Could you live on $1000/month?

I can and I do...

I am talking more about the kids that finish school, yet still remain on their parent's insurance & live with them paying nothing. I see this everywhere. A lot of this in my extended family. Their life is all about me, me, me & nothing about helping pay their own way. If an adult is done with college & has a job, why should the parents pay the insurance? Why should a company supply insurance on an adult that is not employed with them? Take my brother for instance. Why should he have to pay for a family rate on insurance to supply his grown daughter who is out of school making twice as much per hour as he was?

Another instance. A girl that lived with her boyfriend, got pregnant, & her dad's insurance paid for her pregnancy & hospital stay. Sorry, but that is wrong. She is old enough to play house, but not old enough to pay the bills. Instead her dad's employer is paying the insurance on an adult that should be paying her own way.

The question was could you live on $1,000.00 per month. I think more people could if they were taught at a young age to be responsible for their own bills. Most are not & have no concept of how to live on very little as they aren't made to pay for anything & have no clue what it means to do without & live within your means.

My son will be off to college soon & we have no plans on paying his way. He knows this & is working hard to do it on his own. He is welcome to stay here while he goes, but will be asked to contribute in the form of rent once he turns 18. I did it & so did my husband & it taught us something. We also paid for our own clothes & phone bills, along with gas, insurance, & license. Once my son turns 18 he will get his own car insurance policy. It would be cheaper to stay on ours, but as an ADULT, he needs to learn to make it on his own. I have no doubt he could live on $1,000 a month as he is very good at managing his money. I know a lot of people want their kids to have a better life. I don't feel like I had a bad life, so I am doing what my parents did with me. We don't make a lot of money, but we manage with what we have.

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I can't believe I deleted it!

But I already said that she was still in school. So why should she have to pay her own insurance? She already pays for all of her living expenses except rent (because she's a full time college student) including her car repairs, gas (significant since school is 60 miles away round trip), car insurance, cell phone, books, arts supplies (very costly when you are an art education student), clothing, entertainment, etc. We pay for her health insurance, housing, food (when she eats at home). Sometimes as a treat, I'll flip her a little when she takes her siblings out to the movies or something.

Just because your brother CHOOSES to pay for his daughter's insurance doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with me having my daughter on mine. Don't project someone else's situation on mine. My daughter certainly doesn't make more than what she is responsible to pay for already.

I don't know personally as I don't own, but I found this information:

Income Tax
Up to 37,000 (US$38,793) 29%
37,000 - 80,000 (US$83,877) 30% on band over US$38,793
80,000 – 180,000 (US$188,723) 37% on band over US$83,877
Over 180,000 (US$188,723) 45% on all income over US$188,723

And this is our land tax:
TAX BASE, AU$ (US$) TAX RATE
Up to 387,000 (US$405,754) AUD100 (US$105)
387,000 – 2,366,000 (US$2,480,659) 1.6% on band over US$405,754
Over 2,366,000 (US$2,480,659) 2% on all value over US$2,480,659

I even got the info of the most expensive state for you.

My two youngest are still on my health insurance, car insurance, and family cell phone plan. One is 21 and one is 23. Neither live at home. Both work full time, but in this economy, they still have a lot of trouble paying their own way. Eventually they'll be able to. I'm happy to help my kids. They appreciate it and honestly, neither likes that we have to continue to help them, but both are more than willing to come over and help me when I need it, or house sit for us so we can get away. We aren't spoiling them, we're helping them. That's what parents do.

It's possible to live on $1000/month in a major city. One of my best friends has done this for years. Her home is paid off, so she pays taxes but no mortgage. She is widowed and has no kids.

She has a car and car insurance, but also has a bike and walks a lot instead of driving everywhere. She goes to the library to use the computer and has a land line phone and a cell phone for emergencies when she travels. She never turns on the air conditioner in summer and doesn't heat the house above 60 degrees in winter (45-50 at night).

We garden together and during the growing season she buys only a few groceries, living out of the garden for the most part. She's mostly vegetarian and eats twice a day, cooks for herself - frugal, healthy foods, like pot barley porridge for breakfast. She's no fashion plate, shopping mostly at thrift stores if she needs clothing. Last time I saw her she was wearing a really nice winter coat that she paid $20 for (a splurge for her).

She could work more and have a bigger income, but chooses to make just enough money so that she can do what she wants with most of her time.

She has enough money to go out occasionally: a movie, lunch, trips to visit friends out of state etc. and doesn't seem to suffer her way through life at all. When she comes over for dinner, she usually brings a bottle of wine or homemade pie (with cherries or apples she foraged and froze).

