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Old 09-26-2008, 04:39 PM
 
Location: Chicago's burbs
1,016 posts, read 4,529,554 times
Reputation: 920

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Taboo2 View Post
You must be from one of those other states that no one wants to live in which therefore makes them cheap to live in, yeah, in those states and cities you only need 1 income.

I live in beautiful charming San Francisco, and out here, you need 2 incomes to get by.
Believe THAT.
You are absolutely correct, cost of living varies GREATLY from one part of the country to the next. That's something a lot of people forget. Not to mention, many people are in careers where the majority of jobs in their field are centered in major cities, and cost of living in and around major cities is usually much higher and often does require 2 incomes. I know Chicago is not cheap, and San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the country.
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Old 09-26-2008, 04:52 PM
 
Location: THE USA
3,257 posts, read 6,110,859 times
Reputation: 1998
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys View Post
Well, then I guess life is all about choices then isn't it? We CHOOSE to put our kids first and, according to you, live in a state that no one wants to live in. A state where we can live within our means and not need to supplement with a second income and put our kids in daycare all day and even on the weekends. Hmmm, I'll take that...

If you look it up, your city actually pays 23.4% more than mine, so even if the cost of living is higher, you still have not made your point.
Do you have any idea how much a mortgage or rent costs here? And gas is the highest in the nation. I may get paid more, but not that much. The cost of living here is the highest in this nation. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883960.html

Everything is WAY more expensive here than anywhere else (aside from manattan and hawaii). We spend more money on shelter here.

"In San Francisco, more than one out of five homeowners with a mortgage spends half or more of their income on housing. "Millions spend half of income on housing - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/cash_strapped_homeowners - broken link)


BTW -Who are you to tell me i CHOOSE to live here? I am a 4th generation Californian and my ENTIRE family is here. My support system. My childrens cousins and aunts and uncles are ALL HERE. I was here BEFORE the prices skyrocketed.

Did you have to leave your entire family and support system behind just to find a reasonably priced place to live?? NO?? Then do not judge where i live, why i live here, and what i have to do to survive living here.

We work because we have to, not because we want to.

Here is a dollar--> $ go buy yourself a clue.

Last edited by Taboo2; 09-26-2008 at 05:03 PM..
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Old 09-26-2008, 05:13 PM
 
Location: Maine
650 posts, read 2,174,749 times
Reputation: 566
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taboo2 View Post
Do you have any idea how much a mortgage or rent costs here? And gas is the highest in the nation. I may get paid more, but not that much. The cost of living here is the highest in this nation. Cost of Living Index for Selected U.S. Cities — Infoplease.com

Everything is WAY more expensive here than anywhere else (aside from manattan and hawaii). We spend more money on shelter here.

"In San Francisco, more than one out of five homeowners with a mortgage spends half or more of their income on housing. "Millions spend half of income on housing - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/cash_strapped_homeowners - broken link)


BTW -Who are you to tell me i CHOOSE to live here? I am a 4th generation Californian and my ENTIRE family is here. My support system. My childrens cousins and aunts and uncles are ALL HERE. I was here BEFORE the prices skyrocketed.

Did you have to leave your entire family and support system behind just to find a reasonably priced place to live?? NO?? Then do not judge where i live, why i live here, and what i have to do to survive living here.

We work because we have to, not because we want to.

Here is a dollar--> $ go buy yourself a clue.
My husband brought home $51,000 last year. Our mortgage was almost $20,000 and our taxes were $4000. We make it work. In a previous post I listed all of the other things that we have to pay for. It doesn't leave much leeway, but we make it work because it is what is best for our children.

You will never convince me that most people NEED a second income to survive. I still think it is all about choices and sacrifice.
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Old 09-26-2008, 06:28 PM
 
Location: THE USA
3,257 posts, read 6,110,859 times
Reputation: 1998
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys View Post

You will never convince me that most people NEED a second income to survive. I still think it is all about choices and sacrifice.
I have to work. I don't want to work.
If I was to stop working permanently (which i did for the first 2 years of my kids lives) I would have to move to east oakland or east palo alto to be able to pay rent.

