Author Topic: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?  (Read 25072 times)

Exflyboy

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Hi all,

Got into an interesting conversation with a fellow MMM yesterday (no names) who indicated that he and his Wife spend well above the $25k Nirvana and seem to be pretty frugal. I honestly don't KNOW what my Wife and I spend but we are "hoping" its around $30k.. Its just the two of us a horse (cost about $110 a month), paid off Mortgage and about $1700 in RE taxes.

We have about $3k per year charitable giving (which we would like to keep funding) and live in Oregon (projected state taxes of say 2k).. Up till now we have assumed that as MMM Pete spends about $25k.. we would spend about $30k.

We are about to start tracking our actual monthly against our projected monthly budget of $1908... this is just for basic living, no vacations, road trips or anything so we thought that seemed very reasonable.

But then in thinking about it, I can't remember seeing if people are really spending about this much or if Pete is some sort of super frugal human and the rest of us have no chance?

So simple question.. $25k.. Really does that work in a reasonable state like Oregon (i.e not Kalifornia or NYC)?

Frank

jhartt3

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2014, 12:26:26 PM »
It takes me until 35 to reach FI living on 30k per year if we drop our living cost to that at retirement from our current 50k a year lifestyle.  we probably could hit the mark by 30 if we went there now.  we are 27 and 26. man as i type this i think we should try to cut back to that.  but we have decided to not cut back our living and just work til the ripe old age of 40 and retire then.  One interesting thing i'm now considering ... is what if you cut your cost to the 30k now.  how much earlier could i reach the 1.25MM we need to retire at 50k a year.  and would we ramp our lifestyle back up to that

sorry this was a ramble

Thespoof

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2014, 12:31:06 PM »
I spend $36,000 a year to live. I rent an upscale condo downtown Calgary...probably the most expensive city in Canada. $12,000 of that $36,000 is child support. Once that goes away in 11 fckn years I'll be in great shape to be living on the cheap! Fckn divorce has cost me the opportunity to retire anytime before I am sixty.

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2014, 12:33:07 PM »
Actually that was a good ramble.. I mean cutting back now has huge FI advantages.. But it also reduces your risk, e.g if you lost your job in say a few years then you will be glad you had dropped your expenditure because you'd be closer to FI and therefore less at risk of losing your house etc etc.

Frank

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2014, 12:35:00 PM »
I spend $36,000 a year to live. I rent an upscale condo downtown Calgary...probably the most expensive city in Canada. $12,000 of that $36,000 is child support. Once that goes away in 11 fckn years I'll be in great shape to be living on the cheap! Fckn divorce has cost me the opportunity to retire anytime before I am sixty.

So take out child support and your living on $24k (US) and that is for one person but includes rent.. How much is your rent?

Frank

4alpacas

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2014, 12:39:38 PM »
We are still working on reducing our spending.  With that, we spend WAY more than $25k/year.  Housing alone (rent for a one bedroom apartment) puts us around $25k. 

DougStache

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2014, 12:53:26 PM »
We live comfortably spending ~27k/year, including our mortgage (10k/year) and 4-5k/year on travel.  However, we're in Kentucky which is very reasonably priced compared to some places. 

Honestly, our level of spending is easy here by just not eating out, and sharing one car.  We still have a lot we could choose to cut (personal spending, groceries, travel), but I feel we've struck a sweet spot on the spending vs happiness spectrum.

dandarc

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2014, 12:53:30 PM »
We are currently spending at a rate of 57K per year.  This is for me and my wife, and 2 cats.  We are in the process of cutting the budget.

Some large items in our budget that push it up, and we could cut fairly easily in an emergency scenario.

Donations - 7800
Travel - 6000
Gifts - 1800
Maid - 3100 (I know, I know - clean our own house)
Piano Lessons for Wife - 1600
The dreaded Misc. - $8400 (this is our current focus for cutting)

So I guess we could get to 28300 or less tomorrow if we really wanted / needed to.  I'm also sure we could cut even further than that - that's just minus the big items mentioned above.

So I mean, to me it certainly looks like it can be done, but we choose not to get down under 30K right now.  A big help for us is our paid off condo - condo fees / taxes / insurance run under $300 / month.  Of course we're thinking about selling said condo and moving closer to everything and our costs will certainly go up if we do that.

jpo

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2014, 12:56:13 PM »
We are at about $30k with a mortgage. Expenses excluding mortgage would be about $17k, and that's a generous estimate.

