My parents put me through a Christian school K-4, a different Christian school 5-8, then (very good) public highschool, then a private university.
I had friends who "did school" all over the spectrum (Christian private, secular private, parochial, public, and homeschooling), and I think it gave me a good perspective on the way ALL of these methods can shine... or fail (yes, even homeschooling).
In the end, it depends on the parents, the child, the environment, and the child's phase in life. There is no one-size-fits-all solution; the most important thing is to be involved in your kids' schooling and be open to change if things aren't working.
Some good points made here. It's a widely recognised principle that makes sense but sometimes we just need that reminder.
I find it really annoying when people cling to something that happened in their dim and distant past as if it were responsible for their present circumstances. I think thats why when people overcome a real tragedy and go on to do great things we get really inspired by their example??
Thanks for great post for the rest of us frugal geeks! The more things you can connect to saving money, the better it sounds and the easier it is to do.
You know, more people should listen to Yoda.. the world would be a much better place! lol
I've tried all of the drugstore rebate programs in my area, CVS, Walgreens and Riteaid. Personally, I like Riteaid the best because I don't have to keep track of the slips of paper. I'm terrible about shoving paper in my purse and forgetting it until I get fed up with the mess and just throw everything out! I don't have to hurry back to the store if I don't want to to make sure that my savings don't expire. Riteaid allows me to submit and track my reciepts online and once/month I get my check that goes straight to my savings acct. I have a reminder set up on my email once/month to submit a request for my reciepts so they all go in at once. EASY!
What I have realized in reading everyone's posts is that the items that I would always leave on the shelf because I just didn't have any use for and pout because I knew they were free, I can actually put to very good use! I had never thought of donating those items. I had thought of selling some of the things on Ebay, but usually the items in question are things that I personally wouldn't want to buy on Ebay, like deodorant. A girlfriend of mine once lived in a women's shelter and she tells me that things like that would have gone a long way for her.
There's a hand held potato masher that came with the cottage I've never used. I've been sitting here today wondering what else on Earth I could get rid of to streamline things. That's going in the donation box. Thanks, Thursday.
Social Security payments to retirees should not be considered as government assistance or an entitlement program. This is a forced program by the government to collect money for retirement and those receiving the payments have paid into the system. A self-employed person is taxed at 15.3% of the first $97,500 that he/she earns for Socal Security and Medicare taxes. An employed person has the same amount taken out only part of it is paid by the employoer. So, yes, people certainly depend on their Social Security payments to fund their retirement but it is definitely not a handout.
I am all in favor of the government stepping in to help people who need it but do not like to hear that Social Security is a handout when it's a system that many people pay up to $15,000 a year into, people who could invest that $15,000 a year to most likely get a better return on their investment to use for their retirement.
those small, round plastic containers that you buy grated parmesan cheese in or small soups from chinese restaurants are awesome for a variety of things. I use mine for making salad dressing. Put all the ingredients in, seal the lid, and shake vigorously. Or making big batches of homemade tomato sauces like Bolognese and storing it in the freezer for future use. These are great for portion control too. Scoop out a single serving of yogurt from a larger container and bring it into work for breakfast. Best of all is that they're (relatively) free!
Pyrex mixing bowls are handy multipurposers--you can obviously mix things in them, but you can also use them as serving bowls, balance them over a large pot to serve as a double boiler (7-minute frosting is a sadly dying art), heat things in the microwave or conventional oven. You can even use them to bake the perfect base for a barbie-doll cake! (Bake cake in pyrex bowl, decorate like a ball gown, and insert real barbie doll with clothing on top half!)
Also, if you don't have a popcorn popper but want to break the micro habit, you can pop corn very well in a large dutch oven--just add a few tablespoons of oil and 1/3 c popcorn, keep your burner on medium, and shake frequently while heating.
Another alternative to the knife strategy (I use that for one or two cloves). Try throwing all the cloves into a plastic bowl with a lid. Put the lid on, shake vigorously for about 10-15 seconds. Open the lid and, PRESTO, peeled garlic. It's best if it is a hard plastic bowl.
