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Anyone else living on $2,000 or less a month?
I recently started a blog about frugal living, because I wanted to provide a resource for others, but also motivation for myself to live by a budget and get out of debt. I would be interested in others' stories about how they get by on less than $2,000 a month (one income) without feeling totally deprived. You can visit my blog here: http://frugaliving.wordpress.com. I look forward to reading your comments.
Comments
Everything is possible guys
Its possible to cut down on expenses it is possible to live under 2000 month,
The only thing it really depends on the spouse if there is good cooperation between each other and both are working together to make a good budget work out then its possible I personally can do it, but but....
Living on a $2,000/month budget
That's right. After taxes, I live on $2,000 a month. As a young journalist now living in a rural part of the United States, I raised in an affluent area of Portland.
In the past year, it's been quite an adjustment.
When I graduated college, my parents combined income was over $175,000 a year. That's now besides the point - I now see none of that. But becoming used to a simple lifestyle has been tough. No more family trips to Europe or the Caribbean for Christmas Break. I can kiss fine wine and dinners out goodbye.
My parents paid all but $10,000 of my college, now those are subsidized as student loans.
This is how I've mapped out my monthly budget:
$2,000 monthly income
-$200/student loans
-$250/auto expenses (gas, insurance, and loan)
-$450/apartment
-$45/cell phone bill
-$200/food
-$50/utilities
-$100/Netflix, clothes, other entertainment
-$0/Internet included in apartment
_____________________________________
$1,245 = living expenses
At the end of the month, after all bills paid I am left with around $700. My parents always taught me to PAY YOURSELF before anything else. I always put $400 into an investment portfolio, $200 into an emergency savings account, and the other $150 into my travel fund.
However, with the job that I have it's difficult to get time off so I am watching that travel fund grow (though with high gas prices I might be borrowing from it soon).
What do I recommend?
-If you're going out with friends, avoid the costly drinks and drink cheap at home, then go out for a drink or 2
-Don't be picky about name brands
-Don't drink at Starbucks
-Don't join a gym, become a jogger or exercise at home
-Don't date expensive woman (I mean a girl you have to take out to pricey restaurants)
-PAY YOURSELF EVERY MONTH SO YOU CAN GET AHEAD!
Only $500/month for family of 6?!
We only have two children, spend $250 for food every two weeks, and often fall short! We usually spend $110/month just for milk. Only a little over a year ago, we only needed $160 every two weeks... We do, however, manage to live on less than $2000/month. No problem if you have a tiny mortgage and no other debts.
I am trying to figure out what it would take to only have $50 in utilities... We are now paying 11.5 cents per kwH. Those $50 would buy only 435 kwH around here! Even during spring/fall, we never use less than 750 kwh/month. During the summer our usage jumps to 1200-1300 kwh (Have to have an A/C in the humid South
). And in the winter... Well, living in an all electric house, our usage in the winter months can be as much as 1800 kwh!
My recommendation for frugal living:
Don't incur any debt. Save up for what you need and only buy what you can afford. That goes especially for vehicles and homes
Spending less...
Ayup. My kids and I are living on less than $2000 a month. I do enjoy your blog, Lynn!
Di (a Thriller)
...and don't have children!
...and don't have children! LOL! I can't imagine food being $200 now. Sure, when I was single, no problem. Now I have 4 children and food is no less than $500/month.
As for your college: whoa! $10,000 would pay tuition for all 4 years at the university I attended!
Good advice, though. I like the paying yourself idea.
Jenny
http://heresyourtrouble.blogspot.com/
I buy very little to no
I buy very little to no meat. No, I'm not a vegetarian. LOL! I'm a rancher, so we raise beef, save one a year for ourselves. And we buy a pig every year from a friend whose daughter shows them for 4-H. Right now I have a garden so soon I can have my own tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pepper and green beans. I did go to the store yesterday for a regular shopping trip (all I did last week was milk/bread trip) and spent $206 (and I did throw in a $17 bottle of tequila for some margaritas). Hopefully next weeks trip will be very small (milk, bread, yogurts). Cheese is killing us right now, nearly $8 for 8 cups of shredded down at Walmart. and four kids really eat the cheese up! I do, too, so I did buy any block of cheddar (my weakness, chedder on ritz crackers). But I need the rest for homemade pizza, enchiladas, burritos.