I would then be neglectful for putting my child in harms way in neighborhoods full of crime and bad schools, they would get shot or raped just trying to get to school. They would join a gang by 11 and be selling crack by 14 (EVEN WITH GOOD OLD MOM STANDING RIGHT THERE TELLING THEM NOT TOO).


You really are being quite unrealistic for most of the nation when you tell people they don't have to work if they really really don't want to.

$50,000.00 couldn't get you a closet here. Houses go for $500,000 at the lowest of the low. Rent? try $2,200 a month for a 2/1 townhouse with no yard.
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Old 09-26-2008, 07:25 PM
 
Location: Tampa
2,119 posts, read 3,700,063 times
Reputation: 2943
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys View Post
My husband brought home $51,000 last year. Our mortgage was almost $20,000 and our taxes were $4000. We make it work. In a previous post I listed all of the other things that we have to pay for. It doesn't leave much leeway, but we make it work because it is what is best for our children.

You will never convince me that most people NEED a second income to survive. I still think it is all about choices and sacrifice.
$51,000/yr with 4 kids and a sahm would be poverty in Tampa.

How old are your four children?
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Old 09-26-2008, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Maine
650 posts, read 2,174,749 times
Reputation: 566
Quote:
Originally Posted by glastron_79 View Post
$51,000/yr with 4 kids and a sahm would be poverty in Tampa.

How old are your four children?
My kids are: 10, 7.5, 4, 18 months.

In the places where people feel like they couldn't survive on that much money and the cost of livings are higher, so are the incomes. I think it all balances out.

You are forgetting about all of the little things we don't have to pay for because I am a sahm. I don't need fancy, expensive work clothes. My kids homeschool, so they are not concerned with looking just like their friends who have expensive clothes/things. I have no problem shopping at Goodwill, and all of my kids have worn hand-me-downs at one point or another.

I can cook real meals for all of us-- no need to eat out everyday. That saves TONS of money! Hubby even comes home for lunch daily.

I can shop where the prices are best, even if I have to go to more than one store.

I don't have to commute to work every day, which cuts down on gas. I do cart the kids to their various activities, so maybe that one is a trade off.

We don't have new and fancy anything, just the basics. I also don't have the added cost of daycare or before/after care. It would be pointless for me to work, as my whole paycheck would go to those things.

The kids have TONS of toys and they each have their own bedroom. We are all happy, healthy and well-fed. We are alos all very close knit-- mostly because we are together so much.

I consider it my job to make our lives work on our one meager income. I would love to see all of the things that others spend their money on. I'd be willing to bet that 2 incomes wouldn't be necessary if people were more frugal.
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Old 09-26-2008, 10:50 PM
 
Location: GIlbert, AZ
3,032 posts, read 5,242,111 times
Reputation: 2105
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2girlsand2boys View Post
My kids are: 10, 7.5, 4, 18 months.

In the places where people feel like they couldn't survive on that much money and the cost of livings are higher, so are the incomes. I think it all balances out.

You are forgetting about all of the little things we don't have to pay for because I am a sahm. I don't need fancy, expensive work clothes. My kids home-school, so they are not concerned with looking just like their friends who have expensive clothes/things. I have no problem shopping at Goodwill, and all of my kids have worn hand-me-downs at one point or another.

I can cook real meals for all of us-- no need to eat out everyday. That saves TONS of money! Hubby even comes home for lunch daily.

I can shop where the prices are best, even if I have to go to more than one store.

I don't have to commute to work every day, which cuts down on gas. I do cart the kids to their various activities, so maybe that one is a trade off.

We don't have new and fancy anything, just the basics. I also don't have the added cost of daycare or before/after care. It would be pointless for me to work, as my whole paycheck would go to those things.

The kids have TONS of toys and they each have their own bedroom. We are all happy, healthy and well-fed. We are alos all very close knit-- mostly because we are together so much.

