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patti08
Happy
Member since 5/05 3893 total posts
Name:
Patti
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by DjPiLL
Posted by marymoon
I use Quicken. How did it help you to save more money?> Just because you had to see everything you spent, or did you use charts, etc?
I use Money but its the same thing. Now that I know where my money is really going... I can track and eliminate some unnecessary spending.
I also won't spend as quickly knowing I have to enter in those purchases myself in the computer.
Quicken or Money will let you track exactly what you spend your money on. When we realized how much getting take out 3 nights a week was costing us it stopped immediately. When we added up the monthly bill for buying coffee every day on the way to the train we started making our own coffee.
Quicken showed us how much we were spending each month on clothes, books, dvds, cds....things we really didn't need. Once we saw our spending patterns we were able to make some serious (and not too painful) changes.
You have to be accountable for the money you spend as every expenditure gets logged - we also saw how many cash withdrawals we were making and were appalled at our behavior with cash.
Keeping track and establishing a budget has made a HUGE difference over the past few years. From being in student loan and credit card debt to now being proud homeowners, it really worked for us. We bought a house last August.
We have a wish list... from a new surround sound system, to renovations on the house to having a family and Quicken can project when we'll have the finances to do it all comfortably.
Whatever you do whether it's computer program or a pad and pen track your spending and make a budget. I'd also suggest talking to an accountant, or financial advisor or a trusted realtor (do they exist?) to see what you really can afford.
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Posted 3/28/06 5:34 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
LAMGAJ28
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Member since 10/05 6039 total posts
Name:
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Message edited 9/25/2011 3:03:09 PM.
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| Posted 3/28/06 5:34 PM |
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Susan
Loving Mommyhood!
Member since 5/05 2391 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by hazeleyes33
I find all of this amazing. I guess we just don't live a high lifestyle with big expensive cars and vacations but when we bought our house almost 10 years ago (yes, it was quite cheap), we were only making $35,000 combined! I still have our paychecks when we first got married to see how much we survived on and we made a total of $316 take home a week!! We lived in an apartment at that time but all our bills were always paid.
I think people just want more and more and don't realize that they make ALOT of money.
I agree with this 100%. You can definitely buy a nice house on LI with a combined salary of under $100,000 while having cc and school loan debt, and you can still go on vacation and out to eat off of that too. I'm living proof of it.
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:24 PM |
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Redhead
You Live, You Learn
Member since 5/05 31871 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by Susan
Posted by hazeleyes33
I find all of this amazing. I guess we just don't live a high lifestyle with big expensive cars and vacations but when we bought our house almost 10 years ago (yes, it was quite cheap), we were only making $35,000 combined! I still have our paychecks when we first got married to see how much we survived on and we made a total of $316 take home a week!! We lived in an apartment at that time but all our bills were always paid.
I think people just want more and more and don't realize that they make ALOT of money.
I agree with this 100%. You can definitely buy a nice house on LI with a combined salary of under $100,000 while having cc and school loan debt, and you can still go on vacation and out to eat off of that too. I'm living proof of it.
actually it is getting harder and harder IMO
as thus i know since i am looking right now
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:26 PM |
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Susan
Loving Mommyhood!
Member since 5/05 2391 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by Redhead
Posted by Susan
Posted by hazeleyes33
I find all of this amazing. I guess we just don't live a high lifestyle with big expensive cars and vacations but when we bought our house almost 10 years ago (yes, it was quite cheap), we were only making $35,000 combined! I still have our paychecks when we first got married to see how much we survived on and we made a total of $316 take home a week!! We lived in an apartment at that time but all our bills were always paid.
I think people just want more and more and don't realize that they make ALOT of money.
I agree with this 100%. You can definitely buy a nice house on LI with a combined salary of under $100,000 while having cc and school loan debt, and you can still go on vacation and out to eat off of that too. I'm living proof of it.
actually it is getting harder and harder IMO
as thus i know since i am looking right now
Definitely hard, no doubt, but it can be done.
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:34 PM |
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hazeleyes33
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 13060 total posts
Name:
Ginger
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by Susan
Posted by Redhead
Posted by Susan
Posted by hazeleyes33
I find all of this amazing. I guess we just don't live a high lifestyle with big expensive cars and vacations but when we bought our house almost 10 years ago (yes, it was quite cheap), we were only making $35,000 combined! I still have our paychecks when we first got married to see how much we survived on and we made a total of $316 take home a week!! We lived in an apartment at that time but all our bills were always paid.
