Is this not enough for a family to live modestly, perhaps I am naive but I think a family should be able to live on 60K without starving, is it really necessary for that second income?
2007-04-06 06:02:58 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
Every family is different. We all have different obligations, different wants, etc. Example: my husband and I both work full time, and bring home in excess of $100k a year. We live in a modest home, and don't buy brand name clothes, but we have two brand new cars, my daughter has a closet full of clothes, we have cable in all rooms of the house, eat out often, extra curricular activities, etc. and live paycheck to paycheck like most of America.
AND $1200/month to his ex for child support. SO YES we both need jobs.
2007-04-06 07:15:46 · answer #1 · answered by Tangled Web 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, judging from my personal experience I think a family should definitely be able to live comfortably on 60k, if that is the average income. My family had an interesting situation growing up......actually it's still going on at my parents house right now. I only moved out about a year ago. Dad was making about 60k a year, but he had a lot of investments and things going on that I'm not entirely sure about. Basically, he paid for the vehicles, the insurance on the vehicles, he owned the house so we didn't have to pay rent, and he gave Mom 1200 a month to take care of the kids. Now is the interesting part...... there were 11 kids all living at home at the same time and none of us had jobs or anything to help out. Mom paid all the bills, kept us properly fed and clothed, bought school books because she homeschooled all of us, and all of this with the 1200 a month she got. It just all depends on how frugal we are and what our priorities are. Mom's priorities were to keep the house nice and to keep her kids well educated and healthy. Of course, there wasn't any extra money to spend on frivolous things, maybe once in a great while. We always had a good Christmas and birthdays and when some of us kids got older and started earning our own incomes things got considerably better and there was money to splurge every now and then. Mom never worked a job after starting a family, her priority was her kids and what she could teach them by being with them every day. Basically, I'm glad that I was raised in that environment that taught me how to be frugal and how to survive with little income....it can be done!!
2007-04-06 06:54:29 · answer #2 · answered by Carolyn Millsap Emery 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is truly not the salary of an average family, though. Remember how many millionaires there are...
As a SAHM, I would have LOVED living on 60k - however, most of the time it was in the 23 to 28 range. It was really, really hard, but worth all the sacrifices. No new clothes, no cable or satellite, no computer til last year when we got one cheaply from a charity - no new 'toys', no fancy womanly stuff for me, either.
It was all about the family, and it is the best thing that we did for all of us!
2007-04-06 06:39:49 · answer #3 · answered by Lydia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to sit down and do the math. Look at what your husband brings home every month, deduct your mortgage first. Then, insurance, car payments, gas for the month, utilities and other bills. After that, do deducted any credit card or student loan payments. You get the idea. Deduct all the stuff you know you MUST pay on every month. Don't forget to factor in groceries and diapers. Also, make sure you are saving money for a rainy day and for any emergencies. I'm not going to say "yes" you can or "no" you can't. In some families, that's plenty of money to stay home on. In others, you'll barely make it. Bottom line is, we don't know anything about your debts, your monthly bills, how much you pay on your mortgage or old student loans. You and your husband need to sit down and to the math. If you feel it's too close for comfort, you may have to work. You might be able to do so part-time, just to have enough extra money in case of an emergency. But, this is SUCH an individual situation, that NO one on here is really going to know what's best for your family.
2016-05-18 21:36:23 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Average income is a grand overview and areas with low incomes are offset by areas like DC and LA where 60k is barely livable. I live in NC in a county that was mainly supported by textile mills. Since the mills closed to send the jobs overseas, the average income for this county and surrounding is 22k. Most people here work at least two jobs.
2007-04-06 06:14:05 · answer #5 · answered by fly guy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may be enough...or not. It depends on where you live and what your priorities are. Cost of living in some areas of the United States would make this a really good salary (in south Georgia you would live nicely on this) however, in major metropolitan areas or "resort" or tourist areas, this would be meager based on housing costs alone. What if the employer didn't offer good health coverage? That salary wouldn't fo far in a health emergency!
Also, size of the family would play into the issue as would age of any children involved since different age levels have different financial needs. Priorities include the importance you put on "saving" versus living month to month, retirement, education (private school education or saving for college), etc.
2007-04-06 06:11:38 · answer #6 · answered by Meg H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
man, that is AVERAGE. that doesn't mean that everyone makes that much. That includes athletes, rock stars and business people that make millions, or even billions. Those kinds of extravagant incomes bring the average up. There are thousands of people that make less than 30k per year, or even less than 20k.
Those that make 60k can live modestly, and many of them do. But the other aspect is that our culture has idolized the trappings of wealth. So if I make 60k per year I can live okay. But if my wife also makes 60k per year, then we can live high on the hog. That is if we have time left to live.
2007-04-06 06:09:23 · answer #7 · answered by rohak1212 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Every ones situation is different. What works for one may not work for another even with the same income. It depends on where you live as well. Most have debt too. Credit card debt from even 5-10 years ago can have a big impact. I know for me I pay $500 a month for old cc debt and i don't even have any card now. Medical bills for some people...you just don't know what everyone situation is.
2007-04-06 06:14:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
60k is average? Of all the couples I know, only one makes 50k a year, and most make a lot lower than that. Some people I know are only bringing home 20k a year, and families can't live on that. I think 50k and over is quite reasonable to live on, under that though, and you really are stretching money quite tight over three or more people.
2007-04-06 06:08:57 · answer #9 · answered by Kendra 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Dude... Where in the world is the average salary 60K? Not in my family, anyway.
Even if it is the average, what that means is that more than 49% of people *don't* make that much.
2007-04-06 06:29:49 · answer #10 · answered by Maureen 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