How much is enough?

[JennifersLost]

I know this is old territory, but I wonder if we can cover it again. I'll put up a poll with #s and people can feel free to clarify their answers below.

 

If you took your total yearly budget and divided it by 12, how much money do you need per month:

 

This includes everything: housing, food, bills, doctor's fees, education, vacations (what you generally take), EVERYTHING. And is that enough or do you need more?

[Tap]

Between 3-5 and we are happy.....assuming that is bring home pay.

 

Our household budget runs about $4,500 for all that you mentioned for 5 people.

 

I did not include what we put into retirement which is 20% of our gross income. If we didn't have the extra 20%, we would take it out of the $4,500 and that would lower that figure, to an uncomfortable number.

 

 

So, I say we like $4,500 but that is only if we actually make 20% more than that.

 

We need about $3,000 to cover nonnegotiable household expenses like the mortgage, taxes, electricity etc.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[Chris in VA]

Ours includes college for ds. We refinanced our home and that helped a lot--we are borrowing about 15K a year and putting everything extra towards it, so he won't have debt--so far, we are nearly even, with two years left.

 

(Said because I wasn't sure college was in there...)

 

We live in a very expensive area, too.

[Tohru]

Before trying to figure out if the information matters, it really depends on the cost of living of where one lives. One can't compare how much one person needs per month to another person, without comparing what the base cost of living is.

 

A friend from California told us that a $500K house in California is equivalent in size and amenities to a house that only costs around $175K here, and that same house is sold for less than $100K in Arkansas.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I know this is old territory, but I wonder if we can cover it again. I'll put up a poll with #s and people can feel free to clarify their answers below.

 

If you took your total yearly budget and divided it by 12, how much money do you need per month:

 

This includes everything: housing, food, bills, doctor's fees, education, vacations (what you generally take), EVERYTHING. And is that enough or do you need more?

 

You know on the West coast, at least in the US, the cost of living is higher so my answer is going to be higher than some people in other regions simply because of that.

[Sputterduck]

Wow. I want to be in the "over $6,500 and it's not enough" crowd! lol

[melissel]

You know on the West coast, at least in the US, the cost of living is higher so my answer is going to be higher than some people in other regions simply because of that.

 

Same for us here in central NJ, where our property taxes alone are over $600 a month (and that's so cheap for this area!).

[AnitaMcC]

Right now what we have is not enough. But, we are supporting Dh, me, and our four kids + 21 yr old nephew + a family friend + sending a bit to my mom when I can.

 

We are moving to PA in a month and nephew is going into Navy on July 11th. With the move, our living expenses (home, utilities, transportation) will cut in half while our income stays the same. Actually income should increase as nephew is supposed to send us money each month to pay us back (he owes us about $10,000). Heck, with him off to Navy we will save a ton off our grocery bill... that boy eats constantly!!!!!

[Koerarmoca]

Very low income here, and very happy :)

[joannqn]

Wow. I want to be in the "over $6,500 and it's not enough" crowd! lol

 

Our state thinks that is still low income. A family of six qualifies for free children's medical through the state if they make less than $4,999. Then there's a $20 monthly premium plan and a $30 monthly premium plan, and they only charge the premium for the first two kids. Those plans pay for literally everything (medical, dental, vision, rx) except the premium. A family of six can make up to $7,498 before they are considered too high income for a state children's medical. I simply can't imagine needing state medical at that income level.

 

I would say our family would be pretty comfortable at about $4500.

Edited July 1, 2011 by joannqn

[Plucky]

You know on the West coast, at least in the US, the cost of living is higher so my answer is going to be higher than some people in other regions simply because of that.

 

Yep, I don't think people understand how much homes cost in our area.

[missmoe]

You know I'm not comfortable answering the poll--I think how much we make is kinda of personal.

 

I will say this--I've found over the years as our income has varied by over $100,000 that one can choose to be happy and have enough on almost any income. Of course, I'm not talking about living in poverty where one does not have basic needs--food, shelter, medical care, ect met.

