How can a family live on $50,000 per year.

$169 grand family income guy wrote:

50 grand is more than the current median income. How does a family live on so little.? What kind of cars do you drive? What are your housing costs? What do you do for vacations?

I mean how often do you get to replace your running shoes? Are you deep in debt?

I can't imagine what it would be like.

Ok, first of all, get rid of the two BMWs, which with finance charges are gonna cost you $150K+. Next, downsize from the $500K 3500SQFT, 5BR, 3BA, luxury home. Try driving a Toyota Corolla and living in a $150K home and maybe ou can save some money.

$169 grand family income guy wrote:

50 grand is more than the current median income.

I can't imagine what it would be like.

I am struggling to eek out a living in this economy and you throw it in my face. Thanks.

fidhgylsrhg wrote:

My gross income between my wife and I for 2010 was approx. 6.2 million...

In the beginning its great, but as time goes by, its a challenge.

Well, just quit. Sell or fold the company regardless of what it's worth. Sell one or two of the homes. You have enough savings for your and your kids' lifetimes. If you and your wife were once happy together, there's no reason you can't clean the crap off and start fresh.

Why do you keep talking about households in general? I'm talking about families, not the huge aggregate of every household, which includes retirees. OBVIOUSLY A SINGLE PERSON CAN LIVE ON 50K! A family with a total income of 50,000/year is going to struggle. Have you ever tried to support more than 3 people on $50,000?

It really depends where you live, in a lot of places ~$700 a month a can get you a decent 2 bedroom apartment (fine for family of four) +$100/month for utilities, +$150/moth for cell phones, cable, internet, then think $150/month for gas if they live reasonably close to work, about $400/month for food, $100/month for car insurance, that puts us at $1600/month for basic life expenses.

So that is about $20,000/year. I'll throw out $5000 more for misc. expenses (medical, car payments if they have them etc.), that still leaves $25,000/year for things like taxes, savings, outstanding debt, and non-essential purchases.

That is not a particularly frugal lifestyle and you can live relatively worry free for a family of four that way. There isn't really too much room to go on big vacations or sort of thing, but you can definitely live on that.

Im married and we have a 4 month old. I make about $42000 and my wife brings in about $3200 annually, so about 45000. It is tough, and we worry about money, but we are very happy! We pay about $1k a month for our house, and limit our car payments to under $300 total. Ton of other expenses, and its a struggle, but we don't have a ton choices. I luckily have a small running sponsorship that covers my cost of shoes. We are aware of every penny we spend. That is the toughest part mentally.

We both have our masters degrees. Its tough out there.

Well you could live happily ever after if it weren't for your greed. The problem is that you no longer have the same standards you did before you hit it big, because now much nicer things are in reach and even nicer things are just around the bend if you can crank that number up to 15 million. Maybe you could add a nice yacht to your collection of homes.

Maybe I'm kidding myself too but if I made 6.2 million last year I'd immediately stop doing whatever it was that earned me that much money and head straight to Bishop, CA to buy a cozy little home and adventure my ass off 7 days a week for as long as my body could take it.

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

There's very few slums there.

Median for Cincinnati is $32,754

Do slums make up the majority of any of those cities? No!

"As of 2009, approximately 66% of the buildings in Over-the-Rhine are vacant. Squatters, such as vagrants, prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers sometimes occupy them illegally. With some buildings on the verge of collapse, investors and real-estate developers are trying to restore them before deterioration to the point of requiring demolition. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, part of Over-the-Rhine has one of the highest rates of abandoned and vacant homes in the country. They classify it as the sixth hardest area in the nation to get an accurate population count."

Investors are trying to get a half million dollars each out of the houses they are restoring. Good Luck!!

A family of four living in a 2 bedroom apartment? Wow, that sounds miserable. Where are you going to find a 2 bedroom apartment in a good area for $700/month? My daughter's very small one bedroom apartment runs $900/month and my son's 2 bedroom apartment at college runs $1260/month.

$150/month for gas? Do you mean for one person or the entire family? Do you live like 5-10 miles from work and never drive anywhere else? Guess what? When you are raising a family, kids need transportation to friends homes, activities, school events, etc. You will spend considerable more than that.

As far as 150/month for a family to have cell phones/internet/cable - who is your provider? I would love to have that rate for my family.

$400/month for a family of four for food???? Have you been grocery shopping for a family of four? Are you talking about just eating rice/beans every day?

As far as those monthy miscellaneous expenses, just our medical insurance is over 400/month(company group plan). Both kids have chronic medical issues - just out of pocket prescription cost is 220-250/month. Car insurance for my wife and two college aged kids is $1900/every six months.

There is no mention of saving for retirement, college educations, supporting elderly parents, paying childcare when kids are small. How about saving for a vacation, furniture, electronics, repairs? Most people will also have car payments at some point and if attend college will likely have student loan payments.

Your figures illustrate you certainly don't have a family and have zero idea how many expenses are involved.

I live in Michigan and there are lots of rentals for $500-$800 a month. Middle to lower-middle class, but liveable.

Our family of four lives on $75K. We could do it on 50K, but it would be tight. Now it's middle to lower-middle class comfy. We eat fine, put some money away, kids get what they need. Cars are older and paid for, but run well. I work from home and wife works 2 miles away. We talk vacations in-state at the beach and such.

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

Median Household income in Raleigh, NC is $51,969. There's very few slums there.

I'm from the area and you can definitely get by on $50k. A family of four would be fine.

If you can't live in $50K, then you have become a spoiled American. There is more to life than brand name clothes and new car every 4 years. Granted it is much harder to live on $50K in NY than in TX, but you do have choices.