I buy nearly no junk food except for the small bag of cheetos I get each kid while in the checkout line. I don't do cookies or sweets, except for what we may make at home. We generally don't do desserts unless we have company over. Cokes are my main vice, I must have a can everyday. Since I don't drink coffee, I allow myself. I get the kids generic sprite, they may have one a day in the summer (weekends only during school). I love to fix hamburger helper (was on sale 4 for $5 the other day!) or tuna helper, but for the most part much of what I fix is from scratch (or close to it, since I don't make my own noodles or stuff like that).
Never really looked at my electric bill. So, I dug last month's out. Looks like I used 1184 for May on the house(used the AC nearly every day, we had some pretty high 90's) and an additional 154 just for our water well (yard and cattle). My total bill was $165, and if my math is right, it's about .08/kwh. I'm not all electric, we have natural gas water heater and the heat pump is dual fuel (though I have no idea when it uses the natural gas. As long as the house is warm, I don't care. LOL!).
But you don't want to know my gas bill. LOL! Let's just say I bought 2,500 gallons two months ago and hope it gets the farm thru the year.
Jenny
http://heresyourtrouble.blogspot.com/
You have to be joking right
You have to be joking right ?
$2,000 monthly income
-$200/student loans
-$250/auto expenses (gas, insurance, and loan)
-$450/apartment
-$45/cell phone bill
-$200/food
-$50/utilities
-$100/Netflix, clothes, other entertainment
-$0/Internet included in apartment
__________________________
$250 include loan ?
$450 for an apartment ? where the hell do you live on the street ? The averae 1 beddrom is around $1200-$1500 per month.
$50 for utilties ? lol
You are on drugs if you think anyone can live in a city for under $2000 a month
Wow!! Where do you live?
Wow!! Where do you live? There are families that would love to live off of 2,000 a month. And when you have to you FIND a place for 450.00 a month (that's not the street). You make it work, and happily, because you don't want your kids to get caught up in the stress of trying to make ends meet and having to go without. Fortunately for you it sounds like you can afford a piece of humble pie!
sounds reasonable except for
the big expense you're not mentioning - health care? I'd love to retire. My income if I retired right now would be $2000/month. But since I'm not yet 65 health care is going to take a huge bite out of that.
any suggestions? (I know - don't get sick!!lol)
I know this is a very late
I know this is a very late reply, but obviously you (and whoever thinks this as well) haven't gotten out very much. I live in Houston- a major city (granted, it has a rep for its cost of living, but many smaller cities are even cheaper)- and you can get a very nice 1-bed apartment for $700 a month. I even know an apartment complex in an iffy area that starts at $350. $1500 here will get you a 1-bed apartment of luxury in a great location. Not every place is as expensive as NYC or wherever you may live.
frugal living
I'm a missionary and have lived in 10 countries. What most people call frugal here in the states is still excessive in other parts of the world.
Simple living doesn't mean you are a simple person nor a cheapskate.
Today's society has become a disposable society and think nothing of it.
This has happened all throughout the ages.
For years my family has lived on about $3.00 a day for rent, utilities, food, clothing, gas, auto repair, personal needs etc.
The secret is in living communally or co-operatively and dividing jobs like society lived for thousands of years. It's not that difficult and is somewhat fun and challenging.
Often you don't even think of being thrifty, but more of what your needs actually are.
Stay away for TV and other brain washing media.
I could say lots more but have to pinch my time as well. ha.
John
Living under $2000
I just found this thread and wanted to say thanks to everyone for sharing your stories. My husband and I are about to go to 1 income so he can go back to school, and needless to say, I am freaked out about making it stretch. I guess I have been trying to keep up the lifestyle that I was familiar with with my parents since graduating, and at this point I need to snap to reality and cut the spending! Reading what other people have done is really helping me out...so thanks again!
Where the heck do you guys
Where the heck do you guys live where that's "more" than enough? One kid can actually save $700/month with $2,000/month income? You must not be living on the coasts. I'm in New England and you will NEVER find an apartment for $450/month! Not even a studio! I'm sure it's possible in some parts of the country, but not here. I imagine Southern California is probably the same situation as New England.