 

Over the last few years, our available income has varied greatly. At one point we didn't have anything extra such as internet, cable, snack foods, anything beyond basic furniture and clothes and we all managed to make it be enough. At times it was hard, but we used the resources we had and it was fine.

[Peela]

We are in the upper end and it's enough. Cost of living is high here though.

 

Basically we live up to our limit and its ok, but we cant afford to buy a house anywhere near where we live, to live in- we rent and have a couple of investment properties out in the country. The median house price is half a million in our city and well over that where we live.

 

We recognise that even though times have been tougher than normal lately, we have it really, really good compared to the other 99% of the world's population. We are also not in much debt- just the investment properties which have rental income, and now some college debt for dd. We never borrow for cars etc and have no other debt. We live well because we are cheapskates and love to buy bargains and 2nd hand.

[Mom in High Heels]

Like the pp's have said, it's relative to a lot of things, like where you live and the size of your family. I can say for us, that we know having more money doesn't make us any happier. It makes life easier, but not necessarily happier. Before we moved to AZ while James Bond was in a military school and then on to Germany, I had a job that paid me serious money. I made $10K a month after taxes. Between the 2 of us, we made about $15K/month. Life was good, yes, but we weren't any happier than we were when I didn't make that much. We weren't less happy, don't get me wrong, but no happier. We did do some expensive things that we wouldn't have been able to otherwise (vacations, tickets to events, etc), but those were just bonuses. We didn't need to do them to be happy, but appreciated the fact that we could.

We're perfectly comfortable living off just JB's salary. Would we like to make more? Sure, who wouldn't? It certainly makes things more comfortable and offers more freedom, but we're happy as we are. Don't tell Congress that though. We do need a raise next year. :D

[Annabel Lee]

It seems everyone else who's answered understands and I'm just missing it, or maybe people are assuming various things: do you mean need, or want? Do you mean need, as in base necessity, or for the quality of life we live now, or for the quality of life we wish to have? My dad always said, "It doesn't hurt to want" (always after I, as a kid, said "Daaaaaaad, I want..."). I recently told him he was wrong, it does hurt, and that's why it's important to learn contentment.

[TammyinTN]

Dh makes a great salary and we have enough. We don't need stuff or loads of trips to make us happy. We enjoy using our extra money to help out our dd/son-in-law and of course buying our grandbaby new things. I guess what we enjoy is sharing it with our family and making life good all around.

[TravelingChris]

Well I didn't quite understand the poll- if you make over 6500 a month and you use over that amount but whatever you make and whatever you use is enough- what do you put down? I put down 6500 is not enough because we make over that amount and use over that amount but the amount we make is fine, just that it is over 6500. Why such a low figure anyway? 78K a year for a family is not a large amount of money= it is a decent amount but your ending figures are way too low. In the county where I live, the average household income is over 110K.

[Carrie12345]

Dang. I voted the wrong level if you're talking pre-taxes.

 

I'm not really thrilled with the idea that the poll implies "need more" means "unhappy". I'm not unhappy. I could just really and truly use a larger house (which we could easily afford if we were able to sell our current home, but we can't afford to carry two), I'd like to be able to shop more local/natural than we can on the current budget, we need to put more into retirement savings, and we only have a few years before the kids begin trickling into college, which we intend to offset as much as we can squeeze out. And I intend to go back to school once the baby is double digits.

 

We're definitely happy and appreciate what we DO have. The budget is still pretty tight, though. Some breathing room would be welcomed!

[Renee in NC]

It seems everyone else who's answered understands and I'm just missing it, or maybe people are assuming various things: do you mean need, or want? Do you mean need, as in base necessity, or for the quality of life we live now, or for the quality of life we wish to have? My dad always said, "It doesn't hurt to want" (always after I, as a kid, said "Daaaaaaad, I want..."). I recently told him he was wrong, it does hurt, and that's why it's important to learn contentment.

 

:iagree:

 

I answered "not enough" but it is because of what I consider "enough" more than is it really enough, KWIM?

