Living below your means

**nwmissourigal** · 01-07-2007, 11:26 PM

I recently blogged about living below your means. My dh and I live way below our means and people just plain think we do without. We make a very conscience effort to live below our means. My dh is self employed and while he pays the large bills that come in..like house insurance, car insurance, taxes and the house payment, we actually live on my income. His income is really just for our trucking business and we need to keep that fund fully funded as we never know when we are going to need to make repairs on the semi. So my check goes for all utlilties, groceries, personal items, small car repairs, medical bills, our health insurance, church tithe and just the little things that come up. So this year we have decided to try and live on 1/2 of my income. Now this is a real challenge for us but we are hoping to save the other half of my income. How many of you live below your means..or live with what you have? I had someone mention that living below your means managing your money better. And that is what the simple life is all about. Living below your means doesn't mean doing without it is just living a better life and knowing that you have some security. I would invite everyone to try to live below your means this year...try it for just a month and see if it works for you...Blessings to you all...Kathy

**kaykwilts** · 01-07-2007, 11:34 PM

Living on less than what you make helps you get out of debt faster and save for the future.

**pammy** · 01-08-2007, 12:45 AM

Right now we're living on about 36% of our income. At the moment it's going to debt reduction, but when we're totally debt-free, including the mortgage within 3 years, it will be going to investments.

Have had a few people think we are going without because 'we must not be getting by'. They have no clue that it's by choice. Jokes on them.

**FrugalMomof3** · 01-08-2007, 08:26 AM

We live below our means, we always have some left over from paycheck to paycheck and we save so were ok, come June 2007 we will have alot more to save and add to mortgage payments since we no longer will pay child support.

**PrairieRose** · 01-08-2007, 08:59 AM

Living below our means gives us a lot of freedom that not many people seem to understand. It's a great peace of mind to not have to worry about paying a lot towards debt when there is a downturn. We're self employed to so our income is flexible.....that can be tough when you have a lot debt.

**BlackstoneMama** · 01-08-2007, 10:22 AM

I budget way below my means. When you take out all my deductions from my paycheck (401K, FSA, HSA, multiple insurances) and the $600 I force myself to save each month in my EF, I live on about 60% of what I actually make.

Every time I get comfortable with my budget, I make myself add another 1-2% into my 401K and see if I can adjust or if its too painful.

**3-boys-4-me** · 01-08-2007, 11:25 AM

We live far below our means, some think we're odd.

Our only debt is the mortgage, which we pay over on every month. We have paid off both our vehicles and our travel trailer. We would love to have a new bigger trailer, but don't want the payments and we're too cheap to let lose with the cash. We like knowing that what we have is ours and no one can take it from us for not making the payments. It's made life simplier and more enjoyable for our family. We save a lot every year and invest in our futures through contributions to our retirement accounts. We live on about 60% of my DH's salary. Living below our means, for us, doesn't mean going without. It means having more in the future. We look forward to an early retirement.

**Sundae** · 01-08-2007, 03:48 PM

Do we live below our means??? We eat good and pay the bills, and save good too BUT our tax man says we need to spend more on oursevles, why?? were happy the way we are.

**mnmarty03** · 01-08-2007, 11:57 PM

I would say I live below my means..but with my parents help.

I'm a college kid and like I've said before, my parents pay my health insurance (it doesn't make a difference whether I'm on there or not really) and my car insurance for me. When I graduate though, that's all over. However now I work my bum off and end up with about $300 or more extra each month. Which is a big deal when you are a full time college kid who works about 20-30 hours a week. And I could live on cheaper, if I had to. I live quite comfortably and although I have money left over each month (although it all goes to debt reduction at the moment), I still want to do better with my budgeting. I hope to continue to live below my means as far as regular expenses goes, so that I have the rest to save/pay off debt with/and occassionally to spoil myself with.

**Marie78** · 01-09-2007, 12:36 AM

Trying to live below my means. It's a stretch right now. I substitute teach and my fiance is in graduate school. I am usually happy if I have enough to cover all the expenses for the month and then find I have a $5 bill left over for savings

It will be a little easier to live below my means after September 2007 when my car loan and college loan are paid off completely! Then I will have more money to put towards my C.C. debt reduction and my savings account.

**favesis37** · 01-09-2007, 07:15 AM

right now we are not. but soon dh will start getting pay checks again and then after this past month we will . i have found out how important a savings is.

**TheRootedNomad** · 01-09-2007, 08:08 AM

We currently live on about 72% of our take home pay. With the other 28% going to savings, additional morgage principal, and emergencies. At least 8% is taken out towards our 401k/403bs before take home. We live pretty frugally so in order to decrease the percentage even further (at least significantly further) we pretty much need to increase our income.....problem is I want to work less not more.

**tigo** · 01-09-2007, 11:29 AM

Currently I am living on what I make and still paycheck to paycheck. Before I was exceeding my income with expenses (divorce and giving up on trying to collect child support). Now, we have readjusted our lifestyle and priorities. The new year really gave me the feeling of a fresh slate to work with so I have stayed motivated. I think once we get used to the way things are, it will be easier to try to live below what I make.

**bridge** · 01-09-2007, 12:35 PM

I live way below my means, I love it!! You guys made me curious about %, so I calculated it. Not counting food, we live on 24% of my income, with a food/gasoline estimate it would be about 35%.
Do we live poor?? No we live peaceful!!

**Jill B.** · 01-09-2007, 05:41 PM

We live below our means and the extra is going to fund a projected move this summer. We have a variable income so the percentage of how much I can save is different every month. Last month I stashed $1400 but we made over $6000 (Christmas blew some of the extra money away).

I hope to always live way below my means. It gives me peace of mind. We have about $17,000 in debt and need to build the retirement. Living below our means is something that MUST be done. We have no choice if we want to ever retire.