How are we surviving?!?

my2monkeyboys wrote: Last night, just out of curiosity, I looked up our income to date for this year and compared it to the same dates from last year. Guess how much we're off....

$28,000.
Yes. I said $28,000!!!! We have $28,000 less this year so far and I am just wondering how we've managed to stay somewhat on top of our bills. I say somewhat because our 3 main payments are all 30 days behind, but considering over a quarter of our income for the year is non-existent while our bills are the same, I think we're doing dang good! I just can't figure out how we're going to make it if it keeps on like this...

Anyway, I just thought this was amazing.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Congrats to you for doing so well with what you have! I hope things turn around and your income goes back up.

momofone replied: On some of my utilities bills they offer assistance in paying the bills maybe your companies do the same i think they have an income level they go by.

redchief replied: We didn't get our CoL increase this year and I'm surprised at how much we're feeling the pinch. Couple that with a home renovation that went way (I mean WAYYY) over budget and it's been a tough year.

Danalana replied: Wow, that really is amazing!

Calimama replied: Wow! I hope things pick up for you soon.

my2monkeyboys replied: I didn't post this as a sympathy posting, just thought it was really just amazing how tight we are and that we aren't any worse off than we are...
makes me wonder how well we'd be doing if we had made all of that money this year!

youngmomofone replied: I'm glad that you and your family is still surviving after that much of an income loss. I'm sure there are lots of ways you could use that money, but because you are doing OK that means that you are very smart with money which is a huge accomplishment in my book.

BabyOwen427 replied: Frankly, I think if that's a quarter of your income then you're doing fine. We made 29,000 last year which it was only that high because of DH's enlistment bonus. We usually make between 20,000 and 22,000.

I don't mean this as a 'who budgets better than who contest' and I'm not trying to be rude about it. I just think if we made 112,000 a year, or your new income 84,000 a year, we probly wouldn't know what to do with that much money. That's a lot of money. IMO to have late bills making 84,000 is a bit rediculous. I'm sorry if this is offensive, it's just my opinion.

My3LilMonkeys replied: IIRC, her husband owns his own business. If that is the business income, then there are all the business expenses and etc. that would need to be paid in addition to their personal expenses.

Just my though - and I could be remembering wrong and be way off.

my2monkeyboys replied: You're right - we do own our own business, and our gross income last year was $118,000. After business expenses we cleared $23,000 for personal bills (house, electricity, groceries, car, phone, etc). We make nothing really, even though we gross a lot. That's why I'm so shocked that our bills aren't WAY behind even more than they are!

For those that do net a lot though, if your bills are in line with your income (and most people's probably are) a big cut in your income can really cause problems. Regardless of what your income is, a quarter loss is a big loss.

A&A'smommy replied: dang girl you are doing good!! Good job for staying on top of things

my2monkeyboys replied: The original post wasn't to get a pat on the back for not having things repossessed yet, it was just so eye-opening for me and I thought it might be interesting to everyone else, too... just a shocker to me how bad the economy really is right now.

A&A'smommy replied:
your not kidding it doesn't help when you have debt which is something we are dealing with right now!! My husbands school loans are KILLING us sometimes I wonder if him getting his degree was even worth it, he has a good job with decent pay especially for where we live at but we could move somewhere else with about the same maybe a little higher cost of living and make double his pay now but with the economy the way it is now there is no way we would risk it TOO scary!!!

my2monkeyboys replied: I know the feeling... we really need to buy a little newer truck (his is 18 years old with over 2 million miles on it) but not only his our credit shot right now, but I'm afraid of what the pmts would be on a newer one. Of course, with the repair bills we've had the last 6-8 months we probably could afford a bigger pmt, esp since he wouldn't have lost work waiting for the truck to get fixed.
It's so hard to know the right decision to make sometimes.

youngmomofone replied: I agree, it is very hard to make the right decision. I have made a lot of bad decisions the past year and half, and we have paid for them. Since my dad is very generous with giving dh a job, we are slowly getting back on our feet.

The bad economy is hard, especially when it smacks you in the face out of no where like so many of us.

Swood75 replied: I am sorry things are so tight right now..I am glad we don't have all the bills we DID have a year ago..we used tax $$ and paid off the ones we didn't need..Now we only have our regular monthly bills(electric,phones etc)and house and car..I hope things pick up for you and your DH soon..

moped replied:
It really isn't that much money to be honest. Your mortage and bills will all be in line with your income. We have a pretty high income, but also a huge mortage and many many bills (thank god DH pays the bills, he is NEVER behind)...........you become adjusted very quickly to what you make!

And good for you guys not even noticing the huge difference!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Good for you guys.

I've had to make some adjustments too, but not so much over the economy.. it's more of having my own expenses rather than shared expenses.. yuck. I went from a household of just over 6K a month to strictly on my own, and I make about 2400 a month, give or take a hundred bucks depending on whether I have to take some time off... that's not all that much considering mortgage/utilities/condo fees and property taxes is about 1350$ a month, and my share of daycare is 650$ monthly.. well 800$ monthly for the summer... then my cell phone (no home phone), internet, insurance, my share of the car payments or the car I half own but don't drive - don't get me started on that one - well all in all it doesn't leave much room to breathe.

I can't imagine being much tighter due to the economy. I'm comfortable as it is.. but I can't really lose much income, I don't have much to cut other than my cell phone and the internet.

luvmykids replied: I know first hand how bad a cut in your business income hurts personally....I swear, it multiplies as it goes down the chain, if the business is short a few grand, it feels like it leaves you short even more

No matter how small your bills, losing that much income HURTS! I know you're not looking for a pat on the back but I have to give you one anyway, it takes some work to maintain the same bills with less money!