Well, I'm defining high income as over $75,000/year.

Anyone else in this club? When I was working we made $110,000/yr. Now we're making just under $70,000. When I go back to work (hopefully in a month or so) we should be back up over the $100,000 mark again.

Sara, Do you mean together or individually?

We have pretty much always lived off of DH's salary only - he makes more than $75,000 a year.

DH and I do. Well, I should say DH does. I am a SAHM.

If I worked 40hrs (I only work 24) we would be over $82.000...However unless I had to I like working my 24hrs ....This keeps the balance between work and my family..Years ago when I did work 40hrs and my first son was around a year old I missed out on alot..It's more important for me to live within my means then making more money and my family having a tired and mean mom..JMHO...

I'm a SAHM and dh makes well over the 75,000 he farms and the 75k might pay his interest bill yearly!! He is a nut in the cattle market! his banker loves hime too!

I am not a high end spender either. I get excited if I make a few bucks on ebay!! :loop:

We make right around 100K, but honestly I don't consider us to be high income.

Sorry, I did mean collectively. DH makes $70K and I made $40K at my last job, I'm hoping to make at least $45K if I get this job I'm interviewing for.

And I'm not sure if it's really "high income" either - but I just wondered who was in the same boat. It's a different mindset to be frugal when you make decent money than it is when you make almost nothing. I know that this may not be the best way to phrase it, but it's true. A lot of articles on the web and such are supportive of people making minimum wage while raising a family and trying to make ends meet (and don't get me wrong, I am very supportive of people in these situations - I don't think it's that they're lazy or "it's all their fault" or whatever), there aren't as many people who practise frugality at higher income levels.

Most of our friends don't understand why we do what we do because "we can afford" to do this, that, or the other. We could take expensive vacations, and we could easily swing a new car payment. So we get that pressure from our parents and friends. On the other hand, there are a lot of people in the larger online frugal communities (and I never get this vibe here - FV is awesome!) that because we don't "need" to do all this frugal stuff just to survive that we aren't "really" frugal - we're just yuppies pretending to be for fun. There's also a competitive vibe out there that I feel masquarades as frugality - the "oh yeah? Well I feed 30 kids and 10 dogs while living on my husband's income, and he only makes $.05 an hour..." kind of competition. I don't mind competing to see how low I can get my food bill, or how many days I can go without spending money, but I hate competing with how "poor" you can be. I've always defined frugality as stretching your resources, not necessarily only having limited resources. I don't think having less money makes you more frugal. In fact, I think the more resources you have you should be able to be more frugal!

(off soapbox now)

So that's why I started this kith thread - find other people on FV who can appreciate the nature of our situation. I can think of a few members off-hand, but we've got a lot of new members lately.

DH, currently makes well over 100k a year. Dear God, please allow that to continue. :) I am, currently, a SAHM.
Telephus44, I know what you mean about the "other" sites.

I was reading this thread and wondering what types of jobs provide this kind of income? The most we have ever made is $52,000 a year, when we both were working full-time.

My DH and I make over $75,000. I should say he makes it. I work 21 hours per week. If I had to I would work more, but right now I am enjoying the freedom I have working as I do.

with our current jobs, dh and i make just over 75,000, most of that dh's income. dh is in internet secruity stuff right now. new job is still computer related, but it's all stuff i don't understand. his job is techincal and specialized so that helps with the pay rate. i work in retail. compared to his rate mine stinks, but compared to most nonmangment retail, i'm making a good rate. but i have had management experience and have lucked into a promotion in the past that offered an increase in payrate just a couple of months before my yearly review and pay increase. dh's new job will pay enough that once school ends i won't have to work. we have been very blessed this past year.

i know what ya mean about some other sites where it's a compitition to see how poor you are or there is a stigma because of what your income is. i got jumped on once because i expressed an opion about an article someone brought up and was pretty much told my opion didn't matter because of our income. thankfully FV has never been like that!

After taxes my hubby made $95,000 so including taxes he's well over $100,000. That's just his regular job, we also run a ranch with 120 black angus cows......if you know anything about farming you'll know we need the big money job just to pay for the farm.
We have been very blessed that our hard work has paid off and we will soon be better off financially than we ever have been. As far as what he does for a living, he works in the oil patch. Fancy company truck and expense account. He also worked for 12 years, shift work, drilling on an oil rig. He has definitely worked his way the HARD way to where he is today.
Now MY job as the family manager is to make sure we use those resources as smart as we can. I used to spend about 5 minutes a week on our finances and boy could you tell. Now sometimes I can spend hours a day learning, researching, staying organized and on top of things.
My husbands' salary is definitely a gift from God and I pray it stays where it is. We are definitely a closet frugal family to many people. It boggles my best friends' mind. "DO something! GO somewhere!" she is always saying. I like to go shopping with her and just watch HER spend. I can tell some people I know wonder when they see me carting snacks and drinks to the rink but they never say anything. HMMMMM......you've got me thinking now, why aren't I more open about this????????

Sara, I totally "get" why you started this thread (sometimes it shocks me how alike we are). I currently make $45,000 and my hubby makes $40,000 (soon to be $42,000) which is a really large combined income for our area, considering cost of living etc. I also know what you mean about getting pressure from friends and family to live more extravagently. We are not super-frugal by any means, but we are smart with money which I think is a foreign concept for a lot of consumers.

It's very interesting to find those who live frugally and are intelligent with their money but that don't "HAVE" to be.

Deb, I don't know about everyone else, but my hubby and I both work in the technical industry, where pretty much everyone in a somewhat prominent positions makes at least what we do. I would expect that in just a few more years, we will both be making a good deal more than that. I'm telling you, come to Utah and work for eBay! ;) Your technically inclined husband would love it!

I was reading this thread and wondering what types of jobs provide this kind of income? The most we have ever made is $52,000 a year, when we both were working full-time.

DH is a CPA. He has been above the $75,000 mark for several years now. He finished college in 1995 and passed the CPA exam in 1996. If he were a work-a-holic he would be making a lot more than he does now. However he chooses to come home every evening on time, coach our kids' sports teams, be home on the weekends with us instead of being in the office, take vacations....basically he puts our family first.

I was reading this thread and wondering what types of jobs provide this kind of income? The most we have ever made is $52,000 a year, when we both were working full-time.


My DH is a 3D Artist. I work in the business office at a car dealership. I really lucked out as far as my income. =) The only scary thing is my husbands field of work is small in the area we live in and competition is huge.

Well I feed 30 kids and 10 dogs while living on my husband's income, and he only makes $.05 an hour..."

That made me smile. :)

As far as what we do for a living, DH is the Parts Manager at a car dealership. His pay is heavily comission based so it fluctuates from year to year, but generally he makes around $60,000. I am a medical transcriptionist and am paid on production. I expect to make in the ballpark of $45,000 this year.

I don't consider us having a high income, I do consider us upper middle class if that makes sense. I am a sahm, my dh made just under $75,000 last year. As for what he does for a living he is a garage door installer/ service tech. I don't have an issue with family thinking we are strange for living the way we do, but perhaps that is because we don't talk about how much money we make. I think both of our families would be more inclined to think that we make less then we actually do. In our extended family I have only ever gotten a comment once on how I do things, and it was great. My dh's grandparents were over for dinner and she was tickled pink that I was putting away leftovers for future use, according to her the other grandaughters toss good food all the time. Though I can honestly say my kids are starting to try and figure out if we are poor or what. My ds's birthday is coming up and we have always just done parties at home. He will be 10 and has just now asked why his friends have parties other places but not us. He thought it was because we couldn't afford those chucky cheese parties, and I was like nope we can afford them I am just choosing not to spend my money there because I would rather do other things with the money.

I have found that the people who smirk at us the most are our neighbors. I really think they think we are poor. Everyone on our block drives either Cadillacs or Mercedes. The teenagers have brand new BMW's. I drive a 2005 Camry and hubby drives a 2000 Buick.

We have a family that we are really good friends with but we had to stop doing things with them because they always felt the need to pay. I am not sure if they were thinking we were to poor to pay or if they really just wanted to pay (maybe to show how much money they had). It was nice for them to take us out once but they would never let us pay for anything. I started to feel real uncomfortable so I have declined all invitations to go out with them.

My family just thinks I am cheap. I don't talk about what I have or what I don't have with them. My father is the king of cheap but he is also stingy. I have learned that it is important for us to give and not just to write a check to the church (which I have no problem with). I just also want my children to see us as givers to people who need a helping hand.

