Spinoff: How do you live below your means?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our #1 is never paying someone to do work for us. Mow your own lawn, lay your own wood floors, paint the walls yourself, put your own brakes on (dh learned through YouTube), install your own light fixtures, clean your own house. We have a well maintained, beautiful house with new kitchens and baths we did ourselves. We only hired out what was mandatory under code (like gas lines). We've saved tens of thousands.

This is assuming you want to sacrifice family time for these things. We are firmly in the camp of not worth it. Plus i don't want to have a bunch of tools around the house. We just had our HW floors refinished and it took 3 guys 5 full work days to do our floors. That's 120 man hours. That would take us months to complete.

Then you must have a huge house. We diy'ed ours and it was not a big deal. The prep work was the worst. We have tons of tools but a floor sander is something you generally rent. We get the kids involved so it is family time. We don't work on our cars but do our house. That's not really living below your means. Living below your means is spending less and saving.

Not interested in exposing my kids to those fumes. The people who did our floors wore respirators and it was strongly suggested that we stay somewhere else for the week. They were correct. Polyurethane is not healthy to be breathing in without the proper equipment.

Just look at the back of the can of those chemicals. Nope.

Its easy to DIY refinish hardwood floors. Common sense is not to use strong chemicals. They are still in your house for months so don't kid yourself to think you aren't breathing them. You should have used a tung or other natural oil finish if you were so concerned about smells.

All chemicals used for refinished HW floors are strong. Using oil or wax does not work well for a modern family.

Yes, we are breathing them, but I'm not about to strap respirators on my kids faces for a week to save money. That's just idiotic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone with young children get babysitters to go out to date night and such, or do you feel it’s an unnecessary expense?

Unnecessary expense. We just stay home, have a glass of wine and watch a movie on Netflix after the kids go to bed!

+1

We only go out on date nights for really big occasions like birthdays (and even then not necessarily every year) or significant anniversaries. We just don't eat out or go out at night a lot period. Would rather save the money for travel or home improvements.

[Anonymous]

We bought the worst house in a great neighborhood, and bought much much less than we could afford. We've slowly fix it up with cash only, including additions. We sold real estate to pay mostly cash for our home. We purchase our cars with cash. We do have rentals bought as foreclosures with cash, and have a steady stream of rental income.

We do pay for private school (catholic) and shop at WF and Wegmans, however we don't buy a ton of clothes each month. Since we basically have no mortgage, we can eat out and take nice vacations twice a year. Our living expenses for a year are roughly 45K - we both work and have a 200K income. In a nutshell, it's housing that eats up most families income. We call it big house hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I did/do

My parents paid for most of my college so I had very little debt that I paid off quickly.

I never went to grad school because no one (parents, employer) was paying for it and I didn't want school debt.

I paid myself first when I started working. The amount was small but I invested in a traditional IRA. Roth didn't exist then.

I bought a modest house in a safe but not hip or trendy neighborhood in DC when I moved here, instead of renting. I made capital improvements to it over time. Still live in it.

I buy gently used nice cars that I drive a min. of 10 years. I take care of them.

I am divorced and childless so no kids or deadbeat spouse sucking up my income.

I max out 403b. I have the traditional IRA mentioned earlier, and a Roth IRA.

I have savings go into an account I can't touch automatically drafted from my paycheck.

I don't drink coffee regularly and when I do want it I can make it at home. I drink decaf anyway.

I travel to far away locales and stay in nice places because I am a single woman and sketchy isn't an option.

I DO eat out -- not regularly but when I want to. I DO buy clothes and make up and shoes but not frequently. I like to look nice, I take pride in my appearance and life is too short to pinch pennies in every area of life.

I am not deferring every pleasure in hopes that I will be able to live some grand life in my old age because not everyone lives long enough to get old. Tomorrow is not promised. My mother retired at 55 lived her best life spending time with my niece, volunteering at her school, traveling and spending time with my grandmother. She turned 65 in October, had a stroke in Dec. and died in January. My grandmother (her mom) was in her 90s, with living siblings, and it had never occurred to me -- or anyone else -- that my mom wouldn't live to some ripe old age, too. Life is for living and should just be tolerated until you die.