"What do I recommend? -If
"What do I recommend?
-If you're going out with friends, avoid the costly drinks and drink cheap at home, then go out for a drink or 2"
Yeah, great idea. Drink first, then drive around and get more drunk to drive home....I hope you take a cab. You have to spend some money sometimes.
Dont listen to all the
Dont listen to all the haters.
Your situation seems similar to most people your age in this country (except for the really cheap rent, most people I know split a 2 bedroom for ~$700 a piece).
That advice about pre-drinking before you go out is what ive been doing for years! Also, an old russian trick is to bring your own liquor to places-my parents bring a full bottle of goose to restaurants, my sister puts her shots in a vitamin bottle (when I saw it I cracked up), and I always bring a flask to clubs and even Dave and Busters (just pour that shit under the table or in a dark corner LOL)...
Yes, we do it-somehow
Our takehome pay is $1800/month if we don't get any overtime. Then sometimes we run short. Our only "luxury" is internet, at $30/month. We are a family of 4, kids are 4 and 1 and 1/2.
Here is my breakdown
Rent:700
Car:235/month includes insurance and payment
Utilities:120/month if we're careful and it's difficult. I feel cold in long sleeves and a sweater if it drops below 74! On the upside, we live in southern CA so I only have to run the heat a couple times a week in the mornings.
Gas:100/month. Can't trim it any further. I walk with the kids anywhere in a mile or so radius to shop, etc.
Laundry:20 If money gets really tight I trim this and wash in the sink. I hang laundry on our apartment balcony.
Food:140 The biggest drain here is milk. Other than that we eat A LOT of beans and top ramen/cup of noodles. I've gotten very creative with varieties of beans and adding vegetables to ramen.
Toiletries:15
Cellphone:50
Internet:30
Charity:70
Storage rent:105 This is because all our things are in storage in AZ from when we moved suddenly. Now we can't afford to go get it, might move back, and can't hardly pay the storage rent.
Emergency eating:20 This is for when we get unexpected overtime
Crafts:20 I crochet the kids hats, etc.
Misc. projects:20
Fixing stuff the kids break:20
Credit card minimums:60
That pretty much brings us to the max. What kills me when I think about it is that we could live very well if we had no debt!!! I am still kicking myself about how we were smooth-talked into an expensive auto loan. We were hit, the guy's insurance paid us market value, and we were stuck with the $5000 difference, which is most of what is on our Credit cards. Now that drives us to borrow a little each month just to pay the bills and it makes me so mad how stupid we were. Never again.
My advice:avoid debt like the literal plague. There is no good debt. A low income is enough IF there is no debt. Otherwise there is a struggle until it is paid off.
Oh, and if you do have an auto loan, DO get gap insurance. I wish I had. Then I wouldn't be washing laundry in the sink!!!
Surprisingly enough, I'm the happiest I've been in a long time.
Costs of living: Rent:
Costs of living:
Rent: $500/month. (Heck, my apartment ran $400/month)
Food: $200/month. That's $2/meal, 3 meals a day. Skip breakfast for even more savings.
Car: $0/month. You'd have to be retarded to pay monthly for a car. Buy with cash.
Insur: $60/month. Any more than this, and you're being ripped off.
Gas: $75/month. Your car should get 25MPG and you shouldn't drive more than 25 miles a day.
Utilities: $75/month. This heated my 600 sqft apartment through a Colorado winter.
Misc: $90/month. This includes toilet paper, oil for your car, etc.
_________________
Total: $1000/month.
Not at all difficult. Put the rest of your $2000/month to work for you. Compound interest FTW!
Not everyone can get a
Not everyone can get a vehicle that gets 25MPG. Some have to have pickups to work out of in agriculture that get 15MPG. and some live 25 miles just to the nearest gas station.
Just saying that this plan can't work for everyone. But if I were single and lived in town, wouldn't be a problem. Just not for a family of 6 in the boondocks on a farm. LOL! good advice, but don't say I'm retarded for financing my truck. A little courtesy please.
Breakfast
Skipping breakfast can be very expensive since you will eat less healthy. It is our cheapest meal since we always have cooked oatmeal or cornmeal supplemented with fruit and homemade bread as needed.
