Living on Less Than $28,000 A Year: How our family of six survives (and even thrives) on an income that is less than half the national median income, and what the government calls “below the poverty line” (less than $29,990 annually) for our family size. [Read other posts in this series here.]
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We’re Weird.
When I started this series, I knew that our family was not a typical American family in many ways. I am perfectly okay with the fact that we are weird, but I thought we were pretty much alone in our weirdness. As I have read comments and answered emails though, I have discovered that many of my readers like to swim upstream as well.
Members of the “weird” club don’t do things the way most Americans do, yet we are surprisingly more content and financially fit than many “normal” people.
Want to know if you’re in the “weird” club? Here are some signs to check:
You Ignore Cultural and Social Expectations
You might be weird if you don’t care whether or not you drive an older car or live in a smaller home, and you wear clothing that is distinctively missing another person’s name on the label or pocket.
If you buy cars with cash, avoid shopping at the mall on weekends and mow your own lawn, you are definitely weird.
Weird people care more about taking care of their own families than they do about what the neighbors think. (The neighbors aren’t the ones paying the bills after all.)
Your Wallet Is Noticeably Plastic-less
Weird people have a strange allergy to plastic. They can’t touch it or even have it in their wallet or purse.
They are not racking up points for vacations or airline tickets, they are not earning “cash back” for purchases and they are not “wisely” using someone else’s money for a month before they pay it back.
They also don’t have any payments, nor any anxiety if they happen to lose a job because they don’t owe any money to anyone. Their bank account actually has money in it too. Weird!
You Have The Ability to Say “No”
You Have The Ability to Say “No”Weird people have the uncanny ability to say “no” to friends and family.
*When their parents insist that they go on vacation with all the cousins even though they can’t afford it, they just say “no”.
*When buddies invite them out to dinner and there’s no money in the budget, they just say “no”.
*When friends ask them to go shopping at the mall for the second time this week, they just say “no”.
Weird people have no trouble telling co-workers they choose not to go out for lunch, or bosses that they cannot contribute $50 to the birthday fund (of course they are also willing not to receive a gift on their own birthday 🙂 ).
[By the way, if you need a little help in this area, check out the book Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life
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You Turn Off The T.V.
For real. Weird people do not spend the 3-6 hours per day watching television that most Americans do. If they’re tired, they take a nap. If they want to relax they read a book, take a walk, play basketball or do some gardening.
They know that watching television requires less brain activity than staring at a blank wall and they treasure their brain cells.
They also realize that watching a parade of beautiful cars, houses and people can easily produce discontent which can result in excessive spending, whether it’s ordering the pizza that was just tantalizingly displayed or the designer rug that has to be purchased for the livingroom.
There sure are a lot of things that weird people don’t do, but it’s funny how avoiding those things means they actually get to live their priorities rather than letting someone or something else drive their decisions and determine their life’s outcome.
If you’d like to join the weird club, let me know. I’ll see if I can get some membership cards printed up.
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Such a well written post! I laughed out loud at all of the points you made, not only because they are funny, but also because they are true in the truest sense! Thank you from a fellow Weirdo. 🙂
Thanks Liberty! Welcome to the club. 🙂
Ya I “ignored social expectations” by not reproducing – THE most money saving thing you can do in your life! So there!
That will definitely save some money. 🙂 Good for you for choosing to live based on YOUR priorities, and not someone else’s!
So excited to see there are other weird people out there!
You are not alone Jen! 🙂
I am weird also and love ever minute of it!!!
Welcome to the club Sarah! 🙂
Weird is great. I LOVE weirdness. Thanks for all the thoughts. The numerous comments about TV are interesting. We have TV, but I don’t really watch. I watch pre-recorded programs with my husband (because we get to sit next to each other on the couch). However, I spend probably as much time on the computer as some folk spend with their TV’s. I have merely ‘replaced’ the screen from one to the other. Although I do enjoy the interactivity of the computer, because I get to ‘connect’ and discover wonderful blogs like yours. Thank you.
