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Wall Street Crisis, Economic depression, government bailout, bad economy effects of average Joe, media out of touch with middle class financial situation
What generation are you? Baby Boomer, Generation Jones, Gen X, Gen Y... and does your husband make roughly higher or around the median US household income (48k).
I'm on the border of generation X... make higher income than median... have a small car payment and mortgage debt. We're making it (very modest living)... but would like to put a lot more into retirement but can't since my daughter just started pre-school (state subsidized but still costs us $$). We don't think we'll have another kid, not because we don't want to... but because it'll deteriorate even more our quality of life and what we can afford for the one kid (college savings, etc.).
I think if you make substantially higher than the median (60k+), in most parts of the country, besides the major metros, you should be able to make it (similar quality of life as parents or typical middle class - modest house, 1 or 2 cars, tv, and one income). In the major metros... median income... you'd be living pretty harsh.
-chuck22b
I'm 30 and my husband is 28. He makes about 40k a year. We have no car payment. We bought our cars off craigslist with cash. They are old but they run well. Most of our furniture is off craigslist or second hand. We have 2 kids. I got a tubal after my dd because we were very fertile and by now I'd have about 5 kids and be on welfare. Didn't want to do that so there you go. We rent our house because we don't plan to stay here. We are starting to save money this year to move to NH when he graduates college in 2 and a half years. He's been going to school for a long time but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel in his education and I'm proud of him. My kids go to a public school. I live up the street from the school and a park so we walk to those places. I have built a stockpile of food and will start spending 40-50 a week starting next month. We eat in and not out. My kids have plenty of clothes, food to eat and a roof over their head. They don't get everything they want materialisticly but they get enough. It's called budgeting. It's not always fun. Sometimes I would just love to just go out and spend but what would I have to show for it? I'd rather plan for the future. My job is to stay home, keep house, raise the kids to be descent human beings and find deals and figure out how to save money. It's time consuming but it works.
I'm 30 and my husband is 28. He makes about 40k a year. We have no car payment. We bought our cars off craigslist with cash. They are old but they run well. Most of our furniture is off craigslist or second hand. We have 2 kids. I got a tubal after my dd because we were very fertile and by now I'd have about 5 kids and be on welfare. Didn't want to do that so there you go. We rent our house because we don't plan to stay here. We are starting to save money this year to move to NH when he graduates college in 2 and a half years. He's been going to school for a long time but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel in his education and I'm proud of him. My kids go to a public school. I live up the street from the school and a park so we walk to those places. I have built a stockpile of food and will start spending 40-50 a week starting next month. We eat in and not out. My kids have plenty of clothes, food to eat and a roof over their head. They don't get everything they want materialisticly but they get enough. It's called budgeting. It's not always fun. Sometimes I would just love to just go out and spend but what would I have to show for it? I'd rather plan for the future. My job is to stay home, keep house, raise the kids to be descent human beings and find deals and figure out how to save money. It's time consuming but it works.
Good for you carlitasway! sounds like you've been doing a good job sticking to a budget and setting your priorities right. Just curious... how do you manage to pay for health insurance, car insurance, renter's insurance and stuff like that.... and are you guys saving for retirement? emergency funds? or college funds?
Sorry for being nosy... just want to find ways to reduce spending, increase savings, and find ways to tighten our budget.
I don't know when it changed... but dual incomes have become common and many families still have to live paycheck to paycheck for standard living expenses.
Dual incomes have become common because people want bigger and better status symbols. People made it by with a single income back in the day because they had a different life-style, one that wasn't centered around buying junk. The difference in attitude between my grandparents and today's 30 somethings is amazing. People today are so much more wasteful and buy an amazing amount of junk.
Anyhow, my mom didn't work full time until I was old enough to stay home by myself (I'm the youngest). We lived in a 1400 sf 4 bedroom house and me and my siblings never got the sort of things kids do today. I remember fondly my hand me down clothes and toys. My grandparents lived even more modestly. Neither my dad or my grandpas had high earning jobs, just normal middle-class jobs.