Living off $1,000 per month
I read how you are living off $1,000 per month but cannot help but wander if you are living in public housing?
living cheap
I have a family of 4, 2 kids- myself- and my husband. We live off one income at less the 2000 a month. We don't do anything extra. Our bills consist of
Rent- 650
Electric and Heat combined- 200
Water- 40
Phone/Cable/Internet- 120
Gas for cars- 160
My husband smokes cheap cigars (was smoking cigarettes but that got too expensive)- 30
School for my son (field trips, lunch account, pictures, holiday expenses, etc)- 20
Shoes and clothes for my kids- 7 yr old boy and 19 month old girl- 30
Good behavior and chore gifts- 15
Car Insurance- 80
Animal expenses- 60
Vet savings- 10
Kids savings- 40
Car savings- 10
Holiday savings- 30
Food- 400
that totals 1895 a month yea well after taxes we don't make that so take all the saving away and we just get by. no going out, no family night out, no extras.
how funny
I am reading some the comments on here and people living off less than 2000 a month is hard! If you are single ok then you can afford it and skip breakfast but with kids you just cant do that.
$1828 a month with 2 credit card debts
Okay here's my breakdown.
$1828 a month/net income
$750 rent
$45 cable/internet
$25 electric
$25 gas
$15 water/garbage
$150 car insurance
okay so the basics are done. Niiiiice.
$400 ($200 each credit card/minimum) - i know my fault for charging myself into debt. One of my biggest regrets but tough times calls for desperate measures (no job).
$200 groceries
$130 gas for my car
$90 cellphone - damn you blackberry! lol
Total is $1805 - wooo hooo i have $23 bucks to spend each month!
That was a rough year for me. Now I'm better off with less debt and cheaper rent. I don't know how I did it but I survived on a minimum.
I'm listening to you guys say
I'm listening to you guys say that your student loans are $200-$250 a month and your apartments are $400-$500 a month. I wish my payments were that low! I'm lucky to find a place in L.A. for $650 and my loans are $550 a month! That's what I get for grad school though...
If you don't live in a city
The complaints that is more expensive to live in the city are true. We managed to buy a mobile home in a Seattle suburb that
provided a down payment for our small town home when we moved near
Anchorage AK. It saved a lot on rent, but they are hard to find.
But people live in the city because they earn more and then say they can't live on less. That doesn't make sense to me.
We are living on much less than $2000 a month as missionaries here in the arctic where things are supposed to be so expensive. I know we have a advantages such as no rent, our weekly produce box generously provided for us,a $500 a month subsidy for our utilities that added to personal fund means no utilities cost (which will be changing soon unfortunately).
However, if we didn't live in the Arctic we would able to grow our own food, get cheaper groceries without the extra shipping, have a wider variety of housing options, and have cheaper utilities.
Groceries is another complaint I see is grocery cost. However, I think the standard American diet is the problem. Our vegetarian
lifestyle has only become healthier since coming Arctic. We rarely drink anything but water. Spaghetti sauce, pre-made pasta, saltines, and ketchup are now on my list of convenience foods. We make all of our own breads, especially since coming here. Oh, and we could never drink alcohol with all the problems we see that it causes here in our village.
I think living under $2000 a month is very doable even in the city,but why would you want to miss God's green earth by doing that?
Bills
We live in oklahoma, and i HAVE had an apartment here for 400 a month. So it is possible to live places that have cheap apartments. And it was in a nicer area of town, granted the apt. was only 500 sf...
Buying a house is MUCH cheaper. Most rents for houses around here are 6-700 to get a small 3 bedroom.
We just bought a house and our mortgage with taxes and insurance is 550 a month. its a 3 bedroom and much bigger and nicer than any of the 3 beds we saw for rent. We have a baby girl, and i am stay at home mom right now- and he makes just a little over 2k a month. It was VERY tight money wise, mainly because we have some terrible debt right now (400 dollars worth a month) but after 1 year, that debt will be gone and we will be able to make it just fine w 2k a year, especially once we have that extra 400 dollars.