I consider it my job to make our lives work on our one meager income. I would love to see all of the things that others spend their money on. I'd be willing to bet that 2 incomes wouldn't be necessary if people were more frugal.
sorry, but why would the rest of us want to live like you...no offence, but a few years ago, there was a woman who drowned 4 of her children in a bathtub in similar situations as you. She couldnt handle being at home so much.
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Old 09-26-2008, 11:31 PM
 
Location: NE Oklahoma
1,036 posts, read 3,057,126 times
Reputation: 1093
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foreverking View Post
sorry, but why would the rest of us want to live like you...no offence, but a few years ago, there was a woman who drowned 4 of her children in a bathtub in similar situations as you. She couldnt handle being at home so much.

Sorry Foreverking...didn't you get the memo??? 2girlsand2boys lives in a perfect world and does everything right. Check her other posts, you will see.
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Old 09-27-2008, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,640 posts, read 11,874,054 times
Reputation: 9885
If a family can live on one income and everybody is happy, I think that's great. But I really wonder if these people are truly living on one income or are borrowing from their future.

For example, most of the people I know who live on one income don't have an emergency savings fund. Or enough life insurance. They aren't saving enough for retirement, either. If the working person becomes disabled or loses their job, the former stay at home parent will never be able to get a comparable job.

Quite frankly, and this is my opinion, but I think it incredibly risky for both parents to *not* work--especially in today's economy. Also, there is no way I'm sending my husband out there alone to come up with enough money to take care of our family of five including health insurance, life insurance, enough money left over for an emergency savings fund, and enough money to save for both of us in our old age. I love him too much to put him under that kind of intense pressure. Incidentally, my kids have never been in daycare (b/c we couldn't afford it--not knocking daycare) and my husband and I have always taken care of them together--working opposite shifts, working from home, etc. My husband is just as capable as me of cooking home-cooked meals and doing laundry. And so are my kids. A family that works together, shares chores, roles are blended so that whatever needs to be done is done---I much prefer that to the more inflexible working dad-stay-at-home mom roles of the past.
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Old 09-27-2008, 09:36 AM
 
Location: GIlbert, AZ
3,032 posts, read 5,242,111 times
Reputation: 2105
Quote:
Originally Posted by bande1102 View Post
If a family can live on one income and everybody is happy, I think that's great. But I really wonder if these people are truly living on one income or are borrowing from their future.

For example, most of the people I know who live on one income don't have an emergency savings fund. Or enough life insurance. They aren't saving enough for retirement, either. If the working person becomes disabled or loses their job, the former stay at home parent will never be able to get a comparable job.

Quite frankly, and this is my opinion, but I think it incredibly risky for both parents to *not* work--especially in today's economy. Also, there is no way I'm sending my husband out there alone to come up with enough money to take care of our family of five including health insurance, life insurance, enough money left over for an emergency savings fund, and enough money to save for both of us in our old age. I love him too much to put him under that kind of intense pressure. Incidentally, my kids have never been in daycare (b/c we couldn't afford it--not knocking daycare) and my husband and I have always taken care of them together--working opposite shifts, working from home, etc. My husband is just as capable as me of cooking home-cooked meals and doing laundry. And so are my kids. A family that works together, shares chores, roles are blended so that whatever needs to be done is done---I much prefer that to the more inflexible working dad-stay-at-home mom roles of the past.
you and I agree, maybe this thread is morphing into a new topic, but I agree with everything you said. My health insurance is actually more than my mortgage, its actually more than my wife brings home with her 30 hours a week. I wish I could see the future to see if I was ever going to use it because I could be putting that money away. Gas and food are ultra expensive now. I bet America is getting thinner just because its more affordable. Add Daycare to that, the feeling of guilt for leaving your child with some one else when you know its not supposed to be that way and you have a formula for stress. Don't tell me how to run my life, and I don't need others to tell me how I'm ruining my kid by putting him in daycare, I'm just trying to keep it going (the money week by week), as long as I can....trying to race to the finish line before I'm completely broke.
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