You sound exactly like me! I don't want to afford a sh**TY house here in the Bay Area either. Anyway, Anthony's post doesn't seem to include housing but I know a lot of people who are way over their heads in renting or buying places that eat up pretty much all of their money. I am kind of intrigued by Anthony's grooming obsession. How many soaps and colognes do you need? A bar of soap or bottle of shampoo lasts a pretty darn long time for me. I used to really love L'Occitane products and their shampoos were pretty expensive, but I would buy them on sale and they lasted a pretty long time.
I doubt anyone is still reading this, but I wanted to say one more thing (I was poster #5). I am a conservative (oooh, dirty word these days - though I am more libertarian than republican) and I strongly believe in personal accountability. I just can't stress that enough. I think it's absolutely essential and not nearly common enough. It's beginning to be that people don't even know what personal accountability looks and sounds like. I'm sorry, but circumstances are almost always dictated by decisions we make. Situations that are beyond your control are the exception, not the rule. I can't believe that drug abuse and parenthood are even on anyone's list of things that "happen to" someone. Drug abuse doesn't HAPPEN TO YOU. You choose to take drugs. Parenthood doesn't HAPPEN TO YOU. I think few are unclear on what causes pregnancy. Even most things that do indeed "happen to" you can be planned for.
This is not to say that people don't need help sometimes, even when their choices did lead them to need it. I just don't happen to believe that it's the government's right to take my hard earned money, or your hard earned money and dole it out as they (or you) see fit. Maybe I would rather my money go to the family whose child is struggling with cancer rather than to someone like my husband's father who sits his able body at home on the couch with a beer while he collects "disability" for years. This is not to say that all people are abusing the system, or even that most people are (I happen to agree that most are not), it's just to say that it is MY money and *I* should decide who I would like to help with it.
Some have mentioned that they believe that private organizations would not be able to judiciously distribute money to those who need it. To that I say, that is the BEAUTY of privatizing charity. I would NEVER give my money to a charitable organization that would not lend a hand to a same sex couple, or a single black mother, or to a recovering addict that really is trying to get his life together... as I am sure you would not. Give your money to an organization that is in line with your beliefs and your values.
Speaking of values, I want to mention one other thing about them. There is a lot of room for further discussion on values when it comes to this topic. Someone that they were made fun of for having hand-me-down clothes in school. I am afraid that the only solution to that is a completely communist form of government. It's the only way to make sure no one ever has what you do not. Unfortunately, not enough people are teaching their children that wealth is something that A.) has to be worked for, B.) doesn't happen overnight, and C.) doesn't reflect on your character. My children spent most of their early years on an extremely right budget because we (their parents) chose to have children before either of us had an education. While their dad was in school, we shopped at consignment shops and ate a lot of rice and pasta. When they complained when they couldn't have Gameboys and clothes from the trendy store, we talked to them about how hard we were working so that we could be more comfortable. Now that we are quite comfortable, we continue to teach them about how hard it was to get to where we are now, how long it took us, and how they shouldn't let having or not having some THING determine whether they are happy. I guess what I am saying is that complaints like the one above really come down to the values we teach our children and will not be affected by who does and does not receive government assistance.
Someone explained this to me long ago. You have money, labor and materials in any project. This applies to your budgeting too. If you have the disposable money you could use that to solve a problem or need. If not your going to need to rely on labor and existing materials to make up for it. You always have a certain finite number of each at any given time.
One repair on a newer expensive to repair car can be a whole years worth of repairs on a slightly older or cheaper to repair car. Since our local VW & Audi Dealer pretends they cater to an affluent select group of people their prices for repairs are outragous. They are about 4x the cost of the same repair on our slightly older dodge truck. So we learned to do some of the basic work ourselves by researching online and connecting with groups that work on their VW's for a hobby. If it is beyond our skill and time availability we have a couple of standard repair shops that will work on imports. We use the dealer as the last resort. But parts and general repairs for that car are still fairly expensive.