Health Insurance
I applaud your effort to live simpler lives but how can anyone afford healthcare on such a tight budget??
wow
I don't live on my own yet,so all I can do is speculate, but I am frightened of having to pay even 2,000 a month because I like to spend money on clothes and I like to eat a lot of cheese, as someone mentioned above. Does anyone know how to work at home to get an income? I know there are a lot of people who sell things on ebay and amazon, and they make a good business out of it. Also, why is 2000 a month considered inexpensive? That makes 100$ each workday. Who earns 100$ a day? Only business professionals who have gone to graduate school, or engineers, nurses, etc. But most people are not that educated. In New Orleans, unless you have a great job, you are only making up to 10.00 an hour, if you are lucky.
It all makes me fear I will need to resort to charity to pay for my groceries.
My past boyfriend would not put his heater on no matter how cold it got, and would sleep in coat and hat, for months. He also did not purchase milk or buy much food. His refrigerator was very sparse, and he also had no car insurance, so he could not use his car. He rode his bike. His job was selling and buying stock online. He took to receiving gifts of food from his parents. He never bought anything, but he just looked. He had a tiny studio apartment, and because of this he considered himself rich.
It is interesting to me how people who have had opportunity to travel to poor countries say that even if we are poor, we are still rich compared to them. I think it doesn't feel as though we are rich because of the billboards and fashion styles and delectable foods and houses are so rich and so well advertised that we are made to believe we are suffering. If we are not fashionable, we will be rejected. If we can't afford jackets and hats and stockings in every color, and wool coats, and to get our hair colored monthly, and to have various stylish purses which match everything, and necklaces which go with tops, and to lease a new car which is shiny, if we can't afford to stay atop and to buy new things at all times, then our things will get old and dusty- and no one will like us. So, there is a feeling of being poor even though we are surrounded by luxury, and we know it.
I'm a big spender. If I can't buy an article of clothing, it makes me feel sickly. But I can't afford also to go on vacation or travel. I hate that. Sometimes I wish I could be poor and live on an island in Hawaii in a hut drinking coconut milk...
I think someone mentioned communal living, which makes it so that everyone gets to share talents. One person is an electrician, another a good cook, and they live all together. That way there is no rent that 1400 a month for 2 people. I think this ideal of living alone and privately and providing eveything on your own is ridiculous. We are a social creature. We can't do everything for ourselves. That is how human beings survived and adapted- we lived communually. Now there's an ideal all over the world of living on your own by yourself or with a "partner". Why can't we all live in a community and share the chores? why must I live alone and then pay for a plumber, an electrician, for my one apartment bed room? This is ridiculous. That is the very reason why people spend 30 years to be educated then have to be a manager of a 6am to 6pm company? Why? So they can pay off their new car lease, so they can have a car that smells fresh. And what else? No time to exercise. Heart attacks, diabetes on the rise. No time to fix a salad. Children parented by tv, because parents are at work, so they can pay off the car and the Christmas gifts. I don't like it. I really don't like it at all. Living communally is not done here. But i'd bet that's how humans were able to survive and procreate for a million years. It's what we were born to do. That's my opinion.
I am so happy to read this
200/month 1 person
I am trying to (not really succeeding) on my fixed income of 200 dollars. So far I am failing at this miserably. I can afford food and clothing, but have yet to find a place for less than 150 dollars a month. Honestly, any higher and I would not be able to afford water,electricity, or even shampoo. I am technically homeless but. oh well. 200 a month is all I can manage.
live frugally and best wishes to all.
early retiree=$1700 a month (approx.)
Retired at 52.After paying my health insurance,my pension is $1875 a month.I took one of two IRA's and did a SEPP plan(allowable under IRS rules) and pays me $700.Also have some additional investment income.I am single.
Breakdown:
House maintenence,utilities,taxes insurance (no mortgage)$400
Auto=gas,maintenence,insurance $300
Food=(I cook some here and if I eat out,I do 'specials' as often as possible. $360
Entertainment(internet,travel,satellite,regular and cell phone
$170
Pharmacy,out of pocket medical $ 75
Personal items=clothes,toiletries $ 75
Miscellaneous (anything can happen)
$150
---------
$1530
No mortgage,no auto loan(I put some back for possible future auto payment.It can be done in a smaller city similar to what I live in.The big cities will strangle you financially.I have enough left over to invest.
What the??
