I'd say we're "maintaining" right now. We're not struggling with money but we're not saving as much as we used to. And we definitely can't just go out and purchase whatever we want without seriously considering it first. Before we had our son, I'd say we were definitely "comfortable" and didn't worry about money or making large purchases.
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We live comfortably, save, give and always keep a good chunk of cash in our checking account.
We live in GA too and cost of living is a lot lower here than it is on the coasts. -
We're not struggling, but there's about a week at the beginning of each month when all of our bills are paid that we know we can't go out for dinner or anything. But we also keep a decent chunk of money stashed for emergencies, so I'd put us in the 'maintaining' category.
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We're more comfortable now than we've ever been. For the first time ever we have savings and we just paid cash for a new roof.
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We're comfortable. Not swimming in cash, but we put a ton in savings/retirement funds every pay cheque, and we can still have some fun money. It's good, but could be better for sure!
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We're comfortable. We pretty much buy what we want (with in reason of course) and also manage to save every month. And contribute to retirement. Once LO gets here we will not be able to spend as freely but we do expect to continue to be able to save.
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DH and I were talking about the reason we feel broke is because we are diverting so much money to savings. Getting by day to day is rough, but our savings is looking awesome and hopefully we will be able to buy a home sooner rather than later.
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I checked comfortable because we're currently paying two mortgages while we wait for our old house to sell. We're about 3 weeks away from our closing date so once that happens we'll definitely be comfortable/very comfortable. It will be like getting a pay raise!
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We're reasonably comfortable right now. We're moving to Iowa at the end of the month, and if DH gets a job there (I already have one), then we'll be sitting pretty b/c cost of living is SO low there.
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With this crazy economy, it's nice to hear that so many Bees are financially comfortable!
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We are in the process of buying a house so while we aren't struggling, we are definitely watching every dollar. But hopefully it will all be worth it when our LO has a real yard to play in!
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I would say that the economy has gotten a fair bit better than it was. There are still families struggling, but not like it was a few years ago. I think the biggest deal is still the real estate market.
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We're struggling but making it so far. Many things are in the air right now for us financially, and when Lil Miss Wagon makes her appearance, I will be taking unpaid leave. So we've been scrimping each penny and I know during my leave we'll be struggling. It's all just temporary and hopefully soon we will be digging our way out from struggling to maintaining!
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We are fortunate to be very comfortable. But we pay for that by sacrificing time together. DH works offshore, and he's gone 50% of the time. He is home for 3 weeks and then gone for 3 weeks. I used to wonder if I would rather our financial situation to be "just getting by" in exchange for DH being home every day, but I've come to appreciate our life and that the career path he's chosen has led us to this, and we are very, very fortunate.
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We're definitely comfortable. I have no complaints.
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I voted for maintaining. We both have decent jobs.....programmer and aerospace analyst. He has student loans and I have a car payment....so we make just enough to cover our bills with a little left over for entertainment.
I'm a little worried about when lo comes as id love to stay home...but will miss my income.
I used to live in Texas where I made the same amount, but rent was half the price it is here. Ugh. Hate Florida.
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Maintaining. SO is working 2 jobs not even pertaining to his degree, I work one that doesn't pay for my Masters level.. I thank God our house is paid for or we'd be struggling instead.
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@travelingbrit: Ditto on the Hate Florida. I can't wait until we blow out of this place in the next couple of years. We thought we were getting a break because there's no state taxes, but what we pay in property taxes Blows. Me. Away. Florida is stupid:)
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I'd say maintaining. The summer months are when DH gets huge paychecks (huge to us, probably tiny to others) but we have to put that money away in savings because winter is always hard when he gets less hours/there always seems to be emergencies or home problems around that time.
Also, we've only had our house for a year too so I've been extra cautious to always leave extra in our account to make sure we can make the mortgage. Luckily, DH's income will be doubling next year as he is getting certified for a higher position (woot woot!!). When I go back to work once DD is in preschool (3 years) we'll be quite comfortable I hope...if I can get the job I'm going back to school for!
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Maintaining, which I appreciate. It keeps me humble.
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Somewhere in between struggling and maintaining. DH makes a really great income, well above average for our area, but we just have so many bills and so many expenses on our plate right now. I haven't been working since December because I was put on bed rest...and we had been counting on that income to save for the time I was off once LO was born. We have a mortgage, two car payments, and lots of student loans to pay off. We also had lots of big expenses recently, like getting top soil and grass for our back yard, new washing machine and dryer, and of course all the medical bills for my pregnancy and delivery. I can't wait to go back to work and to actually be able to have extra money to spend. As of now, almost all of our funds go strictly to bills.
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We are struggling more than we ever have during our entire relationship. We had hoped to TTC for the first time starting this fall, but our financial woes (layoffs, post-grad school job searching, unexpected bills, etc.) have put those plans on hold for quite a while. It sucks.
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We're struggling I guess. It sounds so negative though! We're getting by. We both work full time and it's not going to improve much for a couple years while DH finishes a post bac program. But we're both 28 and are not willing to wait until things are 'comfortable' to have kids because that might mean it's too late.
