Why do they only make 14K a year? That is not even minimum wage. Does she post he actual budget anywhere?
He is a full-time student, but used to be active duty military.
When he was active-duty, he served two tours overseas and they saved up $32k to put towards a home! They did buy two new vehicles, but they paid them off while he was still active-duty. They wanted to make things as cheap as possible for the future when they'd only have his school money (I think he gets the GI Bill, I'm guessing?)
is kwynn the toilet paper roller? I can't remember all of the details - but, the person that rolled their own TP to save money, or something like that?
kwynn, I didn't want to quote your post because the whole thing was long, but I definitely get the "things" part of saving money. I just think that is not a great reason to not send your kids to school. I don't know how great the schools are in their area, obviously, but I don't think that saving money should be a primary motivator behind homeschooling. Especially because they are choosing to be low-income. There is no reason that I can see that the wife cannot work.
kwynn, I didn't want to quote your post because the whole thing was long, but I definitely get the "things" part of saving money. I just think that is not a great reason to not send your kids to school. I don't know how great the schools are in their area, obviously, but I don't think that saving money should be a primary motivator behind homeschooling. Especially because they are choosing to be low-income. There is no reason that I can see that the wife cannot work.
I think one of the major factors that kwynn mentioned is buying into a decent or even semi-decent public school district. I'd be willing to bet that they saved themselves buying a house twice the price by not concerning themselves with the quality of the school district b/c they were homeschooling. Some public schools in this country are unfortunately so bad that even mediocre quality homeschooling would be better.
FTR, I agree with you though, I don't think that's necessarily a good reason to homeschool. I know I wouldn't!
kwynn, I didn't want to quote your post because the whole thing was long, but I definitely get the "things" part of saving money. I just think that is not a great reason to not send your kids to school. I don't know how great the schools are in their area, obviously, but I don't think that saving money should be a primary motivator behind homeschooling. Especially because they are choosing to be low-income. There is no reason that I can see that the wife cannot work.
I think one of the major factors that kwynn mentioned is buying into a decent or even semi-decent public school district. I'd be willing to bet that they saved themselves buying a house twice the price by not concerning themselves with the quality of the school district b/c they were homeschooling. Some public schools in this country are unfortunately so bad that even mediocre quality homeschooling would be better.
FTR, I agree with you though, I don't think that's necessarily a good reason to homeschool. I know I wouldn't!
I understand that, I live in a terrible school district. But, based on the quality of her writing on the blog, I am not sure homeschooling is really an upgrade of any kind for these poor kids.
kwynn, I didn't want to quote your post because the whole thing was long, but I definitely get the "things" part of saving money. I just think that is not a great reason to not send your kids to school. I don't know how great the schools are in their area, obviously, but I don't think that saving money should be a primary motivator behind homeschooling. Especially because they are choosing to be low-income. There is no reason that I can see that the wife cannot work.
I think her Mormon beliefs probably play into their homeschooling decision more than saving money.
I just did a Redfin search of my hometown in the Chicago suburbs and found 75 properties listed for under 50k, several of which are under 20k including a four bedroom house. Houses aren't $$$ everywhere.
Every time I do this search I am tempted to buy one...
Huh? What town is this? Most suburbs are pretty pricey and even the moderate one my parents live in has an average price of over 200k.
I think one of the major factors that kwynn mentioned is buying into a decent or even semi-decent public school district. I'd be willing to bet that they saved themselves buying a house twice the price by not concerning themselves with the quality of the school district b/c they were homeschooling. Some public schools in this country are unfortunately so bad that even mediocre quality homeschooling would be better.
FTR, I agree with you though, I don't think that's necessarily a good reason to homeschool. I know I wouldn't!
I understand that, I live in a terrible school district. But, based on the quality of her writing on the blog, I am not sure homeschooling is really an upgrade of any kind for these poor kids.
Flame away! Lol.
No I totally agree with you. I just can see how that could have been a big $ saver for them...but definitely don't agree with that choice.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Mar 8, 2013 11:45:26 GMT -5
I'm not sure $556.66/month for that list sounds so bad.