I'm happy that you at least spend some of your $$ on your appearance. Otherwise, you have a sorry life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought the worst house in a great neighborhood, and bought much much less than we could afford. We've slowly fix it up with cash only, including additions. We sold real estate to pay mostly cash for our home. We purchase our cars with cash. We do have rentals bought as foreclosures with cash, and have a steady stream of rental income.

We do pay for private school (catholic) and shop at WF and Wegmans, however we don't buy a ton of clothes each month. Since we basically have no mortgage, we can eat out and take nice vacations twice a year. Our living expenses for a year are roughly 45K - we both work and have a 200K income. In a nutshell, it's housing that eats up most families income. We call it big house hell.

This is very disciplined. Kudos. How did you get the cash to buy the very first piece of real estate (in cash, I assume?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought the worst house in a great neighborhood, and bought much much less than we could afford. We've slowly fix it up with cash only, including additions. We sold real estate to pay mostly cash for our home. We purchase our cars with cash. We do have rentals bought as foreclosures with cash, and have a steady stream of rental income.

We do pay for private school (catholic) and shop at WF and Wegmans, however we don't buy a ton of clothes each month. Since we basically have no mortgage, we can eat out and take nice vacations twice a year. Our living expenses for a year are roughly 45K - we both work and have a 200K income. In a nutshell, it's housing that eats up most families income. We call it big house hell.

This is very disciplined. Kudos. How did you get the cash to buy the very first piece of real estate (in cash, I assume?)

It's actually sort of funny story (I've asked my husband to document our foreclosure path for a book). He purchased his first foreclosure with a credit card for 25K in Alexandria ('95). Financed it - it was valued @ 125K, paid off the credit card, and from that point forward, it was cash only. We sold it in '07 for 240K. We sold 3 for our current home and have since purchased more foreclosures. Since we bought our current house, we've had a job loss and 2 career changes and I've never been so thankful that we were able to maintain our lifestyle during tough times.

I'll admit it's not always been easy but in the end, no one needs clothes every month or to have the largest house in the neighborhood. Real estate can be a successful path to wealth, but can also break many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought the worst house in a great neighborhood, and bought much much less than we could afford. We've slowly fix it up with cash only, including additions. We sold real estate to pay mostly cash for our home. We purchase our cars with cash. We do have rentals bought as foreclosures with cash, and have a steady stream of rental income.

We do pay for private school (catholic) and shop at WF and Wegmans, however we don't buy a ton of clothes each month. Since we basically have no mortgage, we can eat out and take nice vacations twice a year. Our living expenses for a year are roughly 45K - we both work and have a 200K income. In a nutshell, it's housing that eats up most families income. We call it big house hell.

This is very disciplined. Kudos. How did you get the cash to buy the very first piece of real estate (in cash, I assume?)

It's actually sort of funny story (I've asked my husband to document our foreclosure path for a book). He purchased his first foreclosure with a credit card for 25K in Alexandria ('95). Financed it - it was valued @ 125K, paid off the credit card, and from that point forward, it was cash only. We sold it in '07 for 240K. We sold 3 for our current home and have since purchased more foreclosures. Since we bought our current house, we've had a job loss and 2 career changes and I've never been so thankful that we were able to maintain our lifestyle during tough times.

I'll admit it's not always been easy but in the end, no one needs clothes every month or to have the largest house in the neighborhood. Real estate can be a successful path to wealth, but can also break many people.

I wanted to mention that if anyone really wanted to be responsible with real estate, you should only buy a house on one income. Really tough in this area but you can buy much less house than what the bank approves, if you have realistic expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We max out retirement and send a dedicated amount to savings/investing out of every paycheck, so we never see that money. We live on the rest. Even if we spend every dollar of the rest, we're living below our means and our net worth is growing.

