Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

**JanH** · 02-09-2007, 08:21 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

Wow, that was interesting. I like her attitude! Reminds me of when Hubby and I got married while he was finishing school. We had friends in married housing, a tiny black and white tv, food on the table, etc. Wish I had known about thrift stores back then. I don't think we even had a walmart. Parents paid for auto insurance, but we paid for school and living expenses. I felt stressed sometimes and deprived sometimes compared to other students, but we had midnight movie matinees, and a donut on the weekend for a treat! Then I found the used book store. The guy would sell me books for as little as 20 cents sometimes. Thanks for getting me to think about how blessed I was back then and especially now.

**PRICEPLUS** · 02-09-2007, 09:11 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

It is interesting how little we need to get by with necessities. Maybe if we lived this way there would be a highter savings rate. It is a tough wayto live but this lady is a perfect example of how frugal you can be if you put your mind to it!

**pearlieq** · 02-09-2007, 09:28 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

I remember being so scared for her when I read this. She's getting by, but all she needs is one stiff breeze to make the whole thing topple down.

I hope she comes out OK. She sure sounds like a tough and resourceful lady. I hope her schooling pays off.

**Ima saver** · 02-09-2007, 09:53 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

Wow, that sounds tough, I don't think I could do it.

**Broken Arrow** · 02-09-2007, 10:12 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

Originally posted by pearlieq

I remember being so scared for her when I read this. She's getting by, but all she needs is one stiff breeze to make the whole thing topple down.

Yes, I agree. I hope she's got an adequate EF cushion before she started this venture.

**PrincessPerky** · 02-09-2007, 10:26 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

On the one hand I think she is doing a good thing, on the other hand, her diet doesn't sound the healthiest.

And like you say, one niggling detail and the whole thing crumbles....I hope no one thing happens though....

**MonkeyMama** · 02-09-2007, 10:34 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

I've done it. Through college - probably lived on less.

There is a big difference between doing this for life and doing it a few years to get through school. I am nost sure how long you can really thrive on that kind of income before an emergency sets you in a tailspin. & granted in school I Was so busy with work and school I did not have a lot of time to seek out free things and wasn't exactly focused on building savings, more like just getting through. So this lady does take it to another level that I Am not even sure I Could have done - found my studies far more important I guess so I didn't have to live like that every again! Definitely kudos to her though.

I enjoy now having the money in the bank for an emergency and such. Yet I still remember back to how tight the college years were, makes it very easy for me to retain a lot of frugality in my life. IT also makes me much further appreciate what I have. I say no to dinner out a lot and many friends see me as deprived. But I have a beautiful home, a great job, new cars, and I make 6 times as much as I did in college. Would hardly call it deprived!!!

I would do it all over again - beats coming out of college with a pile of debt plus I learned a lot.

I really prefer to live well below my means but find it a lot harder with bigger assets to protect, a family to support, etc. But I can also see very easily I am so much more well off than those years. Even if I Can no longer live on just $12k...

**tinapbeana** · 02-09-2007, 10:41 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

according to my statement from the SSA, i had a taxable income of under 11k in 2001. sorry for the language, but there is no other way to put this: it SUCKED and i would never ever EVER do it again given anything that even remotely looked like a choice.

**Ima saver** · 02-09-2007, 10:44 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

Well the most I have ever made in my life was $8000 a year, but I have always been married and had my husband's income. Years ago, I lived on $5000 a year, but that was back in the 60's and things were so much cheaper.

**Bookie** · 02-09-2007, 10:45 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

There's more where that came from.

Another Donna Freeman article posted today.

**Snoopy2645** · 02-09-2007, 10:46 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

I lived on that on my own with my baby when I was 18 a little over 10yrs ago things were a little cheaper at that time but not much!! I lived cheaply we spent $25 a week on groceries & lived in a trailer it was a nice big one though we had free cable & water & cheap lot rent thier. But I also had babysitter & insurance costs for my dd oh ya I went to school too & had to pay someone to watch my dd at night while I took night classes. I lived across the street from my job so not much spent in gas either.

I could probably do it again with my 3 kids well maybe I would need a little more but not much I can be super cheap now dh hes another story.

**MonkeyMama** · 02-09-2007, 11:05 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

Another inspiring article...

As long as I had food and shelter (and could afford school to boot)I just don't even look back at those years being that bad, thankfully. I know far too many people worse off. Nothing in my life has made me stronger. But definitley would not choose to live my entire like like that if I did not have to, for sure...

**Snoopy2645** · 02-09-2007, 11:15 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

I dont think back on that as being a bad time either that was a simpler time I would be super happy to go back to those good times. I just get so sick of well we only make this or that its more what are you doing & how are you spending what you have.

**tinapbeana** · 02-09-2007, 11:36 AM

Re: Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year

while it's easy to reminisce about the good old days and simpler times, i think the whole 'living below the poverty line' thing depends on the circumstances.

i.e. when i was in college i made 9-15k per year and had no issues with it. student loan paid for housing, and therefore utilities. i was still covered under my parents' insurance, plus i got free healthcare from the campus med center. life was actually very good.

in 2001, as mentioned in my earlier post, i wasn't in school. i worked 6 months out of that year and looked for a job the rest of the time. i got turned down by several grocery stores and walmart, among others, because i was 'over qualified'. averaged out over the course of the year, my monthly take-home was $640. $350 went to rent, $75 to utilities, $50 to car insurance, and $100 to gas. that left $65 every month for food and to cover emergencies. i had no health insurance.

would i go back to 96-2000 when i was broke and in school? probably. would i go back to 2001? not on your life. it's not a matter of learning to want less and buy generic and reduce, reuse, recycle. in '01 i could have become homeless from an infected ingrown toenail, and that is just too scary a place for me to live.

Surviving (and thriving) on $12,000 a year