I still get jealous at people that own old Hondas or Toyotas with over 200,000 an no major repairs.
I'm sure it's appreciated. This article was intended to get a good dialogue going, and I think we've achieved that! (Plus I've learned alot from researching it and hearing from everyone.) Thanks for contributing to the conversation!
This is simple and will help everyone who has to drive in LA. I would put on tons of advertising like PSAs, especially during the most mindless hours of TV, i.e. reality shows.
The PSA would tell people some basics of driving:
1. Use your turn signal when you change lanes, it's built into the car for a reason
2. Me leaving a 3 second gap to the car in front does not mean I left it for you to cut me off
3. A tow truck or stalled car on the side of the road does not mean you should slow down to 5mph to gawk, if you'd like, I'll buy you a picture of the above for your private enjoyment and you can stare at it all day at your leisure when you're not in a car
4. If you insist on being in the fast lane, please keep up with traffic, even if it means going over the speed limit, if you can't handle that responsbility, there are other lanes or local streets for your enjoyment
5. If your exit is coming up, please move to the outside lanes so you don't end up cutting across 4 lanes of freeway to make it
6. Flashing headlights behind you mean YIELD, not open fire
7. Your car is capable of taking most sections of LA freeways at the indicated speed or higher, please don't slow down to 10mph because you think your car will flip over
There's tons of other rants, including certain exits where people always come to a stop even though there's no accident or anything. Everyday I crawl past these exits and then the traffic just magically opens up.
Hopefully, if that even saves the average commuter 5 minutes a day from other empty-skulled drivers, it adds up to 25 minutes a week, or 1,300 minutes in a year... imagine, 21+ hours extra of free time better spent doing anything, including nothing, instead of watching other people waste your life because they can't drive. Heck, even 1 minute a day is 260 minutes a year, or more than 4 hours of your life saved!
But then again, with FU money, I would have a driver or a heli for most things and I wouldn't have to work or keep to much of a schedule so I can avoid most driving all together. Wouldn't that be a dream?
...even old (but cheap) cars that aren't 100% reliable. You learn some car maintenance. It's that old comfort-zone issue. I started cutting down on expenses 2 years ago, and other than buying even LESS groceries, I think the roof over my head is the only thing I have left to give up. Good luck on your money journey!
I think what a lot of the comments are missing is that, the hardest part of personal finance is dealing with these harsh realities of your financial existence.
I wrote this post to make myself accountable for these areas I often think about and struggle with in our budget. Although we still spend less than we make (despite being a student, I still make far more than the mean/median household income).
What should not be missed here, is that we all have areas of our lives that create constant stress and struggles. The reality is we are not going to sell both cars and rely on questionable used automobiles and sparse public transportation. The reality is that we have cut back on eating out and spending greatly, but it is an ongoing struggle.
Thank you for all the great comments, and although some of the critique bordered on being what I call "tough love" I am very appreciative of all the insight provided.
Holy Cow! Two students, and not just car loans, but large car loans. I'm thinking it's either your education or your car loans - you choose.
But congrats on trying to sort out your budget. And you're right, it takes years to change your relationship with money. Even harder when you're married or in a relationship where you share costs and income. I'm assuming you're still in your 20s. Thanks for a courageous article.
Ditch the car payments, and if you HAVE to dine out, Wendy's has a great dollar menu (stack attack, anyone?!).
I live in Massachusetts, and I used the online calculator to figure out exactly HOW poorly off I'd have to be to qualify. If I was working 20 hours a week at minimum wage, had no car, and shared a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other people? I still wouldn't qualify. On the upside, I'd have free health insurance, thanks to the compulsory health insurance here in Massachusetts. Now, if only 2 of us were splitting the rent on that 2 bedroom, rent would be more than half my take-home pay, so I'd suddenly qualify for food stamps. And with food stamps comes a panoply of other benefits, like utility assistance. I really believe that the system here in MA is structured poorly, and encourages lying, because you must be in truly dire straits to qualify.