She has no health insurance, though, which seems to bother me a lot more than it does her. When she has to see a doctor or dentist, she negotiates a lower cash rate or goes to one of the low cost city clinics, or doctors herself with herbal and home remedies. Thank goodness she is fundamentally very healthy. I do worry about what will happen if she becomes seriously ill or injured. She'll be eligible for Medicare in fewer than 5 years, so I just hope her constitution and luck hold up at least until then.

Do they not have health insurance at their full time job?

I paid everything while my daughter went to college the first time but when she dropped out @19 she became a working adult just like I did and paid her own way. She bought her home, car and has paid her stuff herself. At 30 she went back to college and got her degree(paid by her) while working full time. She got her bachelor's in 3 yrs instead of 4 by taking accelerated courses. I have never paid for any of it....now she has borrowed money a couple of times in between paychecks but was always paid back right afterwards.

I don't fault anyone for helping their children out I have done so in the past(not paying thier bills though)...but I sometimes have to wonder when enough is enough.

Seems you kind of missed my point. Most are not paying for their child's insurance if they are insured through their employer. They may pay a portion, but I would wager the employer pays most of it. My point was, why should an employer pay for insurance on an ADULT that is not their employee? They are being forced to do this & I am sure most don't like it. A lot of people don't like the fact that some are on food stamps, wic & welfare. They cry about how their taxes pay for it & they don't like that. Yet an employer is forced to foot the insurance of a bunch of adults that are not their employees & everyone thinks that's ok?? As far as my brother. The kids live with his ex because she allows them to be moochers. Neither pays a thing to help out in the house. They rarely visit or even call their dad, yet he is supposed to pay for family coverage to cover adults that are no longer his dependents & make more money than him?? Sorry, that is stupid.

I realize the economy is bad. If they have trouble paying their own way now, are they going to depend on you forever if the economy doesn't improve? What if you are no longer around? I also go & help my parents just because they are my parents. That's just what kids should do.

I guess I am the oddball. What I find often is people who say they can't live on XX amount because, & a big part of it is because they still pay for a lot of their kids expenses. The economy is just as bad for us as it is for our kids. Why should I support my adult child when I could use that money for our own needs? I really don't care if you want to help your kids until they are 50. Do what you want. I'm just saying more kids/adults would learn a little more if they had to struggle some to get by. It makes you strong. I want my kids to be strong & independent. Not relying on us to help them out all the time. We won't be here forever. I want them to be able to make it when we are not here to bail them out.

At Christmas my son had $40 in gas cards stolen out of his truck. I felt really bad for him. Some thought we should replace those cards for him. Sorry, tough lesson for him, but not my fault. My daughter that lives alone is in college & also blind. She stuggles at times, but she is paying her own way & also part of her school & doing just fine. I will help her if she needs a ride & sometimes give her some of my canned goods, but she was determined she didn't need our help & moved out in a snit. She is quickly learning life isn't a bed of roses. Would I let her starve? NO. Does it bother me to see her struggle? Not really as it is making her into a hard worker that will make it on her own.

I appreciate the fact that my parents didn't pay for my stuff. It made me work all the harder to make it.

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I can't believe I deleted it!

This thread (the original) has me thinking that if I could live on$1000 a month, I'd be rolling in cash, and if things go bad, I'd still be ok.
I crunched some numbers, looked at stuff I could get by without (like satellite TV) and I can't get below about $1400
However, if I sell a house or two I could pay off some loans and be sitting pretty good.
Not sure I want to sell any property, but I might sell my Mustang and pay a couple notes.
Who needs a convertible anyway??

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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
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Enforced tolerance is oppression

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I haven't followed the thread too closely but it has taken an interesting turn with adult children.

I have a 19 year old daughter who is a full time college student, she still lives at home. We pay for everything besides gas for her car. We told her very early on that we can not help with college, so she was on her own with that, but we would support her while she went to college. She worked hard and earned enough scholarships to cover her Bachelors (plus gas). She will graduate with zero debt but she had to work hard too to make that happen.

This has made her neither lazy nor bratty. She is a great kid and hardworking. We are happy to help her get a good start in life.

Sometimes "struggling" isn't all it's cracked up to be and just because you are forced to struggle doesn't always make you a better person. There are plenty of perfectly wonderful people that have had pretty decent lives and some horrible people that have struggled their entire lives.

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Idleness is leisure gone to seed

What's the % of home ownership in Australia? Is it common for people to rent?

