Family of 4 living on $14K/yr

[womet]

I saw this story today and immediately thought of Emily and her blog on living on <$1000 a month. I am impressed that they are able to live so frugally. Here is her blog. It looks like they do many of the same things as Emily (homemade cleaning products, meal planning, making things from scratch, etc) but they don't live in squalor.

[womet]

Mar 8, 2013 10:01:49 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

That is very admirable. I know Las Vegas is cheaper, but I wonder if they scrimp on areas like insurance, etc.

I haven't read too much on her blog, but I imagine that they have health insurance from his military service.

[mbcdefg]

How the heck did their house cost only $30k?

[awick14]

Mar 8, 2013 10:04:49 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

How the heck did their house cost only $30k?

(Have not read link yet but...)

How is that possible!!

[kadams767]

I might just be uptight, but from a quick glance at her blog, I am already skeptical of her homeschooling her kids. People who cannot properly form plurals make me nervous.

Also, maybe someone can enlighten me, but how is homeschooling a moneysaving technique?

[whitepicketfence]

Wow. There are days I feel broke and, well, we make a hell of a lot more.

[mbcdefg]

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:53 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I might just be uptight, but from a quick glance at her blog, I am already skeptical of her homeschooling her kids. People who cannot properly form plurals make me nervous.

Also, maybe someone can enlighten me, but how is homeschooling a moneysaving technique?

Ditto. The misspellings annoy me.

I guess she's saving money by not driving them back and forth to school? (Although don't many towns have buses for all students? My hometown only bussed the special ed kids, so the others walked or were driven.)

[womet]

Mar 8, 2013 10:04:49 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

insert quote here

How the heck did their house cost only $30k?

It looks like it was a foreclosure our in Las Vegas.

[kadams767]

Mar 8, 2013 10:08:53 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:53 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I might just be uptight, but from a quick glance at her blog, I am already skeptical of her homeschooling her kids. People who cannot properly form plurals make me nervous.

Also, maybe someone can enlighten me, but how is homeschooling a moneysaving technique?

Ditto. The misspellings annoy me.

I guess she's saving money by not driving them back and forth to school? (Although don't many towns have buses for all students? My hometown only bussed the special ed kids, so the others walked or were driven.)

Well, I admit to being biased on this point, but I don't think that saving money is a valid reason to homeschool your kids.  Getting kids to school seems like a very necessary expense.   

[mollybrown]

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:46 GMT -5 awick14 said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:04:49 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

How the heck did their house cost only $30k?

(Have not read link yet but...)

How is that possible!!

The article says it was a foreclosure.  I imagine that it isn't in the most desirable area of Las Vegas.  You can buy houses for a dollar in Detroit, so I guess it doesn't seem completely impossible that you can buy a home for $30,000 elsewhere if it isn't in a great area and is possibly in rough shape.

[doctorsbaby]

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:46 GMT -5 awick14 said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:04:49 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

How the heck did their house cost only $30k?

(Have not read link yet but...)

How is that possible!!

Our market is cheap right now but a house for 30k is not in any area of town that I would want to live in.

[chia]

Some of her meal pics make me want to barf. Maybe it's the weird vintage filter.
And, I'm sorry... but floating a few carrots and potatoes in some beef boullion cubes is NOT a hearty, healthy soup. Blech.

[mollybrown]

I looked at her blog, and there are quite a few sponsors. I imagine that they are not living on $14,000 anymore.

[Deleted]

There are certain parts of the country where $30k homes are common. My uncle buys them in his Indiana hometown, does the renos himself, then sells them newly remodeled for $70k.

I think she's nicely dressed for spending close to no money on her clothes. She has colored skinnies!

[mbcdefg]

Why can't I find any good thrift stores in my area? *pout*

[Deleted]

I think I like her.

It makes sense that they can live on $14k. That's not much, but when you've elimated car and home debt it's not nearly as difficult. Good for them for being smart with their money while they had it.

I live in a LCOL area and you can buy foreclosures for well under $30k, even in a nice area of town. I don't think they are habitable though. We looked into some foreclosures and the bones looked good, but they needed a ton of work before I would live in them (and I have pretty low standards. lol)

[LoveTrains]

Her vegetable soup sounds disgusting. Maybe I am just spoiled, but I can't eat like that. Blech.