I do give food and toiletries to our local pantry because I feel there are a lot of people who just need a little help. That link is to an article about our local pantry that profiles several people who receive help, and still own cars. I believe selling your car is one of the requirements to receive food stamps here in Massachusetts, which seems like it would hamstring any attempt to find better work.
I'm off the original thrust of the article, but I agree with many above: The system could be better, but people still need help when things go awry.
I was in Detroit at Thanksgiving and read an article about Mitch Albom, who was visiting a homeless shelter. The article really drove home the fact that anyone can be homeless, like someone said above if "too much life happens all at once." He's a famous author, but the homeless men and women there assumed he was one of them, because it doesn't take much to make that leap. Untreated mental illness, medical bills, downsizing (especially in Detroit!), drug addiction, or a host of other things can put you in a bad financial situation and in need of some help. Take it. It can happen to anyone, and feeling bad about it won't make the situation better. Getting out of the situation will make your life better.
We didn't live this high on the hog when we were both full time working professionals. I agree with the other post that your both trying to live far ahead of your stage in life. That level of spending when you don't have money coming in is just scary. Unless you have some huge trust fund hiding in the wings your one bad circumstance away from disaster. What if one of you got in a bad car accident tomorrow, couldn't finish school and couldn't work any longer? Even if you have something like long term disability insurance those plans have a pesky way of not panning out when the company wants to retain profitability by refusing to pay them out or dragging you through court in order to settle for a portion of the value. Even safety nets are not givens. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night carrying that much debt and spending without a really good cash flow.
Automotive
Sounds like you both realized this is eating at your budget. But why do students have car loans? From the sound of it they are fairly big loans. Have you looked into selling the cars, paying off the balance of the loan and buying something cheaper yet still reliable?
Dining Out
We save dining out for about every few months and treat it as an entertainment expense. But we try to make cooking on weekends entertaining and something interesting.
Wedding
Do you really NEED a big wedding? So much of the expense in a big wedding is people doing what others tell them they "must do". Of course those must do's are intended to send as much business as possible to the wedding industry. Would a really nice well done reception be an option? We opted for a more casual social event since we were both adults who had their own lives when we got married.
Consumer Debt
Beyond using as an emergency fund why would anyone be racking up credit card debt as a student. That has to get paid off some time . Hedging your bets based on possible future income is pretty risky.
Grooming
Find one set of things or products you really like and stick with them. Trying new things all the time ends up wasting money. Just remember that sometimes your paying for the "luxury" (packaging and where you bought it) rather than the product itself. Target has some pretty decent performing product lines that don't break the bank.
With FU money, I would set my household up to self sufficient, energy wise. I would invest in windmill and solar power and apply it all towards my smallish home in Central New York. I would also have time to help others learn how to apply these qualities to their homes or it could be a small side business for hubby? I would not work, opting instead to have a huge summer garden and the time to can and save for the winter. Basically, I would have my home turn into a 21st century, self contained hippie paradise. I would only work at my church as a volunteer- twice a week maybe. My kids would continue public school- but hubby & I would have time to plan for really adventurous vacations on the cheap- camping, cross country kind of stuff (travel would be in the electric or otherwise green van we would retro fit).
I doubt I would give up the homespunny, secondhand ways I have worked so hard to acquire- I would just spread out my circle of teaching how a bit further.
Eating out is a biggie for me. I've cut it down to once or twice a week, but I'm tempted sometimes to just order a pizza after a hectic day, an evening that doesn't go well, trying to get my kid through his homework . . .sometimes I just don't have the energy for cooking.
Groceries are another drain. Even though I don't always have time for it, I love to cook, so when I go to the grocery, I end up buying more expensive items. I've recently stopped buying foods imported from China, and I'm buying more organic/locally grown foods. That puts a real drain on the budget. Eating healthy is expensive.
When I was 10, I tried to convince my parents to let me be a Jedi when I grew up... I wish I had been able to use your list to convince them. :)
My parents put me through a Christian school K-4, a different Christian school 5-8, then (very good) public highschool, then a private university.