My DH's father thinks I am the smartest person he knows (LOL). He always makes comments about how well we handle money.

I don't know about the other frugal sites. If someone would PM me some of the sites I would like to take a lot just out of curiosity.

Combined we make a little over 78K - I'm a school teacher and dh is a golf course superintendent.

Okay, now that I know what you are looking for, yep, I'm in this kith. I'm a kith? In this kith? I'm a kithdred spirit? Oh, I don't know the grammar of Sara's new buzzword yet, but I'm in! :toothy:

Interestingly, though, where we live, we are not in the upper class. Salaries in our area are much higher than this. In fact, many of the parents of my students have a SAHM and a working father who brings in 200,000-300,000 alone. We are so close to NYC, many people in our area commute into the city and work on Wall Street, or other major corporations. We also have the corporate headquarters for Pfizer and Mennen in our town, and there are big paying jobs there as well. We do have a section of town that is low income, but by far, the high incomes outweigh the low ones, and our combined income of just over $100,000 is not incredibly impressive here.

And, to address Traci's comment of "what bills I could pay and what savings I could have if I had that kind of money," if you lived here, you wouldn't, because the cost of living is high due to our proximity to NYC. We are living paycheck to paycheck right now, not because we are frivolous spenders. I think anyone who has ever read my posts over the past 5 years here at FV would know how much I work at frugality. It's because we bought our new home two years ago with the understanding that Julia would be starting kindergarten and we could use her old daycare payment to go toward the mortgage. Then, we were blessed with a little surprise in the form of Matthew, and suddenly, that extra money we were banking on is gone. So, in three years, we'll be able to live comfortably again, but for now, frugality is a necessity, because sometimes, life happens, no matter how careful or frugal you are. And, I'd much rather have Matthew than extra money! :)

When Patrick is off to Kindergarten and we do have that extra money each month, and then later, when Matthew is off to Kindergarten as well, I will continue to be frugal, because I think it's important to be a wise consumer and to teach your children the value of a dollar. I worked my way through high school at a store in town that sold lottery tickets on the side. There was a revolving door of people who came through to plunk down upwards of $100 a week on lottery tickets, and these were people who I knew didn't have a pot to pee in. However, when those unemployment and welfare checks came in, they cashed them and headed our way. So, it's not just the wealthy (and I wouldn't consider my family wealthy by any means) who spend money without thinking. The poor do as well. I think everyone should work at frugality and taking control of where their money goes. No matter how much you have, it's yours and yours alone to do with as you please. I choose to make mine go as far as possible.

"Well I feed 30 kids and 10 dogs while living on my husband's income, and he only makes $.05 an hour..."
By the way...I almost peed in my pants when I read this. Hysterical!

MY job as the family manager is to make sure we use those resources as smart as we can.

I feel like you reached right into my brain and pulled this sentence out. This is exactly how I feel. I am fortunate that my husband is paid well enough that I can stay home, so I am not going to squander this opportunity by throwing away money.

Trying to be frugal with a high income does have some unique challenges. I find it hard to find a place to fit in. I kind of feel guilty talking about being frugal with people I know are barely getting by, and other people with high incomes just look at you like you have holes in your head. It's also harder to resist the temptation to buy something, when you know you can afford it.

We don't discuss my husband's salary with anyone, so I think others assume we have less than we really do. Plus there are 5 of us living on one paycheque, so I'm sure they think we have lots of bills to pay.

The main problem I am having right now, is trying to find a financial goal to focus on. We don't have any debts to pay or emergency funds to build. Our goals are all large and long term now - mortgage and retirement. I'm finding it hard to motivate myself when there are no small short term goals. Is anyone else struggling with a lack of direction?

This is actually the first thread on FV that I've felt comfortable replying to.

I am new to FV but not new to frugality. We've been living the frugal lifestyle since our dsAlmost14 was born and we made the decision for me to stay at home with him.

For a very long time we practiced "black belt frugality." One year, we lived on $24,000, the older kids were 7 and 5 and I was pregnant with our youngest. We also paid Catholic school tuition for the then-second-grader (about $3K). It was a long hard row to hoe, as they say.

Dh worked and worked and studied and studied to become a Certified Financial Planner. I sewed for income, tutored (I'm a recovering academic research chemist), gardened, only bought groceries on sale----all the usual stuff frugalites do.

We were able to buy our first house in 2001 when the kids were 9, 7 and 18 months. We were lucky in that our mortgage payment was only $50 higher than our rent and utilities were about the same.

Dh passed the CFP exam (think CPA exam, bar exam--two days of fun, not!) in December 2004. After that, he had recruiters contacting him almost every day :) In the summer of 2005 he accepted an offer from a firm with a very nice signing bonus. We were able to FINALLY put money away for the kids' college educations, set aside a nice chunk in retirement accounts, and relax just a bit :)

We found our dream home (fixer-upper, 17 years old) last spring. Because of our savings, we were able to buy it even before listing our previous home for sale.

Dh's monthly income varies widely. Some of his clients are planning-only, some want him to manage various accounts. Because of when/how clients are billed, sometimes the paycheck for the month only covers the mortgage and utilities.

We still live a frugal lifestyle. Clothes are hung outside (one of the first things I did when we found this house was to drive the neighborhood and see if anyone else had a clothesline out----there's one two houses down :) ), I garden more extensively than before because I finally have the room, I stockpile, shop sales only, buy the kids' clothes and school uniforms used, yadda yadda yadda.

BUT we now are able to give more than just our time and energy to our church and charity, we are able to take a vacation that doesn't involve a tent (though we still camp--all the kids are scouts), and we send our kids to private school.

At times, dh and I still can't believe how far we have come in 16 years :) None of it would be possible without the sacrifices we made in the past----and continue to make. We are very very blessed that my family and our friends are very supportive of all the decisions we have made and the way we live our lives. Dh's family, eh not so much. They think we should have new furniture, turn the heat up past 62, buy new cars, and eat out once in a while.....

And since Deb asked - DH is a Network Engineer (computer thing) and I'm a customer service rep. I know from experience that Customer Service means anything from call center to receptionist to strategic account manager (and the pay varies accordingly) but for my industry the range is around $30K-$55K depending on your experience level.

Well, I guess I would fall into this also. Although I'm single, I make more than half of the listed criteria for 2 people. I'm an accountant, but currently I develop tax software. I do have 1 fairly large credit card debt that came from my divorce, renting for a year, then moving, but I'm working hard to pay it off. It will probably take me about 18 months to pay it off. If I could sell my RV, I could pay it off much sooner. I choose to live frugally because it feels good not to waste food, etc. I'm doing a massive decluttering from my move, not only to clear out my house, but having less "stuff" clears my head also. There are people on my team at work that go out to eat for lunch every day, it runs about $8-10 a day! I can't image spending that much money for lunch every day. I do allow myself to go out for lunch once a week, but I usually spend around $5.00. I only talk about my frugal ways with a couple of people who are in the same situation as myself and we all support each other and exchange ideas.

We fall in this bracket. That being said both dh and I work full time jobs and try to maintain our household. We don't keep up with the Jones's and we do try to maintain frugality

I never thought my husband and I would fall into a high income bracket being that we are both teachers but put together our salaries and rental income we are at little over 80,000. DH coaches three sports, too.

I understand what Telephus says about people not understanding being frugal when you don't "have" to be. I was raised by a frugal mom and dad and don't know any other way to be.

I was reading this thread and wondering what types of jobs provide this kind of income?


My DH is an aircraft mechanic, retired from the Air Force. I am a cosmetologist.

What a cool thread!!! Yup, we are here too! Dh makes 83000.00 + bonus of several 1000.00/year. But I would have never considered us wealthy. We live in the "high class" neighborhood of this very "low class" small IA town. Mostly there are doctors on our street.....and us. We are blessed that I have never had to work. But because years of infertility, I did work, and all those years went to us paying our mortgage down, and paying cash for nice vacations, and paying cash for cars.....so, we don't have much debt, cept our house. So, yes, I totally get what you are saying about how some will say that we don't struggle enough...we aren't poor enough to be frugal!??!?!?! Being frugal is a lifestyle choice that we have always made....just who I am....and one of my more "odd hobbies"! And paying for 3 international adoptions ain't exactly cheap...it's just how we chose to spend our money!
Oh, my hubby? He is an area manager for a farming co-op. He has always been in agriculture/buisness. The jobs tend to pay high, but the only way that you get big raises, is to "jump companies", so he does that every 4-7 years.....he says that he is a mercinary (?), out for the highest bidder!