I’m glad you’re here Nikki. 🙂
Nikki, I very much relate to your insight about the TV vs computer. I do watch an average of one hour/day of TV. But I am on the computer all throughout the day. It’s definitely something I have to guard against, which is why I closed my Facebook account. It’s tricky, because it’s hard to draw the line between what is work and what is recreation on the internet. When I’m interacting with other mothers on mommy blogs, that is social entertainment for me (yes, I know it’s sad, but as a mom I don’t have much of a social life!), but it is also helping me to work out some parenting issues. I also research many things online that benefit my family. But I also enjoy it. So it’s easy to justify when I’ve been on it too long. Just yesterday my son asked me if I was having fun on the computer. At the moment, I was not (I was looking up something that was frustrating). I explained to him that sometimes Mommy has fun on the computer, and sometimes Mommy works on the computer, and sometimes that work is both work and fun. My son is an only child and I spend a ton of time with him, and rarely talk on the phone (and the only computer I have is a desktop, so I’m not one of those moms who is texting and chatting constantly at the playground). So I don’t have any fears that my computer use is neglecting him. But, I still acknowledge that I spend too much time on it.
Another way to protect your debit card (tied to a bank account) is to have a PayPal Account with a PayPal debit card. That way the only thing at risk is the amount you choose to put in your PayPal account. No monthly fees, and the few fees there are are very reasonable. I feel much safer using PayPal or my PayPal card on line and for businesses I am not sure of.
I won’t have a credit card so this works well for me weird little me.
I want to be weird. It’s a good time to start!
I’m definitely weird, although we do have 2 rewards credit cards. I know there is a huge debate about this, but it works for us and we never pay interest on them at all. We simply make our budget (for example, $60 for groceries for our family of 3, in California), and we stick to it. We just use the card like a debit card. We use one of them for gas and groceries because we receive 6% back.
Since we are on such a tight budget with my husband being the only breadwinner, that extra cash comes in handy because it makes us feel not so deprived. We use it for frugal date nights, to buy our son clothes and shoes (from the thrift store or yard sale, of course), and even to pay other bills like gas or electric, to name a few.
We do NOT spend more on the credit card because we simply can. We use YNAB and only use the card for purchases we would be making anyway, and they are all necessary. We don’t even wait until the end of the month to pay it. I log in every couple of days and transfer the amount, so our balance is always $0. I know this does not work for everyone, especially those who have had issues with debt in the past, but I’m so thankful that they work for us. Being a homemaker, I try to save any way I can and even if it’s just $600 or so a year, it’s better than nothing, IMO and it feels good to have extra cash where we can get it.
On everything else you said, yeah, we are definitely WEIRD. Old paid for cars, thrift clothes, wash cloths, frugal meals, no debt other than our mortgage, etc. I love it and it’s so stress free! 🙂
Thank you so much for your blog. I love reading it!
I have friends that do the same thing. The extra money does add up. I just don’t trust myself because of my past history with racking up credit card debt. The important thing is that you find a system that works for you and it sounds like you have. And by the way, welcome to the Weird Club! 🙂
I use credit cards in a similar way (like a debit card), for consumer protection. I have never in my life carried a balance or paid one penny of interest in credit card debt. I appreciate that credit cards are not a good idea for a lot of people, but it’s annoying that some blogs (not this one) make a blanket statement that they should never be used under any circumstances for anyone. For people who use them responsibly and have a valid reason for doing so, they can be a good tool. If I used cash for everything, it would also make it harder to track my expenses. That’s what I like about this blog: the recommendations leave room for people to do what works for them, within reason.
