Rising prices - Wow!

I'm so glad I chose my wife, or I should say, she chose me.

Living on $2700 a month SS is possible for some. (not all).
Our income... A long way from what some would consider "well off"
$800 mo. for wife.
$1900 mo. for me.
Now, if it was me doing the finances, we'd be living under a bridge somewhere. But, My wife is an anomaly: love's hot rods, has succesfully raced stock cars, rides motorcycles, great cook, super gardener, dog savior, has been a shrewed budgeteer. ( I made that word up), and most important of all, we are willing to live within our means. (no keep up with the Jones for us).

So, even with inflation eating away at us, she's somehow able to put aside around $1100 each month. (frugal woman I tell you)
That's after paying our usual bills. (electric, insurance's, property tax, internet).
Works for us because; we own older vehicles, (no car payments), now own our house outright, (no mortgage), don't have cable, don't have an I-phone w/expensive contract, (tracfone works fine), we don't eat out and most importantly, I'm a handy person to have around for fixing or repairing things. ;) (ok... so is she). :)

We also feed our four fur baby rescues the same food we eat.(basically make 6 meals each day). That allows us to buy some items in bulk and make the dollar stretch a bit more.
 

squatting dog said:
I'm so glad I chose my wife, or I should say, she chose me.

Living on $2700 a month SS is possible for some. (not all).
Our income... A long way from what some would consider "well off"
$800 mo. for wife.
$1900 mo. for me.
Now, if it was me doing the finances, we'd be living under a bridge somewhere. But, My wife is an anomaly: love's hot rods, has succesfully raced stock cars, rides motorcycles, great cook, super gardener, dog savior, has been a shrewed budgeteer. ( I made that word up), and most important of all, we are willing to live within our means. (no keep up with the Jones for us).

So, even with inflation eating away at us, she's somehow able to put aside around $1100 each month. (frugal woman I tell you)
That's after paying our usual bills. (electric, insurance's, property tax, internet).
Works for us because; we own older vehicles, (no car payments), now own our house outright, (no mortgage), don't have cable, don't have an I-phone w/expensive contract, (tracfone works fine), we don't eat out and most importantly, I'm a handy person to have around for fixing or repairing things. ;) (ok... so is she). :)

We also feed our four fur baby rescues the same food we eat.(basically make 6 meals each day). That allows us to buy some items in bulk and make the dollar stretch a bit more.
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That's wonderful! You two are lucky to have each other.
 
I always laugh when people say proudly '' I don't have an iphone with an expensive contract''....

You don't have to have any contract with an Iphone expensive or otherwise , you can have it simply Pay as you go sim ..£5 a month sim card will do some people if they don't make a lot of calls

..and in fact..some contracts are exceedingly low..My iphone which is paid outright for....has a contract which is just £5 per month with my Internet supplier, and that gives me unlimited calls and texts .. My internet costs £35 per month which gives me TV as well with mega loads of channels.. and landline as well........ and seperately charged is my Phone contract which is just £5.. making a total of £40.. a month for everything...
 
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These days we expect to pay around $100 when we go out to eat. That’s for a cocktail each, an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert to share. I’m not talking about high end restaurants either, just local places, more upscale than a fast food place, maybe similar to the chain restaurants like Applebees, O’Charleys etc.

We used to go out to eat every week. Now it’s a couple times a month.
 
StarSong said:
Interesting. US middle class parameters are so wide that they're all but meaningless. The general definition is a 3 person household with an annual income between 67% and 200% of the national median income, so anywhere between $56K and $170K. A huge range. In most of the country, 3 people would be hard put to survive on $56K per annum.

In California, most if not all the couples I know in their 30s-40s have combined incomes over $170K, but would not consider themselves in the upper range of middle class, never mind upper class.

Blue or white collar jobs in the US are defined by job type rather than salaries. Blue collar work usually involves manual labor of some kind, though many require special skills (like welders, or electricians). White collar jobs tend to be clerical, office or managerial work. The "white collar" designation goes back 100 years ago when men wore (white) shirts and ties to office jobs.

In the US, "working class" is a rarely used descriptor.
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Interesting to play with the numbers/locations:

Pew’s Middle Class Calculator
 
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Our bare bones budget just to eat and pay the regular bills is $2500 a month. And that's with no mortgage and no car payment. Our net income after taxes and health insurance is about $5700 a month so that leaves a good amount for savings, contingencies, emergencies, and discretionary spending.

Growing up poor has made me very frugal. And my wife is worse than me. She won't spend a nickel on herself. All her clothes are old and worn out and she won't buy any new ones no matter how hard I try to get her to. It makes me look bad because I feel like people must think I won't let her spend any money on herself. My wardrobe isn't all that much better. Walmart jeans or jean shorts and T-shirts.