1. Utilities (in Vegas, wouldn't there be a lot of A/C?) - isn't Vegas a place that cools down at night? That does a lot to reduce cooling costs. 2. Property tax - on a $30K house, like $75/mo maybe 3. Car insurance (and they have 2 somewhat newer cars) - $150/mo 4. Health insurance - might have it covered by the GI bill, right? 5. Clothing - you can buy clothes for $1/item at thift stores near me, and you don't need nearly as many as most of us have 6. Copays - if they are healthy, they shouldn't have any copays under Obamacare. 7. Costco - why would they be shopping at Costco on top of $400/month of groceries, especially the way you guys say she cooks? 8. Fixing up their home (they said it's a fixer and had no kitchen when they moved in) - they paid cash for the house from savings, what makes you think they didn't also for the renovations from savings? 7. School supplies - maybe $50/mo? I bet they mostly use the library. 8. Home owner's insurance - optional since they don't have a mortgage, but given the price of the house, I'd guess this is maybe $10-$20/month 9. Any misc. - not much, in sure
Given that they have basically no housing costs and no debt, I don't think it sounds so ridiculous. We lived on $800/month after rent and student loans when DH was starting grad school.
The schools in Las Vegas are pretty bad according to my friend that lives and teaches there. So they may be also choosing to home school for that reason besides the religious factor.
The schools in Las Vegas are pretty bad according to my friend that lives and teaches there. So they may be also choosing to home school for that reason besides the religious factor.
Even though we (Vegas) have one school district the quality of the school varies so much depending on the part of town. For the parts of town that you can buy a 30k house, the schools are going to be horrible. Also, someone mentioned that it is a manufactured home, the areas those are in are all kind of nasty.
Huh? What town is this? Most suburbs are pretty pricey and even the moderate one my parents live in has an average price of over 200k.
I think you and I have had this conversation before
It's Waukegan. There are other not well off parts of Lake County where you can buy homes for a song too--North Chicago, Zion, Beach Park, the various Round Lake municipalities...parts of Antioch and areas around Fox and Grass Lakes and Ingleside.
Lake County has a reputation for being extremely wealthy, but the northern parts of the county are mostly middle and working class with a few outliers like Gurnee.
LOL. I have a crappy memory
And should take note since I'm looking to move to the area. Round Lake isn't really that far from where my parents live (like 20 minutes or so). Not that I really want to live there, but if I could buy a house for what I paid for my car...
And should take note since I'm looking to move to the area. Round Lake isn't really that far from where my parents live (like 20 minutes or so). Not that I really want to live there, but if I could buy a house for what I paid for my car...
Well, I think you should buy this one. I probably needs a ton of work, but I can't get over the awesome/bizarre design element of the hexagon shaped hole in the siding!
Post by heliocentric on Mar 8, 2013 13:14:17 GMT -5
I don't think it's entirely unreasonable considering their major expenses are paid off. I just don't like the implication that it's a totally reasonable and attainable thing for others. It's not even reasonable for them in the long term. They can do it now because they were at one time making more and could save for a house & pay off cars. If they are saving now, it can't be much. What happens when something major in the house needs repaired or the car needs replaced?
I am pretty cheap and make tons of things from scratch like she does and it doesn't really offer THAT much savings. I realize little things add up, but for some there is a tradeoff. For example, she mentions lowering car insurance coverage to save money. That's great it your car is a total beater or you have the money to put down on a newer car if something happens. Otherwise it's not living cheaply, it's living shortsighted.
Interesting...I lived in Vegas for years & a block from my old house (which I sold for $350k) you can now buy a foreclosure fixer for the $40ks. The market tanked sooo bad. My property taxes were minimal even during the boom (like $809/yr). I wouldn't send my kids to public most places in Vegas so homeschooling is definitely cheaper than private. Not sure about there but where I live now, homeschooling materials, etc can all be obtained free through the public system. I'll have to read more when I get a chance. That level of frugality seems like so much work but I understand priorities & it seems temporary.
