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Nothing's impossible. It's called living within your means. 1/3 for taxes??? You must be single.
How much do YOU pay for food? NO ONE ON THIS PLANET NEEDS to spend $200/week for food. for two people .... $50 is WAY MORE than enough.
this country lives to eat, it doesn't eat to live. I USED to live to eat. I don't anymore. My choice? Yes. Guess what? I lost 30+ lbs and love myself for it.
I am a single parent who has one child and gets child support. I claim 2. His father makes $50K. Do the math. I get EItC. No I'm NOT lazy. I work as much as can and still be here for my child. I am a loyal employee to my job and I get to switch my schedule around to accommodate school and such. Thankfully we don't get sick. (one 3-4 day cold a year for each of us). I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT let a daycare raise my child. I see what happens to children that are "raised" by daycare. (No, not everyone...) No there's no family that can watch my child. for one... he's MY child and two.. my parents are elderly and my siblings all live out of state.
Are you having TROUBLE controlling the VOLUME of your VOICE?
$50 a week to feed two people? I guess that's plenty if you're eating ramen 3 meals a day...
You didn't mention that you receive child support, that obviously changes the income situation a bit. If you could show proof that you're bringing in X amount on top of your salary, it might be enough to satisfy potential landlords who would otherwise take issue with your income.
That's amazing that you can survive on that budget, hats off to you. I really need to learn from people like you.
My take home is about 2/3 of what I make, no i am not single, but i have full medical, put quite a bit into my 401k, life insurance, yada yada yada... I'm sure you do the same, but the deductions are different.
No car is a biggie. We spend at least $500/mo on gas alone. I got my oil changed this evening, $80 full synth. $200/mo to insure 2 cars.
Do you clip coupons? I just spent $30 on shampoo....
That's amazing that you can survive on that budget, hats off to you. I really need to learn from people like you.
My take home is about 2/3 of what I make, no i am not single, but i have full medical, put quite a bit into my 401k, life insurance, yada yada yada... I'm sure you do the same, but the deductions are different.
No car is a biggie. We spend at least $500/mo on gas alone. I got my oil changed this evening, $80 full synth. $200/mo to insure 2 cars.
Do you clip coupons? I just spent $30 on shampoo....
Hats off to you as well. That budget would not work for me and it's only my husband and I.
The govt says, "Here's your credit so you WON'T struggle ... now take your kids to Disney!"
PS: Actually the ones taking their kids to Disney, buying new furniture, etc., at income tax refund time are mainly "single" with kids and qualify for the Earned Income Credit and whatever else scheme there is for the supposed working poor plus, most importantly, the "Head of the Household" tax status (which pays the LOWEST percentage of all) BUT they live with the baby daddy (baby mommy), so s/he pays into the bills too. They do their income taxes separately so one or both of them "looks poor" ... and it's all legal! A bonus from Uncle Sam for not getting married when you have kids! All on the backs of the middle class who are either "Single" or "Married" on their income tax returns and pay more accordingly.
I REALLY REALLY shouldn't be explaining myself like I have to prove myself, but I am anyway. Maybe I can teach Long Island something.....
I lived w/ my "baby daddy" (which is SO WRONG in my situation, but w/e) for 4 yrs previous and 7 yrs after he was born. I was 32 when I had him. I'm 41 now. I've been at my job for 20 years. YES 20 YEARS.
My ex had his own stupid money problems. I fixed mine. No, we were not married, but I'm the only one responsible for my son so *I* claimed the EITC. He has child support arrears and any refund would be kept anyway. I DID NOT HAVE ANY GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE WHATSOEVER.. INCLUDING NO HEALTH INSURANCE. (like i said before, thank God I don't get sick or have no health problems,... and FYI.. I HAD health insurance when my son was born, but I was FT)
I have NEVER been to Disney, or on any other "extravagant" trip in my LIFE. Unless you count the Renaissance Fair and the Bronx Zoo once a year as "extravagant". I have only been to maybe 8 states and half of them were only to drive thru. My EITC is divided by 12 and that is added to my income each month unless there is an emergency, then that monthly amount changes. Usually I catch up on bills in February, namely cable and the two less than 500-limit cards I have in case of emergencies because usually by October the money is gone.
Why did I claim the EItC when technically he should have? (he made more) because he said he can use it to pay for his arrears. My answer to that was, "So you want our son to pay for your child support that you should have paid in the first place?" He never contested my claiming our son, so I still claimed him. Why do I claim "head of household"? Because that's what the accountant told me to claim. I knew NOTHING about taxes 9 years ago. I was single and filled out 1040EZ and got back a few hundred dollars (I always claimed 1.. again, because I was told to because less taxes are taken out).
I'm sorry I didn't know doing something that was "allowed" is wrong and I'm sorry you see me as a "pilferer of society" and "stealing your money" because I'm not. I'm far from it.
And FYI, I worked TWO JOBS from out of HS until I was 32 weeks pg, then worked 55 hrs/week until my son was born. If I didn't have him, I'd STILL be working two jobs.
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