I'm a single mom with a technology program management job. Over six-figures now but one never knows what tomorrow brings. I save like crazy for a rainy day and take advantage of company reimbursements for education (MBA) so that I can hopefully make this salary for a LOOONG time. I am insanely grateful and "wicked" frugal. Frugal Forums keep me on track and grounded.

DH and I fall into this category - We make just over 140 000 a year (although that is in Canadian dollars, and we get taxed like crazy here so we really only see about 60% of this income). A few years ago, Dh was making this on his own...but then was let go from his employer. I was on a maternity leave at the time and we had a big mortgage. We had always gone in spurts of watching where we spent money but this was serious. We had to cash in savings (thank God we had some) and we ended up using credit cards for quite some time. I went back to work (teacher) at the end of my mat leave and my husband found a job in the retail sector. I vowed to watch our money carefully and not to waste it.

The thing that I am finding difficult (and the reason I love FV) is that we live in a very "nice" neighbourhood....fancy cars, new homes with the extras etc....everything seems like it is for show....people I work with eat out a lot, pick up coffees, shop and spend like crazy - and I admit I can fall into the trap. There are times when I am ok with what I am doing and can shake my head at them and think that they are crazy ...but then there are times when I am jealous of the variety of clothing in their closets, the name brands, the "newness" of everything.

We make $128,000 combined. I like this kith because I don't know about the rest of you but as we started making more and more money - we just got out of control with the debts. We are trying to get in under control and get things paid off and then start an aggressive savings plan and never go back to all that debt.

I work for county government in technical field and my husband works for federal government as cartographer.

Cat

Wow, thanks for starting this thread. Dh and I make over 100k combined.

We started truly being as frugal as possible last year. We made it our goal, because even though it seemed like we were making a good amount to live on, it just seemed like we were saving nothing. So, DH and I finally figured out that we want to get our lives to a point where, if one of us stopped working (for any reason) that we could live comfortably on 1 salary and since both of us are working, we want to save, save, save for retirement.
So I started searching frugality and found this website and found Dave Ramsey.
Since we've started cutting back and being frugal, we've been mocked by some family and friends, but there are some that understand.
It's neat to read all of your stories and Ideas. Keep them coming!

well I make just over $8.00 and hour and only work 15 hours a week but my DH makes just over $80,000. a year

Eileen

I think ya'll just jumped into my living room.:yeah: . DH & I have maded over 6 figures since 1996, until 2005 and 2006 when DH lost his job. I thank God every day that we had some savings and we both knew what it was like to live without. DH is back to work and this year we are expected to make in the 6 figures again. But 3/4th of DH income for the past two months are going right into the savings. We both "feel" better with something to fall back on just incase.

DH & I get comments all the time - my all time favorite was "Come on Rockerfellas you can afford it" :fuming: That was from one of our nephews! SO how does a 13 year old come up with that statement!?!?! You got it straight from his parents. DH & I are definately frugal, because we want to be - not because we have to be! We have learned, earned, and definate know how important it is!

My newest motto is .... "Yeah, we can afford it, but who are we trying to impress???? Each other? Because in the end that's all we have is each other."

p.s. OH Yeah,
I am a CCU nurse and DH works in the AG business. Currently with the biggest pet food supplier in the world. And the cost of living here is middle of the road.

We fit into this catagory. My husand is a Sales Rep. and I work part time. We are very frugal, with the exception of cars and vacations. Thus the debt I have listed! When we first married, we spent like crazy buying the finest of everything. We had a lot of credit card debt. I am not sure what brought about the change in spending, but we have paid off the credit cards and are much more careful now. People think I am strange for shopping at consignment shops and clipping coupons when we really could afford to live differently. I think it is fun now to see how frugal we can be!
My parents made good money and lived the frugal lifestyle and were able to retire at 50.

Between DH and myself we do fall into this category however we are really living paycheck to paycheck right now. In the past we have made many, many poor financial decisions and slowly over the years the debt level climbed and climbed. I still struggle every day with the temptation to buy things that I want, to cave in and give every little thing to my family regardless of mounting debt and to be careless with financial matters. So the frugal path is a necessity for me, for my sanity as well as my future. I struggle and some days are better than others but it sure helps to know that others have been where I am and have managed to climb out. Right now, things are much worse as my DD has been diagnosised with a mental illness and is unable to work. Therefore I am supporting her and also paying all her bills/expenses. It is hard but I learn every day from the threads here and I know the Lord will be with me every step of the way.

DH and I fit into this category since together we gross over $140,000 each year. I am a college administrator and he is in construction. We also live in the "nice" neighborhood but don't have anything else that's really "nice". No "nice" furniture, boat, fancy cars, vacation homes, etc. I come from a frugal family and have always lived frugally. I am an avid saver; I have always been deathly afraid of emergencies. I could not sleep well knowing that I didn't have a savings to fall back on. I refuse to beg or borrow from others and so I have always saved. My grandmother always told us to make hay while the sun was shining since you didn't know when it would be a rainy day.

DH, on the other hand, had never been frugal. As I've shared in other posts, he would spend it if he had it. On top of this, he pays child support. As a result, I decided to keep our finances separate once I realized what was going on. Hmmmm! Did I needed to pay better attention to his spending habits before walking down the aisle!!! Who said opposites didn't attract??? Fortunately for us, DH saw the light a few years ago and he has now become quite frugal and has almost paid of 50% of his debts since July last year.

I am of the opinion that we cannot afford to live differently. We both work full-time and use the money to pay for living expenses, raise children and save for retirement. So, technically, we ARE still living paycheck-to-paycheck! We still owe a mortgage that we MUST pay every month! AND DH still has debts that he MUST pay every month. So until we have ZERO mortgage debt and ZERO non-mortgage debt we really cannot afford to live differently.

In fact, I strongly believe that we can only live differently if our investments are returning income to us that is equal to or greater than what we earn each month.

Plus, like many of you, frugal living is a life-style choice for me. I don't know how to live otherwise and I am raising my children to be satisfied with what they have. I hate waste and consumerism. I refuse to get caught up in shopping for every seasonal wind. Currently, we live on less than 2/3 of our total take-home pay after taxes and child-support. I also don't wan't to get too comfortable being a 2-income family. I would like to be able to work part-time and be at home with my kids and volunteer my time/talents to needy kids.

People think that we are strange for eating at home, taking our lunch to work, for not hanging out at bars, and for shopping at consignment stores. Interestingly, these same folks want to borrow money all the time.

My dh and I make well over 100 grand. I am a nurse and we own our own trucking company. However, people think that because we own our own business we are independely weathly, but it take alot to run a semi. Our fuel last year was over 37,000 bucks and that isn't counting repairs and tires. We are just very careful with our money and I know by the way we live people think we do without. But we are happy and comfortable and I used to consider us upper middle class, but I am not sure there is a middle class anymore.

We currently make $84,000 a year and with dh's new job will be at $114,000. Telephus, I know what you mean about the other sites. We are trying to be better stewards of our money and pay off our debt.

We fall into this group, too. My husband's income is about 130k, depending on bonus and on-call pay. He's a computer consultant, and I'm a SAHM. I totally agree with a previous poster that my job is to spend our resources wisely. With that in mind, do any of you have a really hard time staying motivated, knowing that you can blow it without any horrible long-term consequences? How do you deal with temptation? What are your reasons for choosing this path?

We fall into this catagory. Our income is around $110,000. It sounds like a lot but we have to be so careful because, in Canada we are taxed so much. :ache:

With that in mind, do any of you have a really hard time staying motivated, knowing that you can blow it without any horrible long-term consequences? How do you deal with temptation? What are your reasons for choosing this path?

This may seem shallow, but ever since I was a teenager I've always wanted to have a million dollars. This generally keeps me going on the right track.

I do go through times when I do just blow it - a few times a year I have these periods of about a month where I just spend everything - until I kind of calm down and come to my senses. It helps me to regularly look at my savings and portfolio and see them going up. I also try to save tags and receipts when I go on these buying binges, and I often end up returning some of it.

In 2006 we made a combined $150,000 +, but that said, we live in an extremely expensive area of the country where it is fairly common to make this amount.

