In my last post about making ends meet, I went over the details of a study conducted by by Wider Opportunities for Women. This study showed the yearly amounts it would take for a family to survive and make ends meet or meet its basic needs. Here are those figures: One Worker: $30,012; Two Workers: $42,504; One Worker, One Infant: $46,368; One Worker, Two Young Children: $57,756; Two Workers, Two Children: $67,920
As I mentioned before, I was surprised at these figures and thought they were somewhat high. I know that where I live (near Atlanta, Georgia) plays a part in this, but my family has been able to do well despite living on much less than the figures showed in this study. We did have a good start and took advantage of opportunities that others did not have such as living overseas for two years, being able to borrow money interest-free to pay for our wedding and moving when the housing market was still strong, but my family has managed to live on my teacher’s salary for the past five years.
My wife, Tracy, was a teacher before becoming a stay-at-home mom once my oldest daughter was born almost seven years ago. Tracy stayed at home that first year of Ava’s life, worked part-time the next year and has been a full-time stay-at-home mom since. In 2007, we added another daughter to the mix. According to this study, we would need to make almost $68,000 to survive and meet our basic needs. My salary is not even in the same ballpark as this figure. In fact, the most I have ever made in a year (before taxes) is a little above $41,000. Despite earning this amount, we have no debt except our mortgage (which we actually refinanced to a 15 year loan a couple of years ago), invest each month for our retirement and for the girls’ college, have an emergency fund in place and basically live a “wealthy” life on a moderate income. Now, don’t get me wrong, we don’t have the nicest cars – we both drive older vehicles – or live in a 5,000 square foot house, but we are able to survive and meet our basic needs.
I basically think it boils down to how we view our money. We know exactly where every dollar goes and don’t buy things we cannot afford. We do have “nice” things – as I am writing this post I am currently watching The Masters Golf Tournament on my 50 inch, high-definition television set – but we don’t have it all. I think that is what has gotten so many people into financial trouble. Many think they can have whatever they want and usually that is not the case. If I wanted to drive a nicer car I could, but something would have to change. I would either have to make more money or cut something out. I think a lot of people have gone along buying whatever they wanted and did not look at the bigger picture. Although it has not been easy and we have made some sacrifices, my family is living proof that 1 worker with a family of 2 can do well financially on a lot less than $67,000 a year. It does take a little work and a lot of planning but it can be done.
Photo credit: mangpages
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