reuse my plastic storage bags..but not as often as my mother does!;)

 

Amen.

I still put a little water in the ketchup bottle when it's almost empty because it can be used. If it's too watery to go on a burger, it can go into a pot of spaghetti sauce or soup or whatever.

Okay, this gave me an idea for a thread!

[iquilt]

I agree that it's not just income but benefits/type of job that counts. DH is self-employed and pays for everything, including our own health insurance which tops out at $18,000/year for a family of 5! Plus office expenses, 1 employee, and not paid vacations :) So we may be filing on a big income, but living on a rather moderate one in which I bake from scratch in order to save money and still eat well; we eat out only 1-2x/month, etc. It's all in your mindset and long-term financial goals. Now we are really working on building his business so that he can take more time off. It can be really dangerous to get in that "the grass is greener on the other side" mind-set.

[readwithem]

I've hesitated to post (although I did vote) because we are in the lowest category in the poll. If others are church mice, we are the fleas on the church mice! :D

.

 

:biggrinjester:

[*anj*]

They went from him traveling all week to living on top of each other all week. I can't imagine sleeping on a pull out couch for 18 months!! Ugh I'd have back trouble all the time.

 

I hear ya. They did make a point of buying the best quality sofabed they could find for that very reason.

 

I'd also have serious er, um...privacy issues in the marital department. But that's just me.

They really are content with their life, though. It's working for them, and that's what counts.

[brehon]

Really? Hm. Housing is cheap compared to other metropolitan areas but other things are more. Electricity, for one.

 

My 3000 sq foot home (which I purchased with xh when we were in the over $100K category) was only $155,000! That still amazes me. But it won't sell; not when a new home is down the street for the same price. And I'm in a school district where my taxes are over $4000 a year. Electricity in my home is usually $400 a month. There are things I could do to bring that down; but they all cost money (repair the a/c, get new windows, radiant barrier)...

 

Houston is tough on vehicle expense, commutes are often difficult, toll rodes, traffic and gas.

 

We don't have state tax; that does help...

 

 

And don't forget the various state and local "fees" (NOT taxes, mind you:glare:) add to the cost of living.

 

All of the above applies to the Austin area (Travis and Williamson Counties) as well. I don't live in Austin itself; but, where I live has incredibly high property taxes (one of the highest in the state for the local ISD) and our electricity bill, especially in the "summer months" easily averages $300-$350/month. We don't generally turn on the AC's until the temps hit the 90's, usually mid to late May here. My dh and I both hold full-time jobs; I answered the poll based on our combined income (as I'm a lowly county worker, our income is still under $100K). We are fairly frugal and I think we live comfortably even given the above conditions.

[Jill- OK]

...bandied about that homeschoolers, in general, are in a higher income range than 'normal', and I sorta resisted that idea (based only on anecdotal, personal evidence, of course*)...but I'm guessing now that it might be true. (I know that there's only a portion of the whole of the board responding, but...the distribution has seemed pretty consistent, as the numbers of those answering has risen.)

 

I wouldn't know about one group of homeschoolers over another, but...yeah, I'm with the folks who are surprised at the result.

 

 

(*Edited to add: I've also resisted it because any survey of homeschoolers can only measure those responding, not the whole of the homeschooling population, and I know enough homeschoolers to know that many WON'T be part of a survey, lol. But...reluctance to get 'on the radar' can't be tied to an economic earning tier, lol, so I guess that the info is still good, applied to the homeschoolers that the world knows about.)

[Scarlett]

...bandied about that homeschoolers, in general, are in a higher income range than 'normal', and I sorta resisted that idea (based only on anecdotal, personal evidence, of course)...but I'm guessing now that it might be true. (I know that there's only a portion of the whole of the board responding, but...the distribution has seemed pretty consistent, as the numbers of those answering has risen.)

 

I wouldn't know about one group of homeschoolers over another, but...yeah, I'm with the folks who are surprised at the result.