Not sure where some of you people live but I manage on ALOT less than $2000 a month. My wife works full time, I work part-time running my own business when I want to. We have a total income of about $1500 a month.
Mortgage/association payment = $297 2 bed 2 bath full basement condo about 5 mins from lake michigan. So no I don't live on the street or public housing. I actually have a mortgage.
Gas = $65
Electric = $35
Car insurance = $65 No car payments. Paid cash.
Gas for car = $60 Only live 5 miles from wife's work.
Food = $300
Wife's student loans =$150
Total = a whopping..... $907 a month.
OH and we have no credit card debt. We refuse to have them. If we can't pay cash for something then we really don't need it that bad.
We just realized that it more important to us to be happy and live as stress free as possible rather than work our butts off everyday and be miserable with out jobs just to pay for expensive toys we wouldn't be able to use that often if we had to work all the time.
you live in a low cost area
At least lower cost than mine, and while we could move thousands of miles away to some place cheaper, this is where our families are, and our lives. And we have no guarantee that the work-at-home job my husband has now will always be there; then we'd be stuck some place where he may or may not have a job. Here, we know he can find work.
Do you have kids? They cost a certain amount, too.
$1500 is what we pay for health insurance alone, and with my health problems, we don't have much choice on that. We're lucky to have it, but it doesn't leave much in the household accounts.
Good for you, though, seriously. I agree that working like a maniac for stuff is not conducive to happiness (it's one of the main messages of this site).
Low cost area
I do live in a lost cost area compared to alot of other places. Not saying you should move away from your friends and family, I know I wouldn't. As long as there's work where you live then that's great. Here in Michigan though, we've had the highest unemployment rate in the country for the last 4 years now and jobs are hard to come by so most of the people here have had to start cutting things out of their budgets.
I don't have any kids yet but my wife has started talking about them lately so I'm sure she won't want to wait a whole lot longer. Then I'm sure it'll be quite a bit more expensive for me.
Wow !
I live in Ontario Canda, My husband and I make just over $2800 a month currenlty but I will be oing on maternity leave in 3 weeks and we will be making just under $2000 came on here to see if I could get some tips Here's our break down I'm thinking
$650.00 Rent/utilities (his parents have moved out of country, we are living at there house, we pay $650.00 to a house account whre we pay all the ultilties and taxes and inusrance out of when its due so we actually dont have "rent" persay
$561.80 Student Loans (1 more year of paying them off)
$144.36 (health insrance cover what the goverment doesn't cover, like persciption drugs, eye glasses, dentist and semi-private hospital room coverage)
$122.53 Insurcane for our Van and Car
$53.00 Internet
$400.00 goceries
Leaves $68.00 for savings account, no credit card debt
Living on $2000.00 a month before taxes!
My house is almost paid for. I have no other debts. I want to retire. Here's the break-down:
Annual auto registration on three cars..$500.00 (trying to sell one but no luck so far) Annual vehicle insurance with good driver discounts...$1500.00 ($300/$100 liability-medical) Homeowners insurance $650.00 per year. Property taxes $1300.00 per year. State income tax 11% of anything over $45000.00 Breaks down gradually at lower amounts.
After taxes, $24000.00 per year turns into $19000.00 per year for a single person with write-offs filing the "long" form.
utilities: $80.00 per month
groceries: $400.00 per month
dog food: $100.00 per month (you need the big dogs to keep the burglers away)
Mortgage $720.00 per month
Water & Sewer: $80.00 per month
Cat food : $30.00 per month (you need the cats to keep the rats away!)
Ins. & registration : $330.00 a month
That leaves me $249.00 a month before state and federal income taxes!
I have not included home maintenance, health insurance or co-pays, annual vet check-ups for pets, flea and tick medication, cat litter, vehicle maintenance, clothes, toiletries, prescription drugs,entertainment,vacations, phone, TV, internet,or non-essential food items such as wine!
Houstan, I have a deficeit! Oh, I forgot to mention, single in Southern California! And we're talking about one single senior living on their own! There's no way I can live on $1583.00 a month after taxes in So. Cal and giving up my pets is not an option! Where do you people live that you can support a family on $2000.00 a month? I want to go there! Then, maybe I could retire!
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