Middle Class Squeeze
Let me say up front that I feel my life is full and rich. I have a great wife and a bouncing baby boy. I'm blessed with a good job and people that I like working with.
My job pays me a good wage that I am happy with. When both my wife and I were working full time we had plenty of disposable income. Then, we decided she could stop working if she wanted and she did. That meant living on 1 income. We were doing pretty well but we keep getting hit with lots of increases in costs that make our financial life challenging.
Our family medical & dental premiums keep going up each year. Our medical flex plan is used to supplement the co-pays on our medical plan. The medical, dental & flex plan take 15% of my gross pay. And, each year that % goes up. These items are taken out pre-tax which helps some but not a lot.
Our winter heating bills were double the amount we've paid in prior years. We were using less gas and paying much more due to natural gas prices being high. Those higher gas bills take a bite out of the budget. That bill took close to 10% of my take home pay for a couple months this winter.
Thankfully we don't drive much these days. Being pregnant and having a baby slows life down a lot. Here again, the crunch on a budget gets to be substantial when it costs $35.00 to fill up the CRV. Add $100 a month in formula and there's another big bite.
We live in a modest home with a modest mortgage that we got at a kick butt rate a couple years ago. That payment takes out 23% of our take home pay and it also goes up every year.
We've cut back across the board in order to live within our budget. Gone is the Roth IRA contributions, the optional insurances, the newspaper and the fitness club membership. We've made some major cutbacks in personal spending & dining out. We've cut back the amount we're saving for car repairs, house repairs and vacations.
I am aware that our situation is far better than many. Living within these budget constraints makes me appreciate the sacrifice many people make living on less than we do. My wife could always get a job and someday that may happen. But, for now we're going to continue to make sacrifices so we get to spend as much time with our little guy as possible.
My job pays me a good wage that I am happy with. When both my wife and I were working full time we had plenty of disposable income. Then, we decided she could stop working if she wanted and she did. That meant living on 1 income. We were doing pretty well but we keep getting hit with lots of increases in costs that make our financial life challenging.
Our family medical & dental premiums keep going up each year. Our medical flex plan is used to supplement the co-pays on our medical plan. The medical, dental & flex plan take 15% of my gross pay. And, each year that % goes up. These items are taken out pre-tax which helps some but not a lot.
Our winter heating bills were double the amount we've paid in prior years. We were using less gas and paying much more due to natural gas prices being high. Those higher gas bills take a bite out of the budget. That bill took close to 10% of my take home pay for a couple months this winter.
Thankfully we don't drive much these days. Being pregnant and having a baby slows life down a lot. Here again, the crunch on a budget gets to be substantial when it costs $35.00 to fill up the CRV. Add $100 a month in formula and there's another big bite.
We live in a modest home with a modest mortgage that we got at a kick butt rate a couple years ago. That payment takes out 23% of our take home pay and it also goes up every year.
We've cut back across the board in order to live within our budget. Gone is the Roth IRA contributions, the optional insurances, the newspaper and the fitness club membership. We've made some major cutbacks in personal spending & dining out. We've cut back the amount we're saving for car repairs, house repairs and vacations.
I am aware that our situation is far better than many. Living within these budget constraints makes me appreciate the sacrifice many people make living on less than we do. My wife could always get a job and someday that may happen. But, for now we're going to continue to make sacrifices so we get to spend as much time with our little guy as possible.
posted by Kevmo at 9:04 PM
1 Comments:
Amen to all that. As a one-income family, we are feeling the crunch too. And may I say how much I admire you for making the sacrifices to be able to be with Little Guy.
Post a Comment
<< Home