Reply to s/o living on $25k or $36k a year

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "s/o living on $25k or $36k a year"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My brother is 45 and lives in rural Maine.  He will earn about $25K this year.  He has 2 kids--16 and 18.

Do you live near your family? If not how do you afford going to see them?

We visit him.  He rarely visits us.  If he does, it's because we have subsided plane tickets.  My dad and I live in DC.

- Do you have hobbies? What are they?

He and his boys ski, snowshoe, go camping, hiking

- Do you ever travel for fun? If so, what's your approach? Not really.

A big trip for them is heading to the Maine beaches for the day.  When I want my kids to spend time with their cousins, I pay for my brother and his kids to come on vacation with us.

- Do you ever find yourself really wanting something that is outside your MMM budget (like a trip to Australia, or some expensive shoes)? Do you ever given in to those urges or do you just figure you'll get over it?

It's not even in the realm of his consideration.  That said, our mom made sure we were well traveled and both of us have seen the world.  His kids however have not.

- What do you eat most days? Do you ever buy the expensive mustard or the fancy tomatoes?

He eats very well.  Groceries by him are much less than here.  He grows vegetables in the summer and cans/freezes them.  He doesn't buy fancy mustard or tomatoes because he doesn't enjoy them any more than the non fancy ones.  To him, the value just isn't there.

- What do you do for yourself, that you see other people spending money on for others to do for them? Do you make your own clothes, or grow your own vegetables, or...?

He has a lovely vegetable garden

- Are most of your friends in the same boat? If not how do you do it when your friends want to get together at a restaurant, or to go see a concert, or whatever? You just say no and have them over for a potluck instead, or...?

Pretty much his entire town lives about the same

- What sort of house or apartment do you live in? Did you pick that place in order to be able to spend very little? Do you like your home?

He has a 3bd/2ba house on 10acres that he purchased 3 yrs ago for $89K.  He loves his house and he does a lot of the repairs the we in DC would outsource.  This year he put a new roof on the house and installed new windows.  He is rather cheap when it comes to heat--65 is standard in the winter.  He tells me to put on more clothes when we visit in the winter.

- What do you think are the big misconceptions about how you live? What do you wish others understood about your approach to money - what do we outsiders usually get wrong?

He is MUCH better at living within his means and budgeting than I am.  He really is one of those people that is happy with what he has and wants no more. 
[/quote]

Out of curiosity, do your brother's children (ages 16 and 18) seem OK with the lifestyle?  Or do you think that the children wish that their dad would hustle a bit to make a little bit more money?  I suspect the lifestyle is not as hard on teenage boys as it would be on teenage girls.  My family was always in the middle, and I was always so relieved we had money to do little things (like nice outfits for school).[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics