Life Situation: Male, early 40's. 2 adult children engaged in full-time studies who live at home
(experienced spousal abandonment when children were very young). Filing as head of household.
Moved from the rural midwest to a semi-rural area in a mid-Atlantic state about 2 years ago to assist
elderly parents and pursue an employment opportunity. I have had chronic illness for the past 5 years,
yet to be diagnosed, which keeps my hours part-time. I have an associates degree in business. Back in
the midwest I had contracted with NFP's and also had few other side hustles to make ends meet – I was
for all purposes self-employed and had a low income. I am now am employed in marketing.
I previously owned my own home, now renting a house at a below market rate. There are very limited
options for what I would consider affordable housing in this area. Housing costs (regardless of renting
or buying) are about double from where we lived before. Cost of living for everything else is also
higher, especially food.
I began diligently recording income and expenses again this year. What follows is an average monthly
total of each of my income & expense categories of the first half of 2018, with explanations when
needed.
Gross Salary: $2873/month
Pre-Tax Deductions: $0. Employer does not offer any retirement benefits package. Have not opened
any IRA accounts yet.
Other Ordinary Income:
Side Hustles: $192/month
Income Tax: $466/month (includes one time charge of $255 for tax professional to do taxes)
Net Monthly Income: $2599
Average Monthly Expenses: $2368
Charity: $4
Clothing: $24
Education: $53 (Primarily self enrichment, language study, books; will cut out in 2nd half of 2018)
Entertainment: $109 (80% of the 6 month total was a 3 day vacation, the rest are family recreation
times that we always try to schedule at times when it costs the least).
Food: $379
Convenience Store: $3.24
Fast Food: $68.03 (*ugh*)
Groceries: $245
Restaurants: $63
Healthcare: $523
Healthplan: $226 (Medi-Share, 10K family deductible – ACA plan had no networked family
doctors or needed specialists in my immediate vicinity that were accepting new patients, that
plan would have had a similar monthly cost, but a $6000 family deductible).
Physicians: $220 (includes paying off hospital bill @ $100/month)
Drugs: $31
Vision: $46 (Yearly vision checkups and new glasses for me)
Homesteading: $31 (Garden supplies, seeds, chicken food, etc.)
Household: $18 (Cleaning supplies, personal care, pet expenses)
Housing: $1061
Phones: $78 (1 flip phone @ $10/month and 1 “unlimited” smartphone with Boost Mobile at
$50/month. Boost Mobile phone is also the only internet connection I have (8GB hotspot per
month) and I use that to work from home 20-30 hours per month). Avg. monthly amount also
included outright purchase of $79.00 phone to use on Boost.
Rent: $675
Repair & Maintenance: $22 (I am required to provide “basic maintenance” as part of our rental
agreement)
Electric: $76
Garbage: $28
Heating Oil: $128
Propane: $54
Misc: $39
Checks from Bank: $2.62
Gifts: $16
Other: $17 (not sure where this money went to)
Postage/Shipping: $4
Transportation: $180 (2012 Dodge Caliber, 88K)
Insurance: $50
Bicycle Repair: $1
Cleaning: $3
Gas: $96
Parking: $1
Repair & Maintenance: $27
Tolls & Fares: $1
Assets: $37,901 (as of 7/14/2018)
High Interest Money Markets: $27,232 (was hoping to use 20K for a down-payment on a
house)
Brokerage: $664
All Other Accounts: $3995 (Checking, Emergency Fund, Cash)
2012 Dodge Caliber: $6000
Liabilities: $941.21 (as of 7/14/2018)
Credit Card: 624.86 (used for UR points, paid off in full each month)
Hospital Bill: $317 (paying off $100 per month, included in healthcare/physicians above)
Does not include recent ER visit and upcoming medical procedures which will equal or exceed
my yearly deductible.
Observations/Questions:
Monthly Expenses: The clearest place we should cut back is on fast food and restaurants. We're
working toward that goal for the second half of the year. To save money this year, I've switched cell
phone providers, changed my car insurance, and started shopping at the discount bent and dent grocery
again. I'm very open to your observations and suggestions about the rest of our spending.
Savings: First half of the year, all savings went into the Money Markets. I've taken advantage of
various bank bonuses/special rates for opening these accounts, which sure beats the poor rates the local
banks/credit unions were offering. Starting this month I'm back to putting $100 per week in the
brokerage (about 20% of my income). I'd like some ideas on how I should be splitting up my stash. I'd
like to move gradually up to 50% savings rate. Just don't see how to do it with my monthly expenses
as they are. I'd like to retire by 55 – if I can make it that long.
Vehicle: When we moved out here, our previous vehicle would not pass inspection without needing
over $3K of work – more than the vehicle was worth. I had 30 days to purchase something else, which
is how we ended up with the Caliber. The Caliber presently needs about $1000 worth of work
(bubbling paint on rear quarter panel and rear suspension – neither covered under warranty/recall, I've
already checked). I'd like to sell this and get a Honda Fit or a Nissan Versa Note with hopefully better
gas mileage and build quality. I'd like to try to do an “even trade”, even if that means the car I get has
higher mileage or is older than what I presently own. Your thoughts?
Healthcare: I just was diagnosed with a condition (not related to my chronic illness) that will require
surgery. Would it be better to pay them all off in a lump sum and keep on saving each month, or should
I hold off saving and just do a payment plan with the hospitals? I'm looking at having to pay $10K out
of pocket. As if the surgery isn't scary enough. (This is the first time ever that I've met a deductible on
any health plan).
In general: It kills me – I'm earning over 30% more here than where we previously lived, but things
feel tighter than ever. I feel as though I'm spinning my wheels in mud. It's hard for me to see much of a
future here given the cost of housing and property taxes. I'm not sure what to do about my parents who
are in their 80's and live alone and are in declining health. They moved to this area to retire about 15
years ago because they moved from a state with even higher property taxes. I wanted them to move
closer to where we formerly lived when they were thinking of making the change, but dad wouldn't
have any part of it. There's no other family close by, and I'm the only child from my parent's marriage.
I sometimes feel like I'm the one that's going to end up paying (quite literally) for their bad decision to
move here.
My health has taken quite a downturn since moving here as well. I realize I can't prove a direct
correlation and it's all anecdotal.
I'm grateful for my employment that pays quite well for part time work and has nice people to work
with as well, but it's a very small company which I don't believe will offer much opportunity for
advancement in the future. I'm worried, however, with part-time work that I won't fare much better
anyplace else. Looking at the raw numbers, it actually looks like I did better being self employed
earning a lower overall income than being an employee earning more after factoring in tax refunds.
For all these reasons and some others I won't go into here, I have considered moving back to the
midwest, or perhaps even moving out of the country to someplace with less expensive healthcare and
cost of living – I'm fairly proficient in learning languages and enjoy other cultures. (Yes, I'm in fight or
flight mode right now, and I usually choose flight). But what do about my parents? I'd like to hear
from others who have faced a similar dilemma.
That's all for now. I look forward to your feedback and suggestions, and engaging with you in
conversation that hopefully will be able to develop a roadmap for my future.