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We told our kids that as long as they were in college they did not have to pay anything to us for rent to live at home and we have kept them on our health insurance also. We have paid college tuition, but they have to pay for their books and everything else they need- cars and insurance, cell phones, clothing, etc... and they have to pay any deductibles that the insurance does not cover. I have never been one who thought that just because one of my kids turned 18 they were on their own. They are there for me and I will be there for them. They do work hard at school and they don't take advantage of us.

Same here although we cover medical deductibles (because we have the high deductible insurance). But pretty much everything else they pay for.

Now my oldest has graduated and we're going to see the deal with the health insurance. I believe she has to pay the COBRA price to stay on our insurance and she will be responsible for that. Or else she can go on the medical insurance at the grocery store she works at. We still have to figure this out. There's no way we're going to let her go with no insurance since she needs a CT scan yearly after having the pancreatic tumor. She also HAS to go to the doctor and get on abx if she gets sick since she has no spleen. So no insurance is not an option for her. Hopefully she will find a job teaching soon so that she can get on her own health insurance.

Insurance for college students on their parents' employee insurance has been around almost as long as employee health insurance. When I was in college my mother was able to keep me on her insurance as long as I was a full time student. Same policy when our ds was in college.

I think you may have missed the point that employers ALLOW this and expect that children over the age of 18 will be on their parent's insurance.

I pay for my son to be on my insurance and he is 22 and still in college. He pays his car insurance and all maintenance on his car and he now pays his graduate school tuition (22,000 a year including his living expenses) and he pays for his food.

I buy his books or rent them as the need arises and I pay my employer for his health insurance.

My son is working 20 hours per week (all the school will allow) and working FULL time on his degree including working 24 hours a week for the professors that he is receiving instruction from. He does not get paid for that time, it is expected as a graduate student to put in that time, plus studying. His last week consisted of research at the library for about 18 hours, 20 hours in class time, and 20 hours working (which pays for his food, utilities, car insurance, oil, gas, at the grand total of 7.55 per hour) plus 24 hours research time for professors = free but gives him experience and a credit on one book plus a credit towards teaching).

I would no more deny my child health insurance if my company says it is ok than I would deny my spouse. I pay PLENTY for health insurance and it is absurd to turn down what an employer agrees to provide if one is able to absorb the cost (which I can do).

Life is hard enough without saddling a kid with no health insurance especially if they can obtain it through their parent's employer. MY employer encourages it, they KNOW how hard it is to be a grad student and making zero really for wages plus having to pay for tuition, housing, car insurance, groceries, etc.

did your parents ever help you out? Then why are you so against parents helping their kids out? Maybe everyone should only do for themselves..wait..you said you help your parents out..that is what kids do. Why should kids do that if parents do not help them when they need it? Seems that would be a two way street?

I help my Mom and my kid. I can do without a new saddle to help the kid finish grad school, I can do without new riding boots to help my mom with her "get around stuff" like her 4 prong cane and her step stool to get in bed and in a few weeks, her wheelchair.


I think I will send this post to my kid. He probably has forgotten how "good" he has it as he eats out of the box of groceries his sister gave him for Christmas and uses the coupons I send him each week for groceries. Lord knows at least he can get his medication through MY insurance.

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

Additionally, at least with our insurance you pay either as an individual or a family. Doesn't matter if the family is 2 people or 10 people. So there is no additional cost to anyone to have my daughter on the insurance as long as she is in school.

Mine is the same way, if I have 2 people or ten people, the cost is the same. My son needs the insurance as school insurance will not cover him past the curb of the school grounds.

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

I think it is mandatory that employers pay for married or unmarried children's insurance until they 26..Isnt that what the Affordable Health Care Act was?

Personally I have no problem taking care of a child as long as they are going to college...I didnt want my daughter to work her first time around because I wanted her to concentrate on studies....when she dropped out, it became her problem...I considered her a working adult regardless of how the economy was(her decision, her consequences). She realize when she was 30 if she wanted to make more money and live the lifestyle she wanted she had to go back to school and get a degree in her field..

But when a child is an adult living out on their own and not going to college...no way in heck would I being paying for insurance etc To each his own..

I believe that once they are out of school, it becomes a situation where they can still be covered but they need to pay for the costs. They have to pay what an individual would pay for COBRA. I'm not positive - I need to check into it more because my daughter just graduated and we're at that point but they are NOT just automatically covered under the family plan anymore.

the rest of the Q&A

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-dependentcoverage.html