2 adults and a 75lb dog.

NumberCruncher

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2014, 01:04:53 PM »
Two adults:

w/rent: $35k

w/o rent: $21k

Includes $5k for travel and charity ($5k is for both travel and charity, not $5k for each).

/edit -- we live in a highish cost of living area -> that rent's for a decent 1 bdrm
/edit -- not including health insurance premiums - those add about $2500 in cost (employer provided HDHPs that come with an additional $1200 the employers put into the HSAs, so real cost to us is more like $1300)
« Last Edit: February 20, 2014, 07:43:29 AM by NumberCruncher »

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2014, 01:05:08 PM »
We are at about $30k with a mortgage. Expenses excluding mortgage would be about $17k, and that's a generous estimate.

2 adults and a 75lb dog.

This and Dougstche.. We live comfortably spending ~27k/year, including our mortgage (10k/year) and 4-5k/year on travel.  However, we're in Kentucky which is very reasonably priced compared to some places.

[/quote]

Holy cow that is impressive!

I just talked to a friend.. Her and her Hubby plus one kid live on about $22k gross... Including a mortgage.. I know things are VERY tight for them but even so amazing!

Frank


smalllife

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2014, 01:10:13 PM »
With a mortgage and animals, 2 humans easily living on under 30k/year.  I can't imagine spending that amount not including housing!

jfer_rose

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2014, 01:10:56 PM »
I am one person and a cat living a ridiculously luxurious life with spending of $24,000 per year in a crazy high cost of living area. About half of this amount is for housing.

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2014, 01:12:28 PM »
I must admit I am feeling a little more encouraged now..:)

Frank

arebelspy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #14 on: February 19, 2014, 01:20:46 PM »
Here is our spending for the last 3 years (2 adults, Las Vegas area):
2011: ~$22,000
2012: ~$21,000
2013: ~$18,700

That includes our housing (mortgage, not rent) and student loans (both of which I technically could skip counting the principal part of those payments, and only count the interest, but I have included both the principal and interest amounts in the above figures).  Housing is about 6k/yr if you want to subtract that out and not count it to have an apples-to-apples comparison.

Additional income taxes paid above our withholdings (i.e. giant check we send to the IRS in in April) is not counted, though all other taxes (like property tax) are.

That counts lots of wasteful spending (we take vacations, have fancy electronics like iPads and laptops, unlimited iPhone plan, etc.) in there.  If we wanted to cut the fat, there's a lot we could trim.  But, as noted in the "frugal fatigue" thread, we spend as much as we want, whenever we want.

We did not mean to decrease our spending (actually were planning to increase it), it just happened, apparently (I was surprised when totaling the final numbers for 2013 a few weeks ago).
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 01:24:08 PM by arebelspy »
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pdxcyn

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #15 on: February 19, 2014, 01:26:25 PM »
I'm in Oregon. I track my spending and for me alone it was around $14K. My husband doesn't track his but is just as frugal and we split all bills 50-50 so probably $28K for both. The mortgage is paid off. So yes, I think $30K is eminently doable.

Our biggest luxury is eating out once a week. We also have two cars which I would definitely cut back to one if I were FI>
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 01:35:26 PM by pdxcyn »

dragoncar

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #16 on: February 19, 2014, 01:26:50 PM »
Yep.  Do we have an expenses poll yet?

edit: this is close, but maybe I'll start a specific poll
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/what's-your-target-annual-income-in-retirement/
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 01:28:23 PM by dragoncar »

milla

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #17 on: February 19, 2014, 01:31:48 PM »
We spend 31k/yr with two kids and a mortgage. I don't see what the big deal is. We even have two cars and are doing renovations to the house.

netskyblue

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #18 on: February 19, 2014, 01:34:38 PM »
Spending for one, including $725/mo rent last year (it went up to $750/mo this year): $23,106.85.  I was making more, working 2 jobs, and got a little spendier than I should have.  Bad me.

