S/O Feds: How many missed paychecks could you sustain?

[Anonymous]

S/O from the shutdown thread where one of the posters mentioned possible walk-outs after a few missed checks. I am a single-income household and could last until mid-January. Wondering the max the average gov't worker could sustain?

[Anonymous]

2 years but we’re mid 30s and have 6 figures of savings. Dual feds.

[Anonymous]

At risk of sounding like a brat, infinite. My husband is the bread winner and I work as a fed for the sense of purpose/intellectual stimulation.

[Anonymous]

We could probably go on for a few years but we are older and have significant savings (and low spending).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 years but we’re mid 30s and have 6 figures of savings. Dual feds.

But would you and your DH actually remain Feds and both willingly report to work for two years without pay while draining your savings and forgoing at least tens of thousands of dollars or interest?

The better question is how many missed pay checks could and would you sustain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2 years but we’re mid 30s and have 6 figures of savings. Dual feds.

This was me in earlier shutdowns, but I've had a run of repairs and new expenses. Now we just have an emergency fund of a few months. Fed breadwinner / contractor spouse, mid 40s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 years but we’re mid 30s and have 6 figures of savings. Dual feds.

But would you and your DH actually remain Feds and both willingly report to work for two years without pay while draining your savings and forgoing at least tens of thousands of dollars or interest?

The better question is how many missed pay checks could and would you sustain?

Oh and don’t forget you wouldn’t be allowed to take any leave during this time period

[Anonymous]

We are better off than in 2018, when we had no savings, I was terrified of losing everything, and we had to borrow money from my dad. But realistically, only a few paychecks. We have savings to go a few more after that but I would start to panic. Federal attorney married to a disabled veteran. This area is expensive and it is tough on one income (plus veteran's disability).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2 years but we’re mid 30s and have 6 figures of savings. Dual feds.

But would you and your DH actually remain Feds and both willingly report to work for two years without pay while draining your savings and forgoing at least tens of thousands of dollars or interest?

The better question is how many missed pay checks could and would you sustain?

Dh probably would flip. He has a lot of job offers, but the problem is that they’re contractors and their work would be ending too.

I’d likely just stay at home. After a month I’d pull my kids from daycare and aftercare

[Anonymous]

The feds that are G7-Gs11 and not in Dc are the ones who will be the hardest hit.

[Anonymous]

Two income household, but the pay-capped GS15 makes about 75% more than the other. We'd be fine for at least 6 months. After that we'd need to make some adjustments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The feds that are G7-Gs11 and not in Dc are the ones who will be the hardest hit.

Not to mention junior enlisted military

[Anonymous]

operating normally just out of ready cash? a few months. i can always sell mutual funds, change credit cards to be minimum payment rather than pay in full, and start eating out of my freezer rather than do takeout (and will probably do all of those tbh), but spouse is commission-only and mortgage and daycare together are around $8k a month.

it's not going to break us but it's going to suck, and i won't be able to really help struggling friends.

[Anonymous]

Contractor one income family. As long as we need to. We plan for this stuff as there is no back pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The feds that are G7-Gs11 and not in Dc are the ones who will be the hardest hit.

Not to mention junior enlisted military

This.

We could last at least three months if we cut back with no issues, because we are older, but if it lasts too long dh may "retire" to take a job in industry like many of his former fed coworkers.