Just isn't quite enough...

That basically sums it up.

The "outgo" has been pretty sucky too...

Mine has not been good enough for a year and half; since my last job.... Really need one of those.

You need to go buy a gun right now. It will make you feel better, I promise.

quote:

Originally posted by macky54:
You need to go buy a gun right now. It will make you feel better, I promise.

As long as it's a Sig, of course...

What is this "income" of which you speak? I do not have one at this moment...

No kidding. Interestingly, I've discovered that I'd be "set" budget wise... if I could figure out a way to recoup that 10% pay cut I took back in March. Right now things are tight enough that there's virtually no wiggle room at all. That really bothers me.

This all times back to my thread about living with my in-laws.

I just simply can't make enough money these days. I have a young family that I wouldn't trade for the world, but I just can't seem to get anywhere financially right now.

While my salary has been climbing over the last few years(few jobs), I'm just waiting for it to feel like I'm actually getting somewhere.

I'm putting my wife through college for nursing right now and she is doing amazingly. Gets nothing but A's and 100%+ on everything she does. Once she graduates we will be in a great position for our family.

I myself have only 3 classes more to go and I will have my degree, sadly my employer said they will not be allowing me to finish any time soon and that if I attempt to graduate and it has any affect on my schedule that I will be terminated....the catch is I work in public safety for the county I live in, which means my shifts can change without notice from day to night, and I'm always on call should the county go through any type of so called "emergency".

I work for vindictive bitches who have done nothing but lie to me about the job I would be doing. Lied to my face during my interview, and have now put me in a bind because I make more money than I have ever(still it's bad pay compared to what most people with respectable jobs make), I have a family to support, and now they put me in a position where I can't attempt to get my degree.

So while I'm thankful that my insurance for my family is great and cheap, and for my steady paycheck...I'm still feeling like there is not an actual light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm grateful to the in-laws which still drive me completely insane on a day to day basis.

I just wish, looking back on things, that I had a better plan during my younger years which would have put me in a better situation in life now.

hang in there; you are still paying dues that you feel should have been paid by now. you know we will always be paying those kind of dues, yea? things will get better because you are making them better, one day at a time. you did what you needed to do in your younger years, and now you are doing what you need to do in those not so younger years. but the wisdom you have today gives you the endurance you need to provide for your tomorrows....

Once your wife is done with nursing school, there should be some serious dough coming in, if she wants OT or nightshift and whatever else. And then you get your degree and another job, BAM, double that figure roughly.

You can get your degree in the future in no time. I know this will sound shitty, but your doing pretty well from where I'm sitting. Insurance is HUGE. Working for little more than that would be worth it while your plan is progressing.


Holding patterns suck, I'm in one too. Hang in there man. Your sticking it out for your family, and that's stand up. Your employer doesn't give a shit about that, so just get hard and push forward.

The news here is almost everyone is in a holding pattern. We've got a recession/depression to muddle through. Its not going to get a lot better for a few years. With any luck, we're at the bottom now. If you've got a job, a roof, and a full stomach, you're doing better than a lot of folks.

quote:

Originally posted by modestglock26:
I myself have only 3 classes more to go and I will have my degree....

Let me suggest this: check the degree requirements at your school.

Most colleges have a requirement for X hours at the institution, and some also require specific courses. If the three remaining courses you need are not specified as having to be at that particualr institution, you might be able to complete your degree program by taking the classes online from an accreditted instutition (make double damned sure it is accreddited). There are lots of them out there: University of Maryland University College is one I know in the DC area that offers classes entirely online with no classroom type interaction.

The bad thing is that everything ELSE in our lives is going up....EXCEPT our incomes. Gas, groceries, taxes....name it and its on the way up.

To compensate for this and maintain some form of the lifestyles we have, we all start cutting back on this or that. Not eating out anymore, cutting the cable tv down to basic cable, ditching the landline and only using cell phones, clipping coupons and cutting out extra luxuries. Some of us sold off extra stuff we don't use very much (guns, motorcycles, tools) and are putting off making repairs on our homes or cars and stretching the useage of everything way past what we used to do. You know the drill.

At some point, this is going to get ALOT harder than it is right now.

This is what worries me the most...

- brickboy240

I think brickboy240 is right, it is going to get harder.

The husband of one of the young lawyers I supervised before my retirement was just laid off. He's a tax lawyer, working for a medium-sized CPA firm.

That surprised me. I mean, people still have to deal with taxes, don't they.

My haircut gal, who has cut mine for 25 years tells me that many customers at her shop are putting off haircuts. Those who got theirs cut every three to four weeks now go 6 or more weeks.
That cuts her income by as much as a third.

A gas station near my home just locked its doors.

A popular meat market, here for at least 25 years, suddenly went out of business.

The lady who cleans our home just lost hers in foreclosure. Her husband has been out of work for several months. (We'd thought about cutting back and not using her to save some money, but how can we do that now?).

Not making light of your situation at all, but, at least you have a job.

While I am now retired, I am concerned for many of my friends who are losing their jobs.

Bob

My wife and I are very good with money. We take care of our needs and help others in our family in need of help before we look to get out "wants".

Our credit card debt is now <$200, and we have one new car that my wife drives, and my car is paid off.

We keep looking at these dirt cheap fix'r uppers and getting depressed. We know we can afford certain things and not others.

I know I'm just on a rant and I'm glad for what I have.

I just want more for my family but the times are just not supportive to that want.

I have a job, health insurance for my family, and just a few toys which I appreciate. I have sold off almost all my hobby stuff, and I'm down to just what I need.

well, here's the kick in the nuts I got today

property taxes went up on the school assessment to pay for a cost of living increase

while just about everyone else takes a pay cut or is unemployed

yeah, tell me about income

quote:

Originally posted by brickboy240:
The bad thing is that everything ELSE in our lives is going up....EXCEPT our incomes. Gas, groceries, taxes....name it and its on the way up.

Go back and check that again. The government is telling us the cost of living is down, not up. Hence, they aren't giving cost of living increases.

You must be mistaken. The things you're buying that seem to cost more are just an illusion.

I have a favorite lunch. I've been buying it for about 25 years, once a week if I can. Last year it was costing me $4.56. This week it was $5.06, a 50 cent increase and just over 10% But its not inflation, can't be.

My property taxes actually went down several hundred dollars even though I had put in a very expensive pool/patio.

Of course, this means that the value of my house has dropped (over a 100K from the value it was when we bought it 5 years ago).

I try to be an optimist, so I look at it this way. I don't care what the government says my property is worth since I am not interested in selling it.

OTOH, if I was trying to sell it, I would be having a fit.

Bob

You're a grad student, too???

[sarcastic rant on]
You guys think you dont make enough money now?? Just wait till they double your taxes for being a responsible employed citizen. Bunch a fools you are. Bush tax cuts expire, your companies dump your health coverage because its cheaper to pay the penalty tax and let you go on the "consumer option". Yeah, then you'll really feel broke. But you'll still be employed. [/sarcastic rant off]

There I feel better.

I work two jobs, the wife works two jobs (both have finance degree's and employed at a decent primary job).

After all that, it barely feels like we're getting ahead. She's going back for nursing, and Im deciding what I want to do when I grow up. (finance aint cutting it, I didnt join the good ol boys club).

There will be hope for all of us responsible people, but we're going to have to vote with our ballots and wallets to make it happen and stop the middle class robbery that is occuring.