I had friends who "did school" all over the spectrum (Christian private, secular private, parochial, public, and homeschooling), and I think it gave me a good perspective on the way ALL of these methods can shine... or fail (yes, even homeschooling).
In the end, it depends on the parents, the child, the environment, and the child's phase in life. There is no one-size-fits-all solution; the most important thing is to be involved in your kids' schooling and be open to change if things aren't working.
Some good points made here. It's a widely recognised principle that makes sense but sometimes we just need that reminder.
I find it really annoying when people cling to something that happened in their dim and distant past as if it were responsible for their present circumstances. I think thats why when people overcome a real tragedy and go on to do great things we get really inspired by their example??
Thanks for great post for the rest of us frugal geeks! The more things you can connect to saving money, the better it sounds and the easier it is to do.
You know, more people should listen to Yoda.. the world would be a much better place! lol
I've tried all of the drugstore rebate programs in my area, CVS, Walgreens and Riteaid. Personally, I like Riteaid the best because I don't have to keep track of the slips of paper. I'm terrible about shoving paper in my purse and forgetting it until I get fed up with the mess and just throw everything out! I don't have to hurry back to the store if I don't want to to make sure that my savings don't expire. Riteaid allows me to submit and track my reciepts online and once/month I get my check that goes straight to my savings acct. I have a reminder set up on my email once/month to submit a request for my reciepts so they all go in at once. EASY!
What I have realized in reading everyone's posts is that the items that I would always leave on the shelf because I just didn't have any use for and pout because I knew they were free, I can actually put to very good use! I had never thought of donating those items. I had thought of selling some of the things on Ebay, but usually the items in question are things that I personally wouldn't want to buy on Ebay, like deodorant. A girlfriend of mine once lived in a women's shelter and she tells me that things like that would have gone a long way for her.
Thanks!!!
I love it. Cool post.
There's a hand held potato masher that came with the cottage I've never used. I've been sitting here today wondering what else on Earth I could get rid of to streamline things. That's going in the donation box. Thanks, Thursday.
Social Security payments to retirees should not be considered as government assistance or an entitlement program. This is a forced program by the government to collect money for retirement and those receiving the payments have paid into the system. A self-employed person is taxed at 15.3% of the first $97,500 that he/she earns for Socal Security and Medicare taxes. An employed person has the same amount taken out only part of it is paid by the employoer. So, yes, people certainly depend on their Social Security payments to fund their retirement but it is definitely not a handout.
I am all in favor of the government stepping in to help people who need it but do not like to hear that Social Security is a handout when it's a system that many people pay up to $15,000 a year into, people who could invest that $15,000 a year to most likely get a better return on their investment to use for their retirement.
those small, round plastic containers that you buy grated parmesan cheese in or small soups from chinese restaurants are awesome for a variety of things. I use mine for making salad dressing. Put all the ingredients in, seal the lid, and shake vigorously. Or making big batches of homemade tomato sauces like Bolognese and storing it in the freezer for future use. These are great for portion control too. Scoop out a single serving of yogurt from a larger container and bring it into work for breakfast. Best of all is that they're (relatively) free!
Pyrex mixing bowls are handy multipurposers--you can obviously mix things in them, but you can also use them as serving bowls, balance them over a large pot to serve as a double boiler (7-minute frosting is a sadly dying art), heat things in the microwave or conventional oven. You can even use them to bake the perfect base for a barbie-doll cake! (Bake cake in pyrex bowl, decorate like a ball gown, and insert real barbie doll with clothing on top half!)
Also, if you don't have a popcorn popper but want to break the micro habit, you can pop corn very well in a large dutch oven--just add a few tablespoons of oil and 1/3 c popcorn, keep your burner on medium, and shake frequently while heating.
Another alternative to the knife strategy (I use that for one or two cloves). Try throwing all the cloves into a plastic bowl with a lid. Put the lid on, shake vigorously for about 10-15 seconds. Open the lid and, PRESTO, peeled garlic. It's best if it is a hard plastic bowl.
