Ive thought about picking up a side job, but with 2 toddlers, Id have to hire a sitter to watch them, so there wouldnt be much point financially. WebWe would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. But its the quickest way to spend triple what I normally would for dinner. . We dont even have one for 7.5 months a year.You can get a magicjack for $99 total for 5 years. Although its more difficult to retire on a smaller budget, there are still places where you can cover living expenses for $2,000 a month or less. As for your water and wild fix, Lake Murray, a 50,000-acre man-made lake, is 15 miles away and Harbison State Forest is a bit closer. WebKey takeaways: $3,000 a month is $36,000 per year. Cutting down on the big things like housing, transportation, food and insurance makes it possible to live in cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, Huston and Tulsa. Obviously, a good hospital and airport are important and I like local theater, live music and a college town is a plus. We have health issues so prescriptions and dr costs come into play regularly. Good for them that they have things so cheap . And if they want to do post-grad or private school, their kids will work and pay for it themselves. There are legions of families struggling to make ends meet because childcare and housing costs are so exorbitant. Whether you want to retire in a big city or a small town, you can live comfortably in some places for $3,000 a month or less. When the kids get to kindergarten (if we make it that far) its going to feel like a giant raise. I was going off what I have seen, but I havent done a lot of Northeast budgets with electric heat. When that doctor paycheck comes in someday, Im looking forward to upgrading restaurants But for now, pizza is a great budget treat and allows us to go a few times per month instead of just one. Let's build a plan for your financial freedom today. Living I dont know if I can handle this post. Its caused a lot of tension in our marriage: My wifes relatives are terrible guests. This family is doomed to rent for the rest of their lives. Oh, and my insurance, liability only, no towing, no comp, no collision, minimal miles (since I work at home), is $21 a month. So I recommend the Smiths find a single family home to rent at the $850 mark. The Smiths are doing great. This is great! Dont mean to hi-jack your blog. Im assuming that those cars need to be registered/renewed every year, plus oil changes, plus new tires, plus tuneups. If Morgantown doesnt appeal, what about Roanoke, Va., with the Blue Ridge Mountains and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests as your playground and the Appalachian Trail around the corner? Is that doable for someone who is earning that amount at age 30? Hey Kim, Now before you go on thinking O the glamorous life of a doctors wife, Ill let you in on a little secret. Bam $3000 repair because they cheaped out and didnt change the fluid every 30k. $3,000 a month is not considered a good salary. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Making your own meals will help out a lot in this area and it's also healthier than takeout. Get $10 by signing up and scanning your first receipt. Great post. The Smith family is your typical, American, single-income household, with 2 kids and a golden retriever. I mean, assuming the Smiths 2 year old and 4 year old are in some form of daycare/preschool (not all of us are fortunate enough to live in school districts that offer public pre-K)thats $400 a week, or $1600 a month for both kids. Vendor Finance is basically the owner of the property, providing the mortgage, instead of a bank.On one occassion , we bought a cheap property, and just made monthly installment payments at no interest. A few similar but less awesome ones are Snagshout and Jump Send. You will hear this from any person who is smart with their money. I also bought a used modem so I wont have to rent theirs; that should save us another $100 over the rest of the year. We did not apply for residencies in cities like New York City or San Fransisco, and I would love to know how families do it on our income there. You can grab your copy of the budget template for FREE right here! Shouldnt it be a lot closer to $3k/mo? Our car insurance is $80 per month for a Honda and Toyota, liability + fire/theft/towing Oh, and the best part is that you dont have to cancel your Netflix subscription! Because, let me tell you, waitresses dont make that much! Still, all we can do work on it. Big stuff makes a big impact. Clothing is a line item we have removed from our budget, but every now and then clothes are needed, especially with growing kids. Sample Budget: Family Of 4 If you are hoping to become a stay at home mom but nervous about finances, read this to see how we make it work. Community is key. I was looking through the comments and didnt see anyone else mention a huge expense not included in this budget: child care for two small children. I agree that they probably dont need two cars, and