 

3273 members on here...too bad more won't reply to the poll. That would be a nice pool from which to gather such info.

 

I've seen several posts from people saying 'well of the homeschoolers *I* know most make X amount of money.' I'm wondering how you know this. Do people IRL really discuss money in that much detail? I have one friend who tells me exactly how much her dh makes....but mostly my friends don't discuss their salaries in detail.

 

Just curious.

[*anj*]

Do people IRL really discuss money in that much detail? I have one friend who tells me exactly how much her dh makes....but mostly my friends don't discuss their salaries in detail.

 

Just curious.

 

Not in general, but over the years I have had very frank discussions with about 3 of my friends. And then when someone gets a raise we say "about 20% more money" or something like that.

[Tracey in TX]

3273 members on here...too bad more won't reply to the poll. That would be a nice pool from which to gather such info.

 

I've seen several posts from people saying 'well of the homeschoolers *I* know most make X amount of money.' I'm wondering how you know this. Do people IRL really discuss money in that much detail? I have one friend who tells me exactly how much her dh makes....but mostly my friends don't discuss their salaries in detail.

 

Just curious.

 

It is an interesting statistic. To make it more thorough, though, one would have to indicate self-employment (due to insurance, business costs), and to break down the "over 100,000" category into increments of 50-100K. There's a big difference between 100K and 1,000,000 (and there are a few who make that annually and homeschool, though probably not the norm!).

[Jill- OK]

...you know what everyone makes, lol.

 

You remember what you made, at what grade/rank...you know what you want to make...you know what officers make, vs. enlisted counterparts...and you know what raises have been voted in, lol. You just know what other folks make. They know what you make.

 

But in civilian life, now, too, I sometimes talk about money with close friends. I know what my best friend makes, I know what other families that have retired from the military make (probably a carryover from military life; folks talk all the time about job opportunities, and you also have many GS jobs, where you kind of know salaries, too.)

 

If someone's spouse is a public school teacher in my state, I know about what they make. If they're a doctor, you can make an educated guess.

 

But yes...I have talked with folks about money. Friends. We have friends that homeschool, and most that I can think of are in about the same financial position that we are (as far as salary.)

 

Now, I also know several homeschoolers who are probably better off than we are...but I know them through our old church, which is on the chi-chi side of town, and just has more folks with more money. I wouldn't count that as representative of the homeschooling community at large...just richer folks who happen to homeschool. (If that makes any sense).

[*anj*]

It is an interesting statistic. To make it more thorough, though, one would have to indicate self-employment (due to insurance, business costs), and to break down the "over 100,000" category into increments of 50-100K. There's a big difference between 100K and 1,000,000 (and there are a few who make that annually and homeschool, though probably not the norm!).

 

That's an interesting point.

I have a friend who is a dairy farmer. On paper his income looks like a lot, but in actuality he is always putting most of his money right back into the farm. His wife is an attorney and they live a lot better than most of the other farmers in their area because she supplements their income, and her job provides benefits, etc.

[Scarlett]

That's an interesting point.

I have a friend who is a dairy farmer. On paper his income looks like a lot, but in actuality he is always putting most of his money right back into the farm. His wife is an attorney and they live a lot better than most of the other farmers in their area because she supplements their income, and her job provides benefits, etc.

 

Yes, I have friends who own lots of rentals...they supplement that income with work the dh does flipping cars (hee hee...buys wrecks, fixes them, drives them for a few months and sells them for a profit.), and doing general body repair work. I bet they take in a lot but I know they are mortgaged on all that rental property so a lot has to go right back out. I have no clue what they make. I can see from their lifestyle what they spend...modest house, dh fixes EVERYTHING himself, clearance clothes for their 3 kids, BUT they spend money on things like a trip to the symphony or like last week they took their 5 year old dd to NYC! How amazing is that? On the cheap though. He got on line and got super cheap airline tickets, they rented a car when they got there and they did a lot of free things in NYC. But wow what an experience to have at age 5.

 

Oh, and she is going to homeschool her 3 children!