This year, even including the $750 rent, I'm shooting for $18017.15.  That's right, rent is estimated to be 50% of my annual spending.  People without rent/mortgage, I don't know what the hell they're spending all that money on!  There was a lot of crap I was able to cut, including expensive cell phone plan.  I could cut probably another 2k if I wanted to give up gifting, lower my thermostat, and go to dial-up internet.  Not gonna happen though, unless due to emergency.

Exflyboy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #19 on: February 19, 2014, 01:36:45 PM »
Well its a big deal if you don't KNOW what your spending like we don't.. We are very frugal of course.. I have just quit work and I'm a little gun shy having just waived goodbye to a fairly muscular salary..:)


Yes a poll would be great.. I though of that after I started reading these posts..:)

Frank

ruthiegirl

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2014, 01:37:53 PM »
We spend $36,000, including rent, for a family of 6 in Oregon. 

ETA-- double-checked 2013 and the total was $36,213.55 and that included fancy kid activities -- viola, soccer, swim team and baseball.  We could cut back a lot more if necessary.  Our savings rate is 50% of gross, so life is pretty sweet right now
« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 01:55:32 PM by ruthiegirl »

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #21 on: February 19, 2014, 01:40:05 PM »
We spend $38K for two (including rent) around the Boston area. But we do live a very ridiculously luxurious life.

jhartt3

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #22 on: February 19, 2014, 01:44:12 PM »
our yearly spend rate is easily around 45k right now but that includes a gross amount of money for vacations we are talking 800 a month.  it also includes my wife's car payment of 360 and my car payment of 108.  a truck insurance of 50 bucks.  get rid of cable 50 and get rid of our home interest at retirement.  430 so if i cut our vacations in half which is probably what we actually spend.  thats 400+108+360+50+50+440~ 1500 a month give or take that cuts  18000 bucks off putting us right around 28k when we retire.  now what we havent accounted for is our 2 kids we plan to have.  or the cost of healthcare at retirement.  so you can probably add back in 400 a month for the health care on the high side.  and 200 a month for the kids maybe 300.  lets just say 700 total which brings savings down to 800 a month once those expenses are gone.  or around 10k a year meaning we could live with 2 kids retired at 40 or earlier for 35k a year  and i probably grossly over estimated the cost of health insurance.  AND this is living a pretty amazing lifestyle in a lake community with a boat and wakeboarding etc. and 5k a year in vacations. 

Insanity

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #23 on: February 19, 2014, 01:48:28 PM »
We are still working on reducing our spending.  With that, we spend WAY more than $25k/year.  Housing alone (rent for a one bedroom apartment) puts us around $25k.

Is that including the Four Alpacas? :)

nottoolatetostart

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #24 on: February 19, 2014, 01:49:58 PM »
We would, except there are 3 of us, soon to be 4 and one Fido.

Note that if we stayed here in this house, my estimates of $29K also include $2K for random misc house maintenance and another $6K for health insurance. We eat in and would also only have 1 car.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #25 on: February 19, 2014, 01:51:45 PM »
Two adults, early to mid-twenties, we are below 25k, including $900 and some change per month in rent. No kids.

minimalist

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #26 on: February 19, 2014, 02:10:00 PM »
Girlfriend and I have separate finances, but we spend $30k a year including rent and two cars. I would give up my car in retirement.

YK-Phil

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #27 on: February 19, 2014, 02:17:24 PM »
Our expenses in 2013 were under $20K per year, including vacations, but I was working for an airline until last October and we would travel on the very cheap, like under $500 for a week in Hong Kong or Istambul.

Our typical monthly budget for 2014 is higher because I must commute by plane to Yellowknife where I now work. While my commute adds about $6,000 per year, I tripled my salary. While in Yellowknife, I house-sit most of the time for free (which usually includes finishing whatever is left in the fridge) or stay with friends. I am also using my bike to commute and to run most errands whether I am in Yellowknife or Calgary. Also, we now rarely use our car, which sits in the garage 3 weeks out of 5 (my wife prefers to use public transit), and being new, requires little maintenance except a couple of oil changes a year. Our condo is paid for, so this is our real annual budget.