[kwynn]

She says in one of the comments that they live in a "fixer upper" manufactured home.

Does she show her actual budget anywhere? I feel like the numbers can't possibly add up.

1. $400/month on groceries
2. 4 fill ups a month on gas (they drive a van and a truck) so let's say $160/month on gas as they said they do 2 fill ups a month
3. $15/month Netflix
4. $35/month internet (that's incredibly cheap)

That leaves them $556.66/month for:

1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?)
2. Property tax
3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars)
4. Health insurance
5. Clothing
6. Copays
7. Costco
8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in)
7. School supplies
8. Home owner's insurance
9. Any misc.

There has to be some kind of deal they're getting!

[CloudBee]

Thanks for sharing!

[kadams767]

Mar 8, 2013 10:55:49 GMT -5 kwynn said:

She says in one of the comments that they live in a "fixer upper" manufactured home.

Does she show her actual budget anywhere? I feel like the numbers can't possibly add up.

1. $400/month on groceries
2. 4 fill ups a month on gas (they drive a van and a truck) so let's say $160/month on gas as they said they do 2 fill ups a month
3. $15/month Netflix
4. $35/month internet (that's incredibly cheap)

That leaves them $556.66/month for:

1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?)
2. Property tax
3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars)
4. Health insurance
5. Clothing
6. Copays
7. Costco
8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in)
7. School supplies
8. Home owner's insurance
9. Any misc.

There has to be some kind of deal they're getting!

Kwynn, if you say it can't be done, then it cannot be done!  You are the guru of frugal living.     

[Deleted]

I am getting a headache from thinking of the logistics of making my own bread, cleaners and everything else from scratch. Why are they only living on 14K a year?

[sillygoosegirl]

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:53 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I might just be uptight, but from a quick glance at her blog, I am already skeptical of her homeschooling her kids. People who cannot properly form plurals make me nervous.

Also, maybe someone can enlighten me, but how is homeschooling a moneysaving technique?

Homes in good school districts normally cost quite a bit more than homes in bad school districts. Private school is also expensive. I don't know about where she is, but where I grew up, the public schools were required to make all the same books available for free to home schooled kids that the kids were using in the public school, and to let home schooled kids participate in extracurriculars for the same price as public school kids.

[protozoa]

Mar 8, 2013 10:58:17 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:55:49 GMT -5 kwynn said:

She says in one of the comments that they live in a "fixer upper" manufactured home.

Does she show her actual budget anywhere? I feel like the numbers can't possibly add up.

1. $400/month on groceries
2. 4 fill ups a month on gas (they drive a van and a truck) so let's say $160/month on gas as they said they do 2 fill ups a month
3. $15/month Netflix
4. $35/month internet (that's incredibly cheap)

That leaves them $556.66/month for:

1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?)
2. Property tax
3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars)
4. Health insurance
5. Clothing
6. Copays
7. Costco
8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in)
7. School supplies
8. Home owner's insurance
9. Any misc.

There has to be some kind of deal they're getting!

Kwynn, if you say it can't be done, then it cannot be done!  You are the guru of frugal living.     

::Gavel:: kwynn has spoken!

[kwynn]

Mar 8, 2013 10:58:17 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:55:49 GMT -5 kwynn said:

She says in one of the comments that they live in a "fixer upper" manufactured home.

Does she show her actual budget anywhere? I feel like the numbers can't possibly add up.

1. $400/month on groceries
2. 4 fill ups a month on gas (they drive a van and a truck) so let's say $160/month on gas as they said they do 2 fill ups a month
3. $15/month Netflix
4. $35/month internet (that's incredibly cheap)

That leaves them $556.66/month for:

1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?)
2. Property tax
3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars)
4. Health insurance
5. Clothing
6. Copays
7. Costco
8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in)
7. School supplies
8. Home owner's insurance
9. Any misc.

There has to be some kind of deal they're getting!

Kwynn, if you say it can't be done, then it cannot be done!  You are the guru of frugal living.     

LOL, I'm just super cheap and I can never figure out how it's possible. I don't buy anything like ever.

My husband and I lived on 25k a year and that was no extras, one car, nothing fancy.