According to Zillow we live in $200K house which is about 1/2 the national average and our car is 17 years old and worth maybe 2 grand tops. But I do have a pretty nice motorcycle. :)
 
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squatting dog said:
I'm so glad I chose my wife, or I should say, she chose me.

Living on $2700 a month SS is possible for some. (not all).
Our income... A long way from what some would consider "well off"
$800 mo. for wife.
$1900 mo. for me.
Now, if it was me doing the finances, we'd be living under a bridge somewhere. But, My wife is an anomaly: love's hot rods, has succesfully raced stock cars, rides motorcycles, great cook, super gardener, dog savior, has been a shrewed budgeteer. ( I made that word up), and most important of all, we are willing to live within our means. (no keep up with the Jones for us).

So, even with inflation eating away at us, she's somehow able to put aside around $1100 each month. (frugal woman I tell you)
That's after paying our usual bills. (electric, insurance's, property tax, internet).
Works for us because; we own older vehicles, (no car payments), now own our house outright, (no mortgage), don't have cable, don't have an I-phone w/expensive contract, (tracfone works fine), we don't eat out and most importantly, I'm a handy person to have around for fixing or repairing things. ;) (ok... so is she). :)

We also feed our four fur baby rescues the same food we eat.(basically make 6 meals each day). That allows us to buy some items in bulk and make the dollar stretch a bit more.
Click to expand...
Your wife is doing a fantastic job with your budget. The sad thing is that when one of you passes you will only get one Social Security and that’s the higher one. Although some expenses will drop such as food, it will be tougher to live on.
 
When I got divorced five years ago, I was having a tough time making it on my pension and very small Social Security. I was trying not to use my savings for every day expenses. Then a couple things happened which completely changed my financial picture.

About a year later, I was asked to start consulting again, which I’ve been doing for the past 3 1/2 years. Each year the business has gotten more clients so I’ve made more money each year.

Then the Social Security fairness act passed and I was able to claim off of ex-husband number two, which substantially raised my Social Security. Then sadly, he died a week ago and now I will collect his full Social Security. Between that and my pension, I no longer have to work at all if I don’t want to. For the time being, I’m going to keep working and bank the money and decide What I’ll do in the future.

I’ve been really lucky that my financial picture has completely changed and I won’t have to worry about money or use my savings except for big emergencies.
 
hollydolly said:
the state pension amount in the Uk for a single person who has paid a minimum of 35 years National Insurance contributions .. which are taken from salaries 8% on earnings between £242.01 and £967 per week, ..and @% over that, amounts to a paltry £11,950 per year..

It's a national disgrace!

That is what all single retired people in the UK get to live on.. and we don't have 401K's here.. so unless someone has paid into a private pension.. this is the amount everyone who has paid Contributions for 35 years out of their salaries to the govt....and those working for minimum wage of which there was many, could not afford to pay into any other pension after Insurance contributions and Income tax was already taken from their salaries... those latter 2 amounted to approx a 1/3rd of our salaries.. every week/month

Those who worked less than 35 years.. or worked part0time like the majority of mother raising children... recieve substantially less,,in State pension....
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How do people manage on those amounts, HD? Especially if they don't own a home outright with no mortgage. £11,950 translates to USD $15,900/year. Do most in the UK also also receive pensions?
 
Teacher Terry said:
Your wife is doing a fantastic job with your budget. The sad thing is that when one of you passes you will only get one Social Security and that’s the higher one. Although some expenses will drop such as food, it will be tougher to live on.
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Yes, that's why I hope it's me who goes first. Smart as she is, she would be able to make it on the one check. Me..... not so much. :)
 
StarSong said:
How do people manage on those amounts, HD? Especially if they don't own a home outright with no mortgage. £11,950 translates to USD $15,900/year. Do most in the UK also also receive pensions?
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They don't in all honesty Star.. this is the reason you might read about eat or heat in the UK.. where people.. actually millions, not a few.. have to choose between heating or eating.. can't afford to do both.....and no most people in the UK...don't have private pensions.. from their employer or otherwise.. the majority of people who do, have been those who were high earners in the first place. People who were earning a low wage.. and that's multi millions of workers, can't and couldn't afford to pay any extra from their salaries into a private pension
 
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Our 401k base withdrawal from our checks is 3%. They will match us up to 6% which if I made more money I wouldn't mind. However, if they fire you, you lose everything you put into it. You don't get it back. So I don't go beyond the 3%.

As for what @Ronni was saying about dining out, it costs me $25 to $30 each time I order a meal on DoorDash for myself and that's with free delivery.

They give us a lousy 25 cent raise every year at work and expect us to get by on that. They pay housekeeping lousy wages because according to them we don't bring in a profit. It's a nonprofit organization. Without us and food service they'd have to close their doors. I think that classifies as being profit worthy.
 

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