Monthly Income?

[Pomlover2586]

A friend and I were discussing what would be the lowest possible income we could survive on per month- Either as a dual income family or as a single.

The incomes we discussed covered all bills, mortgages, phones etc at current rates- so not cutting back on comcast etc.

We both found it interesting to see what variances we had in expenses, but found we could each survive "bare bones" on 3k a month- note these are not our real incomes- just what we would absolutely need to make ends meet.

Care to share yours? Actual income need not be disclosed, just trying to see how others compare to ours

 

[happygirl]

A friend and I were discussing what would be the lowest possible income we could survive on per month- Either as a dual income family or as a single.

The incomes we discussed covered all bills, mortgages, phones etc at current rates- so not cutting back on comcast etc.

We both found it interesting to see what variances we had in expenses, but found we could each survive "bare bones" on 3k a month- note these are not our real incomes- just what we would absolutely need to make ends meet.

Care to share yours? Actual income need not be disclosed, just trying to see how others compare to ours

Much less then 3,000

 

[Mamakop]

If we had to $4500 a month

 

[plummer925]

A friend and I were discussing what would be the lowest possible income we could survive on per month- Either as a dual income family or as a single.

The incomes we discussed covered all bills, mortgages, phones etc at current rates- so not cutting back on comcast etc.

We both found it interesting to see what variances we had in expenses, but found we could each survive "bare bones" on 3k a month- note these are not our real incomes- just what we would absolutely need to make ends meet.

Care to share yours? Actual income need not be disclosed, just trying to see how others compare to ours

Around $1000 - probably less if I really made it bare-bones!! Yea - I bet we could survive on about $800 a month!

$3000 a month - holy moly!! Not trying to judge at ALL but that is a HUGE amount of income for being "bare bones". It's more than we've ever made in our lives!!

 

[Pomlover2586]

3K a month includes ALL bills- rent/mortgage, insurance, cars, gas, healthcare, groceries, pge, water, internet, cable, phones, cleaning and pet supplies, etc. all at current rates- this does not calculate what we could survive on if we needed to cut down to bare bones due to job loss etc.

P.S. Friend and i live in CA- a rented 2 bdrm apt in CA can cost 13-1800 month just for rent- no utilities. Houses are the same if not more.

 

[plummer925]

Around $1000 - probably less if I really made it bare-bones!! Yea - I bet we could survive on about $800 a month!

$3000 a month - holy moly!! Not trying to judge at ALL but that is a HUGE amount of income for being "bare bones". It's more than we've ever made in our lives!!

Just figured it up -- My bare-bones budget is $908 per month including everything I need, and a few things that are not necessities but make life more pleasurable (like pets and internet).

In fairness - we do own our home so we have no rent or mortgage. We do have property taxes, insurance and repairs/upkeep though.

My budget also includes heat (I live in Maine) and tithe (10% of income).

 

[Mamakop]

I could never imagine living on less then $1000 a month. My $4500- is all of our bills and extra for gas, groceries, pets and stuff for the kids.

 

[JessB320]

You have to also think about size of family, I too can't fathom a budget below $4500-5000 a month, but we are also a family of seven, obliviously if we were a family of 2 or 3 that number would be quite a bit lower. What region you live in will affect your budget as well. Cost of living varies a great deal in different parts of the country.

 

[anc876]

With our current style of living, we can make do with about $2500. If we needed to cut costs and budget tighter, we could certainly do that as well.

2 adults, 1 child (age 2). Mortgage payment. Cars paid off. A couple credit cards used for rewards points and paid off quickly. Bills, gas, and food. Saving and giving.

We use disposable income for eating out, shopping, vacations. We live comfortably on 1 income (I quit working after our son was born) and feel blessed to be able to do so.

 

[it's kelly]

I can see how it can become $3,000 very quickly. Living in NYC our rent alone is half that not including gas, electric, cable, etc.

 

[debbiemomto4]

My taxes alone are $1400 a month plus mortgage on top of that. I would say minimum $5000 a month and that is bare bones.

 

[smcabee]

Probably about 2.5k-3k for us.

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

Around $3,000. Apartments in my area are about $1,000/month for a 1-bedroom, and $1,500-2,000 for a 2 or 3-bedroom. Unfortunately, that's the going rate, and if you're looking for a $700/month apartment, you'll be in 'the hood' or a less desirable neighborhood, to say the least.