Post by imojoebunny on Mar 8, 2013 14:23:50 GMT -5
There are people who live on less than that by our farm. They are too proud to go on government assistance. They don't have horrible lives, but they do not have health insurance, though their kids usually do through the state. They don't have cars, or maybe just one that they share with like 20 family members, usually very old, and they work on it constantly. They usually live together in little plots of land with a few mobile homes.
It is kind of a subsistence life, they mostly work in agriculture, or minimum wage, local jobs. The problem is, it severely limits what their kids are exposed to. No Internet at home, no travel ever, no meeting people who do things they can aprire to. It is still in some ways, better than how that branch of my family tree lives. They aspire to have things, but are always falling short, taking on too much debt, and losing what little money they had because they get themselves into overly ambitiotous debt plans when they are working, then losing the jobs because the work dries up, and it always does.
One family cultivates a few acres of our farm. They grow and can enough to eat, and catch fish in our pond, in exchange, they keep an eye on the place for us and keep people off who shouldn't be there.
I don't think it's entirely unreasonable considering their major expenses are paid off. I just don't like the implication that it's a totally reasonable and attainable thing for others. It's not even reasonable for them in the long term. They can do it now because they were at one time making more and could save for a house & pay off cars. If they are saving now, it can't be much. What happens when something major in the house needs repaired or the car needs replaced?
I am pretty cheap and make tons of things from scratch like she does and it doesn't really offer THAT much savings. I realize little things add up, but for some there is a tradeoff. For example, she mentions lowering car insurance coverage to save money. That's great it your car is a total beater or you have the money to put down on a newer car if something happens. Otherwise it's not living cheaply, it's living shortsighted.
I agree. Even though they are making this work right now, there are about a million disasters waiting to happen here. Especially if they don't have any savings (I didn't see any mentioned aside from the savings to purchase the house, so I'm operating under the assumption that they have 0 efund).
Overall, the position they are in is not something to aspire to, IMO. I would like her more if there were some mention of long term goals and how they plan to meet them...and a general acknowledgement that this type of living is not necessarily doable/preferable long-term.
...And I'm still wondering if/how they all have health ins.
It's doable as long as it is temporary. I too would love to hear their plan for the future.
I have a low income, and my plan is to eventually rent out my home that I too will buy with cash.
But they are only okay in this situation as long as nothing goes wrong. You can eke by a few years on this, but not long-term.
The home cost 30k and they had 32k saved up, so perhaps they put 2k into the renovations.
Also, I'm sure they're not counting this, but they talk *several* times about their income tax return. It's how they paid for wood floors in their home and how they buy each other (very belated) Christmas gifts. Surely that's not part of the 14k and I'd imagine they're getting a nice chunk of change.
I looked at their kitchen and it's pretty bad in my opinion...I feel like, unfortunately, all of their rooms look pretty bad from what I saw. Like the paint wasn't even done evenly, just slapped on, and there's a real lack of doors in the house, just curtains, some made from bedsheets. And I say this as someone that lives in a very cheap, crappy apartment that most people would find not to their tastes, so I'm not overly picky.
And should take note since I'm looking to move to the area. Round Lake isn't really that far from where my parents live (like 20 minutes or so). Not that I really want to live there, but if I could buy a house for what I paid for my car...
Well, I think you should buy this one. I probably needs a ton of work, but I can't get over the awesome/bizarre design element of the hexagon shaped hole in the siding!
Seriously though, most of the homes available for $30,000 do not appear to be in great shape from the photographs. Some of the ones in the $50,000 range don't look terrible though. I think the housing crisis hit that area really hard and a lot of those towns/cities don't have much industry left so there hasn't been too much in the way of recovery.
Wow, that and the red carpet and wood paneling. Hurts my eyes! But thats a great price! Too bad Round Lake is kind of a dump lol.