 

Currently, our income is 50% more than it has been in the past. That is a GREAT thing!!! However, we could use more.;) I'm not one who thinks that you can always use more, so it isn't that. For me, enough means:

 

Shelter costs are paid (and I don't need fancy - we are in 1200 square feet now and the only problem I have with it is how much our rent is!:tongue_smilie:)

Sufficient funds for groceries (about $125 per person per month would be GREAT - I could buy better produce and some organics with that.)

Health insurance for all (and money to pay regular copays)

Tithe

Savings for emergencies and retirement (we already have a mandatory 8% savings through his job, but I would like to have more.)

Money for sinking funds for car repairs and other sporadic expenses

Music lessons and classes for the dc (not a ton, but enough for each child to take 1 class or lesson per week.)

 

We could do that on the $3500-5000 category for our family of 8.

 

ETA: We aren't unhappy with our situation at all. I just know that a little more would put us in a better position for the future.

[JFSinIL]

clicked the last one - medical/college/SillyAutismMan - all costly. We are a one car family that doesn't eat out, hubby brown-bags it to work (which is over an hour away by foot/train/foot again - can't afford to live any closer as prices zoom up closer to the city) furniture is from Craig's list/garage sale/Ikea - ah, well.

 

Can't moan too much as I sit at my 'puter with high-speed internet - one of the things that seem essential to modern life, but really aren't!!!

 

I agree with transient Chris - your poll needed to skew higher. We are just into the six-figure range.

 

Now - we aren't unhappy - but since there is never excess to save for retirement or to get a second used car I would say it is not enough!

Edited July 1, 2011 by JFSinIL

[DawnM]

I am happy, but I could always use more! :D

 

Someone once asked a wealthy person, "How much money is enough?" The answer, "Just a little bit more!"

 

It is so true......we always think, "Just a bit more and we would be doing much better."

 

We paid less for our West Coast (Pasadena, CA) home.....we bought our last CA home in 2000, right before things shot through the roof. They were still expensive, but not as bad as they got later. Our house in NC costs more than our last CA home......but that was a choice we made.

 

A lot of expenses are choices......I listen to a lot of people complain that they don't have enough $$ and then listen to what they spend their money on and think, "Well, yeah, your CHOICES are poor."

 

Take my neighbor as an extreme example.....they made roughly 200K at the height of the housing market (he was a contractor for high end homes). They purchased their home for 600K and then promptly put an additional 200K into it with upgrades, outdoor pool, new kitchen, new addition, etc....they also had a daughter in professional gymnastics for $1200/mo, a special needs son they said they just "HAD" to have a nanny for ($1,000/mo), and they bought all sorts of toys......quads for the two olders and the adults, they had 4 cars, and on and on.

 

They now walked away from their home, filed for bankruptsy, and are renting a house in another area.

 

BTW: Their house was the most expensive in the neighborhood, ours was far less.

 

This is why I love programs like Crown Financial and Dave Ramsey......it forces people to really SEE where their money is going and what is coming in vs. what is going out. That $180 cell phone bill???? Maybe it needs to be slashed, the $300 in eating out per month you didn't even know you spent? You can cut it.

 

Sorry for the preaching and the vent......but I think most people could be happy on a lot less if they were willing to change their lifestyles.

 

We are in saving mode......but our biggest dumb decision we are currently stuck in is a house that is more than we should have purchased. We were fine in 30 year mode, but after taking and teaching Crown we felt strongly we should refi to a 15 year......it is much tighter, but we are managing and still saving......but we cut out some other areas of our finance. Our cell bill is $42/mo including tax.....no texting or data, we cut satellite TV (now ROku with Netflix and Hulu Plus), I drive less, cash flow groceries, have a set budget for all our expenses, etc.....it isn't nearly as fun as the "let's just go out to eat wherever" plan, but in the long run it will be far more fun.

 

Whew....didn't mean to write a novel.....sorry about that....it is just an area I feel passionate about. So much so that DH and I teach Crown Financial and love, love, love to see people get their finances in order as it is so freeing.

 

Dawn

Edited July 1, 2011 by DawnM

[DawnM]

And that is why half of your state has already moved down to NC! :D

 

Dawn

 

Same for us here in central NJ, where our property taxes alone are over $600 a month (and that's so cheap for this area!).