having two cars is dragging their budget down. Take the money they are saving for college and put it toward retirement. Given how housing costs and crime rates can vary, dont forget to check out the nearby towns. Our sweet little family of 4 plan to live in California for 3 months, from January to the end of March. Why retirement savers need the Supreme Court to uphold the student-loan forgiveness plan, Retirement is so traditional, try periodic retirement to figure out whats next. Its falling apart, but we dont have to pay anything on it except insurance. Also I would say maybe they focus on helping their kids excel in school and then go to a super affordable community college. The average cost of living for a family of 4 in America differs from the US average cost of living for a single person. Any chance they could become a one-car family? If hes contributing 5% to his 401k (pre-tax, right? If your Total Expenses are below $3,000, put the rest into saving/investing. Lets get into the details, and really figure out if YOU can live on $2,000 a month (and if so, where): Where Can You Live On $2,000/Month? Publix accepts coupons from other grocery stores, manufactures coupon and they have digital coupons and they will allow you to use a publix digital with a manufactured, so if you shop the BOGOs you will do great. So there definitely is some extra savings not accounted for that would help in the long run. And some people wont have all of these expenses. When our budget increases our food budget will be the first thing to go up for me haha. Given a frugal lifestyle, one can expect to have over $1,000 left to save or invest each month.A family of four needs to be highly frugal to live on $3,000 a month. Basically, sites like these started out giving discounted items in exchange for reviews on Amazon or a social media shout out but since Amazon doesnt allow that as of last year reviews are 100% optional now. You can always get your big-sports fix at Virginia Tech 45 minutes away in the smaller city of Blacksburg. Gross but someones gotta do it. Wants: 3. You may also want to spend some time thinking more deeply about taxes and which kind youll pay. The dad is not in the picture at all and I dont get a dime of child support, so my income is the only one our family has. Visit a quote page and your recently viewed tickers will be displayed here. A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 96% of Americans have less than $1 million saved for retirement, and more than half have less than $20,000 saved. if you have an Aldis they are inexpensive for fruits veggies if not a fresh market; I pick up things for cheap. Will you have enough money in retirement? Surprising Data Reveals The Top 25 Tax-Friendly States To Retire, 17 Tips To Live Comfortably Off Just a Social Security Check, 15 Mistakes Even Smart People Make in Retirement, Social Security: No Matter Your Age, Do Not Claim Benefits Until You Reach This Milestone. Youd hate to see them have to drain their retirement or rack up credit card debt if something bad happened. Thanks for working this up for us! Many states dont tax Social Security. a month I paid a couple little things like the utility bill and my student loans with the little income I made at the daycare I had been working for. Each account includes an unsecured line of credit designed to build credit fast. What type of job does Mr Smith do? But one thing that has worked well for me was to switch all of the bills that I was currently paying to my husband. Quora Having a trusted mechanic review all used car purchases is HUGE too, as well as buying notably reliable cars (mid-90s hondas and toyotas). Inflation can happen when prices increase due to increased production costs like raw materials and wages or an increase in demand for products and services, which means consumers are willing to pay more for them. I have never seen a 2 bedroom advertised for less than $1500. Roadmap Money and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. 35 Best Cities To Retire on $3,000 per Month The towns average age is actually decreasing as more young professionals move in, a good sign. Yes, I agree $50 a month for electric is ridiculously low for most parts of the country. Cutting down on the big things like housing, transportation, food and insurance makes it possible to live in cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, Huston and Tulsa. Most of these items are not fixed expenses for a given location. (And childcare isnt even that expensive when you consider the average daycare charges the equivalent of about $8 an hour but it adds up fast). And theres no vehicle replacement fund. Dry oats, cereal and milk, or eggs (daily breakfast). They bought them before kids when they had more disposable income. Id cut post secondary savings in half for kids. Not to mention if they have kids and a stay at home wife to provide for. Roanoke is a bigger city than Morgantown, with about 100,000 people, and has a better airport. They are Hondas, so will last a LONG