Comments on: Rethinking standard of living

By: Jennifer F.

Jennifer F. — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:29:00 +0000

Pam – Elizabeth Warren did a follow-up book called All Your Worth that deals with the nuts and bolts of budgeting that you might like.

Thanks!

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:01:00 +0000

Thank you for this book recommendation!!! I just got it out of the library and devoured it. I love the framework and now will start dealing with our “wants” categories. I just wish they went a little further and talked about budgeting the wants. Any recommendations? Know any budget percentages that are useful? Thanks!

By: Liza's Eyeview

Liza's Eyeview — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:36:00 +0000

OK, I am ready to cry just reading the title of this post because I in the midst of this dilemma:

http://www.lizas-eyeview.com/2008/09/i-am-losing-my-job-in-january-and-i-am.html

http://www.lizas-eyeview.com/2008/09/following-gods-will-in-my-life-living.html

I have took and wash dishes right now, I’d read this when everyone is in bed.

Thanks,
liza

By: Gillian

Gillian — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Spring, I love what you said. It's interesting that people are being forced into living closer to the ideal.

Now if only the value correction could improve pro-life issues!

We are probably over extended by that 50% too, but I don't consider us in any debt, and all we have is the car payment that would count as such. We are sensibly living in an apartment until we can properly afford a house. I've taken up meal planning in an effort to lower food costs. If I had my way I'd be going out to eat often and I was but this is fixing that. We haven't eaten out for dinner in over a month (okay we did last night but we had coupons) Baby steps I guess. Might try the budget thing for lent, it's a fantastic idea.

By: Multiple Mom T

Multiple Mom T — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:17:00 +0000

About a year ago I asked a real estate friend how much home the bank would allow us to have. I was SHOCKED. We wouldn’t have been able to pay for all the “fixed” items you listed. We bought our home 8 years ago when I was still working full time (before kids) but with only his salary in mind. We knew we wanted children. We knew we wanted me to stay home. We planned ahead. It worked for us.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:27:00 +0000

Awesome post, I just found you today and totally plan to keep reading. One of the best pieces of advice my husband as I recieved when we were getting married was this: If you plan on staying home with your kids (which I did) then, starting now, only use your husband income when figuring out how much can afford on a mortgage and when paying your fixed expenses. If you start out that way you avoid the two-income trap from the start and don’t have to get yourself out. So that might be helpful to some who are just starting out. This also allowed us a chance to get a good savings stored up, and to put aside money for unexpected expenses, future cars, etc with my paycheck. When our son was born we felt absolutely no impact financially – except for the hospital bills!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Hi Jennifer! I just recently found your blog and love it—I always look forward to your insightful posts. I especially enjoyed this one; my husband and I have been big Dave Ramsey fans for the past few years and his book “Financial Peace” changed our entire perspective on money. We do his envelope system, paying cash for everything, after we pay bills online. It has changed us completely. When we had two incomes, we were in debt and spending like crazy. But since I quit working and we’ve followed his system, we have paid off debt and now actually save for retirement and have college funds for our kids—all on ONE income. The only debt we have now is our house. And when the cash is gone, it’s gone. His ideas of not using credit for anything and only paying for stuff with cash used to be “radical” in consumer-crazy America, but he’s become quite popular recently in light of the recent credit crisis. If anyone feels overwhelmed by their financial situation, please read his book—it WILL help and give you direction. Just thought I’d give him a little plug!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:53:00 +0000

If you know anyone who has a large amount of credit card debt, please encourage them to do a free consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer just to get the basic facts. It can really turn your life around to get a fresh start. I’ve seen it save people from suicide, and save marriages.

- A bankruptcy lawyer

By: SuburbanCorrespondent

SuburbanCorrespondent — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:52:00 +0000

Good conclusions! And, up until last year, we lived in a 2000 square foot, 3-bedroom townhouse with 6 kids. Of course, it helped that it had 3 and a half baths. Why is it that kids all seem to need to poop at once?

I digress. It was plenty of space. Well, enough space, anyway. We put 2 sets of bunkbeds in the master bedroom and turned it over to the kids, in order to make more efficient use of it. You may want to try the same thing.

By: The Koala Bear Writer

The Koala Bear Writer — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:13:00 +0000

Very interesting post! You’ve hit a few things on the head (as usual). I keep saying that how much money you have depends not on how much you earn, but how much you spend. A friend of ours is single and makes twice what my husband does; he’s also still living with his mom, has no vehicle, and is flat broke. Many people have been surprised by our decision to drive only one car, and to have only me insured on the car (my hubby’s insurance was about three times what mine was, mostly just due to male statistics). We also spent one summer biking to work rather than driving. Right now, we live in a small town and can walk nearly everywhere we need to go. Things like that have enabled us to save a lot of money. We also borrow movies from the library rather than renting. I make a lot of our own food, rather than buying prepackaged. Choices like that save money, but take time to make into habit.