I wish I could get some low bills like these people do. My car insurance is $88/month for one old car, Internet is $47.12, etc...I would love to learn tips from ppl with her actual budget listed.

[Deleted]

Mar 8, 2013 10:55:49 GMT -5 kwynn said:

She says in one of the comments that they live in a "fixer upper" manufactured home.

Does she show her actual budget anywhere? I feel like the numbers can't possibly add up.

1. $400/month on groceries
2. 4 fill ups a month on gas (they drive a van and a truck) so let's say $160/month on gas as they said they do 2 fill ups a month
3. $15/month Netflix
4. $35/month internet (that's incredibly cheap)

That leaves them $556.66/month for:

1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?)
2. Property tax
3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars)
4. Health insurance
5. Clothing
6. Copays
7. Costco
8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in)
7. School supplies
8. Home owner's insurance
9. Any misc.

There has to be some kind of deal they're getting!

I'm not sure they're getting a deal, but he was in the military and she mentions that he had at least two tours in Iraq.

Someone in the military would have to verify, but I know some of my family members have mentioned bonuses and things of that nature, bonuses for deploying and bonuses for resigning for more years in the military. It's possible they have savings. And maybe they still have Tricare? I don't know how that works.

[Deleted]

Also, would they receive the child tax credits and EIC, and do they include that in their income? That would amount to quite a bit.

I always have questions for these types of people. lol

[chessie]

Mar 8, 2013 10:46:15 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Her vegetable soup sounds disgusting. Maybe I am just spoiled, but I can't eat like that. Blech.

Neither can I..I know a few people that do, and you can tell by their health actually..

[kwynn]

Mar 8, 2013 11:02:42 GMT -5 sillygoosegirl said:

Mar 8, 2013 10:06:53 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I might just be uptight, but from a quick glance at her blog, I am already skeptical of her homeschooling her kids. People who cannot properly form plurals make me nervous.

Also, maybe someone can enlighten me, but how is homeschooling a moneysaving technique?

Homes in good school districts normally cost quite a bit more than homes in bad school districts. Private school is also expensive. I don't know about where she is, but where I grew up, the public schools were required to make all the same books available for free to home schooled kids that the kids were using in the public school, and to let home schooled kids participate in extracurriculars for the same price as public school kids.

I think homeschooling saves money too on peer pressure and the "have to haves."

For example, if you send your kids to school, they need a decent amount of clothing (like 5 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, gym shoes) to avoid repeating throughout the week or wearing dirty clothes. But if your kid is staying home, honestly, you can probably let them wear the same shirt two days in a row if they didn't get dirty, nothing wrong with that.

Then, you need school type stuff you might not need in homeschooling - science fair backboard, maybe $10. Book covers, maybe special folders or art supplies for an extra credit poster, a lunchbox is needed, a backpack, you will likely need to buy some sort of prepackaged drinks/food for the lunchbox (can't send leftovers to be microwaved), you have the gas to get to school, school fundraisers, and when they get older, the cost of an instrument, uniform, private lessons for an instrument if they want to be competitive in it, field trip costs, etc. You will need vaccines to go to school, need physicals for school/sports, etc. The report MUST be typed so you MUST go out and get a $30 ink cartridge that night, that kind of thing.

Now there will be a lot of birthday party invites and opportunities to do things that cost more $ too.

You also are going to have ppl checking up on you - the lunch looks skimpy with a very thin soup and tiny portions, the teachers are going to be in your business. No winter coat or an ill-fitting one? The teachers are going to be in your business. Same clothes being worn all the time? Teachers are going to be in your business. While you understand why you do things a certain way, all the other kids won't and it's just a hassle for the kid and parents.

I think this equates REALLY well to why full time working from home can save money. I work from home full time.

I don't need work clothes, commuting costs, or random things for the office (Becky's baby shower, the lottery pool), I save money by not needing special work drinks/lunches, etc. and there's not really any outside of work social events that I attend either. It does get lonely though.

[madringal]

Why do they only make 14K a year? That is not even minimum wage. Does she post he actual budget anywhere?

[kadams767]

Mar 8, 2013 11:15:44 GMT -5 madringal said:

Why do they only make 14K a year? That is not even minimum wage. Does she post he actual budget anywhere?

Their only income is her husband's GI bill funding.