I'm glad you started this thread. DH brought in 76k last year and just got a raise this week, which should bring us to 83k...he's also considering taking a part time job with another company. I'm a SAHM, and have been for about 8 yrs now.:thud: (I hadn't realized it has been that long!)

Like many other posters, neither of us grew up with any fiscal responsibility. My parents were always just poor as poor can be, as were his until he was in his teens. We've both made considerably bad choices with our money and have only in the last year begun our process of becoming frugalites.

I often feel very guilty that we have been blessed with so much, only to squander it. I see families who live off 1/4th of what DH makes and have managed to pay off their debt and build a savings, and I feel like a schmuck. :loser: I think this year we will finally get "it" together, and are finally on the same page.

I think this is a terrific thread.

Last year my dh made $75,000 as a General Contractor doing on-site supervision of commercial remodelling projects. I work parttime (18 hrs/week) as a Registered Nurse. I worked only 9 months om 2006 -because I had an unpaid medical leave of absence- and made $30,000.

This is our first year to hit $100,000. Had I worked the whole year, we'd have made $115,000 - which I anticipate making in 2007.

I don't know that the cost of living is real high in our area, but housing sure is.

We live in an older neighborhood. I wouldn't describe it as 'nice' - but our neighbors are all hard-working people who are respectful of others. My house is old and small.

Just yesterday, I was complaining to a co-worker about dh dumping some tools in the kitchen/dining area. That led to a brief description of my house, to which she said "Time for a bigger house!" I took the opportunity to educate her and said, "Actually, no, this is part of the choice we've made to allow me homeschool, to be mortgage free before retirement, to actually be able to retire, and so on." I think it clicked.

For heaven's sake, if I wanted to earn $80,000/yr, all I'd have to do is put my kids in public school. But I don't want to do that.

Another thing I am very careful about is the kids. Like all kids, they want things. My older one recently went thru an American Girls doll & accessory catalog and presented me with a $400 list of things she wants! I did not tell her "We can't afford that," but I did say, "That's not something we choose to spend our money on. $400 is too much for a doll & accessories." I did tell her that if I ever see one at a thrift store/garage sale/ebay/etc reasonably priced, I'd buy it for her.

We certainly haven't always made good choices with our money, and we've both been pretty poor, in our youth. We still have $3300 in CC debt, two car payments and a mortgage, but I'm pretty sure we're in better overall shape than the Jones'.

We fall into this category, too. For us it has been a journey that started out with nothing, had a lot of financial pitfalls along the way, and now, 20 years later, we are comfortable. Even through all our financial disasters (most due to owning a business), we have never made the same choices our friends, family (except my mom - she's frugal), and neighbors have. Our house is 17 years old, and small (but getting bigger now that the kids are older!). We've always, with the exception of one time 15 years ago, owned paid for vehicles. I've always shopped sales & loss leaders, cooked at home, rented movies.

One thing I have never understood is how people who make a lot less than we do afford the things they buy and/or do? We've never done without, and if there is something the kids really want to do we have always been able to let them do it, but they understand that you have to work for money & that it doesn't grow on trees. Fortunately for me, they've never been 'into' the name brand clothes, etc. They know that if they need something, I'm going to Ross first, and if we don't find it there, only then will I try someplace else. :dopey: But seriously, if I feel I can't afford it, how do they do it? I guess Amy Dacyzyn had it right when she said some people feel comfortable closer to the edge. I think of frugality as a fun hobby, and I just can't wrap my mind around why someone, no matter how much money you have, would pay full price for something when you can get it 1/2 off down the street?!

Maybe I'm the wrong person to talk to about this, though, because I'm an easy to please homebody. :crackup: I get a thrill out of getting groceries & seeing my pantry & freezer stocked with low-cost loss leaders, and satisfaction out of making a meal that feeds all of us on $5 or less. I love knowing that we could do something if we wanted to, but we don't, so when we do it isn't a hardship. I love having money in the bank, and investments for our future, and knowing that my kids will be college educated (DS is a junior in college this year). So I guess, for me anyway, the love of security keeps me on the frugal path. I just can't understand why others don't share my enthusiasm? :teddy2:

I guess we fall into this group as well. We make about 80K a year, but this does not take into consideration what my husband earns from his side business that he is in the process of getting up and running. Once we begin netting a profit from that, it will increase. We built a house a few years back and that is what eats up alot of the budget (between payment and taxes and decorating, etc.) I do not drive a new car, but he does. I tell him I just don't need it. It seems that with what we make, we should have less debt and more in savings and that is precisely the reason that I am here!

We fall into this category too. I was just going thru our tax info from a few years ago and couldn't believe how much DH's salary has increased. We definitely need to start saving more :bag:

We fall into this range. We live far beneath our income and we like it like that.

Ok, if I live all by myself in a very inexpensive area, my $45K probably goes as far as $75K in many cities, especially for families with kids. Median family income in this community is about $30K, so I am quite comfortable. No, I'm not taking any 3 week cruises, but I can certainly cover what I have to and make some choices about what I want. To me frugality has to do with deliberate choices, not desperation - so I'm kith-at-heart, just short on the numbers ;-)

DH makes just a bit over that amount and I am a SAHM. He used to make over 110K but about 2 years ago got a 33% pay cut ( he's an airline pilot )...ouch...that hurt. BUT we lived below our means then and we live below our means now so we were able to adjust just fine. My best friend sometimes thinks I should go shopping and buy myself nice ( aka stupidly expensive ) things because I "deserve it" but she knows I'm a total tightwad so it doesn't surprise her when I don't.
Sometimes I do splurge but it's usually for something practical. I bought a soymilk maker last month. It cost $100 but I can make my own soymilk for about 20 cents per quart. Plus I can now make my own tofu....I never even know you could do that! I also "splurged" on an old hand-me-down sewing machine that needed a $50 tune-up ( got the machine for free ).
Now DH says that if the industry doesn't improve ( or...if it keeps taking money away from him:ouch: ) he wants to leave the airline industry and become a police officer. YIKES!!!!!!!
Y'know...it's so good to see there are so many others out there who don't live to spend. It's somehow encouraging to me.

We fit in here too. I was raised by a parent who lived thru the Great Depression and frugality was a principle of living. My husband is a Gen-X who has a well paying job in the computer tech industry. He loves to spend...I love to save. So between us we live just about within our means. I would prefer to live below our means because that is the way to save. He just doesn't understand that me making our laundry detergent or hanging clothes out to dry or taking a homemade lunch to work or coming home to a dinner that isn't carryout is the start of a current that help us in the long run.... He'll learn. hehehe I don't bring in as much financially to the household but I do my best to save what I can and make our resources stretch so we can afford the things we need and want in the future.

My DH alone makes over $100,000 a year but our $100,000 in MA doesn't get what someone elses $100,000 gets in many other parts of the country.
I consider our lives to be comfortable but not high income. I am currently not working due to illness but our income was $65,000 more and I did consider us in a very good place.
Average home prices in our area are well over $500,000 and that is in what is considered a middle class neighborhood.

I applaud all of you for your abilities to make this kind of income and to live frugally but my question to you is how can you relate to someone making a low income and harldy making it?

I applaud all of you for your abilities to make this kind of income and to live frugally but my question to you is how can you relate to someone making a low income and harldy making it?

We all come to frugality for different reasons. I am awed and inspired by people of all income levels. Everyone who frequents this board has taught me invaluable lessons about thrift, and I think I relate by keeping my mind open to what all of you have to teach me.

*slaps self*

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't envious. But at the same time I love that none of you (that I've met so far) are pompus. It's wonderful that you acknowledge and appreciate what you have. You know how blessed you are. That's wonderful! It's the people that make $300K/yr and say that they're "living in poverty" that piss me off.

I do know that you are rewarded with hard work and I know that my husband and I will eventually be able to rake in $100K. It's just taking time.

Kudos to you all!
:hugz:

In all honesty (not to gain sympathy) but my husband only makes $800/mo. ($230/mo goes to child support). He was in the Army but is unable (for medical reasons) to do in the civilian world what he was trained to do in the service. It sucks but we're living with my in-laws and the large family surrounding is amazing for my children. My parents struggled too and I don't think that I would have been able to appreciate my blessings if I grew up any other way. We survive on his income because I'm smart about what I buy... and don't buy. (although I do have weak knees when it comes to cheese).

I know that when we do pull in a higher income that I will continue to hold the same opinions about money as I do now.

