Author Topic: Living Paycheck to Paycheck  (Read 6533 times)

shelivesthedream

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Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« on: December 09, 2014, 06:12:11 AM »
This is sad. He wrote a play about living on a volatile income after getting laid off. Sure, their house looks full of crap and they're buying basketball shoes, but still. They all have health issues and look like they've been dealt a pretty rum deal. I feel very sorry for them.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000003261636/paycheck-to-paycheck.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_fs_20141208&nl=video&nlid=68866712

BCBiker

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Re: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2014, 07:00:19 PM »
I think that the featured family could significantly improve their lives by reading this blog. I bet there are all kinds of expenses that could be cut or improved, and with their current income could start socking away a stash. I also notice the clutter everywhere: that stuff could be the start.  They also live in a relatively large house for a family that is struggling so much. If electricity bill is too high, move to a smaller house, don't use the dryer, don't watch TV, etc.

These are the things I really enjoy about the blog. With MMM advice basically everyone can find ways to save and improve their lives. I wish I knew someway to share the message here with them.

MrsPete

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Re: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2014, 08:37:28 PM »
Yeah, their story is a sad one, but in that short segment I could see several things they could do to improve their situation:

- As the other poster said, downsize to a smaller house (of course, they might be upside down) and sell some of that clutter.
- Buy the kids' shoes used (hey, I'm a financially stable working adult, and I'm not too proud to buy gently used shoes).
- Quit feeding your kids cold cereal!  It's an incredibly expensive food. 

taekvideo

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Re: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2014, 09:08:18 PM »
Yeah, their story is a sad one, but in that short segment I could see several things they could do to improve their situation:

- As the other poster said, downsize to a smaller house (of course, they might be upside down) and sell some of that clutter.
- Buy the kids' shoes used (hey, I'm a financially stable working adult, and I'm not too proud to buy gently used shoes).
- Quit feeding your kids cold cereal!  It's an incredibly expensive food.

Cold cereal isn't really expensive... I get bran flakes from Aldi and it comes out to like 25cents / bowl (not counting milk).
If you're buying the $5 boxes of special K (you know the ones with abnormally thin boxes..) or some other nonsense then yeah it's expensive, but it doesn't have to be.

JoyBlogette

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Re: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2014, 01:17:43 PM »
With basically no information given in the video it is hard to judge or give advice.  I would say that if the wife has a steady income from a government job they should probably downsize their lifestyle to live off of her income.  I agree with others that there is likely room for improvement in housing costs and buying more things used.

Fallenour

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Re: Living Paycheck to Paycheck
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2014, 09:28:42 PM »
I came from a poor family where my dad was a box maker, and my mom was disabled. Ive hit low points in my life where I was drinking big red out for calories, and living out of my car.

They could have it so much worse, and they made a lot of choices getting to where they got. They should downsize their costs, and control all of their spending. Plus all of the stuff I can see there, they have plenty of money, or had it at some point, they should put that money away, and keep those costs down.

Also, I hate to say this, but he and she have 2 kids together, what appears to be a 2 car garage home, with what looks like the garage itself is at least 25-30 ft deep (at least from door way to end of garage is at least 21 (door ways average 3 feet wide, and roughly 7 door ways fit from the other side of the doorway to the garage door entrance).

If you take that into consideration, and assume a car could pull at least 4 feet further in before hitting the wall, Id say its at least a 25 ft garage. For a place to be wide enough to fit two cars, with the average vehicle beign 5-6 ft wide, plus a 2ft gap, and another vehicle, plus 4 ft for walk space, your looking at a ~25ftx16ft garage, the living room is at least a 30x30, and the kitchen looks like its about 300 sqft.

All in all the house is very large. For all the bikes I saw, mowers, lawn ornaments, and tools, id say they have a lot of ways of getting cash back into their pockets. Id start with downsizing into something cheaper, or doing a 1031 swap to something cheaper.