Food and restaurant: $600 (a bit high, but this includes a teenage daughter, and an adult son camping in our living room, hopefully temporarily)
Condo Fees: $380
Power: $50
Internet: $25
Phone: $105
I hate this but we are stuck with needing a land line for the condo, $35, just to buzz people in, and I have 6 months left on my cell phone plan, $70, after which I will ditch the cell phone
Condo Insurance: $10
Car (Gas and Maintenance): $40
Car Insurance: $100
Buss Pass: $100
Clothing (wife owns a clothing consignment store): $0
Miscellaneous (art shows, etc.): $50
Airfare (commute to work): $500

Total: $1960

We still plan to take at least a few weeks off this year to go to either Japan where my wife is from, or Spain/France/Italy where my relatives are, but I plan to use Aeroplan points (thanks to another thread, I just made over 60,000 points by signing up for 4 credit cards in the past two months), so airfare would be under $500 for both, and hotel/food under $1,000 or much less if we do some couchsurfing or stay with friends and relatives. Total cost for our annual vacation will be under $1,500.

« Last Edit: February 19, 2014, 07:44:17 PM by ykphil »


daverobev

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #29 on: February 19, 2014, 04:57:00 PM »
Ah we probably spend, as in not investing/saving and not investing-related-debt, less than $25k including a mortgage...

I have our budget at ~$1650 including $650 mortgage.

Now. That is not what we actually spend. Perhaps budget is the wrong word; our estimated mandatory spending, including an amount for maintenance, tax, etc, etc.

Cassie

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #30 on: February 19, 2014, 05:05:51 PM »
Mandatory spending is totally different then what people actually spend. I think the poll was talking about what we really spend.

seattlecyclone

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #31 on: February 19, 2014, 06:11:00 PM »
Housing aside, we were around $30k last time I checked over a trailing 12-month period. We could probably get this down by $5k (or more) if we cut down on travel and eating out, but we're happy enough with our rate of progress toward FI as it is.

jawisco

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #32 on: February 19, 2014, 06:30:31 PM »
We spent 25K last year, but 10K of that was travel.  We have very low housing costs (no mortgage, $260/year taxes, small house so low utilities).  I feel like it is very luxurious - can't believe how good I have it!

BPA

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #33 on: February 19, 2014, 06:48:14 PM »
My 15 year old son and I live on less than $25k a year after mortgage payments.

We don't have a car but spend $3k/year traveling to our trailer on the east coast.  We live in a lower cost area.  My brother rents a room from us. 

It depends on priorities, but it can be done.

Those who say it can't be done haven't been creative enough, in my opinion, or they don't want it badly enough.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #34 on: February 19, 2014, 06:55:27 PM »
Family of two people here, living on $25k excluding the mortgage. And we're in a high cost of living area. It's totally possible. We have plenty of luxuries.

We plan to increase our spending in the future, but that's a separate issue.

lizzzi

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #35 on: February 19, 2014, 06:59:16 PM »
We're positioned similarly to frankh, except no horse. We're doing $30,000 in a relatively cheap area. But (yeah, I know--facepunch), we still have not cut cable TV and a too-expensive cell phone. Also, the monthly discretionary spending on books, DVDs, music, and clothing is outrageous and must be curbed. There is no reason we can't cut out the fat and should be able to do $25K easily.

ch12

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #36 on: February 19, 2014, 07:05:57 PM »
We live on about $24,000 a year with rent.

Our household expenses per month from the last 3 months:
Internet 47.47
Food 220-400
Electric 29-40
Gas (heating) 13-45
Rent 1130
Gas (car) 37

One time expense: parking the car at the airport: 58

Our entire total for household expenses (without rent) for 2 people for three months was 1393.68.

We also pay for things on our own, but we're both safely spending less than 1000 per month per person.

daverobev

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #37 on: February 19, 2014, 07:30:20 PM »
Mandatory spending is totally different then what people actually spend. I think the poll was talking about what we really spend.

Was that @ me? If so - yes, and I'm saying "we spend sub $25k; we spend about $1.6k a month on mandatory stuff (inc mortgage) = $19.2k a year; and we spend less than $6k extra".