You guys really are an inspiration. :)

I think that it took us a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to this point in our lives and with all of our student loans etc...we learned to live frugally. I want my children to appreciate what we gave them through hard work and education. We had very lean days early on in our 20's and 30's. Now we in our early 50's and are finally getting comfortable but it took YEARS to get to that point. Like I said though, our $100,000 is akin to someone making half of that in another area of the country. On paper it looks good but in reality it is very expensive to live here.
As a matter of fact our state's minimum wage is $7.50 an hour and will soon be $8.00 in order to be equal in buying power to the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. So basically what we pay $8.00 for other parts of the country pay $5.15 for. It all evens out I guess.
I can definitely relate to lower income families as DH and I both came from modest means.

What a fantastic thread. I worked at a higher paying job and walked away from it due to conflict in the workplace. Thank god I was frugal, and had saved for a rainy day. I survived on savings and taking any job I could.

I like living frugally. I like know that I am not leading a wasteful life. It has become almost a spiritual thing for me. I am making the most of what god has given me. In doing this I am allowed to give back, with time and money. It's funny, I give more money to charity now at a lower income and despite my cc debt.

If I ever get back to my previous income level. I will still live frugally. Somehow it is freeing to know I can live on very little.

I applaud all of you for your abilities to make this kind of income and to live frugally but my question to you is how can you relate to someone making a low income and harldy making it?

Many of us have been "poor" or "down on our luck" at some point or another in our lives. I have lived several times in the paycheck to paycheck situation with morgtage, debt, and assorted legal fees costing me most of my income when the 'ex' left for Vegas. I found my that my frugal upbringing allowed me to continue eating and commuting to work.

I think all of us on this site can relate in some way to anyone wanting to make their dollar stretch, to make good wholesome dinners without spending lots of money, and wanting to save as much as possible for their future. The variety of backgrounds that are encompassed here don't separate us but give us the vast experiences in life that we can learn from. We are a living 'how to' library with a wealth of information.

OMG! sometimes when I read what I write... I just want to get out the syrup! LOL
:cheergrl: :read:

I have been really, really poor. When I first got married we lived in low income housing, me and DH worked in fast food restaurants while we went through college (we also had a baby). Although I am making more money now I can relate to people having very low incomes. Also since we are in debt we are trying to live in a much lower income in order to pay off the debt and we also add to our savings every month which further reduces our income.

I have lived at both ends of the spectrum...My first husband was in the Air Force and we lived in base housing and had very little income...I was very organised with what money we had and we did okay..Our girls had nice clothes(thrift store and my parents helped )..I was a sahm....the marriage ended not because of finances but infidelity on his part
When I married my current dh, we struggled big time...but I was able to keep things going due to my frugality skills I learned during my first marriage....Currently dh makes close to 90,000 ayear and we are in the worst financial shape ever in our life....some where as the income got higher, we spent and borrowed more and more, and we both felt that we had suffered so long that we were entitled to spend , spend ,spend....I guess what I am getting at is , it doesn't really matter how much you make, it matters how wise you are with your money...That is why I come to these frugal sites, to try and find that frugal girl I once was...sorry if I went down a rabbit trail:toothy:

I applaud all of you for your abilities to make this kind of income and to live frugally but my question to you is how can you relate to someone making a low income and harldy making it?

I am learning so much, especially from people who are making it on very little. Every time I go into the store and spend, I think of Tracy ,and I try so hard to spend 75 dollars for the month. ( This is going to take awhile, if ever.)When my mother is acting like Marie Romano I think about Frugal Witch- taking care of two households without complaint on very little income.I think of how proud I was when I did what Deb said and watched the sales and combined a coupon and got great TP for pennies. How I learned that you don't have to use a full capful of laundry soap, and that it costs money to flush the stool.(You don't learn that at the country Club dolls)I always look for experience when I am learning. If you live on very little, you learn how to do it well.:toothy:

I am learning so much, especially from people who are making it on very little. Every time I go into the store and spend, I think of Tracy ,and I try so hard to spend 75 dollars for the month. ( This is going to take awhile, if ever.)When my mother is acting like Marie Romano I think about Frugal Witch- taking care of two households without complaint on very little income.I think of how proud I was when I did what Deb said and watched the sales and combined a coupon and got great TP for pennies. How I learned that you don't have to use a full capful of laundry soap, and that it costs money to flush the stool.(You don't learn that at the country Club dolls)I always look for experience when I am learning. If you live on very little, you learn how to do it well.:toothy:

Whoops, sorry , mom acts like Marie Barone!! Oh yes, and now you know!:crackup:

Just saw this, guess we're here, too. Dh's income gets us here on the lower end, but my part-time income gets us over the six figure mark. This didn't really happen until recently, and after we decided to get rid of the debt. It's like we're being blessed for trying to do better with our finances, kwim? Weird.

Plus, we're fortunate enough to be living in a low COL area. BUT.... It's like before, we were payment'ed up the wazoo, we really didn't have any fear of being so close to the edge, even though we didn't even know we were. But now, now it's like we've gotten rid of all the debt except the house, we're still living way below our means (like living on 30%), trying to build up a bigger savings fund, putting money away for retirement, putting money aside for dd's college, and start working on paying off the house. Although things are going really good right now I have this horrible fear. It's like we've stepped a few steps back from the edge and now it scares me to death to get close to it again. I now know just how close to the edge we were and it's like a mad dash to get as much distance from us and the edge as possible.

Things are good now, sure. And yeah, we do get teased for not spending as 'they' think we should. But yet we still continue to shop the sales, wear the same clothing over and over, cook at home, budget, and drive our older paid-for cars. I'm hoping we always continue our frugal ways, no matter the income.

I guess I fit in here too. I work in the computer industry and am over 80k plus social security for my kids. Husband passed away earlier this year and during his long illness he spent like crazy. I hated the financially out of control feeling that I lived with for years. I'm actually quite happy to be returning to a simpler, more frugal lifestyle.

I think at a certain point frugality changes from being a necessity to being a good steward of the blessings one has been given. An example I have is my favorite aunt. She was blessed to become a computer industry millionare. Her family lives well and enjoys many of the finer things, but they still take turns for major expendatures, cars are sensible and expected to last 10 years, and they invest wisely. They as a family haven't let the money change who they are and still keep the same fundamental values.

I fit in here, too. My DH retired from the military so he has that pension and he is now a defense contractor and makes very good money. I don't work at the moment and doubt if I will again.

It's really weird to me to have money ~ I am still used to only having his military pay which is nothing to write home about. We do have to save alot because he works on contracts which only go from year to year so he could be without a job at the end of the contract ~ which has happened twice so far. Right now, he is funded through next April ~ hopefully they will fund him for the year after that but there is no guarantee.

My job is like so many of you others ~ to spend wisely. I think that is something that regardless of how much money you have, we all try to do. I can learn from everyone no matter what. Yes, at this point, we can afford to do more but that doesn't mean we do or should.

Comfy here, too.

dh is self employed and it did well. We have almost put our two sons through college, and for awhile when things got easier (more $$) we had a minor free-for-all. :cuckoo:

Then we went :huh: and realized that money wasn't what makes ya happy. I realized personally that I felt sort of off balanced when trying to be 'all that' and HAVE all that. I thrive on simplicity and the simple pleasures in life. dh still likes a little 'splurge' once in awhile. But hey, he has worked hard for it. Me, I just can't bring myself to care about 'stuff.' Outside of being able to educate our kids, I would rather save it or be philanthropic with it. dh too.

So, I choose to be thrifty and simple.

We make right at $78,000. We definately don't consider ourselve high income. I am a teacher, dh is an electronics technician going to school to be a teacher. When I think of high income I thing of high figure numbers. I am flattered.

We're in this kith too. My husband works as an IT manager (IT background, not management) in the mortgage industry.

Right now, the industry is in a mess. His company should be able to get through it fine, but some companies went under in the matter of a couple of days. We've seen other mortgage companies do the same thing at different times, sometimes just because of bad business choices that caught up with them. Monday everything is fine, and by Friday, nobody has a job and the company is just gone. Poof!

The interesting thing is that the reason his company should be able to get through this is that the owner of the company is very frugal with his money. But even with all of that, it was just luck and the grace of God that the company didn't go under last week.

These last couple of weeks have been a wake-up call for me for sure. We don't even have enough money in savings to make two mortgage payments, let alone anything else.