Post by Willis Jackson on Mar 8, 2013 15:01:47 GMT -5
Well, if he's a full-time student, then I imagine their plan for the future is that he will get a job and earn a salary. It's not like they're planning to live on $14k/yr forever.
Also, I don't think homeschooling is a particularly Mormon thing. None of the Mormons I know homeschool, and none of the homeschoolers I know are Mormon.
That's just my observation based on most of my Mormon family members. Many of them make huge sacrifices to be SAHM's, homeschool their kids, and have as much family time as possible. The ones that don't homeschool have all considered it. I'm not sure if that's common across the board. I attended a Mormon church briefly as a teen and a large number of the kids seemed to be homeschoolers. I'd love some Mormon GBCN'ers to chime in though, because I notice this pattern with every single Mormon couple in my (massive) family.
And should take note since I'm looking to move to the area. Round Lake isn't really that far from where my parents live (like 20 minutes or so). Not that I really want to live there, but if I could buy a house for what I paid for my car...
Well, I think you should buy this one. I probably needs a ton of work, but I can't get over the awesome/bizarre design element of the hexagon shaped hole in the siding!
Unless he's in the reserves or was medically retired, he doesn't get health insurance through tricare. If he's in reserves, he has to pay for it. Something like $200/mo.
They would likely receive a large tax refund as I don't think any of that gi bill income is taxable. It should actually be closer to 15k if they add in the books stipend.
I also wonder if they receive any government or church aid. What about WIC? Do they count that in their 14k? Health insurance for the children?
The GI Bill is not taxble income. So they probably qualify for credits and don't have to pay any taxes. I could be wrong on the credits though.
I think not having a mortgage or rent makes this less amazing. Most people who need to attempt to live on 14k a year don't have 30k to drop on a home.
I think they would get the child tax credit, but not the EIC, since the stipend isn't considered "earned income".
I read her blog a while back and IIRC I don't think she is homeschooling to save money like some PPs suggested, rather she is staying home so that she can homeschool and spend more time with her kids.
That's just my observation based on most of my Mormon family members. Many of them make huge sacrifices to be SAHM's, homeschool their kids, and have as much family time as possible. The ones that don't homeschool have all considered it. I'm not sure if that's common across the board. I attended a Mormon church briefly as a teen and a large number of the kids seemed to be homeschoolers. I'd love some Mormon GBCN'ers to chime in though, because I notice this pattern with every single Mormon couple in my (massive) family.
*Warning* This is very wordy-
I'm Mormon and I am actually pretty anti-homeschool for my own family. It can be good in certain situations but as a general rule I feel that my children need to have the social education that they get at school in addition to the book learning. The Mormon doctrine is pretty far off from how the rest of the world lives and I feel it is important for my kids to learn about the church and its teachings at home and church and learn how to stand by those when they go to school and eventually to work. We have a very few friends (one family in our ward and one family that used to attend our ward but moved) that homeschool and their children live pretty sheltered lives. It is much easier to enforce the gospel teachings but at some point they are going to leave home and try to live and work out in the world and it is going to be a rough awakening. The majority of the people we attend church with send their kids to puclic school. We are in California so the fact that there aren't many Mormons around may make a difference for us since we don't have many others to start a sub-culture with. I am a SAHM now but I worked until DH finished his MBA (we had one kid at the time) so I do fit that stereotype somewhat. When I first stayed home we weren't making a ton. I think DH made about $63k with fully paid medical and dental. I wouldn't consider staying home before then but I had cut down to part-time. Yes, I am willing to make sacrifices like used cars and buying some generics, but I'm not as crazy as some. Now, DH makes more than double that so I make even fewer sacrifices. I honestly don't know how Mormon people in other parts of the country live and I don't want to speak badly of the way that other's choose to live their lives and religion but I know that the Church does encourage us to go out in to society and show that we aren't as crazy as some people think we are. There is a definite stigma about Mormon's and staying in my house, never talking to anyone but other Mormon's, only allowing my children to leave the house to be at church or Mormon functions certainly won't break the stigma. Plus, I just couldn't live like that. It would be stifling.