[Mama Geek]

I didn't vote, I think people's idea of what enough is changes depending on how much money they make. I am sure you have heard the more you make the more you spend and I would bet that is true for the majority of people.

[jenangelcat]

We sold our house last year and moved to a lower income area. We did it knowing our income would be cut in half. Our expenses are lower and the only debt I have no is the mortgage and a car loan. With those we need 2k a month. We bought an acreage so we can grow all our own food and get off grid. We want to lower our expenses as much as possible so that dh can afford to work from home.

 

We are very happy.

[Dmmetler]

This is tough, because our needs are much less than what we spend. We are very fortunate to have very low fixed expenses, a low cost of living area, and an East coast company setting DH's salary by much higher COL standards. It gives us a lot of flexibility, but it also means that saying "yes" is perhaps too easy.

Edited July 1, 2011 by dmmetler

[Orthodox6]

OTHER: Nobody can know in advance what kind of medical conditions will affect a family, whether via accidents or via long-term health conditions. That is what has dogged our family, and never will end. Thus I can't select a dollar figure that would suffice to keep us debt-free.

[melissel]

And that is why half of your state has already moved down to NC! :D

 

Dawn

 

Tell me about it! We have family outside of Raleigh, and if DH wasn't so set against it, we'd be on our way as well!

[FaithManor]

We would need $4550.00 per month take home but that assumes that we continue to make double payments on the house in order to be debt free in 28 months. We could drop that to $3900.00 if we stopped the extra debt payment. I included our portion of our health care premium, plus dh's life insurance policies, internet - Dh works from home and that's a LOT cheaper than driving everyday to the office which is 85 miles away - homeschool supplies, monthly giving to church and our favorite non-church charity, etc. It did not include much by way of "wants" although it did include netflix fees. It did not include anything generous by way of clothing and no gift giving including Christmas or birthdays. I tried to do a closer to need based life. Dh and I feel blessed to be able to meet our needs well when others are struggling so much in this economy.

 

So, we would fall between the $3500 - 5000.00 range and we would be happy, but again that is take home not gross. We do make more than that so, except for the inhuman hours dh has been working, we are very happy with our income.

 

The median income in our county is $33,000.00 per year. We are in the top 1% of earners in this county. Physicians, lawyers, bankers, CPA's, and hospital administrators probably do not clear as much as dh does, but the school superintendents rake in the bucks.

 

Average rent on a decent three bedroom apartment with heat, water, and garbage disposal included is $500.00 a month. So, maybe that will give you an idea what our area is like economically.

 

We are very, very blessed and we know it!

 

Faith

[The Girls' Mom]

We have enough to be comfortable, with some months tighter than others. I find that we tend to spend what we have. We have lived on much, much less.

 

I have noticed that the cost of EVERYTHING has gone up as our income level has increased. I'm not sure that we COULD make it on what our income was 10 years ago.

[Diana R]

I voted $6,500 & we're happy.

 

But that is just for the life-style we want to live, "technically" we dont need everything (internet,cable,cell phones,toys,etc.)

 

We have enough money to pay the bills & afford the things we want, and that's the way we like it.:001_smile:

[JennifersLost]

I appreciate all the answers!

 

I know this is entirely unscientific in that everyone lives in different areas, has different costs of living, etc.

 

For the person who said my end no. was too low - you only get a limited no of choices in a poll and I wanted the low end to have enough choices because I think the gradations of difference "mean" more at that end.

 

I have lived in the ultra-expensive w. coast (my last house cost over a half-mil and my "basic - no frills" monthly bills were $7200). I do understand what people are saying about living there.

 

This has come up because my husband and I are really trying to decide how much is enough. We've chosen a creative life over a secure life and bit by bit are paying off the "big" expenses - house/college/etc. - and are trying to figure out what our baseline is.

 

We differ, too, on what we'd like that baseline to be. I want a more extravagant life than he does. I also want more savings.