Dat ok wit'choo? :)

Jamesqf

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #38 on: February 19, 2014, 07:58:43 PM »
Add another sub-$25K, including about $13K/yr mortgage, for 1 human, 2 dogs, and a horse.  I don't track expenses exactly, just count up what's left over at the end of the month.

dragoncar

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #39 on: February 19, 2014, 08:10:57 PM »
Add another sub-$25K, including about $13K/yr mortgage, for 1 human, 2 dogs, and a horse.  I don't track expenses exactly, just count up what's left over at the end of the month.

manure - hay = profit?

zinethstache

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #40 on: February 19, 2014, 08:11:06 PM »
I've been monitoring our expenses for two years now and taking out some bloat and the mortgage were are 32k post FI. Our home is very unmustachian and if we downsize I think 30k is reasonable. We're in a higher COLA area and could also consider a move from here (Pacific NW - no state income tax) to get even lower. 2 people 1 big cat:)

kendallf

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #41 on: February 19, 2014, 08:28:26 PM »
I might as well be the one to say that we're way, WAY over $25k.  At least for last year.  $60k excluding housing expense.  The cool part is that our expenses are dropping, dropping.. our youngest is now in college on a full scholarship, our oldest is out of college and working, our cars and related bills have been downsized, etc.  Our biggest remaining weak point that I'd like to improve is frequent dining out. 

I'm happy to say that we're living in a paid off house now, our other house is undergoing some renovations to turn it into a rental, and I anticipate cranking our savings rate up tremendously as the ongoing optimization continues.

Like MMM and others have written, you're not going to plug all of your financial leaks in one magical week.  We're making steady progress though, and I'm optimistic for the future. 

Zikoris

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #42 on: February 19, 2014, 08:29:52 PM »
We're two adults, 27 and 25, live in Vancouver, and spent $26,377 in 2013, and $28,039 in 2012. That included every penny we spent, rent, travel (France, Caribbean cruise to Miami, Mexico, Caymans, and Belize, France again, Italy, Monaco, and Guatemala), everything.

arebelspy

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #43 on: February 19, 2014, 08:37:39 PM »
We're two adults, 27 and 25, live in Vancouver, and spent $26,377 in 2013, and $28,039 in 2012. That included every penny we spent, rent, travel (France, Caribbean cruise to Miami, Mexico, Caymans, and Belize, France again, Italy, Monaco, and Guatemala), everything.

Well done. Vancouver is expensive, and that's a lot of travel.  Kudos.
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Abe

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #44 on: February 19, 2014, 09:58:51 PM »
This thread spurred me to look at expenses when we lived in a rural town compared to a major city. Back then, our expenses were less than $30k/year because we rarely needed to drive, didn't use AC or heating much, plus food and housing was very cheap. Every day we dream of going back there once my training is done.  Now they are up to $60k/year, mostly because of housing and driving.

I understand big expenses such as education and mortgage, but don't really know what people are spending on otherwise.

greaper007

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #45 on: February 19, 2014, 10:05:46 PM »
I think we're at $50,000 a year for a family of four, but a good portion of that is debt reduction so we must be close to closing in.

Ian

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #46 on: February 19, 2014, 10:37:56 PM »
I feel like this chart is relevant. It's always weird to me when people talk about 30k being impossible when almost 30% of the USA lives on that or less.

greaper007

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #47 on: February 19, 2014, 10:41:08 PM »
I feel like this chart is relevant. It's always weird to me when people talk about 30k being impossible when almost 30% of the USA lives on that or less.

It depends, when I was living on $17,000 a year 30k sounded wonderful.   Then I jumped up to 42,000 and had a baby at the same time.   Suddenly, I was paying for things like 1000 dollar a month childcare in addition to the student debt I was already paying.   $42,000 wasn't quite enough at that point.

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #48 on: February 20, 2014, 06:12:30 AM »
Even though we live in an expensive are i have run the numbers numerous times and once the 4 kids are out to college or??? we downsizing etc. can easily live comfortably on 25-30k a year. Now not a chance. Not even close.

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Re: Who is really living on $25 to 30k for 2 people with no mortgage/rent?
« Reply #49 on: February 20, 2014, 06:50:30 AM »
Not counting savings & mortgage, we spend about $50K/yr, but $15K of that is travel. I work rotating shifts so I'm able to travel more frequently than most people. I'm more than willing to delay FI for this. When we FIRE we plan to return to the south closer to my family which will cut our non-travel spending by a lot - cheaper taxes, car insurance, electricity, no more commuting, etc.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!