All Forum Posts by: Katie Douglas

Also, our grocery expenses are below what the USDA lists for a thrifty couple- I cook every meal and we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Our car expenses are just gas, insurance, and regular maintenance; plus, some recent and expensive repairs. But we do not have a monthly car note. 

Like I said, our expenses are mostly rent and debt reduction. 

@M Marie Maxwell 

I really like this post. We have two cars that are paid off. We were lucky in that our parents were able to purchase cars for us in high school and we are both still driving those same cars. The problem is, is that our parents weren't stupid and didn't buy us brand new cars to begin with. However, that means that they are starting to get old and have issues - my husband's car more than mine. Luckily they are still cheaper than a new car, but if we keep having issues a (new to us) car purchase is on the horizon. Thankfully, my husband has access to a car through work (he is an engineer and works at a construction site- he has a state vehicle) so we could get rid of one of the cars. 

Our biggest expenses are debt repayment and rent. Rent is a third of our take home pay and a mortgage on this place would only be about $180 a month cheaper. I know it would help to reduce it, but we plan on moving in a couple of years. Our original plan was to buy it now and keep it as a rental property later but we worried it would mess up our debt to income ratio if we moved later. Also, we decided instead of paying for the down payment and transaction costs, that it would make more sense to pay off debt first. We thought it would put us in a better position to invest later. This condo is the equivalent to the cheaper houses around the area, but the property taxes on the houses are pretty high. 

One major improvement would be if I worked full time. Right now I am an adjunct faculty instructor (I recently left a fully paid PhD program with my MA after my adviser left). I would either need to go back to school or otherwise acquire additional skills, and we would probably need to move again in order for me to find a full time position. We live in a very rural area (We spend little on entertainment because of this. For us the expenses are Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime streaming and occasional trips to the city/suburbs on the weekends- we live in the cornfields). But again here it comes down to personal finances - do we take on debt to increase our income- or do we continue to pay down debt and focus aggressively on investing in the future at a time when we are likely to have kids later? I would like to have several properties before we have children. This is a personal finance decision and would require some strategic decisions. My husband has a great career trajectory here and it helps for me to stay home when he works more than 10 hours a day and most Saturdays. I take care of all chores/cooking/errands/ and research for increasing our income. 

I also follow mywifequitherjob.com and recently found smartpassiveincome.com and A Better Lemonadestand. Some of the debt we have accrued has been in the pursuit of activities that have the potential to generate additional income.  But again- do you spend a little money to generate an income/build skills or should you just focus on overall debt reduction? Either way we have decided not to spend money on real estate at this time. 

But my overall point is that it would be more interesting to hear from people and about how they put themselves in a position to where they could start investing. 

@Ally H.

Thank you for your post- I find it very interesting. The reason I mention averages for households is because even if you have made smart decisions, chances are at least one of those costs I mentioned affect you and I think people need skills in personal finance to be strategic and deal with them. Congratulations on paying off a 6 figure student loan on one income! (No sarcasm, I really mean it.) I'm sure if you wrote a post about how you did that while living in a HCOL area it would pique the interest of many readers on this site. 

You are right about making choices and how people should be strategic about them so that they can invest. How young adults manage this is the most interesting aspect to me. But I think if you are already doing those things the answer then is simply that you need time to build it up so that you can take on the risks that come with investing. And if you do this, you are likely not a young 20 something by that point or you took some unusual steps that most people don't- which would warrant an interesting post. 

@Account Closed

Thank you for your posts. Please don't think I am angry about what you wrote - I did not take it personally. I think stories like yours are interesting because they are not the average and it would be more interesting if you outlined the steps you took so that you could meet your goals. I simply wrote this post because although I have found great information on this site, at some points there aren't enough specific details about how people accomplished something to make them helpful. 

@Bill Gulley

Thank you for your comment and the encouragement :)

@Joe Bertolino

Thank you for your post, I think this is the kind of advice more people should give and it would be more interesting to hear from people who were still able to do it the hard way. 

@Steven G.

I think it would be interesting if you went into more detail about how people change their lifestyles to accomplish their goals. My husband and I follow Mr. Money Mustache and are not strangers to different lifestyle choices. Our expenses are low compared to the typical household. However, I don't think many people are blowing their money the way you imply- they simply have large expenses because the cost of everything is going up. 

@Jordan Williamson

Thank you for sharing your story. I wish it was people like you who were writing these posts because I think they would be more realistic instead of some of the over simplistic and motivational posts I've been reading. 

@Josh C.

We have low household expenses and are budgeting just fine for regular expenses. We do not live a lavish lifestyle and we make more than the average household (average is 50k). But we have a lot of debt from school and some debt from a small wedding and living and real estate costs are very expensive! I think the key to your comment is "be smart" and "it takes time." Unfortunately, (and this is the crux of my original post) is that I agree with you and the posts on this site frequently don't address those things. More people should talk about the fact that it is hard to invest, but ultimately there are a myriad of ways in which it pays off more than anything else you can do for your family. Those articles I bet would be more interesting but should be accompanied with more details about how much things actually costs and how long it took to do them. Or they should focus on hacks that people use like specific skills that you need or how to access people who can help you. 

@Mark Nolan

 Bigger Pockets has provided invaluable resources and I have learned so much by reading the posts. I will be forever grateful for those who take the time to share their stories with others.