 

I think it's interesting to talk about how people make these choices. It's also interesting how people define "need" and "want". Some of my "needs" look like "wants" to my husband. Some of his "needs" look like "possible needs" to me, LOL. Security to him lies in ownership of land and money-generating property. I like money in the bank.

 

And on it goes.

[JennifersLost]

More questions.

 

If you answered "less than $2,000 and we're happy" how are you doing that? We couldn't even pay our most basic bills for that.

 

If we owned our house we could pay property taxes and food. Maybe electricity. That's it! No heat or anything else!

[kalanamak]

You know I'm not comfortable answering the poll--I think how much we make is kinda of personal.

 

I will say this--I've found over the years as our income has varied by over $100,000 that one can choose to be happy and have enough on almost any income. Of course, I'm not talking about living in poverty where one does not have basic needs--food, shelter, medical care, ect met.

 

 

Well, I could be "happy" but I would still have worried moments about retirement or being injured and not having a nest egg. I'm no spring chicken anymore, and I *have* to think of the future. When I was younger, I didn't think about it so much, but now my future is here.

[LauraGB]

I said between $5k-$6,5K and it's not enough. And I don't even live in a high priced area; I live in a high taxed area. Our household has 7 people (not just dh and the kids and me), and between the property tax, the sales tax, the inflated water and sewer, utilities to house said individuals, groceries and gas to get everyone where they need to go...well...

 

We're comfortable, but it's not great. There is some left over each month, but not a whole lot to use for savings of any sort.

[july19]

Same for us here in central NJ, where our property taxes alone are over $600 a month (and that's so cheap for this area!).

 

I here ya - we live in Bergen County - our property taxes are $10,900/year or $900/month. It...it hurts! We're moving to the midwest soon, and I cannot wait just for the cost of living alone! :lol:

[FO4UR]

We are moving to a 850sq ft apartment next week b/c we can't pay the bills here...a modest rental home to begin with (moving cuts the monthly cost of rent/utilities by $400). We have no debt besides student loans and no bills aside from heat/water/elect/phone/basic internet, so it isn't b/c we've made major financial mistakes or want to live beyond our means. It's an income crisis, underemployment at it's finest.

 

Happiness has more to do with relationships than $, but the lack of $ (and the helpless feelings of failing at providing) can certainly strain relationships (especially the relationship with your own identity).

 

It's hard to read this thread.

[lovinmyboys]

I think it is true that you can always use more. I never believed it before, but at the beginning of the year DH is supposed to be getting a 10% raise and I already have tons of ideas on how to spend it-even though we already have everything we need. If I would have been asked at this time last year, I would have said I was completely happy with this income. Now, I am really looking forward to the extra cash-maybe upgrade from our 10yr old vehicles and get a babysitter every now and then.

[Plucky]

I put that we are happy. We've been happy with far less money in fact. I do want more money because I have kids heading off to college. Thankfully we put some away, but we still want to help son more.

[Renee in NC]

We are moving to a 850sq ft apartment next week b/c we can't pay the bills here...a modest rental home to begin with (moving cuts the monthly cost of rent/utilities by $400). We have no debt besides student loans and no bills aside from heat/water/elect/phone/basic internet, so it isn't b/c we've made major financial mistakes or want to live beyond our means. It's an income crisis, underemployment at it's finest.

 

Happiness has more to do with relationships than $, but the lack of $ (and the helpless feelings of failing at providing) can certainly strain relationships (especially the relationship with your own identity).

 

It's hard to read this thread.

 

Been there, done that.:grouphug: It does get better, but it takes time...

[Carrie75]

Our bills are really high. We are coastal So Cal, but still, I don't know how some of you live so frugally! Our property taxes alone are thousands a year.

[Jean in Newcastle]

More questions.

 

If you answered "less than $2,000 and we're happy" how are you doing that? We couldn't even pay our most basic bills for that.

 

If we owned our house we could pay property taxes and food. Maybe electricity. That's it! No heat or anything else!

