Do you live paycheck to paycheck?

[Anonymous]

Yes we do. Family of four. Two teens.

[Anonymous]

Yes. By the end of the month I am usually short on grocery money and have to use the credit card (which I usually pay off the following week). I do have a small amount of emergency savings that I don't touch.

My HHI is close to yours, OP. so what's your secret?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not trying to be rude, but do these children HAVE a father(s)? Or did you become a single mom by choice?

Good on you for being able to afford 2 kids with no assistance.

What are you paying daycare?

I'm a single mom earning 70k. Before my DD was in elementary school, I worked from home and earned about 30k as a graphic designer. One horrible year during the recession it was 20k. One good year was 40k. She does not have a father and I am not a single mother by choice. He became abusive after i got pregnant, and then dumped me when i was 37 & 1/2 weeks pregnant. I called him when she was born, he never came to visit, and we haven't talked since. She's 10.

[Anonymous]

Just read your update, what about extra cuticular activities? Car repairs? Savings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not trying to be rude, but do these children HAVE a father(s)? Or did you become a single mom by choice?

Good on you for being able to afford 2 kids with no assistance.

What are you paying daycare?

I'm a single mom earning 70k. Before my DD was in elementary school, I worked from home and earned about 30k as a graphic designer. One horrible year during the recession it was 20k. One good year was 40k. She does not have a father and I am not a single mother by choice. He became abusive after i got pregnant, and then dumped me when i was 37 & 1/2 weeks pregnant. I called him when she was born, he never came to visit, and we haven't talked since. She's 10.

Aren't you entitled to child support?

[Anonymous]

No. We are not Feds, but furloughs have become an annual event in our household. God forbid we had zero income coming in, we could make it about 3 months bare bones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes or no?

In light of the recent shutdown it seems that some people are scrambling trying to figure out how to pay the monthly bills.

Do you feel adequately prepared in the event that you might suddenly lose your income or do you live paycheck to paycheck?

I'll start...

I'm a single mom of 2 under 2 (toddler and infant). My gross is about $67K per year. No, I do not live paycheck to paycheck.

I'm a single mom of one 4 year old. Do you live in the DC area?

Op here. I live in Alexandria, VA.

do you have child support money coming in? An extremely cheap rent/mortgage? I feel like there is more to your story.

Well if you are living in the City of Alexandria, I can explain how you afford everything. It's called govt support.

No child support. No family in the area. Dad passed when I was young and mom lives several thousands of miles away and grosses about $20K per year working a customer service job.

Rent on my 2BR condo is $1400. Older car that is paid off. Luckily both of my children are the same gender and since they are so close together in age I've been able to pass most everything from DC1 down to DC2. I also buy most of my children's things on Craigslist, garage sales or consignment sales. I use a cheaper in home day care where I get a discount for 2 kids as opposed to the more expensive commerical day care centers near my job at Farragut North.

I cook most food from scratch, repurpose things where I can, combine grocery trips errands to save on gas, fill up on gas late night/early morning when the fuel temp is cooler and it has not had a chance to expand sot that I can pay cheaper gas prices. Avoid impulse buys. Everything is researched and planned out. If something new is needed it seriously takes me several months to figure out what is the best product for my needs and where I can buy it the cheapest. Keep my windows open as much as possible to avoid AC costs.

I guess it's a bunch of small things that add up and contribute to the larger picture of living simplistically and saving money.

[Anonymous]

I keep a one month cushion, but all other savings get shunted into relatively inaccessible tax advantaged accounts. DH is bad with money (for instance, refused to delay a non-essential $500 purchase until after the shutdown was settled) and so I've learned its not wise to leave too much free cash around.

[Anonymous]

We could probably make 5 months with no income. But we have a high HHI ($350k) and my husband is good with money.
We also have no student loans and only 1 child.

My sense is even the people who have some savings, suddenly get $0, especially for both workers, with no notice and no severance really sucks. I thought we had a ton of savings but by this metric, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep a one month cushion, but all other savings get shunted into relatively inaccessible tax advantaged accounts. DH is bad with money (for instance, refused to delay a non-essential $500 purchase until after the shutdown was settled) and so I've learned its not wise to leave too much free cash around.

yeah, I just had to talk my husband out of a non-essential fence repair project. I'm not a fed, but my hours just got cut yesterday so we are going to have less money this month - PLUS the rather large car tax bill due next week. The frickin' fence can wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not trying to be rude, but do these children HAVE a father(s)? Or did you become a single mom by choice?

