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Does this make sense?



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amother
Orange


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:12 pm
I'm working full time for annual salary of 52k. Husband working part time hourly and pay and hours fluctuate. We're barely making ends meet. Don't own home, no govt assistance and we rely on tzedakah during YT time for basic needs. How do others make it?
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amother
Jade


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:14 pm
Yeah it probably does make sense. Don’t know more information because you didn’t provide it but yeah cost of living is extremely high!
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flowerpower




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:16 pm
Do you have kids? Do you pay tuition? Do you have pay a sitter?
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:18 pm
Yes it does. Many people are struggling but don’t talk about it or rely on credit cards. My husband earns nicely according to his friends his age and we’re struggling too. With today’s amount of mortgage, tuitions, gas and electric, food and etc it’s very difficult especially this time of the year when it’s Yom Tov too and the amount of food and stuff that we need to buy. Registration for school/cheder etc
Still recuperating from day camp expenses. We have 6 children knh” I’m a stay at home Mother and keeping my 2 year old home for this reason mainly, as long as I can. I have under him a 10 week old baby.
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:21 pm
Yes , we struggle very much and we are earning more than what you put down. Life's expenses plus taxes just eats up all the earnings to the point that we are always in the red , even while living frugally. It's tough but VERY common.
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amother
Orange


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:25 pm
Yes, have bh 4 kids- 3 in school and 1 in daycare.
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amother
Lime


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:33 pm
amother wrote:
Yes it does. Many people are struggling but don’t talk about it or rely on credit cards. My husband earns nicely according to his friends his age and we’re struggling too. With today’s amount of mortgage, tuitions, gas and electric, food and etc it’s very difficult especially this time of the year when it’s Yom Tov too and the amount of food and stuff that we need to buy. Registration for school/cheder etc
Still recuperating from day camp expenses. We have 6 children knh” I’m a stay at home Mother and keeping my 2 year old home for this reason mainly, as long as I can. I have under him a 10 week old baby.


I occasionally read here that some families "rely on credit cards". What does that mean? If a family is meaningfully behind each month, say $1000, how long can they keep dumping it on credit cards? After 5 years they would be 60,000 on debt with maxed out cards. I could hear that families put a one time expense that they can't afford on cards. But to have to do it every month seems like a quick deadend.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:40 pm
Totally makes sense. We have $50k tuition, $25 health insurance, add food, housing, utilities, camp, clothing.... the bills don't end. We make a nice living, don't go on vacations and still come up short.
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amother
Amber


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:45 pm
Makes sense. I don't know ow where u live but I don't feel like I am rolling in dough with combined salaries of 175k and three kids so the numbers u stated are definitely on the low end. However u also didn't state about how much ur husband makes a month. What's his average?
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amother
Smokey


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:55 pm
don't know where you live or how much your husband is earning but if you don't qualify for government programs than there is a big jump until you can actually afford life. The people who "make it" with a low salary usually get "help" either via government programs, very cheap tuition, family, have investments from before marriage, tzedakah or go in to debt. You'd be surprised how many people are in debt, not only with credit cards, but to gemachs and personal loans.
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 4:57 pm
amother wrote:
I occasionally read here that some families "rely on credit cards". What does that mean? If a family is meaningfully behind each month, say $1000, how long can they keep dumping it on credit cards? After 5 years they would be 60,000 on debt with maxed out cards. I could hear that families put a one time expense that they can't afford on cards. But to have to do it every month seems like a quick deadend.

It's the only way we survive. My DH makes multiple small payments throughout the month to the credit card as soon as there are available funds. We rely on the fact that the mortgage company will be refunding us the excess escrow that they collected for property tax and insurance , at the end of the year and we also expect a minimal tax return at the end of the year and pay down the card that way. All of my kids tuition gets charged monthly to my credit card . That's more than $3,000 a month. We don't have that available money otherwise. I don't like to do it. It puts me into debt and causes stress but that is what we have to do in order to send our kids to school nowadays.
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amother
Smokey


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 5:01 pm
this should probably be a spinoff but thunderstorm can you explain-do you have a zero interest credit card or are you paying "more" to do it your way? is there anyway to break the cycle like borrow from a gemach or something for one time in order to switch to paying forward instead of paying backwards? It seems like you are paying the same amount of money it's just that you don't have the money upfront?
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 5:11 pm
amother wrote:
this should probably be a spinoff but thunderstorm can you explain-do you have a zero interest credit card or are you paying "more" to do it your way? is there anyway to break the cycle like borrow from a gemach or something for one time in order to switch to paying forward instead of paying backwards? It seems like you are paying the same amount of money it's just that you don't have the money upfront?
of course we are paying interest . I really don't have the money. HaShem always gives it to us in the end . So far that's what happened. There were times my DH got paid to do an extra project and I was able to pay off my credit cards completely. We have gone through this cycle numerous times. A gemach is more complicated and they don't loan a lot of funds at once , and for sure not monthly.
We do our best on our end and the rest is up to HaShem to land us the right jobs and clients etc . My DH handles the finances and has a plan. He actually was going to consolidate all my credit card debt onto a new card which offers free interest for a year etc. I was just answering your question as to how people use their credit card for all these expenses. It's not ideal at all, and we pay more in the long run but sometimes there are no better options.
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amother
Cerise


 

Post Thu, Sep 13 2018, 5:17 pm
We earn a combined gross of 135k with two kids. We just make it each month with a drop of breathing room. We drive clunkers, have student debt and are paying off credit cards so I would say yes your numbers make sense that you are struggling.
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amother
Hotpink


 

Post Sun, Sep 16 2018, 6:13 pm
Yes.
Im in monsey and Honestly, I don't see how a family of 3 can make it on that income.
Hugs! Hope it gets better
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