 

Jennifer, I'm a bit south of you but my mortgage for my lower middle class home alone is $1500. That would leave only $500 for all utilities, auto expenses, clothing, food etc. We checked into downsizing and renting or finding a smaller house - because of the housing market here if we down-sized, we would still be facing a $1500 rental or mortgage on a much smaller rattier place. I think that housing is a need and I'm not willing on exchanging what we have for something worse if it's not going to give us any cost saving at all.

[Dobela]

Before trying to figure out if the information matters, it really depends on the cost of living of where one lives. One can't compare how much one person needs per month to another person, without comparing what the base cost of living is.

 

A friend from California told us that a $500K house in California is equivalent in size and amenities to a house that only costs around $175K here, and that same house is sold for less than $100K in Arkansas.

Well, that all depends on where in Arkansas you are buying that house. In the country, yah maybe. In one of the larger cities, expect 150K or more easily.

[Tree House Academy]

We make over $6500 a month and it IS enough...sometimes it is just stretched a bit more than we like. I prefer to "roll in it" or have it "coming out our ears" and neither of those two things are happening with our current debt to income ratio.

 

ETA: I am NOT complaining at all. I thank God everyday for all we have ... and I also thanked God when we had a whole lot less.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Tree House Academy

[Soror]

Right now $3k home makes things comfortable enough. In a few more years when the house is paid for required amount should be less. We are very happy with what we have, although we drive very old vehicles(10-16 and 17yo), no cable or such, hand-me-downs and such. We generally make most things from scratch. But we are able to afford good food(not all organic though), enough money for good books, we are warm at night and are not in want of anything.

[Nestof3]

You know, I think as a whole, we have become a bunch of whiny people when it comes to our expectations of what makes a nice life. My great grandmother had cause to complain during the depression when she was so low in vitamins that she died of pellagra.

 

My grandmother did not complain that she didn't have enough money to buy new shoes but improved them with show polish. She patched pants because she couldn't afford new ones. Getting a bike for Christmas was one of the biggest things that ever happened to my dad. My grandfather was still collecting cans he found on the street and turning them in for money when he got cancer.

 

Now, I see people complaining about money but even their kids have droid phones. People are complaining because they cannot afford swim lessons or karate lessons.

 

Frankly, I am just tired of it. I think there is a huge difference between what people need and what they want and expect.

[AnitaMcC]

Now, I see people complaining about money but even their kids have droid phones. People are complaining because they cannot afford swim lessons or karate lessons.

 

Frankly, I am just tired of it. I think there is a huge difference between what people need and what they want and expect.

 

I know that I feel that my kids' activities are needs... otherwise they would be sitting at home doing absolutely nothing. Not because it is a choice (although video games are a preferred activity for them), but because there is absolutely nothing for them to do that they can do in our neighborhood safely and for free.

 

Nowhere to go play a game of baseball, no where to just run around and have fun. The playground is only for kids under age 10 and in between the police patrols, the older kids are there doing drugs, swearing every other word, being disrespectful, getting into gang fights, etc just not the social interactions I want my kids to be having. And we are in a "good" neighborhood.

 

Nothing for them to do here... and I mean nothing. They can't use school fields or playgrounds to play, they can't use the park district fields unless they are an organized sports and pay the usage fee, no fishing allowed in any of the fishing ponds unless you are lucky enough to live in that subdivision (and we do not).

 

In our neighborhood, kids do not play much outside... too many sex offenders. Now days kids just can't be outside without constant adult supervision, and I don't know about other parents... but I cannot be outside 8+ hours a day with my kids to keep them safe. And add in that schools are not offering anything in extracurricular activies nor fine arts, etc. Just not much of a life then.

 

So if I want my kids to learn to swim, learn to play an instrument, learn to play a game of baseball, etc... I have to pay $$ for them to do so.

 

And then add in giving them opportunities in this crazy world... they need to do things and it costs money.

 

Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, music lessons, Kung Fu, Bowling League... these are needs in this day and place in this world. I just choose what activities give us more bang for our buck.