Good on you for being able to afford 2 kids with no assistance.

What are you paying daycare?

I'm a single mom earning 70k. Before my DD was in elementary school, I worked from home and earned about 30k as a graphic designer. One horrible year during the recession it was 20k. One good year was 40k. She does not have a father and I am not a single mother by choice. He became abusive after i got pregnant, and then dumped me when i was 37 & 1/2 weeks pregnant. I called him when she was born, he never came to visit, and we haven't talked since. She's 10.

Aren't you entitled to child support?

I didn't name him on the birth certificate. I would rather raise her on my own than have to have him in our lives in order to get his money. He almost killed me several times. It's not worth his money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes or no?

In light of the recent shutdown it seems that some people are scrambling trying to figure out how to pay the monthly bills.

Do you feel adequately prepared in the event that you might suddenly lose your income or do you live paycheck to paycheck?

I'll start...

I'm a single mom of 2 under 2 (toddler and infant). My gross is about $67K per year. No, I do not live paycheck to paycheck.

I'm a single mom of one 4 year old. Do you live in the DC area?

Op here. I live in Alexandria, VA.

do you have child support money coming in? An extremely cheap rent/mortgage? I feel like there is more to your story.

No child support. No family in the area. Dad passed when I was young and mom lives several thousands of miles away and grosses about $20K per year working a customer service job.

Rent on my 2BR condo is $1400. Older car that is paid off. Luckily both of my children are the same gender and since they are so close together in age I've been able to pass most everything from DC1 down to DC2. I also buy most of my children's things on Craigslist, garage sales or consignment sales. I use a cheaper in home day care where I get a discount for 2 kids as opposed to the more expensive commerical day care centers near my job at Farragut North.

I cook most food from scratch, repurpose things where I can, combine grocery trips errands to save on gas, fill up on gas late night/early morning when the fuel temp is cooler and it has not had a chance to expand sot that I can pay cheaper gas prices. Avoid impulse buys. Everything is researched and planned out. If something new is needed it seriously takes me several months to figure out what is the best product for my needs and where I can buy it the cheapest. Keep my windows open as much as possible to avoid AC costs.

I guess it's a bunch of small things that add up and contribute to the larger picture of living simplistically and saving money.

I'm still on the fence about this thread but OP, you can stop doing this coz it doesn't save you anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not trying to be rude, but do these children HAVE a father(s)? Or did you become a single mom by choice?

Good on you for being able to afford 2 kids with no assistance.

What are you paying daycare?

I'm a single mom earning 70k. Before my DD was in elementary school, I worked from home and earned about 30k as a graphic designer. One horrible year during the recession it was 20k. One good year was 40k. She does not have a father and I am not a single mother by choice. He became abusive after i got pregnant, and then dumped me when i was 37 & 1/2 weeks pregnant. I called him when she was born, he never came to visit, and we haven't talked since. She's 10.

Aren't you entitled to child support?

I didn't name him on the birth certificate. I would rather raise her on my own than have to have him in our lives in order to get his money. He almost killed me several times. It's not worth his money.

In this situation, I agree with you. Is he named on the first daughter's birth certificate? You said you had 2. Or are you NOT OP? If so, I'm confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just read your update, what about extra cuticular activities? Car repairs? Savings?

With two DCs under there are no extra curricular activities. All the time and attention is given to the little ones. Usually free ones like parks, national malls, walking trails etc.

Gotta love Japanese cars.

I've got a 10 year old Japanese car and knocked on wood have not had to make any major repairs in 10 years.

Savings is currently at $17K but have not been able to significantly add to it because I've been focusing on putting money away for DC's college funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In this situation, I agree with you. Is he named on the first daughter's birth certificate? You said you had 2. Or are you NOT OP? If so, I'm confused.

never mind. I reread the thing about $70K, and realized you are another poster. I think on $70K with one child, you are in decent shape. Not rolling in it or anything, but doing OK. I am sorry that the father of your child is an abusive asshole - you were right to get out when you did.

I'm still curious about the OP's situation.