It's been gnawing at me for a long time now that I need to be a better steward of the money my husband works so hard to make, but I keep putting it off until after the next birthday or the next paycheck or the next ??? . But I've really just got to do it. Because even though this time it looks like things are going to be fine, who knows if we might get hit the next time. The mortgage industry is like the stock market. It can get out-of-control high and out-of-control low. If you don't plan for the low, then you're sunk.

So that's why I'm here. There's no reason at all I can't do this. If I had just been doing what I should have been doing all along, we would have had six months of living expenses saved easily and these last couple of weeks wouldn't have been such a panic attack.

Nancy

I was reading this thread and wondering what types of jobs provide this kind of income? The most we have ever made is $52,000 a year, when we both were working full-time.

My spouse is a computer architect, plus we have income-generating investments.

My husband is the sole earner and makes over $100K too. I just came from visiting the low income kith and I have to say I feel blessed to have read through the whole thread. There is so much to learn from them; actually there's so much to learn from everyone at this site no matter what anyone's personal situation is.

Now, I'm struck with a feeling of melancholy and a slight guilt for making some of the choices I've made. We get by fine and are very blessed, but I wonder if I should have done without even though we can afford it?:shake:

I just refinanced for a 30-yr mortgage for a slightly lower rate and took cash out to add an addition to the house. Now I have a sick feeling in my stomach. Does being frugal mean that you shouldn't improve your living conditions and that you should chose not to improve? I didn't NEED the extra space per se, just wanted to make the house more comfortable with extra space for family gatherings and our children's friends.

I will be fully funded with a $10-15G emergency fund by spring and have a well stocked retirement fund. College costs are being saved for monthy. Does a frugal mindset mean I should have buried the idea of adding on and stocked that money away instead. I'm confused.:feedback:

I just joined a few days ago and and really hooked. I want an attitude of waste not want not. I went back to old debit card statements and saw where I was frivilous and am consciously changing that big time. I figure I can find at least 200 or so bucks per month with adjusting my spending habits. Thank goodness we have no credit card debt. I plan to keep it that way.

My husband is the sole earner and makes over $100K too. I just came from visiting the low income kith and I have to say I feel blessed to have read through the whole thread. There is so much to learn from them; actually there's so much to learn from everyone at this site no matter what anyone's personal situation is.

Now, I'm struck with a feeling of melancholy and a slight guilt for making some of the choices I've made. We get by fine and are very blessed, but I wonder if I should have done without even though we can afford it?:shake:

I just refinanced for a 30-yr mortgage for a slightly lower rate and took cash out to add an addition to the house. Now I have a sick feeling in my stomach. Does being frugal mean that you shouldn't improve your living conditions and that you should chose not to improve? I didn't NEED the extra space per se, just wanted to make the house more comfortable with extra space for family gatherings and our children's friends.

I will be fully funded with a $10-15G emergency fund by spring and have a well stocked retirement fund. College costs are being saved for monthy. Does a frugal mindset mean I should have buried the idea of adding on and stocked that money away instead. I'm confused.:feedback:

I just joined a few days ago and and really hooked. I want an attitude of waste not want not. I went back to old debit card statements and saw where I was frivilous and am consciously changing that big time. I figure I can find at least 200 or so bucks per month with adjusting my spending habits. Thank goodness we have no credit card debt. I plan to keep it that way.I do not think you should feel guilty for using your money any way you choose.Everyone has different opinions on what constitutes frugality.You have an EF, and are saving for retirement. You intend to pay your children's college and have money saved for that.I think you are off to a nice start.You are adjusting your spending habits.You are not charging up your credit cards. I think you are doing very well.Enjoy your new addition.

I love this thread. We make around 170k, which sounds like more than it is because our town is in the top three for highest housing costs in the country. Mortgage is 4k/month plus beaucoup taxes. And this is a so-called "starter home." Husband is a research scientist; I'm a college prof (on leave with new baby right now). We decided to go frugal after our first few spendthrift years together (I shudder of the waste) because we wanted to go back to school and then buy a house here. We learned a lot about saving money and making do when both of us were graduate students. Then we faced infertility and ended up with a lot of medical bills. Now we have our adopted baby and we can afford for me to take half a year off. That never would've been possible if we hadn't started pinching pennies. Now we're hooked for life. Plus we feel better about our impact on the environment and society (e.g., not buying sweatshop goods or crappy junk from Chinese factories). That sounds so snooty so we never tell that stuff to anybody except my mom who loves me even when I seem little holier than thou. In any case, we want to teach our son that happiness is not found in material things.

We're in this group. But I FEEL solidly blue-collar middle-class. DH works in bridge repair (and will be very busy since the collapse of the bridge in MN). I work part-time, about 20 hours per week. Together we're at just over 100K.

The days I don't work I am a "domestic engineer", stretching every cent!

We were dirt broke for many years when we were young, with small kids. It was tough, but those were really good times! It just proves that money doesn't make the best memories.

When DH started a good job, we really enjoyed it and spent to much. Now I worry that we should be more financially secure. I'm tired of sitting here at tax time thinking "where did all this money go?" :scratch:

So I'm getting back in touch with my frugal ways :laundry:

we're on the poor side for "high income" here, around 80K, but as much as I really admire the folks who're living on 10K with 4 people, that just isn't my situation.

We have about 30K in debt, outside of the mortgage (90K) no savings to speak of, no retirement, no plan. DH is in IT, and we're in our 50s, and that's the problem. If the job/economy goes south, we're in deep yogurt, as DH says.

He's been laid off a couple of times, so we've been through the ups and downs (a lot of the cc debt happened when he was out of work for 6 months once) and aside from that, we're recovering from having a business that just never worked for 9 years.

DH isn't convinced that whatever I can do will make a difference. He wants a large chunk o' cash to throw at the problem, rather than incremental stuff, but he finally agreed to let me try, so here I am!:clown5:

Judi

I'm totally convinced that the "incremental stuff" makes all the difference.

I'm totally convinced that the "incremental stuff" makes all the difference.

but I haven't convinced himn of that, yet.

One nice thing about DH is that he WILL learn...sometimes you have to push his nose in it first, but he will change his ways. Thank God!

So, that's what I'm trying to do here!

Judi

What are your thoughts about my scenario?

As I mentioned before, my husband makes over $100K. We are in the process of adding a great/room - theater room off the family room.

When all's said and done...furnishings, media and the like we're looking at around $65K (it's going to be a large room 20x20). We CAN afford the difference in our refinance payment with more than $700 left over every month after our budgeted amount and savings.

I can't help but wonder: Where do you draw the line when you desire to live a frugal lifestyle? Where does my guilt/fear play in this? and why? I wonder if it's because earlier in our marriage this kind of money was not available and we really struggled when the kids were little. Now that we can, maybe I'm still scared?

I don't think I'm being wasteful because it's a place for our children, their friends and our guests to mingle and enjoy our home and company.

Does anyone else here feel excessive guilt or trepidation when making a major purchase even though your finances can handle the burden?

I will have a fully funded EF ($10G) and a financial freedom account (over $10) when the room is done.
Plus, we have retirement and pension set up in forms of IRAs, college money growing, etc. Also, I have the means to keep saving after the room is complete.

Should I be at ease or tense up at what we've done?

Help!!!

I think it's just the large number staring at me that's freaking me out.

Thanks for any encouragement or straightforward advice you can offer. I thought others in my income bracket could offer their thoughts.

I say you shouldn't feel tense or guilty about it. It sounds like you've worked very hard to get to the point where you're in great financial shape. Enjoy it.

:)

Nancy

I like the great room idea. But then I seem to be able to rationalize big expenditures if it's "for the baby." So far these things have been intangible--I took half a year off work (unpaid) & we spend about $90 a day on breastmilk (yes, you read that right)--but now I've decided to rip out the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors. I read that carpet harbors allergens that inrease the likelihood of childhood ear infections. But the reality is that I wanted hardwood floors anyway. At the same time, I'm scrounging for coupons and growing my own food. Pennywise & pound foolish?

We make 100 grand a year combined. Doesn't feel like alot, however.........we pay our bills on time, go out to dinner atleast once every two weeks, drive fairly new cars, and most importantly, never go hungry. I have very mixed feelings, on the one hand I feel like we "struggle" but on the other hand, we always have plenty to eat! I wrestle with this alot. We are so fortunate to have ENOUGH!

Dh makes over $75,000. Before I was laid off I had a 6 figure income. We went through quite an adjustment but due to frugality, we are living just as good as when I was working.