Thanks Claire–I do like to encourage readers to find what works best for them. 🙂
Happy to be weird 🙂 People think we are weird for not having tv service, or cell phones. We prefer to be home with our kids than out running around all the time, weird! We need new clothes but refuse to buy any right now because we are trying to lose weight and don’t want to waste $ on sizes we won’t need in a few months, weird! Our income is close to yours, family of five. I make my own bread/rolls/tortillas, and house cleaning products, and even on our income we eat pretty healthy and well.($150 dollars every 2 weeks for food on average) We do get some GA right now, but that is mainly because our kids are still very little and we can’t have them going without certain things right now…especially medical. Despite all of this we are working towards a better future. We budget closely and do all this because it is worth it. I would much rather my husband work his job and still have time at home than bust his butt for money. Despite our lower income we are doing well enough financially to afford a home and will be homeowners by spring! (USDA loan, thank you!) He has a degree and has worked at his current job for over 3 years. I have some college and will be returning to school next fall. I know things will get better for us, we are just starting out. But I am proud to be doing as well as we are when I see so many people I know who make more than we do struggling so much…..anyway wanted to share and say thank you for this series very good one. Refreshing to know we aren’t the only ones living this way. I wish more people would realize they don’t need to live beyond their means to be happy.
Welcome to the Weird Club Catherine!
I have enjoyed reading your blog. I have been a Registered Nurse for 15 years. Add the four years schooling and my two older girls now 19&17 really never saw me when they were young. I have always regretted this. Recently I was offered a job that keeps me at home 3 days a week and out in the county seeing patients 2 days a week. Granted I wont be able to homeschool like you do but this is a dream for me just to be able to pick up the youngest (first grader) from school everyday. I plan to start utilizing your recommendations immediately to pay off debt we have incurred from trying to “make up” to the two oldest girls.. lol
I am so happy for you Cathy! Just remember not to be hard on yourself. I am sure that you were a loving mom during the years that you were working and that is what matters the most. 🙂
I found your blog today, and have been reading through all of this series, and it’s great! I am in a totally different situation to you but I am definitely weird too!
To me, it’s really important that I use time and money, while I’m young and have no commitments, to experience things that I love (for me, mostly travel and food), but at the same time to not waste money on all the little things. I’m spending money on the things that matter, while still putting something aside for the future. My friends might think I’m weird, but my future self is going to love me!!
Yes, it sounds like your future self will be very happy. Good for you for living your priorities!
I’m not a texter either Lisa! I’m so weird that I don’t even know how to text. My cell phone is 4.5 years old, and when we got them we had the internet capacity removed to save money. The only time I turn my cell phone on is when I’m away from my son (we have a landline at home).
Love it! I was picked on just yesterday for using my flip phone like a wallet to hold my drivers licence and cash. I still am not a texter and it drives my friends nuts, but I am saving lots of money and can go long periods of time with out looking at my phone.
I think I’m qualified as weird too! I am 28, single and a homeowner. Because the house I bought is really too big for me (but still small by a lot of standards), I rent out a room in my house. My roommate pays half of my mortgage, half my utilities and still thinks she is getting a great deal because its cheaper than other options. My coworkers and friends think I am insane because I don’t NEED a roommate, but I love the extra money to spend on what I really value. Also don’t have TV, which I’ve found makes me want all consumer goods less by not being exposed to ads.
You are officially a member Amber–welcome to the club! 🙂
Good for you, Amber, for deciding to actually plan ahead by buying a home slightly bigger than you need and then having your roommate help you pay half your bills! Brilliant! Those folks out there that think you’re “insane” should really be looking at themselves, since my guess is that they do NOT plan ahead financially or otherwise, live in a home that is too expensive for them and then live beyond their means, and are a teensy tiny bit jealous of your “weird” ways of saving money and living well.
I’m definitely weird, and among my age group I feel like an alien (but I love it, because now everyone else is coming to me for advice on how to save!). I paid off college within 6 months of graduation and am attending grad school for free! I’d love to be part of your club! 🙂
Way to go Alicia! Paying off college within 6 months of graduation is amazing! You are definitely a member!
This is probably my favourite page, not because I can say “yes!” so all these “weirdnesses” (I can’t), but because I can relate to being “weird” by questioning society’s consumer norms (i.e. it’s “normal” to go out once a week for dinner, it’s “normal” to buy expensive gifts for loved ones, it’s “normal” to take an expensive vacation once a year if not more.)
I like to look at 100% of what we spend money on and ask “And if I didn’t buy this?” Nothing is taking for granted. If I discover something I probably DON’T need, I’m super happy about my epiphany!
