Do you live / could you live on $14,000 a year? - Page 2

[Leta]

Hey, thanks SM! I will apply. If we could get our attic insulated, that would be the cat's pjs. If we could get our walls and attic insulated, that would put me over the moon.

[Storm Bride]

Not us. Our rent is over $17,000/year.

[Sailor]

Well, when I wasn't pregnant and was not living with my dp, I lived on $10,000 per year. I made double that, but had A LOT of debt, so I put as much of my income into my debt. I rented the cheapest room I could find, held two jobs, and just kept paying the debt.

So, technically, it is possible to live on very little.

Could I do it now? No. I'm pregnant, and live in a small condo with my dp. The rent, utilities, food expenses, etc., are much higher now. We also live in an expensive area.

I'm sure $14,000 per year would be doable assuming you didn't live in an insanely expensive state, and had no debt.

[Jyotsna]

I do, and it is tough. Sometimes (often, to tell you the truth), I don't have the things that I need personally. My kids don't suffer, but I do. Sometimes my kids need something that I can hold off the purchase of because they are okay, but will need it soon. I try to keep a list of things they will need, so I can look at second hand stores ect. When it comes to shoes, I buy new shoes. This past winter hit a little earlier than I was expecting (and will again this year) and I didn't have enough blankets for my kids beds, and ended up taking off my blankets and putting them on my kids blankets. I slept with sheets, 1 blanket and a heating pad, till I could afford more blankets.

If you plan to live like this for a while, you may want to consider house sharing with another mom. I have a 1600 sqft house, with vaulted ceilings, and the amount I pay is low because of a good friend. It's her mothers house, who is deceased, and I just got a very good deal. Unfortunately the college boys who lived in here before tore up the house, so we have been dealing with that, repairing things, sprucing up the place to make it livable.

My van was paid off at my divorce. These are the things that make living like this bearable.

Good luck!

[Sarah W]

There'd be no way. Our rent alone is $2400 a month.

[RiverSky]

Nope, rent for 1 bedroom apartments around here starts at around $800/mth and we are a 4 person family. I suppose we could move somewhere much cheaper....but oh please no!!! I love it here... (southern florida)

[EFmom]

Nope, that would barely cover our mortgage. We don't live in a particularly high cost of living area, but a half way decent tiny apartment in a safe neighborhood would be $750 minimum/month.

[HeatherAtHome]

I'm sure DH and I have lived on $14,000 or less at some point early on in our relationship. Between schooling, layoffs, job search... we had some pretty tight years back in the day. The only problem with that is whenever something came up like car repairs, we had to put it on credit cards. Our rent was around $450 back then in a low COL city.

[Ruthiegirl]

No, not the way we live now. In my fantasy where we live cooperatively in a yurt with a few other families on shared land -- well, maybe I could do it then, but now.

[LeighB]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl

No, not the way we live now. In my fantasy where we live cooperatively in a yurt with a few other families on shared land -- well, maybe I could do it then, but now.

That's my fantasy too!

[lolar2]

We'd have to get things like Section 8 housing, food stamps, etc. to make that work. And if you're counting things like that as additional income, I guess that makes the answer "no."

[transformed]

Originally Posted by Amila

$14,000 doesn't even cover two months worth of our bills/expenses

wow. really? :

[transformed]

Originally Posted by shakashoe

You should check out a blog called "Under 1000 Per Month". I just found it and the young girl who writes it is great. Good luck in your endeavor!

do you have a link?

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by transformed

wow. really? :

She explained earlier-- her mortgage is 1250 a month, health insurance for the family is 700 a month-- that alone brings her expenses to $23,400 a year, before spending on food or anything. Obviously their income is too high to qualify for Section 8 or Medicaid or anything of the sort.

[transformed]

Originally Posted by lolar2

She explained earlier-- her mortgage is 1250 a month, health insurance for the family is 700 a month-- that alone brings her expenses to $23,400 a year, before spending on food or anything. Obviously their income is too high to qualify for Section 8 or Medicaid or anything of the sort.

oooohhhh....sorry I thouht she was sayin she needs 7K a mo to survive.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by transformed

oooohhhh....sorry I thouht she was sayin she needs 7K a mo to survive.

She was saying she needs 7K a mo to survive but she's also including her DH's biz expenses too.

[zinemama]

So basically, the consensus is NO.

The only people who are actually getting by on 14K for a whole family pay no rent or mortgage because someone else is paying it for them, or they have a special arrangement with a housemate or landlord or they are only paying a fraction of the mortgage.

[Kaitnbugsmom]

Our bare-bones expenses are $14,952 and could be slashed by about another 500ish if dh's next term of school wasn't 50 miles each way from our house. With everything included, ie middle dd's karate, family gym membership, student loan repayment, more farm-direct foods, etc, the total goes up to $18,856 give or take a couple hundred for fluxuating fuel & food prices.

But we have a very reasonable rent for our area, $700, and that includes cable TV, wireless internet, water/sewer/trash, and electricity. Our only real household expenses outside of rent are homeowners insurance {State Farm doesn't have a rental policy that matches what our landlord requires so we're the primarys on a homeowners policy that does} and gas heat.

I wish I could find a deal like my parents have. They rent a 4 bedroom house {with only 1 bathroom, which is the only downside} on over 25 acres for $165 a month. We moved in when I was 4, so 27 years ago, and they're still there. The heat is oil furnace and wood stove which is kind of expensive, but not really, around $1200/yr. Electric is around $100 a month and they have satellite for tv now since they don't really go anywhere {In their 70's and most of their friends are dead and the rest live hours away}

[Satori]

Originally Posted by zinemama

So basically, the consensus is NO.

The only people who are actually getting by on 14K for a whole family pay no rent or mortgage because someone else is paying it for them, or they have a special arrangement with a housemate or landlord or they are only paying a fraction of the mortgage.

umm no, look at who's answering, its mostly those who don't. I have my own place, I CHOOSE not to own a home at this point, especially in this crazy expensive state. I don't have a roommate nor do I have plans for one, I have cheap rent (about $200 less then the neighbors are paying) because I got in on a special (and negotiated the terms of the special! $250 off 2nd months rent on a 6 mo lease became that $250 spread out over the 6 months) while rents were down and it was still still down when my lease was up and I managed to get a 1 year lease at that same rate. Rents are now going up and I don't know what we will do when the lease is up but I'm not going to worry about it right now. I'm a great couponer and often get most of what we need for pennies. I shop at mostly at ethnic markets which are far cheaper and I have a huge upright freezer so I can stock up on food when its dirt cheap and I can divert money to other places. I simply make radically different choices then many of the middle and upper income families here make. Like I said earlier, many people often confuse WANTS and NEEDS, heaven knows I often did for years.

[Drummer's Wife]

I can't imagine, to be honest. Even if I had section 8 and food stamps. Okay, maybe if I had no housing costs, no food to buy, medicaid for insurance, and didn't have to pay for a car or gas. Maybe, but it would be hard. We have 6 people, though, and I'm pretty sure a family of 2 making 14K would be right below the poverty line.