Hi Zannie,
You sound exactly like me! I don't want to afford a sh**TY house here in the Bay Area either. Anyway, Anthony's post doesn't seem to include housing but I know a lot of people who are way over their heads in renting or buying places that eat up pretty much all of their money. I am kind of intrigued by Anthony's grooming obsession. How many soaps and colognes do you need? A bar of soap or bottle of shampoo lasts a pretty darn long time for me. I used to really love L'Occitane products and their shampoos were pretty expensive, but I would buy them on sale and they lasted a pretty long time.
I had this a "gourmet burger" restaurant in New Orleans once - peanet butter on a burger sprinkled with bleu cheese. Good stuff.
I doubt anyone is still reading this, but I wanted to say one more thing (I was poster #5). I am a conservative (oooh, dirty word these days - though I am more libertarian than republican) and I strongly believe in personal accountability. I just can't stress that enough. I think it's absolutely essential and not nearly common enough. It's beginning to be that people don't even know what personal accountability looks and sounds like. I'm sorry, but circumstances are almost always dictated by decisions we make. Situations that are beyond your control are the exception, not the rule. I can't believe that drug abuse and parenthood are even on anyone's list of things that "happen to" someone. Drug abuse doesn't HAPPEN TO YOU. You choose to take drugs. Parenthood doesn't HAPPEN TO YOU. I think few are unclear on what causes pregnancy. Even most things that do indeed "happen to" you can be planned for.
This is not to say that people don't need help sometimes, even when their choices did lead them to need it. I just don't happen to believe that it's the government's right to take my hard earned money, or your hard earned money and dole it out as they (or you) see fit. Maybe I would rather my money go to the family whose child is struggling with cancer rather than to someone like my husband's father who sits his able body at home on the couch with a beer while he collects "disability" for years. This is not to say that all people are abusing the system, or even that most people are (I happen to agree that most are not), it's just to say that it is MY money and *I* should decide who I would like to help with it.
Some have mentioned that they believe that private organizations would not be able to judiciously distribute money to those who need it. To that I say, that is the BEAUTY of privatizing charity. I would NEVER give my money to a charitable organization that would not lend a hand to a same sex couple, or a single black mother, or to a recovering addict that really is trying to get his life together... as I am sure you would not. Give your money to an organization that is in line with your beliefs and your values.
Speaking of values, I want to mention one other thing about them. There is a lot of room for further discussion on values when it comes to this topic. Someone that they were made fun of for having hand-me-down clothes in school. I am afraid that the only solution to that is a completely communist form of government. It's the only way to make sure no one ever has what you do not. Unfortunately, not enough people are teaching their children that wealth is something that A.) has to be worked for, B.) doesn't happen overnight, and C.) doesn't reflect on your character. My children spent most of their early years on an extremely right budget because we (their parents) chose to have children before either of us had an education. While their dad was in school, we shopped at consignment shops and ate a lot of rice and pasta. When they complained when they couldn't have Gameboys and clothes from the trendy store, we talked to them about how hard we were working so that we could be more comfortable. Now that we are quite comfortable, we continue to teach them about how hard it was to get to where we are now, how long it took us, and how they shouldn't let having or not having some THING determine whether they are happy. I guess what I am saying is that complaints like the one above really come down to the values we teach our children and will not be affected by who does and does not receive government assistance.
Someone explained this to me long ago. You have money, labor and materials in any project. This applies to your budgeting too. If you have the disposable money you could use that to solve a problem or need. If not your going to need to rely on labor and existing materials to make up for it. You always have a certain finite number of each at any given time.
One repair on a newer expensive to repair car can be a whole years worth of repairs on a slightly older or cheaper to repair car. Since our local VW & Audi Dealer pretends they cater to an affluent select group of people their prices for repairs are outragous. They are about 4x the cost of the same repair on our slightly older dodge truck. So we learned to do some of the basic work ourselves by researching online and connecting with groups that work on their VW's for a hobby. If it is beyond our skill and time availability we have a couple of standard repair shops that will work on imports. We use the dealer as the last resort. But parts and general repairs for that car are still fairly expensive.