Dh makes over $75,000. Before I was laid off I had a 6 figure income. We went through quite an adjustment but due to frugality, we are living just as good as when I was working.

Wow! Do you care to share how you did that??
Do you mean you went from YOU having a 6-figure income on top of your husband's 75,000K job?

What an accomplishment! Would love to hear how you cut so many corners and still have the same lifestyle.

Update - DH and I are both attending college now, so maybe one day we won't be so "dirt poor". Those of you that have the high income should not feel guilty about spending some of it. You earned a certain level of comfort. I hope to be there someday myself.

my hubby does, which allows me to stay home. We hear the same thing...why don't you do this or that but we both came from very low income families and just can't seem to do it. I'm an ebay shopper, coupon clipper, etc. and people think I'm nuts.

Well this is my section. My husband and I both grew up without much. He is Chinese and i am white/ with a little American Indian mix. We met in college. I remember making 2.90 per hour as a nursing aid. We also had to pay back25k in dh student loans. We have been married 26 years.We lived in the Y when we first got married. I can say hard work and god's blessings and guidance have been our success.My husband alone makes about 140k he just had a large raise as he was underpaid per area standards.We do live in a very high cost area. He is an electrical engineering manager. I make about 80k, as a medical records coder/auditor.I could make more but I contract and I can have 2-3 jobs or have one. I have been doing this almost 25 years and when I started it the pay was around $8/hour. I now make 35-50 per hour. I did take a few years off. We were paying almost 40k in income taxes, so I took 3 years off only working every now and then.I discovered I like to stay busy. I hardly get anything done when I am not working.My kids were even telling me to go back to work. You can only play so much online free poker-I would never pay cause I am cheap.

And I'm not sure if it's really "high income" either - but I just wondered who was in the same boat. It's a different mindset to be frugal when you make decent money than it is when you make almost nothing. I know that this may not be the best way to phrase it, but it's true. A lot of articles on the web and such are supportive of people making minimum wage while raising a family and trying to make ends meet (and don't get me wrong, I am very supportive of people in these situations - I don't think it's that they're lazy or "it's all their fault" or whatever), there aren't as many people who practise frugality at higher income levels.

Most of our friends don't understand why we do what we do because "we can afford" to do this, that, or the other. We could take expensive vacations, and we could easily swing a new car payment. So we get that pressure from our parents and friends. On the other hand, there are a lot of people in the larger online frugal communities (and I never get this vibe here - FV is awesome!) that because we don't "need" to do all this frugal stuff just to survive that we aren't "really" frugal - we're just yuppies pretending to be for fun. There's also a competitive vibe out there that I feel masquarades as frugality - the "oh yeah? Well I feed 30 kids and 10 dogs while living on my husband's income, and he only makes $.05 an hour..." kind of competition. I don't mind competing to see how low I can get my food bill, or how many days I can go without spending money, but I hate competing with how "poor" you can be. I've always defined frugality as stretching your resources, not necessarily only having limited resources. I don't think having less money makes you more frugal. In fact, I think the more resources you have you should be able to be more frugal!



I know this is an old thread, but I was just reading through this and I have to say "well said" Telephus44. Because we make far and above what most of our friends make, they don't understand why I complain about the the price of gas, or real estate (prior to the bubble burst). They feel that because we *have* the money, we shouldn't worry about *spending* the money. We have some pretty lofty long term goals - early retirement, self sufficienty, etc.. - and those goals are more important to us than having *stuff* right now.

On that same note, though. My best friend's DH makes just under $30K/year. I sometimes feel guilty when we get to talking about our budgets or other spending habits. While we share a lot of frugal ideas with one another, we definately have more disposable income than they do and I often feel bad telling her about a romantic get away DH surprised me with, or the new watch DH bought me for my bday.

I'm in this club too and agree with the above post. Although I make more than most of my friends, I also had to take out huge student loans in order to get the degree that allows me to have my large salary...and I'm STILL paying those loans off. Everything is relative. People don't seem to get that. Whatever - my eye is on my debt free goal now anyway! :blah:

This thread is helping me.

I always feel bad when I talk about granite counter tops and China adoption .....when someone else here is struggling and has no vehicle...
But my research shows the higher incomers are the most frugal?
Not a scientific study, just observations of reali life people, poor, middle, and high incomers.

So I can hang out here too at the village with our income :tom:

I am a SAHM since 1991 and hubby makes around the #'s you all are talking.
However I dont feel high income?
The tax man eats so much?

Plus I know people here who make mega bucks and their bonus alone is more than my hubbies salary?

I dont know what middle income is anymore?
It seems to be relatve to who your with at the moment?

I have people drool over my "big" house, then next someone with major bucks will say how "little" and cute it is hahahahaahah :D

In our area we are considered upper middle class. But different areas of the country deem cost of living differently.

Hubby and I together made a little over $100,000. We were both teachers, and at the top of the pay scale since we had been there "forever". We also both worked night school and summer school jobs for a local university. The great thing about that was we worked together! (But that was only after we were empty nesters). Family was more important than jobs while family still lived at home.

We never lived large, nor felt the need to do so. And that's how we accumulated enough to retire early. We are frugal, not because we have to be, but because we choose to be. And we are still learning how to save our money more wisely. Henry David Thoreau , in Walden, figured that he could work 6 weeks a year, and then live simply the rest of the year, but enjoy his time and freedom. We liked that philosophy. So while we worked far longer than 6 weeks a year, we lived as simply as possible so that we could retire early.

We tried to be generous givers, tithing to our church and giving beyond that to charity and people in need. I think the Lord blessed that. We also saved 50% of our money (or more when we could), and tried to intelligently choose our investments.

Now that we are retired, we are living on $36,000 pension. But it is guarenteed for the rest of our lives. We have enough in investments that we could take out $2000-$3000 a month on top of the pension, but just feel no need to do so right now. We have no debt, own our home, and continue to live free, live simply, and live with joy.

Probably the most important thing is attitude. The Apostle Paul said that he learned to be content in whatever state he was in. I grew up in poverty and gradually worked up to be upper middle class. But along the journey, I found contentment with what I had.

This thread is helping me.

I always feel bad when I talk about granite counter tops and China adoption .....when someone else here is struggling and has no vehicle...
But my research shows the higher incomers are the most frugal?
Not a scientific study, just observations of reali life people, poor, middle, and high incomers.

So I can hang out here too at the village with our income :tom:

I am a SAHM since 1991 and hubby makes around the #'s you all are talking.
However I dont feel high income?
The tax man eats so much?

Plus I know people here who make mega bucks and their bonus alone is more than my hubbies salary?

I dont know what middle income is anymore?
It seems to be relatve to who your with at the moment?

I have people drool over my "big" house, then next someone with major bucks will say how "little" and cute it is hahahahaahah :D

I agree with everything you just said! I've had my guilty feelings before hanging out on this board knowing that our situation is way different than a lot of those here - however, I love that no one here is judged and that we all have the same (or similar) goals.

As for feeling high income - um, NO! I about died when I saw what DH made last year. Where did it all go? We live on teh West Coast, so our COL is somewhat on the higher side....but still!!!

DH read an article once called "Scraping By on $100,000" I swear - that is us! LOL

Bumping this thread up. I haven't been on FV in forever, but I always remembered this thread. :wave2:

I've been a WAHM since last September. I've gotten really burnt out and it's been taking me forever to get work done. I wasn't making much, but consistently enough for us to keep our heads above water.

My kids have really gotten the short end of the stick these last several months. I had no choice but to work, so there was nothing I could really do about it. Let's just say I made them watch TV so I could work so much that they don't really like TV anymore. :blush: I didn't even think that could happen. They've also been fighting like cats and dogs.

My DH just got a bit of a raise a couple of weeks ago. We went from 109k to 120k. It's enough that I was able to stop working if I wanted to, or I could keep doing what I was doing and we'd have a little bit of extra money.

I decided (of course) to quit. I'm looking forward to spending the summer with my kids rather than working the whole time.

It was an even easier decision to quit because of everything I've learned at FV. With DH's raise and all my frugal skillz (yes, with a z), we'll be able to make it just fine without me working.

So anyway... Anyone else in the kith still around?

Nancy

Welcome back. I am also from CA. Even though we are high income it takes more than my husbands pay to just get by.

DH and I make over $200K/year, and are debt free except for our mortgage. We live on the smaller of our two salaries, max out our 401K and IRA deductions, and are working toward paying our mortgage off within 5 years.

