KrissiK Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Dh and I were a little older when we got married (34) and both were working. We had no debt (we still have nO debt, we pay cash for cars, and paid off our house last year). I stopped working when we did our first adoption. I'm not going to list all the ways we make ends meet, they are probably a repeat of what everyone else has said, but a big thing is about priorities. What is important to you in life? For us, it is important that I stay home with the kids. It is important that dh is able to take the kids to practices and be there for games, so he doesn't work insane hours. We are fortunate that he does have a professional job (mechanical engineer, so he earns a decent wage) We don't care if we wear hand-me-downs and clothes from Target, drive old cars and have flip-phones instead of smart phones. We don't take fancy vacations and are the last people we know to get a Wii. And it's the "mini" model. Not the "U". But we don't care because we don't want the lifestyle that comes with acquiring the latest and the greatest. You make choices and it really comes down to that. You can't have it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 We get by on one salary because DH makes 3X as much as local school teachers. It's a HCOL area, so what seems like an extravagant salary elsewhere keeps you just barely comfortable here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtzc2009 Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 DH and I met in college, neither of us finished school. DH went into a trade and has done very well for himself. Our income is quite higher than the average teachers salary. I worked up until I became pregnant with child #3. Although my work mostly paid for childcare and fun expenses. We got pregnant within the first year we were married so the expense of kids came right away. Through DH's union he was a good size pension & retirement fund. When we've had to buy cars, we buy used and we don't have any car payments. Any debt we acquire we work hard to pay extra and pay it off quickly. We don't live nearly as frugally as we could and it's something that bugs me. I am more of a saver but dh feels like he works hard and earns a good living so he should be able to buy what he wants. (he does discuss big purchases with me before he makes them). The home we bought is a large home but it needed updating. We have done the work ourselves and will continue to tackle projects as time and money allows. We live in a medium COL area. We've started college funds but...yeah...it's slow going. Our kids are able to do the sports & classes that they enjoy. Our biggest struggle is medical debt. 2014 our medical expenses were around 10% off our income. Hoping 2015 is a better year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Back when I was staying home with the kids, my husband's salary was probably less than a school teacher's salary. We were within a few dollars of qualifying for WIC. However, we had no student loans. The only loan we had was the mortgage, which was kind of high because of our area. We had one old car and my husband mostly walked or rode his bike to work (and when he did drive, the gas wasn't much because it was close). We shopped a lot of rummage sales. I rarely bought new clothes. We didn't eat out much. We never ran out of money. Never even came close or worried about it. In fact, that was the period of time in which I managed to pay off the mortgage in 7 yrs instead of 15. But, we didn't start out in a hole. Being debt free except for the housing debt, and having only one old clunky car were probably the two biggest things that made it work. I think if you had sizable credit card or student loan debt, this wouldn't be possible. If we'd had to buy a car, we would have been in trouble. Also, we didn't save a thing for college. We knew that the kids would have their tuition paid if my husband stayed in his job. And if he didn't stay, he'd probably move to something higher paying (although not as secure). We did do some retirement saving, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 We're on our 5th car, by the way (after 30 yrs). It would be the 4th, but we each started with a car when we met and married (could have got by with one at that point). Or the 3rd, if we hadn't splurged and got something we felt safe driving on the freeway. The last car we bought already had 300K miles on it. We figure it can go back and forth to work in the winter and to the grocery store. And we are hanging onto a piece of junk that will likely be non repairable very soon (no more parts being made for it and the junk yards are running out of that model). But, this will be our gift to our daughter when she finally gets her license. If it lasts that long. We only have it back right now because our first daughter (who we gifted it to) gave it back to us when she bought a car of her own. Apparently she wanted doors that opened, a gas gauge, and a speedometer. (picky picky) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.