I still get jealous at people that own old Hondas or Toyotas with over 200,000 an no major repairs.
I'm sure it's appreciated. This article was intended to get a good dialogue going, and I think we've achieved that! (Plus I've learned alot from researching it and hearing from everyone.) Thanks for contributing to the conversation!
This is simple and will help everyone who has to drive in LA. I would put on tons of advertising like PSAs, especially during the most mindless hours of TV, i.e. reality shows.
The PSA would tell people some basics of driving:
1. Use your turn signal when you change lanes, it's built into the car for a reason
2. Me leaving a 3 second gap to the car in front does not mean I left it for you to cut me off
3. A tow truck or stalled car on the side of the road does not mean you should slow down to 5mph to gawk, if you'd like, I'll buy you a picture of the above for your private enjoyment and you can stare at it all day at your leisure when you're not in a car
4. If you insist on being in the fast lane, please keep up with traffic, even if it means going over the speed limit, if you can't handle that responsbility, there are other lanes or local streets for your enjoyment
5. If your exit is coming up, please move to the outside lanes so you don't end up cutting across 4 lanes of freeway to make it
6. Flashing headlights behind you mean YIELD, not open fire
7. Your car is capable of taking most sections of LA freeways at the indicated speed or higher, please don't slow down to 10mph because you think your car will flip over
There's tons of other rants, including certain exits where people always come to a stop even though there's no accident or anything. Everyday I crawl past these exits and then the traffic just magically opens up.
Hopefully, if that even saves the average commuter 5 minutes a day from other empty-skulled drivers, it adds up to 25 minutes a week, or 1,300 minutes in a year... imagine, 21+ hours extra of free time better spent doing anything, including nothing, instead of watching other people waste your life because they can't drive. Heck, even 1 minute a day is 260 minutes a year, or more than 4 hours of your life saved!
But then again, with FU money, I would have a driver or a heli for most things and I wouldn't have to work or keep to much of a schedule so I can avoid most driving all together. Wouldn't that be a dream?
As the first person to post a comment relating to this article, I want to apologize if my comments offended anyone. Thanks.
...even old (but cheap) cars that aren't 100% reliable. You learn some car maintenance. It's that old comfort-zone issue. I started cutting down on expenses 2 years ago, and other than buying even LESS groceries, I think the roof over my head is the only thing I have left to give up. Good luck on your money journey!
Now this post has got me thinking. There is plenty more about money laundering than what this article has in it. Thanks for sharing this though.
I think what a lot of the comments are missing is that, the hardest part of personal finance is dealing with these harsh realities of your financial existence.
I wrote this post to make myself accountable for these areas I often think about and struggle with in our budget. Although we still spend less than we make (despite being a student, I still make far more than the mean/median household income).
What should not be missed here, is that we all have areas of our lives that create constant stress and struggles. The reality is we are not going to sell both cars and rely on questionable used automobiles and sparse public transportation. The reality is that we have cut back on eating out and spending greatly, but it is an ongoing struggle.
Thank you for all the great comments, and although some of the critique bordered on being what I call "tough love" I am very appreciative of all the insight provided.
Holy Cow! Two students, and not just car loans, but large car loans. I'm thinking it's either your education or your car loans - you choose.
But congrats on trying to sort out your budget. And you're right, it takes years to change your relationship with money. Even harder when you're married or in a relationship where you share costs and income. I'm assuming you're still in your 20s. Thanks for a courageous article.
Ditch the car payments, and if you HAVE to dine out, Wendy's has a great dollar menu (stack attack, anyone?!).
I live in Massachusetts, and I used the online calculator to figure out exactly HOW poorly off I'd have to be to qualify. If I was working 20 hours a week at minimum wage, had no car, and shared a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other people? I still wouldn't qualify. On the upside, I'd have free health insurance, thanks to the compulsory health insurance here in Massachusetts. Now, if only 2 of us were splitting the rent on that 2 bedroom, rent would be more than half my take-home pay, so I'd suddenly qualify for food stamps. And with food stamps comes a panoply of other benefits, like utility assistance. I really believe that the system here in MA is structured poorly, and encourages lying, because you must be in truly dire straits to qualify.