Anyhow, I think many of the young families got in trouble with debt because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They wanted to have to a traditional family where the mom stays home, yet they also wanted to keep up with their neighbors status symbols.
The credit expansion is over, nothing is going to change that. Everyone that has been subsidizing their life-style with debt is going to get to enjoy an declining standard of living in the future.
Honestly though, stopping to dig yourself into a debt hole isn't easy to do. You have to not only reduce your life-style to your current income, but you have to reduce it further to start paying off the debt. Most people aren't willing to make this change because it requires a dramatic change in your lifestyle. But they are going to be forced to make it soon. The home ATM is gone and they are just buying time with their credit cards.
Quote:
... just want to find ways to reduce spending, increase savings, and find ways to tighten our budget.
If you want to reduce spending...ahem reduce spending. Is it that hard to "find ways" to do it?
Good for you carlitasway! sounds like you've been doing a good job sticking to a budget and setting your priorities right. Just curious... how do you manage to pay for health insurance, car insurance, renter's insurance and stuff like that.... and are you guys saving for retirement? emergency funds? or college funds?
Sorry for being nosy... just want to find ways to reduce spending, increase savings, and find ways to tighten our budget.
thanks,
chuck22b
Car insurance is only liability for us. Health, dental, vision, life insurance gets taken out of dh's check. They take out a lot. Renter's insurance is real cheap and we use the same company we pay our car insurance through. No college funds for the kids. I know it can be controversial. They will have to work hard and get scholarships for their educations and work. We decided to make our retirement our priority since there will be no social security by the time we need it. We are building our emergency fund. Things have been tight so it's not big and no where near where it should be. It's all a work in progress and will continue to be so.
ETA and the most important thing for us is we don't do credit cards. Way too much trouble with those things.
Dual incomes have become common because people want bigger and better status symbols. People made it by with a single income back in the day because they had a different life-style, one that wasn't centered around buying junk. The difference in attitude between my grandparents and today's 30 somethings is amazing. People today are so much more wasteful and buy an amazing amount of junk.
Anyhow, my mom didn't work full time until I was old enough to stay home by myself (I'm the youngest). We lived in a 1400 sf 4 bedroom house and me and my siblings never got the sort of things kids do today. I remember fondly my hand me down clothes and toys. My grandparents lived even more modestly. Neither my dad or my grandpas had high earning jobs, just normal middle-class jobs.
Anyhow, I think many of the young families got in trouble with debt because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They wanted to have to a traditional family where the mom stays home, yet they also wanted to keep up with their neighbors status symbols.
The credit expansion is over, nothing is going to change that. Everyone that has been subsidizing their life-style with debt is going to get to enjoy an declining standard of living in the future.
Honestly though, stopping to dig yourself into a debt hole isn't easy to do. You have to not only reduce your life-style to your current income, but you have to reduce it further to start paying off the debt. Most people aren't willing to make this change because it requires a dramatic change in your lifestyle. But they are going to be forced to make it soon. The home ATM is gone and they are just buying time with their credit cards.
If you want to reduce spending...ahem reduce spending. Is it that hard to "find ways" to do it?
Yea... it is... maybe I should stop paying car insurance.... that would be a great way to "save"... Stop paying health insurance... stop paying home insurance... I think a lot of people don't pay insurance anyways.
I brown bag it to work... and we eat at home. We live very minimalistic lives, don't go out to the movies or anything (well, to be fair, having a toddler prevents going out much anyways). My wife mixes her own cleaning solvents, and my toddler gets clothes from used clothes stores. I don't get new clothes unless they're free or someone gets me something for the holidays. So, yes... it'd be nice to find more ways to save... that are "legal".
Hence why I wanted to see if they can add a personal finance sub-forum. We're not in cc debt... and we have emergency savings... but it'd be nice to save even more... just curious as how others are doing it.