I DO spend money, on things I personally find valuable, usually because they hold an actual value (i.e. I enjoy fixing up my house as I know it also increases the value of the home, is usually part of maintenance AND when done right increases functionality and enjoyment.) But I have no pride about spending money others think I should. I don’t have a coffee maker, I LIKE instant, and if you are a coffee snob you may have to order out. There are no paper towels in my house. I don’t buy cleaning products (soap, water, vinegar, baking soda and occasionally bleach are employed.) The handsoap used in my bathroom dispensers is my dish soap, which is environmentally friendly. And NO air fresheners! Yuck!
“I like to look at 100% of what we spend money on and ask ‘And if I didn’t buy this?'”–love that!
My fiance and I are striving to be more weird 🙂 We are at that in-between stage after college but before starting a family where I know it is crucial to establish good habits and form a beneficial lifestyle. Reading your blog has provided such great tips – I especially appreciate the sample meal plans and grocery list tips as this is one of our “leaky” areas. We could be even more weird by turning off our video games more, and saying “no” more – or even still going out with friends but sharing an appetizer as opposed to getting our own meals. The one area I question is the “plastic-less wallet.” That’s my way of building credit since we don’t have a lot of credit experience and would like to buy a home soon. Is there a better way to build credit than a card? Neither of us has any debt, since we only put a little on the card each month that we know we can pay off, but if we could avoid it altogether it might be nice. I really do enjoy your blog, even if I’m not yet a home-owner or a mom, and I find your stories both inspiring and motivating. Thank you 🙂
Hi Aly! I am definitely not a financial expert, just sharing what we do. I know that Dave Ramsey says that you can get a mortgage that is manually underwritten (he suggests Churchill Mortgage) with either a good credit score or a credit score of zero (meaning you never use credit). Since you already have the card and you are disciplined about paying it off, I would probably stick with that plan for now. Just be really careful to have an emergency fund and never start using the card for things you can’t pay for. Once you get your new house, I would probably cut the card up, but that’s just me.
You can do some research on this at DaveRamsey.com.
Yay, I’m a wierdo too! We are down to paying on two mortgages (our house and a piece of property we intended to build on.) I think it is great that there are so many other wierdos! That means we are all headed in the right direction!
I am really enjoying your blog. My husband and I have been married for four years, we have two boys, 3 and 3 months. We just started on a budget and have discovered we have a lot more left over every week than we used to. Living on less than 23,000 a year and proud of it. Hoping to be debt free by the end of 2014 cars, credit card, and house.
Thanks Monica–welcome!
We are weird, too :-). BUT, we do use two rewards credit cards. If you’re able to pay them off each month, there is a lot of benefit to them. They each offer a free hotel night every year, and one consistently earns us points for additional nights, often free or very discounted. Because we do take trips, it’s definitely worth it for us. Additionally, as our children come of age, we add them as co-owners on the account. They benefit from our excellent credit rating, which will serve them in the future when they are ready to buy a house. Would *love* a no-tv rule in our house, but haven’t yet figured out how to get dh on board with that.
Requesting HALF a membership card–because that is all I have earned. Thank you for continuing to inspire me to become a full-fledged member. I also really appreciate all you do to contradict the me-me-me materialism messages that our society shouts from the rooftops!
Club membership is all about moving in the right direction, so you’re in baby! 🙂
I can’t get on board with the no TV (mostly for work purposes) but I haven’t used my air conditioner all summer and I live in FL! This sounds all kinds of Crazy to everyone however I live in a bldg with 12 foot exposed cement ceilings which really helps keep it cool and I was gifted a very fancy stand up fan. when I mention the No Air to Friends I get the Crazy Face….However this “lifestyle” has taught me to be resourceful and has helped me find deals for everyone around me from discount Disney Tickets, Free Office Supplies,Cheap fun BBQ’s and even discounted hotel rooms. So “Membership has its privileges”
Wow–that’s amazing that you have gone “air-less” in Florida. That’s commitment! 🙂
Ok, trying to be weirder. I still have credit cards and a tv, but do put people before things. I am changing our buying habits and living on less.