Yeah seriously, people moaning cause it's hard to pay for all the new cars, cable tv, cell phones, restaurants.To pay less for gas, drive less. Work near home, or at home optimally, so you don't have to drive to work anymore. Kids can walk to school, or ride bikes. If they want a car, they can get a job. Walking is healthier.

I've never used a cell phone in my life. Problem solved! Nettalk is $30 a year for free calling including free long distance. I've never had cable tv. I live in a comparatively sparse area, and get 19 tv channels from the $30 4bay antenna on the roof. You don't need more than that.

Food is a necessity but look for the lowest prices for the healthiest foods. Beans consume a lot of energy because they take forever to cook.

So you pay $400 a month for health insurance and the kids are always sick. Notice the connection? You're paying $8000 a year down the drain for questionable health care and drugs, rather than focusing on your family being healthy.

I've never had car payments in my life. You don't save money by spending it. Don't take expensive vacations, make your own furniture or get it at garage sales, don't get anything you don't need. Don't get student loans. Don't get a loan for anything. If you can't buy what you need, then you can't afford it, cut back.

Again, you don't save by spending more money.

$50k spends a lot different depending upon the price of housing. In plenty of places, you can still buy a house for under $150k. Let's assume for argument's sake that you make $4200 per month gross, and counting all your taxes (they'll be low, but by no means nonexistent), you can bring home $3400. If you keep your total housing expense under $1000, the percentages aren't too bad. The problem is that with only $2500 or so left, there's not much wiggle room. Used cars (beaters, paid for). Most clothes bought at Target or worse (Goodwill and Thrift Stores have nice stuff). But what kicks your butt is stuff you can't control. Insurance is killer (although you may can get some subsidies). The price of gas and food is almost non-negotiable. If you coupon and are very thoughtful, you can get groceries down to about $30 per person per week, but that's really hard. And it's rare that a house as cheap as we're talking about is close to work. So even if you get your groceries down to, say, $500-600 for the month and gas down to $200-300 (which these days isn't even 100 gallons), you now have only about $1000 to pay all utilities and buy any non-food items, pay for any entertainment, etc. Lots of people do it. My family makes over $80k, but lives like this in order to afford private school. Additionally, more people in this income bracket tithe or at least give significant portions of their income. Remaining debt free makes it easier.

Azaleas wrote:

Why do you keep talking about households in general? I'm talking about families, not the huge aggregate of every household, which includes retirees. OBVIOUSLY A SINGLE PERSON CAN LIVE ON 50K! A family with a total income of 50,000/year is going to struggle. Have you ever tried to support more than 3 people on $50,000?

There was a time I supported a family of 3 on much less than $50,000, owned my own home, 2 cars, took vacations, and saved money. This was in Atlanta 10 years ago.

Average household size in the US is 2.6 people with a median income of $51,425.

Average family size is 3.19 with a median income of $62,363.

We don't have nearly half the country living in poverty. If a family can't make it on $50,000 in most of the country, they need to take a hard look at all the stupid unnecessary spending they're doing. By worldwide standards, a family making $50,000 is very rich.

that isn't comfortable wrote:

A family of four living in a 2 bedroom apartment? Wow, that sounds miserable.

Herein lies your problem. A family of 4 in 2 bedrooms was the norm for the US for most of the 20th century. 4 people in 1 bedroom was common for most of the 19th century. Why do kids, especially of the same sex, need their own bedrooms? That's not a necessity, that's a luxury.

Most of the things you listed in your post are luxuries - cell phones, internet, cable, car insurance for your college age kids (THEY should pay that, not you), vacation, electronics, even paying for your kid's college. NONE of these are necessities!

Can you live like you're rich on $50,000? No. Can you make it? Yes, comfortably. As long as you're not foolish.

BRM, no one's saying you can't support a family on 50,000. They're saying it's difficult, particularly if you have to purchase health insurance yourself. You're suggesting people live without internet, phones, or cable. That's fine, but don't pretend that's a comfortable standard of living in this country.

PS - cell phones are pretty much a necessity for most professionals.

fidhgylsrhg wrote:

My gross income between my wife and I for 2010 was approx. 6.2 million.

We both work out of our homes, and own a type of drop ship company. We have three homes, one in Colorado, North Carolina, and the other on the western coast. Worry, and unhappiness always finds ways to filter into ours/your lives, I do not care how wealthy you are. Before we became financially successful, we always wished to become rich, and then we would live happily ever after. It does not work that way. Many people are unprepared pyschologically as their empire grows. I now know happiness cannot be bought. Believe me I know.

In the beginning its great, but as time goes by, its a challenge.

This bolded part above is what very few people ever realize. There is NOTHING out there (not that new car or new house or the latest iphone or fancy vacation or so on and so on) that will give you the "... and then we(I) would live happily ever after" thing. Learn that no material things will do this for you. $50K / year? No problem.

Prior to last year I was making 50k average for the last 14 years. I am single now and my kids are adults so it is a little different. But while making 50k I was able to get myself down to a 15 year mortgage in 2003 that I have 2 years left on because for the last few years I was able to pay an additional $600 on my principle. Also this year I was able to pay cash for a brand new Nissan Sentra. I have no debt except my mortgage and I'm very happy with my life. I dont go out and buy every new toy available. I like to do my runs, go to my club and workout. I like to walk, read. All inexpensive things that are fun to me. I have a small 2 bedroom home, a rocket for a computer, a 42" high def, big screen tv. I can travel if I want to, eat out if I want to although I dont that much. I dont drink much, buy things on sale. I'm very conservative and happy. So it can be done. And to top it all off in July I got recalled to a job I had been laid off from 14 years ago. This job pays 72k base now and there's overtime every weekend, both days. So now if I accept most of the overtime I will be making over 100k in the years to come however long the contracts last (probably at least 4 years). 50k is much more than you think if you're willing to buy a small house, small car, shop wisely and not worry about what other people have.