The rest of what you're asking sounds like just looking for frugal tips. We take lunch most days and cook at home instead of eating out. We bought much less house than we were approved for. We shop at Costco and watch Netflix instead of going to the movies.

Why do you want to live like this??

Tell me, what do you find so horrible about this posters way of being frugal? Costco, Netflix, not eating out? Or was it the house? You're probably in house hell and have no savings. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We max out retirement and send a dedicated amount to savings/investing out of every paycheck, so we never see that money. We live on the rest. Even if we spend every dollar of the rest, we're living below our means and our net worth is growing.

The rest of what you're asking sounds like just looking for frugal tips. We take lunch most days and cook at home instead of eating out. We bought much less house than we were approved for. We shop at Costco and watch Netflix instead of going to the movies.

Why do you want to live like this??

Tell me, what do you find so horrible about this posters way of being frugal? Costco, Netflix, not eating out? Or was it the house? You're probably in house hell and have no savings. Whatever.

Eddie Vs makes a tasty steak?

All kidding aside what works for some seems radical to others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We max out retirement and send a dedicated amount to savings/investing out of every paycheck, so we never see that money. We live on the rest. Even if we spend every dollar of the rest, we're living below our means and our net worth is growing.

The rest of what you're asking sounds like just looking for frugal tips. We take lunch most days and cook at home instead of eating out. We bought much less house than we were approved for. We shop at Costco and watch Netflix instead of going to the movies.

Why do you want to live like this??

Tell me, what do you find so horrible about this posters way of being frugal? Costco, Netflix, not eating out? Or was it the house? You're probably in house hell and have no savings. Whatever.

Eddie Vs makes a tasty steak?

All kidding aside what works for some seems radical to others.

But seriously - Costco, Netflix?! WTF?

Buying a house within means is smart. I just don't understand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our #1 is never paying someone to do work for us. Mow your own lawn, lay your own wood floors, paint the walls yourself, put your own brakes on (dh learned through YouTube), install your own light fixtures, clean your own house. We have a well maintained, beautiful house with new kitchens and baths we did ourselves. We only hired out what was mandatory under code (like gas lines). We've saved tens of thousands.

This is assuming you want to sacrifice family time for these things. We are firmly in the camp of not worth it. Plus i don't want to have a bunch of tools around the house. We just had our HW floors refinished and it took 3 guys 5 full work days to do our floors. That's 120 man hours. That would take us months to complete.

Then you must have a huge house. We diy'ed ours and it was not a big deal. The prep work was the worst. We have tons of tools but a floor sander is something you generally rent. We get the kids involved so it is family time. We don't work on our cars but do our house. That's not really living below your means. Living below your means is spending less and saving.

Not interested in exposing my kids to those fumes. The people who did our floors wore respirators and it was strongly suggested that we stay somewhere else for the week. They were correct. Polyurethane is not healthy to be breathing in without the proper equipment.

Just look at the back of the can of those chemicals. Nope.

Not to mention, I recently bought a home and the DIY projects were so obvious. So many hack jobs out there. The DIYers just do not have the expertise to make the job look finished. If it works for you great, but I don't want my house to look like a kids art project.

First pp here (the others weren't me)- like I said, ours does not look DIY. We are extremely meticulous and it looks better than friends who have hired out jobs. We're really good at what we do and DH and I encourage each other. My paint jobs are perfect and DH has gotten REALLY good at cabinet building (not exactly a cheap way to live below your means, but he's really interested in carpentry as a hobby). We have not refinished our floors, we just laid new. We do own respirators and use them for cutting wood (a cause of cancer), painting, spray painting and many other things. You act like respirators are expensive, but they aren't. Also, my house is up to code and we do get permits/inspections.

Youtube is great for learning how to do anything! 90% of the contractors you hire learned on the job and didn't get any special training. The exceptions are the ones who went to trade school like electricians and plumbers obviously.

+1. Another DIYer here. I'll put up 90% of the work I do against pros, and feel confident I'll win.