I agree though with most of your assessment for the 30 somethings (but not all Gen Xers live that life style)... I never got as much "things" when I was a kid either. Parent's these days spoil their kids way too much... IMO.
Sorry for being nosy... just want to find ways to reduce spending, increase savings, and find ways to tighten our budget.
thanks,
chuck22b
Start with your food budget. Shop sales, build a stockpile, cook from scratch to lower your bill. If you live in a place that doubles and triples coupons start clipping. I don't. Shop discount stores. Bread outlets, ethnic stores, places like Aldi's(don't have those but many do). Big Lot's and The Dollar Tree. I hang all laundry except underwear, socks, bedding and towels. I hang it inside since I'm allergic to everything outside. It also makes the clothes last longer as well as saving electricity. I wash dishes by hand. I live in a place where summer is the most expensive in terms of electricity. I keep my ac at 80. We live close to the grocery and such so I don't have to waste a lot of gas. My gas lasts me 3 weeks. Free things to do with the kids are hiking, library, parks, board games, etc. Take lunch instead of buying it. Eat in and not out. Unplug things you don't use like cell phone chargers, toasters, coffee makers. Turn off lights. I could go on and on.
Yea... it is... maybe I should stop paying car insurance.... that would be a great way to "save"... Stop paying health insurance... stop paying home insurance... I think a lot of people don't pay insurance anyways.
I brown bag it to work... and we eat at home. We live very minimalistic lives, don't go out to the movies or anything (well, to be fair, having a toddler prevents going out much anyways). My wife mixes her own cleaning solvents, and my toddler gets clothes from used clothes stores. I don't get new clothes unless they're free or someone gets me something for the holidays. So, yes... it'd be nice to find more ways to save... that are "legal".
Hence why I wanted to see if they can add a personal finance sub-forum.
-chuck22b
I'm not talking about insurance, although there are easy ways to reduce your costs there (e.g., raise your deductible). You eat at home, great. But where do you shop? What do you buy? etc. Whats your food budget? What sort of car do you drive? I'm not sure how mixing your own cleaning solvents would safe much money, I spend maybe $10/month on such things.
average joe may have smaller credit card limits if the worse predictions come true. (according to Suze Orman)
Please, please, please! Really, when you think about it, our society has been material driven for the past 20 years. BUY! BUY! BUY! CREDIT! CREDIT! CREDIT!
Who cares if you have the cash now, who cares if you will have the cash down the road? Just buy it now!
Perhaps some of what we've been buying is not needed. Perhaps NOT giving a college kid without a job a credit card is a good thing. Perhaps sending dead people credit cards is not a good thing. (This has happened us! My son died three years ago and he STILL gets offers in the mail. As if that's not bad enough - he was only 17! Even if he were alive, he still should not be offered credit at 17!)
Maybe living within our means will be a good thing....
Last edited by londonbarcelona; 09-30-2008 at 07:37 PM..
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. Renter's insurance is real cheap and we use the same company we pay our car insurance through. No college funds for the kids. I know it can be controversial. They will have to work hard and get scholarships for their educations and work. We decided to make our retirement our priority since there will be no social security by the time we need it. We are building our emergency fund. Things have been tight so it's not big and no where near where it should be. It's all a work in progress and will continue to be so.
. Shop discount stores. Bread outlets, ethnic stores, places like Aldi's(don't have those but many do). Big Lot's and The Dollar Tree. I hang all laundry except underwear, socks, bedding and towels. I hang it inside since I'm allergic to everything outside. It also makes the clothes last longer as well as saving electricity. I wash dishes by hand. I live in a place where summer is the most expensive in terms of electricity. I keep my ac at 80. We live close to the grocery and such so I don't have to waste a lot of gas. My gas lasts me 3 weeks. Free things to do with the kids are hiking, library, parks, board games, etc. Take lunch instead of buying it. Eat in and not out. Unplug things you don't use like cell phone chargers, toasters, coffee makers. Turn off lights. I could go on and on.
