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About Me:

34 yr old female trying to keep it together. I call my financial life a work in progress because though I have always had frugal inclinations I only recently started on an informal financial education with an end goal to make my money work for me! Of course I can be weak. Thai food, traveling, self-justification and laziness eat away at my savings. But I am getting there. I think. I used to be very jealous of the Jones' but now realize that they are broke and stressed so I prefer my own progress and accomplishments. My life may not be flashy but I have seen the consequences of a high-end lifestyle. I count myself lucky to be alive and aware in these economic times because I have learned so much and believe that in the long run I will come out farther ahead from a little suffering now. As long as I am not regressing, then I am pleased.

Fun fact to help navigate my posts: BB = Baseball Boy. My husband.

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My November 2008 Wedding:
Total $23,630...Paid in Full! And had a BLAST!

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Quotes to keep me on track:

"Save FIRST and then spend the leftover, not spend first and save what's left."

"How you spend your money today effects the life you will live tomorrow."

I can really stretch the income

November 11th, 2008 at 12:07 am

I appreciate all the input regarding our plans to buy a duplex. Hearing about trashed houses and selling for a loss due to poor upkeep was a little sad to hear! But it's important information for me to know about when pursuing this plan.

We are going to stick with it (our plan to buy a duplex). We wont be able to get a mortgage for a property without the rental income provided from the duplex.

BB and I were going through our tax info today to get the paperwork in order for the mortgage application...BB made $5,000 in 2006. $5,000!! I don't know how we lived. No wonder I was always on his case to quit baseball and get a different job. He made $10,000 last year...he is gloating that he doubled his income-I am gloating that we lived a normal life off that income! Plus we also had my rental income of $14,000 last year.

I'm not sure how we live like we make middle class money when we made $24,000 this year...I REALLY don't know how we lived normally when he was making $5,000 a year.)

If I knew how we stretch the money then I would write a book. Titled "How to live off of $25,000 a year but feel like you make $40,000." But our lifestyle and I guess our income level is so normal to us that I feel like we live a normal life. We only miss out on the Big extravagances in life. I guess all those scrimping and living frugal secrets really add up!

Anyways- I am afraid to show the bank our taxes from the past two years because I think the lender handler will turn pale and start talking about how maybe we are not ready to buy a house right now...LOL. Even I didn't realize we make so little money.

So we'll see what they say. Who knows.

In other news- my stupid camera broke and I had to buy a new one today. I'm in the middle of the eBay crunch before Christmas and cant afford to even go a week without listing items. grrr...so I am $170 poorer.

Posted in a bit about me, myself and more me | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “I can really stretch the income”

Broken Arrow Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 01:08 pm 1226408887
1226408887

Yeow! 5k is like... below poverty level. My friend, who was forced to live in a car once, made more than that and still couldn't get by. Of course, he doesn't have a sweet sugar mama to bail him out. Hehe.

I agree you should keep housing hunting. Great time to buy if you score a really, really good deal. Worst case is, you don't find anything, which means you don't lose anything either.
Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 04:31 pm 1226421078
1226421078

I think you've mentioned some of the things that have kept you afloat on low income. Perhaps Baseball Guy's parents have paid for this and that. Perhaps you were not making car payments out of that income. Perhaps your wedding was not paid for out of that income. Perhaps Baseball guy gets transportation to out of town games and does not have to pay for it out of that money. Perhaps there are little perks here and there that add up to a little money not needed to be spent. And then there would be any frugal things you all do! Add all those factors up and you probably lived "higher" and more securely at $24K income than you would if you had no prior resources, no kindly Baseball Guy parents, and no frugal ways of living, no back up money that should be able to remove some of the anxiety of 2 people living on $24K, even if you never spend any of the back-up. I mean-- at another point in your life and in different circumstances that same $24K would not be as livable.

Though you demonstrate a desire to move along to new things in your life, you also seem to have some attitude of security and an ability to handle "come what may." I think that attitude of allows a person mental room for contentment and even for informed risk-taking (like buying a duplex), so that you find happiness in the present and a good attitude for the future.

Hey, your blog IS your book. Write away!

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Gamecock's Mind over Money

Trying to keep life from falling apart, trying to become a person to be proud of.

I can really stretch the income

2 Responses to “I can really stretch the income”

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