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

You have to also think about size of family, I too can't fathom a budget below $4500-5000 a month, but we are also a family of seven, obliviously if we were a family of 2 or 3 that number would be quite a bit lower. What region you live in will affect your budget as well. Cost of living varies a great deal in different parts of the country.

Agreed
Where you live is the biggest factor in expenses, lifestyle comes next.
We pay around 900 a month for our mortgage on 46 acres,
barns, pond, and our 1800 sq.ft. home in rural southern VA.
The cost of living here is much cheaper than where most of you live.
Incomes are lower as well but the quality of life is top notch.

We are a family of 3 including one college student attending a private university.
Our bare bones budget would be about $3,000 simply because even though we could cut out internet,
we already don't pay for TV, we are pretty conservative financially and have a student in college.
We also consider things like having enough life insurance and disability insurance to be part of our bare bones budget.
Today's budget - what we actually work with each month- is actually just a few hundred above the bare bones.
We are frugal. (except for planning that trip to Orlando next month )

Also, when you invest in growing a commodity (farming) there are costs involved and upkeep.
We grow pecans, and we have the cost of trees, horticultural spray, tractor fuel, and probably a bunch of other stuff my husband could list.
We have a few trees producing but 95% are not yet so we have no farm income to offset those expenses yet.
We hope to retire and only work on the farm, perhaps in about 10 years.
Trees should begin producing in about 5 years.

Also, if you are working at home full time with your family, you probably have time to prepare
lower-cost meals from simple ingredients that are more economical.

We both work off the farm full time and I know I certainly don't cook like I used to-
our food costs went up went I went back to work because I don't have time to cook from scratch much anymore- I really miss that.
Our food costs shrink a little when DS goes back on campus.
Great thread...

 

[momjeeps]

You have to also think about size of family, I too can't fathom a budget below $4500-5000 a month, but we are also a family of seven, obliviously if we were a family of 2 or 3 that number would be quite a bit lower. What region you live in will affect your budget as well. Cost of living varies a great deal in different parts of the country.

This is so true. We moved to Arkansas six years ago for this very reason. Since then DH was disabled in an accident. So we have been able to learn first hand what we can and can't live on. Now this is with cutting back a few things, especially Starbucks and eating out. But if need be we can live on $1600/mo but its not fun!

We are a family of 6.

Had we still lived in CA or AZ there is no way we could live on that. Our mortgage alone in AZ was over $1250.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JaymeC]

Our bare bones minimum, meaning no saving for anything and no splurges at all would be about 2k. That's just the cost we would need to house, feed, and clothe us and provide essentials. We're living off of about $800 per month more than that right now, and things are tight, but we're also making the sacrifice of having dh back in school to finish his degree so we're only at one income. And we've lived frugally enough in the past that we've got quite a savings to fall back on if there is an emergency. I think our 'comfort' area is about 4k/month. And that's for 2 adults/2 kids. I don't think that area is as important as the household number. Dh and I lived very comfortably off about 2k/month in Southern California when it was just two of us. Those darn kids are expensive!

 

[rainynight]

Barebones would be about $2500.

 

[fitzy819]

I would say around $3500. We don't have kids either but the cost of living here is pretty high. Our rent alone is $1400 a month.

If we had to we could always cut back on many things and make it cheaper but if we're looking at barebones without cutting back that's what I would guess. I'm shocked ppl could do less than $1000!

 

[HoosierDaddy71]

To stay at the current level of comfort we would need about $2500/month to cover the mortgage, food, transportation, key utilities (electric, phone, internet). That would require cutting some things (gym membership, satellite, cell phone) but nothing extreme.

In pure survival mode, about $700/month. That covers basically just food and transportation. It would require moving in with family.

The reality is that we all adjust our lives to the income level.

 

[Dizisfun]

Around $1000 - probably less if I really made it bare-bones!! Yea - I bet we could survive on about $800 a month!

$3000 a month - holy moly!! Not trying to judge at ALL but that is a HUGE amount of income for being "bare bones". It's more than we've ever made in our lives!!

Wow, Wish we could survive on $800 a month. (your house must be paid for) It's just 2 of us and I have to say including rent, car payment, utilities, etc. that we couldn't live on less than $2500 to $3000 a month. Our rent alone is $1150 a month....