Why Am I poor

[Lindsey23]

I'm siting here wondering why am I poor, and how did i make it before, Between my husband and I we Make around 85K /yr That may seem like a lot to some but we struggle and struggle, I'm just wondering is this common, We have a 4 bedroom 3 bath 2 car garage house that cost us 160k, I think thats a reasonable house for the money we make, but when u add student loans, car payment, child support and all the other misc expenses, there seem to be hardly anything left. can someone that in the same income range please tell me if you have similar issues!!!

[LittleMsMom]

You are going to need to post your income, and post your debts and bills in order for us to help you see where you can make changes so you don't feel like you are broke.


I would also like to suggest you start a blog on this site, the blogs are very helpful.

[DebbieL]

"Child support" popped out at me. That figure is often very high, so I'm not sure in this case, but that could be a big part of it. Making babies then splitting up is expensive. For a better answer we would need your budget (income, expenses).

[jpg7n16]

Because you don't budget your money each month.

If you budgeted your money, you'd know why you don't have anything.

So I agree with LittleMsMom - if you'd post your monthly income (after tax) and expenses, the people on the forum will gladly help you out. I'm talking about an itemized budget (Food - $350, Car Insurance - $150, Electric bill - $180, Cell phone - $75, etc.) separately list your debt payments to see just how much of your income is going towards debt obligations, as opposed to controllable spending (car payments - $375, CC#1 - $75, Student Loans - $250, etc.)

Your house is reasonable. Your cars probably aren't.

[Hector]

I am sorry that you are going through this. People at this forum give great advise. As mentioned by others, posting detail #s might help.

This is one more reason I dont like rules of thumb. If your income is X, you can have car worth of Y. If your income is X, you can have mortgage worth of Z, and so on.. Why cant we keep things simple? Why dont you make sure that your total expense is less than your income and you have enough cushion? Its not compulsory to take mortgage, buy expensive car, spend X amount of money. Just spend less than you earn! When it comes to spending, apart from how much you make, how much you owe, how much you have, how old are you are equally important questions to ask.

[thomsoad]

Im gonna be frank so please bear with me... Some things you post concern me.

1) You say a 160K house is reasonable but I have no idea what your mortgage/taxes/insurance is. 160K house is a helluva alot less expensive in Arizona then in New Jersey. So whats your TOTAL monthly payment?

2) add student loans, car payment, child support and all the other misc expenses You add all this up and suddenly you find yourself nickle and dimed to death.... Plus what exactly is MISC expenses? Is this going out to the movies once a week or paying $10000 a year for your childs ballet lessons?

My first impression is you two are not paying attention to how you spend your money. Dont feel too bad about that... unfortunately thats normal for America.

[disneysteve]

I'm siting here wondering why am I poor, and how did i make it before, Between my husband and I we Make around 85K /yr That may seem like a lot to some but we struggle and struggle, I'm just wondering is this common, We have a 4 bedroom 3 bath 2 car garage house that cost us 160k, I think thats a reasonable house for the money we make, but when u add student loans, car payment, child support and all the other misc expenses, there seem to be hardly anything left. can someone that in the same income range please tell me if you have similar issues!!!

I agree with everyone else. We need to see the details of your situation. Yes, a 160K house on an 85K income is very reasonable on the surface, but if you have a lot of other financial obligations, like child support and student loans, even the 160K house might be too much for you at this point.

Let us see the breakdown of your income and expenses and we can give much better answers to your question.

[Frugal]

Your salar(ies) seem very high to be saying you are poor. You might need to learn how to budget. People get by every day on a lot less than you said you take home. I know it is possible from experience!

It can be done. Start small, by perhaps using coupons to cut your grocery expenses. Work out a budget, and find out how to stock up on food and necessities when they go on sale at the grocery store and the local Walmart.

Consider selling some of those fancy gadgets you may or may not need.

[maat55]

How much a month do you spend on cigarettes, chips, lattee's, cookies, eating out, pop, alcohol, fast/junk foods, auto interest, gas(for unnecessary trips),electronics, excessive auto and home insurance, withholdings on w2, hobbies etc.?

I shake my head when I see my brothers broke, yet they both smoke, have jeeps for a luxury, boats they barely use and over-spend on food consuption.

[carolan]

As a lot of people havesaid, it is basically very simple. How much do you make and how much do you spend. If you spend more than you make you need to spend less. Being frugal can be easy, you just need to start. And really look at "wants" vs "needs". This is the biggest problem for a lot of people.

[couchrobt]

Consider yourself poor when you have lost all means of getting your act straight. Maybe it is best that you get a good job that you can totally embrace.

[snafu]

your complaint suggests the household income is insufficient to meet expenses. Your choice is to make more money perhaps with a 2nd, PT job or to decrease spending. What are you willing to forgo so that you are fully funding an emergency fund, retirement savings and a long term planned portfolio to give yourself and your family the financial security you desire?

[jpg7n16]

your complaint suggests the household income is insufficient to meet expenses.

I was honestly thinking just the reverse:

her complaint suggests that her expenses are too high for her household income

[debtfreeme]

Without knowing your full budget each month, can you track your expenses to the penny for 1 full month? Don't change your habits, but then use the information gathered to analyze your expenses.

Only you and your family can determine your needs other than the basics (house, utilities, food). Once you have that information sit down and see how you can cut things. Are your utilities high? use less lights, heat, electronic goodies, unplug when you are away, etc. You may be surprised at the little things that come up. How often do you grocery shop? run errands? etc.

[jteezie]

I'm assuming you are 23 years old based on your screen name. I would say to cut a night out each month. Watch a movie at home. That will likely save up to $200 a month. You're young, 200 a month might make you feel a little more comfortable so you can better evaluate your financial situation.

Then again, I could be wrong with my assumption and you just need to sit down and list out your monthly expenses in detail and budget.