time. Haha, very true. A $75k salary results in optimal happiness. I hope you get where you want to be. Milk is our only beverage. Tires every 50k, brakes every 30 to 40k, water pumps, alternators, fuel pumps, all go at 150k to 220k. I recommend keeping this low by STAYING AWAY FROM DEPARTMENT STORES. I almost never buy clothes and my husband has literally asked me to go get some nicer things, haha. WebKey takeaways: $3,000 a month is $36,000 per year. Budget Goal #1 *assumes* they can find the cash to buy a house in the next 25 years, even though youve put that goal on hold. Retirement does not seem an option for these two adults. Ill update the budget accordingly. When the dad is home, it doesnt take away from the development of the children if she is away for a few hours to work. Goals Buy a house Retire by 55 Pay for kids college Priorities Family Fun If she is not working at all, this gives her more time to cook from scratch, find coupons, build and cook from a pantry, strategize around sales, etc. The first rep I talked to wasnt interested in giving us a deal, but I called back and got a different one who was happy to give us a discount. This is such an ignorant breakdown of the cost of living. This has honestly been the hardest for us and the main reason for going over has been poor tracking. We are a family of 6. Actually, most single people can live on $2,000 a month, but thats hard, if not impossible, for a family of four. We actually do make 40k on a family of 4 but it totally sucks. The Smiths use alternatives for transportation, and are much more conservative than we are . Any tips? I really like this Idea. Our 1998 car is paid off and fits us all (barely). Making your own meals will help out a lot in this area and it's also healthier than takeout. In some places, youre actually able to live on 50% or less of your $3,000: On average, a frugal single person living on $3,000 a month can therefore save and invest $1,300 a month. Style. I am having them withhold taxes, but with medical and 401k and 2 kids, they will probably get all that money back, you are correct. Living Mostly for my 4-year-oldand a tad for my 2-year-old. However, $4K is well within your reach! With $150 per month in 401k investments, and a $150 match by the company, the Smiths are putting away $300 per month. Basically, this principle can be summarized like this: Make frugal decisions on the big stuff like housing and transportation and make them hard to undo. But essentially buying a car at the bottom of the depreciation curve (10-15 year old) with under 150k miles on it. Im a little bitter because Im doing everything right, living frugally and debt-free, cutting expenses back to the bone, hardly ever leave the house because I cant even afford a babysitter to keep me sane, and Im still drowning under childcare costs and will be for the next couple of years until they hit kindergarten. Only if either the date or the sitter is totally free. $25 for clothing for a 2 and a 4 year old is absolutely and utterly ludicrous unless you have family who are able to donate used clothing for free. 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Below youll see what Im gonna talk about in this article: As mentioned earlier, location is the biggest factor when it comes to expenses and rent. Ill have to agree on medical, co-pays do happen, sorry for the miss. Of course, the numbers will tell you only so much. What have you guys done to reduce your electricity/gas bills? Just realized that while writing! Dinners: A lot of chicken with vegetables made tons of different ways. Also, once the move is made its made you dont have to stay disciplined as its hard to reverse it. And your family is AWESOME for putting your tax return into savings. Im hoping to add more outdoor activities that are free like hiking as well. family of 4 I would like to see an updated version of this now that the pandemic has came and people are forced to stay home 24/7 with their kids. Youre the only person knowing how you spend money, so feel free to add additional items! The Smiths are debt free, due to their frugal living choices. Candice now lives in New Orleans where she admits she spends more than she should on restaurants because the food is as good as youve heard. In the hotter climates, the electric bill may be a tough one, but any adjustment upward means it needs to come from somwhere else in the budget. At $40k a year, cutting their income in half so one of them can stay at home with the kids isnt a viable option, and you cant assume that a relative lives nearby and is willing to provide free full-time childcare. My water/garbage was $60. How to Live on $2500 Per Month Perhaps, but I dunno. Its so easy for me to think Well if I had more money, Id feel cute in new clothes too. Or If we could rent a house with a yard instead of an apartment my life could be so much better. We have so much material blessing and food to eat and our kids are happy! Quora Update November 2018: We purchased a minivan in cash 6 months ago and it has been life giving to me as a stay at home mom. This entire budget is soooo unrealistic and actually made me sad to read!! We now live on approx $1000 total per month., plus $3400 yr total in flights. 