Could you?

[74me_thrive05]

Live off of only 70 % of your income. What if your income was slashed? Would you be ok? This is our challenge for the year 2005. We have called it survive and thrive in '05. Our income hasn't been changed, but have decided to challenge ourselves this year.

Could you do it? I am not saying it will be easy - I have already found out it won't be.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Could you?

Hey I am working on 90% here, I am not even thinking about less than that yet!

[terry1156]

Re: Could you?

Not a chance. I guess if I really had to I would find a way, but I would not enjoy doing it.

Is there a particular reason why you are doing this?

[MrsChambers]

Re: Could you?

yeah.. I don't think that we could do it either... but like Terry1156 I am also wondering what made you all decide to tackle such a challenge.

[miclason]

Re: Could you?

I am (trying) to survive on 66% ...I got fired from a job that paid me $16,800 per year, and I am now at a job that pays only $11,000 per year...
Of course, my level of debt was manageable at the previous income, but is almost impossible with the new one...

[MrsChambers]

Re: Could you?

MICLASON... you need to check you getting your butt into school man!!

[miclason]

Re: Could you?

LOL! ....$16,800 is a very well paid job here!!...minimum wage is about $160/month ($1,920/year)...someone doing the same job I do, but not bilingual, makes about $3,600 a year!...unfortunately, I'm 36....in this country, it is NOT illegal to place ads that read:
"20-30 years of age"....if you are a woman over 30, getting a new job is next to impossible, after 35, you better have some pretty good ideas and $$ to set up your own business....because no one (except international ONG's) will hire you....if you are a man, you should have a secure job by the time you are 40!...believe it or not, people won't even look at your CV if you are a woman over 35 (I got hired here at 34, and only because my CV and IQ were 3x better than the other candidates...modesty aside!)...same if you are a man over 40....and people wonder why the level of sub-employment (do you even have that term??) is at around 35% (of the 68% of the population that is considered "employed"!!)...it is tough!!

[MrsChambers]

Re: Could you?

hey now.. I know that it's tuff.. I'm a woman in your age range also... but DAMN... what the heck is it that you do?
where the heck do you live?
I would seriously think about moving if that is the max you can make in your area... that's just nuts.

[Momtwo]

Re: Could you?

Yup, I can. I live off less a percentage than that.

[miclason]

Re: Could you?

I live in El Salvador...moving is really not an option...the whole area is pretty much the same (Central America)...I am an administrative assistant...well, a BILINGUAL administrative assistant...I went to college and majored in English....I could give classes, too, but that pays even less!...Managers here make around $18,000 - $24,000 a year...

[MrsChambers]

Re: Could you?

EL SALVADOR??

well then THAT makes sense to me!!

[PennyPincher]

Re: Could you?

It is so amazing to me what some of you do on salaries that are decreasing! And with the talent that warrants so much more. Bilingual skills are often rewarded handsomely here in the US...what a shame.

Living off 70% would be tough for me, but do-able. I would not be able to save a dime if my salary were actually cut to 70%. And I'd definitely have to postpone having children out quite a few years...

[amomof4]

Re: Could you?

As a guess, we live off of 50%. Of course my husband keeps track of all the bills & income, so I am only guessing. But I am sure it's pretty close. He is close to retirement & has to make up for lost time in not saving earlier.

[DivaJen]

Re: Could you?

Hmmm.....

I don't think we could do it. If we did, it would be extremely tight.

Edited to add that I mentioned this to Dh last ngiht and we had a little talk about it. In a way, what we're living on now is about 70% of what we were living on when he was self-employed and I was still teaching. So we can live off of 70% of that.

If we had to go to 70%, we both thought we might need to refinance our home. We have a 20-year mortgage, so going to a 30-year would ease the monthly payment (we'd spend more in the long run, of course).

For us it would mean buying only that which we absolutely needed, and DD doing without a lot of the dance and language classes and such that we like to provide for her.

[txjman]

Re: Could you?

I would say no, since we currently live off 110% of our income.