We're comfortably struggling I guess
Our rent is paid, but we have debt, and our nest egg resembles a fish egg rather than a golden goose egg, but we can afford to go on one decent vacation every year or two depending. I am VERY frugal in my shopping and while we look to buy quality things that will last, I also rarely pay full price for anything. We find ways to live within our means- we don't have cable or the Internet at home. People would say we're struggling, but we don't need assistance or anything, so I say we're just fine:)
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We are struggling but we also have a uncommon conditions. I'm on maternity leave and paycut and my husband is in disability and gets paid very little. We are waiting for an operation so our finances have gone downhill since last year.
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Normally we'd be doing great, but having a baby and putting 20% down on a house makes for a less than comfortable year!
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We struggle, but not in a dire way thankfully. We have enough to cover the bills, and it will certainly get a lot tighter when baby is here. We are one piece away (one of us getting a better job) and we would tilt more towards being comfortable. I've said it before, and I know I will say it again, it is the student loans that cause the issue. A reasonable payback cap would be amazing, and would turn our life around.
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We try to "live" strictly off my paycheck and save the hubby's, but it doesn't always work that way especially around holidays or special occasions (e.g. weddings, friends birthdays, taking visiting family out to eat, etc.).
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We are "adjusting" I would say that we would be right between struggling and maintaining. We just bought a house, so we are getting used to all of the different expenses and just everything that comes along with it! Our mortgage is a couple hundred more than what we were paying in rent but that's also because we took out a 15 yr mortgage instead of the traditional 30.
We haven't had to dip into our savings though thank goodness! We might in the next week or 2, but very minimal.
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Maintaining for now, our rent is unbelievable (for our area) and we're putting in an offer on a house TODAY! (AHHH!!) So there is going to be a lot of money we have to put into the house.
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Comfortable. We save a good chunk, have a budget saved for all things LO, and are able to have fun money every month.
We'll def take a dip once LO is here to set up baby funds for future, but we are both really blessed especially here in MI where the job market is still one of the worst in the nation.
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I voted for maintaining, but once baby comes we'll probably be a little closer to struggling, at least for a bit. Right now we're able to pay our bills, set aside for retirement, and put money into savings. Once baby arrives, we will no longer be able to put money into savings. So we're trying to put as much as we can into savings now so that we have a fairly comfortable emergency fund if we need it.
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I voted maintaining. DH has a comfortable job with good pay, but I'm currently on disability/maternity leave so my pay has been cut dramatically. We have my student loans (not an astronomical amount), one car loan, DH's CC and personal loan, and our mortgage/bills to worry about. After the babies come, I will not be returning to work, and I'll have to be even more stringent with our finances. I've been a little lax lately to allow us to go out to dinner more and whatnot since we won't have that luxury when the babies come, but we need to cut back a little bit!
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Very comfortable...we have a large amount in savings, no debt, and we don't really need to scrimp or save for large purchases or vacations. I am not working right now and we are able to live of DH"s paycheck. I am very very grateful and feel very lucky to be in this position!
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I find it's all relative but if I had to put a word on it, I'd go with comfortable. We pay all bills and save a significant amount of money every month. We're saving for a downpayment which, in NYC, is 20% aka six figures. We know that savings will slow down once we decide to have a family. We're also aggressively paying down our student loans.
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Maintaining. I grew up in a house where we were very comfortable when it came to money so it's pretty new to me to not be able to buy things that I want when I want them, but its worth it for me to be able to stay home with my lo.
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I said just comfortable, because we do have a little in savings (about $6,000) and are able to put between $500 and $1,000 in it each month, depending on what else we have going on. We have been using some of it here and there for things around the house, but it's the first time either of us have had any savings at all, so it's good. I am almost completely done with my consumer debt ($17,000 will finally be paid off next month!) but I have a car loan and lots of student loans. DH has no student loans or car loans, but a fair amount of consumer debt. Neither of our retirement funds are much to look at, but we continually contribute to them. As for day-to-day, we always have plenty to get us through the months, with enough left over after bills for eating out regularly (1-2 times/week), buying clothes or little things for the house, etc. My freelance work and bonuses go a long way toward putting us in this position -- as will that extra $600/month freed up once my credit card debt is done!
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Between maintaining and comfortable. DH just got a 40% raise about a month ago (woohoo!), so we haven't quite figured out how that will change our lifestyle. It probably won't, we'll probably just try and save more!
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We're maintaining. We do well financially (have more than enough to cover bills and expenses), but struggle with our spending habits. So, even though our income has been increasing, our spending habits remain the same, so we never feel as comfortable as we like because we buy lots of things we don't need.
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Very comfortable. We have a nice savings and always a nice big cushion in our checking account. We have no debt besides our mortgage. We can pay our bills, save, and have plenty left over for fun stuff. But I'd say we live a pretty modest lifestyle which helps.
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we are maintaining, but once i go part-time in the fall, it'll be a bit of struggle to keep up. thankfully, the hubs is a saving whiz, so we have a good chunk saved to pay for our adoption and to be a safety net. we hope to store up again soon so we can buy a bigger place in a few years!
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