Pros in almost any trade are about production and keeping costs down. Maybe at the very high end you get true "artisans", but most contractors I've dealt with are looking for the fastest, easiest way to do something. They don't have to live with it.

No one will ever be as discerning as a homeowner planning on living in the house. When I did my floors, I created custom moldings around my HVAC registers. I cut, mitered, pinned, glued, and stained them out of Hickory.

The biggest gains come in doing your own electrical and plumbing work. Plumbing is easy with shark bites. Electrical takes a bit more thought, but if you have an engineer's mind, you pick it up.

Outside home renovations, the easiest way to save money is DIYing your own car maintenance. Dealers charge ridiculous prices; I own a BMW, and once saw BMW of Fairfax charge a woman $120 to replace a turn signal bulb! Even indy mechanics will charge an arm and a leg for stuff you can do yourself. I want to say quotes I got for a fuel filter were around $800. That's a $40 part, and the job is a little dirty, but it's quick.

DIY brake pads and rotors are the easiest part of turning wrenches. Takes maybe 20 minutes per wheel, and you save hundreds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our #1 is never paying someone to do work for us. Mow your own lawn, lay your own wood floors, paint the walls yourself, put your own brakes on (dh learned through YouTube), install your own light fixtures, clean your own house. We have a well maintained, beautiful house with new kitchens and baths we did ourselves. We only hired out what was mandatory under code (like gas lines). We've saved tens of thousands.

This is assuming you want to sacrifice family time for these things. We are firmly in the camp of not worth it. Plus i don't want to have a bunch of tools around the house. We just had our HW floors refinished and it took 3 guys 5 full work days to do our floors. That's 120 man hours. That would take us months to complete.

Then you must have a huge house. We diy'ed ours and it was not a big deal. The prep work was the worst. We have tons of tools but a floor sander is something you generally rent. We get the kids involved so it is family time. We don't work on our cars but do our house. That's not really living below your means. Living below your means is spending less and saving.

Not interested in exposing my kids to those fumes. The people who did our floors wore respirators and it was strongly suggested that we stay somewhere else for the week. They were correct. Polyurethane is not healthy to be breathing in without the proper equipment.



Just look at the back of the can of those chemicals. Nope.

Its easy to DIY refinish hardwood floors. Common sense is not to use strong chemicals. They are still in your house for months so don't kid yourself to think you aren't breathing them. You should have used a tung or other natural oil finish if you were so concerned about smells.

All chemicals used for refinished HW floors are strong. Using oil or wax does not work well for a modern family.

Yes, we are breathing them, but I'm not about to strap respirators on my kids faces for a week to save money. That's just idiotic.

You really have no clue what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

I don't spend money is my secret

[Anonymous]

We bought a townhouse in a nice neighborhood in a good school pyramid for half of what we could comfortably afford. We own one car that M-F is basically used picking up DC from aftercare, then to/from a class once a week.

Groceries are WF for produce and Safeway for everything else. We do eat out occasionally, but normally have a coupon. Maxing out retirement, we are currently in our mid 30's and will be able to retire in our mid 50's if we want. We do take nice vacations, but one is a joint family trip (4 couples total, driving distance) which runs us about $3k for 2 weeks and the second is a long weekend.

Once we finish renovating the house our vacation budget will go up. That's probably our only splurge because we love to travel, but having a cheaper home and only one car allows us to put more into vacations, savings, and retirement. HHI is around $260k.

[Anonymous]

The biggest and most important decision is buying a home well under what you can afford. Everything else is nibbling around the edges, but without that one factor it doesn't make a big impact. That could be saving longer to get a bigger down payment, or trading 8/9/10 rated schools for 4/5/6. Maybe one less bedroom, or lack of a backyard.

Groceries, eating out, date nights, even the cost of a car - it all pales against what you pay for housing. That's where it all starts. Our mortgage is $3200 a month. We have 3 kids, and I think we'd be hard pressed to even rent a 3-bedroom apt in this area for much less.