 

My kids do not get a ton of things. They don't have the latest in cell phones (just a simple phone to use for emergencies is enough and they don't get that until they are about 14 yrs old), they don't have TV's and such in their bedrooms. We have one TV for the family to use (and that is about 6 yrs old now). We do have computers... but my laptop is the only one that is under 5 yrs old. The rest... are homebuilt pieced together desktops that Dh and Ds put together. The don't have Ipads, they don't have designer clothes, etc. They have video games... that relatives buy them or that we get used.

 

We spend what Dh and I feel is necessary to give our kids a solid foothold for their future in this world. The extra fun stuff they have... do not have the bells and whistles.

 

And with cost of living now days... it just isn't possible for most people to live on anything under $4000 a month.... not in a 150 mile radius of where we are. And so we have chosen to up and move 800 miles now that the opportunity has come. But not everyone can do that. The move will free up some money to put to kids activities, especially education.

[Dirtroad]

I picked an "it's not enough" for the reason that I would like to pay off our mortgage, have a long weekend vacation, and buy better health insurance. Beyond those 2 issues, we are quite happy where we sit regarding lifestyle and opportunities. We drive used cars, shop at WalMart, and live in a modest home. Happy as a bug in a rug.... but would really like the mortgage stamped paid in full!

[Carrie12345]

I think it is true that you can always use more. I never believed it before, but at the beginning of the year DH is supposed to be getting a 10% raise and I already have tons of ideas on how to spend it-even though we already have everything we need. If I would have been asked at this time last year, I would have said I was completely happy with this income. Now, I am really looking forward to the extra cash-maybe upgrade from our 10yr old vehicles and get a babysitter every now and then.

 

Yup.

We just found out yesterday that dh will be getting a promotion. The compensation hasn't been worked out yet, but I've already "spent" it in percentages, lol. Housing improvements, retirement savings, homeschool supplies, and more wiggle room in our food budget. If we splurge, it will be to give ds his own laptop so he doesn't have to do school work on the cheap laptop he shares with the rest of the kids, which the 4yo has left his distinct mark on.

 

No plans for vacations, kid cell phones, new cars, or fancy clothes here! Those things still won't fit in the budget.

 

Of course I'm better off than my grandmother was, born in 1929. But even she recognizes that those days are a terrible choice for comparison! She and I often talk about the moral/behavioral values we "kids" should take a lesson from, but she doesn't consider the economics of her childhood to have been "good enough", iykwim.

[DawnM]

Did you buy when the market was high? We lived in CA for 20 years and really were able to live fairly frugally (well, within our means) . I realize we were both working (by choice, I never thought I would stay at home!) but still.

 

Our property taxes were $2,500 per year. They aren't much different here in NC. I can't imagine paying NJ or NY taxes. Thankfully we have no reason to move there.

 

I actually found groceries to be cheaper in CA as well as many activities (well at least in SoCal: there were a lot of free museums, beach was free, low cost activities, etc...) whereas here I don't find as many.

 

Yes, the cost of housing is less here, much less, but many expenses are not less (food, retail cost of things like cars and clothing and such).

 

Dawn

 

 

 

Our bills are really high. We are coastal So Cal, but still, I don't know how some of you live so frugally! Our property taxes alone are thousands a year.

[FO4UR]

You know, I think as a whole, we have become a bunch of whiny people when it comes to our expectations of what makes a nice life. My great grandmother had cause to complain during the depression when she was so low in vitamins that she died of pellagra.

 

My grandmother did not complain that she didn't have enough money to buy new shoes but improved them with show polish. She patched pants because she couldn't afford new ones. Getting a bike for Christmas was one of the biggest things that ever happened to my dad. My grandfather was still collecting cans he found on the street and turning them in for money when he got cancer.

 

Now, I see people complaining about money but even their kids have droid phones. People are complaining because they cannot afford swim lessons or karate lessons.

 

Frankly, I am just tired of it. I think there is a huge difference between what people need and what they want and expect.

 

 

I know there are people like this in the world. There are also people in America today who are malnourished, go without clothes/shoes/coats, live without a/c in the summer and with little heat in the winter, drive vehicles that are dangerous b/c they have to go to work and the $ they earn at work barely sustains this lifestlye...