12% goes to food (groceries and eating out). Reddit, Inc. 2023. It is meant to inspire. More like, whenever my parents fly to see us, haha. There are always places you can cut your budget or lifestyle changes to make. Average living expenses for a single person. Using MIT's living wage calculator, CNBC Make It mapped out the minimum amount a family of 4 must earn to meet their basic needs without relying on outside help in every U.S. state. But when you factor in child care expense (ours are around $1200/month) this budget becomes impossible. It, too, has Amtrak service. It is a true art to be a mom. Weve had our share of car troubles, and DIY maintenance has saved our wallets a few times What do you guys do to reduce the stress of those unexpected expenses? I want to retire within a one day (about 10-hour) drive of my family in Northern New Jersey. Todays ideal budget is the Smith family. Winter electric $300 to $400, and we used a wood burning stove and cut out own firewood for $20 a cord with a national forest permit. Also, if they need a new car, they can sell the old ones and upgrade for $1,000. In that case, $3000 is no good, and your best option for a comfortable living is to look for alternative income streams or find a new job that pays more. $3,000 a month is not considered a good salary. Goals Buy a house Retire by 55 Pay for kids college Priorities Family Fun Copyright 2023 SOLBERG INVEST | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. I would love to have a 3 bedroom with one 10 yr boy and one 8 yr girl. But heck, what I know about cars anyway. Im sorry if this post is having the opposite of its intended affect. Natural beauty, low taxes and access to good medical care and entertainment options youre hardly alone. A little gem thats gotten popular with online shoppers is the cashback site Ebates. It is hard to live on one income these days. Dcouvrez comment nous utilisons vos donnes personnelles dans notre Politique de confidentialit et notre Politique relative aux cookies. $500 a month for groceries, is too generous. a Month Most of your salary will be spent on living expenses and easily consumed by inflation. This info can be leveraged practically making frugal decisions on the three biggest things, which are Housing, transportation and food, you can live far below the numbers in the table above. Table of Contents The Places You Can Live On $4,000 Per Month: How To Live Frugally On $4,000 Per Month: Budget For Living On $4,000 Per Month: Ah, okay. But if you hate snow, youll barely get any here. So $40,000 / 26 weeks per year = $1,538 $200 (health) $76 (401k) $135-ish (taxes) = $1,125 * 2 paychecks per month = $2,250. Hi I'm Liz, a stay at home mom with three kids 7 and under. The wife can find a part time job and work around her husbands schedule or take in a child or 2 to care for during the day for extra income (we did this in our family). Living On $3,000 A Month The Smiths are pretty rockin on their less than average income. Fair point. While I appreciate the intent, I think this budget is totally unrealistic, especially in or around a larger city. I wanted to show how even those on lower income have hope of working toward BIG goals. So my first recommendation is to check out and apply for every bit of help they might be able to get. how did they save up enough for those vehicles? This will impact on how close to work, they need to live. But just goes to show that this budget is not as minimal as some people keep saying. I wasnt clear that those were biweekly paychecks rather than two different checks. In the meantime, Im scratching my head wondering why its so impossible to stay afloat on an average middle-class income even while paring back to the bone. I scan groceryreceipts of stores they support (most major grocery stores) and get money back for items Im already buying. Find a cheaper place to live. I have also been able to find ways to save money in almost ANY budget category for our family, and for the family of those who I have coached. At one point I was making an extra $100 a month minimum by getting rid of things! How to Live on $2500 Per Month This type of uninformed budgeting just makes people who are in that situation feel inadequate for not being able to stick to these numbers or live according to this budget. These offers do not represent all available deposit, investment, loan or credit products. Again, did not mean to frustrate those who havent made these kinds of moves in their financial life yet. It was a $400 fix to take it in, but he bought the part for $50 and we were off 3 hours later. Yes the great part is that even two-income families can save more money by using some money saving tips. Free cars for life if you can find great Private Sale deals at a discount, and sell 5 years later I call it the car buying ladder.