Way to go! You can still be weird by just watching less tv. 🙂
Definitely weird here!
Yep count me in!! I am so weird until I not only turned off the television but (drum roll please) I GAVE IT AWAY!!! Yes I am television less…my brother says that I am living in the “dark ages” but no I am just weird!!! I do have a credit card but I pay it off every month…and I am debt FREEE and loving it!!
You go girl! We still have ours but it is just a screen for playing dvds we check out from the library–no reception of any kind. 🙂
Oh how I want to be a member! You inspire me daily and we are making efforts to get there, but we’re a long way off. :/ Unfortunately, years of living according to the world, and new jobs with less pay, has put us in a hole that seems impossible to dig out of. Can’t begin to pay off debt when there’s just not enough money in the budget. But we want to and we keep praying for guidance and for new ways to cut spending! Shutting off the cable soon (but have to find a digital converter box for the old TV first.)
anyway, thanks for your encouraging and inspiring blog!
You are a member just by virtue of the fact that you want to be. Welcome to the club and hang in there! It’s more important to take care of your basic needs in your situation than to pay off your debt right away. You will get there. 🙂
I guess we have been weird for years then. LOL! We have always lived off of what we are told is below poverty line. We are now a family of 4 and our income is less that 29,000. Our weekly grocery bill is $40 just to give you an idea of what we can do. We also do not have credit cards or tv, but we have food in our stomachs, clothes on our backs and a roof over our head (which we OWN free and clear), love in our home and we don’t owe a penny to anyone.
Wow Debbie–$40 is impressive!
Definitely impressive! That’s awesome!
It’s definitely not easy. We eat lots of fish and deer as well as hamburger. (DH hunts and fishes and BIL leaves us fish from time to time as well) We farm and usually end up with a lame cow we can’t sell. DH knows how to butcher, so we do it all ourselves. That saves us big time on meat. If chicken is on sale very cheap we buy it. We used to raise chickens, but the feed was too expensive and we couldn’t ask enough on the eggs so that people would buy them and break even, so had to let them go. We still have some canned meat left over though.
We also raise a garden and have apple, cherry, pear, strawberry, gooseberry and a few raspberry plant/trees, pluse there are wild plums, mulberry trees and chokecherries around where we live, so we get our fruit from that.
I love your blog. While I am not a mother, I try very hard to follow these principles of frugal living! Thanks for sharing.
Even though the name is The Peaceful Mom, the blog is for women in all walks of life. Welcome!
Yep I am weird– and thrive on it. We live on a budget (I do the budget and my hubby gets the pleasure of adhering to it.) I am always looking for ways to cut spending- from making my own facial cleanser to using old worn out washclothes instead of paper towels. My hubbys family and some of our friends roll their eyes but hey we are living below our means and living THE GOOD LIFE. Weird is GREAT!
hahah…I have GOT to tell that one to my husband so he won’t feel so alone!!!!
I literally burst with laughter when you mentioned a membership card! Lol! I sure would love one to put in those empty spaces in my wallet where credit cards normally go! Then when people ask me why I don’t use credit cards or buy a new car or bigger house, I can just pull it out and be like, yeah I’m a member of the Weird Club! Haha! That idea just makes me giggle. =)
You just made me laugh too–picturing someone saying that is hilarious!
Does it count if you’re weird in spirit, but not in fact? I’m trying! Not there on most of it yet, but it’s how I WANT to be! Hard to get hubby on board some things, and then there’s the getting myself on board for the others. They seem to be all the opposite things, unfortunately. Well, I’m inspired anyway! 🙂
It definitely counts Robin! It’s not about arriving, it’s about striving. 🙂
Another weirdo here! : ) Although we do have credit cards in our wallets, they are *prepaid* – our way of being able to save up the cash to buy big ticket items we need but are unable to pay on full using our debit cards. *And* we tend to spend a long time price-comparing before we ever commit to a sale!