There were some years where we lived large, but it wasn't for us. We splurge once in a while, but we shop sales, cook from scratch, bring our lunch, rarely dine out, and want for nothing... simple feels better.

Present. I'm a software developer/consultant in the $120k range, and I'm starting to expand into real estate. This expansion started before my discovery of Dave Ramsey, and now I'm starting to seriously plan an attack of radical debt reduction while times are good.

Still around.....DH makes about $140K, but with the rate the airlines are going these days we're looking a significant decrease later this year. DH is trying to fly as many hours over the summer so we can save up and get our snowball rolling before the big cuts come to his airline (so far so good - no flights cut, no planes grounded).

We're looking into some smaller side businesses (mostly centered around my quilting/crafting) and well as real estate. If we have a small income coming in from several sources, it'll be that much sooner that DH can tell the airline to kiss his you know what! :)

I belong to this kith, too. DH is in sales and I am a SAHM. I'm frugal because I want to save as much as possible to secure our future. I live in a high-income area where people look at me like I'm crazy for using coupons and limiting my gas consumption. You should see the looks when they see my stockpile!

I belong to this kith, too. DH is in sales and I am a SAHM. I'm frugal because I want to save as much as possible to secure our future. I live in a high-income area where people look at me like I'm crazy for using coupons and limiting my gas consumption. You should see the looks when they see my stockpile!

My good friend was over last night and she considers herself fairly frugal. I showed her my HBA stockpile and I thought she was going to gather her kids up and leave and never come back! :)

She thinks I'm nuts - but a good nuts! Her DH keeps asking her why she isn't "more like Jessica" when it comes to couponing.

My good friend was over last night and she considers herself fairly frugal. I showed her my HBA stockpile and I thought she was going to gather her kids up and leave and never come back! :)

She thinks I'm nuts - but a good nuts! Her DH keeps asking her why she isn't "more like Jessica" when it comes to couponing.

That is too funny! I have a small room off my kitchen with 2 chest freezers and shelves of food. People usually just see that. They haven't seen what's stored in my bathroom. :eek:

Wife and I belong in this group and I am disappointed in us for having the amount of debt we have.
IF we can ride out this bad economy for 4 years in our present jobs you can mark my words we won't do this again.

I suppose I belong in this clan too, although I have never thought of us as wealthy at all. I guess we are comfortable, but it took a LOT of sweat to get here!
My husband served in the Air Force for 24 years so we are sitting pretty with a great retirement package that includes income, medical insurance, and dental insurance for the rest of our lives. Now my DH is working on his second retirement with the state of Oklahoma, working as an accountant for the Ok. Tax Commission. He will retire in 7 years and will be drawing three retirement checks. Our home will be paid for and so will our dream sailboat (hurray for sailing the Caribbean!). I am not sure how much DH has in his investment portfolio...it's a lot.
I work as the director of a performing arts studio and also plan to retire in 7 years at the age of 50. Then we are going sailing.
What has always helped us is an exaggerated sense of thrift. When our children were young, I gardened, canned, preserved, sewed, and all that stuff. Now I no longer have to, but we still have the same habits of frugality, and I am really glad. Can't imagine living any other way.

This fits me too. DH has worked himself into a really good paying career for almost 10 yrs. now, and I work at a job I love. My parents raised their family of 10 on his teacher's salary, so I have very frugal roots. DH was in the USMC for the first 10 yrs. of our marriage, and frugality kept us afloat financially. I lost my frugal ways once he started earning more. I just got lazy. Now we've found our way back and are the frugal freaks of our circle of friends but that's okay. I have learned so much on this site to help me stay on track with new creative ideas.

Count us in too.


Though we have been VERY low income quite a few times and I have personally seen homelessness.



I currently SAHM and hubby is also in the IT/Computer Consultant field.


He has gone through training, two diferent colleges, more training out of pocket (last one, last month cost us $4400.00 out of pocket :puke:), has worked contracts in two states, and has worked hard for IT certifications.


He started working at age 16 in a grocery store for $3 an hour.


So yes we have see both sides of the coin AND life can get better if you "suffer" through the crap and work towards SOMETHING, anything! And be frugal about it! :thumb:

My public school teacher salary and my husband's production manager job at a local factory take us up and over this amount of income. But we are a second marriage family with two mortgages, a car payment, and a mountain of debt. My h doesn't always make really smart decisions. He put $8000 car debt of his son's on his credit card that was charging 28% interest because he felt guilty for not paying for the son to go to college(he was getting grants and student loans). So we owe, we owe, we owe, off to work we go.

I'm going to join up to this kith even though we're a little below the 75k mark. We're still in the "comfortable living" range, and with the job he has he should be up to that point within the next two years. He's an orthopedic representative for DePuy

Hmmm I guess we fall in this category as well. I am a SAHM and dh is a mechanical engineer working in the nuclear naval industry. We currently make $74,400 but that will be getting bumped up to about $80,000 in a month. I know officially our income seems high but I gotta tell you for a young family of 6 we are finding less and less money at the end of our month -- hence the interest in frugality --that and the desire to retire at age 58.

Guess I belong here too, but I carry guilt with the income. On paper it appears that it would be simple to save and get ahead. What I have learned that as the income increased, so did the toys(none were bought new), our ability to branch into rentals and turned a hobby into a side business. Free time is limited & stress strains our relationship daily. I hang onto to the vision of the one day when all of this is behind us as we are sitting on a beach in Mexico.

Vacations are a fantasy. Can't get him away from work to even camp for a weekend. Let alone out for a walk in the park with the dog.

By nature I stockpile and with my coupon habits, the stockpiles are growing. That makes me feel good --gives my DH panic attacks because "it's too much stuff in the house/garage."

It is sickening at how quickly money just funnels thru us.

I agree with the funneling of the money...where does it GO?!?! And for those of us who continually 'clean out' the closets, drawers, etc to get organized, the 'stuff' is ENDLESS!! I try to write down everything I spend, but is it me, or does it seem that 'stuff' just has to be bought (the dog chewed the computer cable, the zipper broke on dds fave jeans, the lightbulbs all expire on the same night, etc!) If I could have just 1 month of absolutely no spending, I really think I could get ahead!:rollsmile

A month of absolutely no spending would be challenging. But a good thing.

What really makes me angry is the amount of money we should have saved by now. We are well on our frugality road and now have a decent emergency fund, money in the bank and contributing to college, but only if we had this mindset years ago. I'd already be well on my way to reducing the mortgage debt. Sigh.

I'll choose to be thankful to be able to stay at home, care for the family and work this plan til we get it right! Tomorrow's another day...

I am comfortably in the six digit range, but my mother thinks I am a step from the poor house. She is always worried about whether I have food! I think this is a throwback from when I first struck out on my own and was really struggling. I DID have many days of bologna and cheese back then. I remember once splitting a hotdog weiner in half, so I could have food for two days.

Now, the money is there, but I kept upping my living standards with my income (bad move), so the debts are there, as well. Now I'm down-scaling, which makes my mother POSITIVE that I am hurting financially. (That, and the fact that I'm too d*mn lazy to buy things like clothes, furniture, etc. Someone offers me a hand-me-down for free, and I'll always take it. :) )

When I began on this forum, we were high income, sorta. Hubby had retired with a pension, and I had retired (no pension), but I had taken another job that paid just about as much. But that job grew to be too big for this stage of life, so I resigned. And suddenly, our income was cut in half. Actually, we are now at 1/3 of what we earned when both of us were employed full time.

So while we are no longer high income, it is working out OK. Fortunately we both have a frugal mindset which allowed us to be aggressive savers all these years, and which keeps us from doing much spending now.

I continue to be wary of health insurance, which currently takes 1/3 of the pension. Yet even with that, we are still putting a little away each month. And truly, we aren't seeing much difference in our lifestyle.

So...... I guess I need to officially take myself off this thread since I no longer belong here. And to the rest of you...... hang in there! You can do it! Keep on keeping on!

Dh and I fit in this group. In our area we are considered upper class I suppose, but I consider us middle . We love being responsible with our money and being frugal is a big part of that. We have a financial map and goals of where we would like to be in the future. Self sufficiency is very important to us.

We have been at both ends of the spectrum , and have tried to work hard to be debt free.

We have always tried to be very generous with our time and money for charity when we could as well as responsible.

I have read through this and the lower income kith and admire everyone who takes care of their families, goals and makes the best with what they have.