I do give food and toiletries to our local pantry because I feel there are a lot of people who just need a little help. That link is to an article about our local pantry that profiles several people who receive help, and still own cars. I believe selling your car is one of the requirements to receive food stamps here in Massachusetts, which seems like it would hamstring any attempt to find better work.
I'm off the original thrust of the article, but I agree with many above: The system could be better, but people still need help when things go awry.
I was in Detroit at Thanksgiving and read an article about Mitch Albom, who was visiting a homeless shelter. The article really drove home the fact that anyone can be homeless, like someone said above if "too much life happens all at once." He's a famous author, but the homeless men and women there assumed he was one of them, because it doesn't take much to make that leap. Untreated mental illness, medical bills, downsizing (especially in Detroit!), drug addiction, or a host of other things can put you in a bad financial situation and in need of some help. Take it. It can happen to anyone, and feeling bad about it won't make the situation better. Getting out of the situation will make your life better.
We didn't live this high on the hog when we were both full time working professionals. I agree with the other post that your both trying to live far ahead of your stage in life. That level of spending when you don't have money coming in is just scary. Unless you have some huge trust fund hiding in the wings your one bad circumstance away from disaster. What if one of you got in a bad car accident tomorrow, couldn't finish school and couldn't work any longer? Even if you have something like long term disability insurance those plans have a pesky way of not panning out when the company wants to retain profitability by refusing to pay them out or dragging you through court in order to settle for a portion of the value. Even safety nets are not givens. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night carrying that much debt and spending without a really good cash flow.
Automotive
Sounds like you both realized this is eating at your budget. But why do students have car loans? From the sound of it they are fairly big loans. Have you looked into selling the cars, paying off the balance of the loan and buying something cheaper yet still reliable?
Dining Out
We save dining out for about every few months and treat it as an entertainment expense. But we try to make cooking on weekends entertaining and something interesting.
Wedding
Do you really NEED a big wedding? So much of the expense in a big wedding is people doing what others tell them they "must do". Of course those must do's are intended to send as much business as possible to the wedding industry. Would a really nice well done reception be an option? We opted for a more casual social event since we were both adults who had their own lives when we got married.
Consumer Debt
Beyond using as an emergency fund why would anyone be racking up credit card debt as a student. That has to get paid off some time . Hedging your bets based on possible future income is pretty risky.
Grooming
Find one set of things or products you really like and stick with them. Trying new things all the time ends up wasting money. Just remember that sometimes your paying for the "luxury" (packaging and where you bought it) rather than the product itself. Target has some pretty decent performing product lines that don't break the bank.
With FU money, I would set my household up to self sufficient, energy wise. I would invest in windmill and solar power and apply it all towards my smallish home in Central New York. I would also have time to help others learn how to apply these qualities to their homes or it could be a small side business for hubby? I would not work, opting instead to have a huge summer garden and the time to can and save for the winter. Basically, I would have my home turn into a 21st century, self contained hippie paradise. I would only work at my church as a volunteer- twice a week maybe. My kids would continue public school- but hubby & I would have time to plan for really adventurous vacations on the cheap- camping, cross country kind of stuff (travel would be in the electric or otherwise green van we would retro fit).
I doubt I would give up the homespunny, secondhand ways I have worked so hard to acquire- I would just spread out my circle of teaching how a bit further.
Eating out is a biggie for me. I've cut it down to once or twice a week, but I'm tempted sometimes to just order a pizza after a hectic day, an evening that doesn't go well, trying to get my kid through his homework . . .sometimes I just don't have the energy for cooking.
Groceries are another drain. Even though I don't always have time for it, I love to cook, so when I go to the grocery, I end up buying more expensive items. I've recently stopped buying foods imported from China, and I'm buying more organic/locally grown foods. That puts a real drain on the budget. Eating healthy is expensive.