That is an interesting idea Lisa. Did you get a prepaid card through your bank?
Um, not Lisa but yes, we can get them through our bank. We are planning to convert to use one when ordering online or in restaurants when we don’t carry cash and will not be in direct view of our debit card. (General rule is if we can’t see the card the whole time, we don’t use the debit – less strict protection laws than on credit cards.) Prepaid is a nice option for budgeting.
Oops–sorry Shannon! I’m definitely with you on protecting your debit card.
Actually, in Canada, you can get a prepaid Visa or MasterCard through a cheque-cashing store. You can use it exactly like a credit card online and in most stores, as long as an imprint isn’t needed. There are limits on how much you can load at a time, but with the MasterCard, you can generally load it directly from your bank account, as a bill payment… total convenience!
Ha! I love this article!! I just had a “weird” experience this week while on a beach trip with two girlfriends. One said that her accountant (whom she hired because she had racked up $60,000 worth of debt last year) tallied up all her spending for the year and told her what she had spent in each category, ie: clothing, etc. She exclaimed, “I was shocked at how much I had spent!!!” My other friend said, “Well, if we all knew what we spent exactly, it would be a shock.” I said, “I know exactly what I spend each month on everything.” They looked at me like I was from Outer Space. I simply said, “I have a budget and I only spend what I have put aside for each item. I have a cash envelop system which makes it very easy.” I showed them my envelopes for the trip: food, clothing, entertainment, gas.
It was quite a discussion for the rest of the vacation. Guess I need a Weird Club Membership Card too!!! : )
Love it! I think quietly influencing people like you did is the best form of money saving “evangelism”–heehee!
Does it count that I want to be a weirdo? I’m trying, I really am. It’s just hard when family members build new houses and the temptation is there to try to live above our means.
We’re weird, too! Although we’re having to face the consequences of several years of living like the world….but I’m proud to say that in less than one year, we’ve paid off about $7,500 in debt and are within 6 months of being DEBT-FREE except for our mortgage! Dave Ramsey would be proud! So thanks for the encouragement to keep going. Some of your ideas just aren’t feasible for us at this point (like groceries – our local stores don’t discount like Kroger, etc.), but it’s nice to have the encouragement to keep going with the things we CAN do!
Way to go Jennifer! That is awesome to have paid off that much debt. You are going to be feeling GREAT in about 6 months!
It DEFINITELY counts and I am here cheering you on (do you see my pom poms waving?)!
I need some friends like you in real life 🙂
Stacey you can do it!!!
My husband and I lived in our small 2 bed, 1 bath house for 3 years and then added a child to the mix for another 3! We could only have 2 of our friends over for dinner at a time, but our home was cozy and welcoming! (Well, at least we thought so 🙂 ) We saved and saved until we could put down 20% on our new home. We are debt free besides our mortgage, we live on one income and we are hoping to have this house paid off 5 years early. As Dave Ramsey says -” live like no one else – so that later you can live like no one else!” It’s worth it! Good luck! thanks Kimberlee for the awesome blog! We love being weird!
We are weird too! There are lots of us out here – you’re definitely not alone! 🙂 I love reading your posts! Lauren, lholmes79.wordpress.com
Thanks Lauren. 🙂
Definitely weird! I meet almost all the criteria. I do have plastic in my wallet, mainly for consumer protection, but it gets paid in full every month. I have never carried a balance or had any type of credit card debt. So I hope you’ll still let me in the club!
Yes, you’re totally in the club. I was a little tongue-in-cheek on that one.
Oh thank you! I never thought I would be so eager to be weird, but in this case it’s something I strive for!
LOL 🙂
We are truly blessed to be weird! When we feel all alone we remember that in the Bible it tells us not to look like the world and by doing things different we are building up treasure in a much better place and our children are learning the beauty of a simple, contented life that is blessed by the Lord!
I want a card ASAP!!!! 🙂
I’ll start working right away–LOL!
We are weird and PROUD! We fall in that category and all thanks to you and your Living on Less Than $28,000.00 a Year series!
So glad I could help make you weird-er. 🙂