I think people just want more and more and don't realize that they make ALOT of money.
I agree with this 100%. You can definitely buy a nice house on LI with a combined salary of under $100,000 while having cc and school loan debt, and you can still go on vacation and out to eat off of that too. I'm living proof of it.
actually it is getting harder and harder IMO
as thus i know since i am looking right now
Definitely hard, no doubt, but it can be done.
Yes, it can be done. Our house is small so our bills are small, compared to others. We pay $90/month for LIPA while my sister, who only has 1 extra room in her house BUT has all the nice outside lighting and hi-hats all over the house, pays $300/month AND that is on budget like us.
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:51 PM |
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SweetestOfPeas
J'taime Paris!
Member since 3/06 32345 total posts
Name:
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Re: Household Income?
I would really like to know how people who own a house and have a child in daycare do it. I read this entire thread and it's so depressing.
we don't want to live on Mac and Cheese and shop exclusively at K-mart  not that there is anything wrong with K-mart 
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:55 PM |
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Redhead
You Live, You Learn
Member since 5/05 31871 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by Susan
Definitely hard, no doubt, but it can be done.
true....
if you are getting that 100K combo income that allows one of you to work part time...
If you both are working full time and plan to have children and will need to afford daycare...
It is BEYOND difficult....it is damn near impossible
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| Posted 3/28/06 7:58 PM |
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nrthshgrl
It goes fast. Pay attention.
Member since 7/05 57538 total posts
Name:
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
I would really like to know how people who own a house and have a child in daycare do it. I read this entire thread and it's so depressing.
we don't want to live on Mac and Cheese and shop exclusively at K-mart not that there is anything wrong with K-mart
We do. We had both kids in daycare. Bought in 2004 with money we saved plus some from DH's father. I was fortunate enough to graduate from college without owing a dime to anyone. Car loans paid off completely and carry very little credit card debt.
We're definitely not living on Mac & Cheese - and as for Kmart, I bought orchids for my office but that's about the extent of my Kmart shopping.
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| Posted 3/28/06 8:05 PM |
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hazeleyes33
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 13060 total posts
Name:
Ginger
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
I would really like to know how people who own a house and have a child in daycare do it. I read this entire thread and it's so depressing.
we don't want to live on Mac and Cheese and shop exclusively at K-mart not that there is anything wrong with K-mart
Well we are very lucky that my company contributes to the daycare as we also would not be able to afford it. We have a very low mortgage though as we bought 10 years ago, from my parents-market value though and put down alot. We have a small house so the bills are not too high.
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| Posted 3/28/06 9:32 PM |
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hazeleyes33
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 13060 total posts
Name:
Ginger
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Re: Household Income?
Posted by nrthshgrl
Posted by SweetestOfPeas
I would really like to know how people who own a house and have a child in daycare do it. I read this entire thread and it's so depressing.
we don't want to live on Mac and Cheese and shop exclusively at K-mart not that there is anything wrong with K-mart
We do. We had both kids in daycare. Bought in 2004 with money we saved plus some from DH's father. I was fortunate enough to graduate from college without owing a dime to anyone. Car loans paid off completely and carry very little credit card debt.
We're definitely not living on Mac & Cheese - and as for Kmart, I bought orchids for my office but that's about the extent of my Kmart shopping.
I guess I am just an eater as I would NEVER sacrifice a big house and things for food-lol!!!
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| Posted 3/28/06 9:33 PM |
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neenie
Member since 5/05 22351 total posts
Name:
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Re: Household Income?
i think another problem too is that our society is so focused on wanting everything Yesterday. I mean, Yes, people DO work hard for their money BUT we're so used to having everything delivered to us when we want it, that we feel it should be the same with housing. Years ago, even when prices were 'low' compared to what they are now- people still had problems because you basically Had to have the 20% to put down. I honestly can't see how someone who's making over 100K/year and SAVES for a few years can't save for a downpayment. Im not saying its easy, but it is Possible.
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| Posted 3/28/06 11:39 PM |
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