Could you live on $1000/month?

Rent alone is $1200, plus cell phones, electric, oil bill, auto insurance, farm insurance, internet, motorcycle payment (only 2 more!), horse trailer payment (4 more), television, animal feed, gas for hubby to go back and forth to work (1.5 hours one way), plus gas for me to go back and forth to school. Nope, not doable.

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~Trish~
http://harvestmoon-farm.blogspot.com/

We have no debt and a very good income but I find it takes money to live debt free and to me, living on that little just leave little margin for the unexpected things that happen in life. Its also been clear to me since we retired and moved to the farm that if you have a chunk of disposable income you can take advantage of deals that people without money cant avail themselves of, even though they would benefit more.

What do I mean by that? If I find a good deal on something I need I buy it and more and more folks are selling things at steep discounts because they need an immediate infusion of cash and in this economy there are some real bargains. For instance, I have a neighbor who desperately needs a pickup but he barely makes it on his income and he just cant save up even a couple thousand for a good used vehicle while I have been buying used pickups for a song, dropping a couple hundred into them and reselling them for a tidy profit. His lack of income and ability to take advantage of some of these deals is jeopardizing his ability to even keep his job while those with a little more discretionary income can actually use it to make more money (I know, basic economics). I see the same thing with purchasing food, if you only have $50.00 a week for food its a lot harder to purchase in bulk or take advantage of some of the sales that pop up that will actually save you money in the long run.

We live modestly on our little and very old farm but we live well and worry free and we love it; however, it would be a grim existence IMO if we were on such a tight margin this far out in the country and I think it would be very stressful. Could we live on 1K a month? Based on our monthly bills we probably could for a short time without dipping into savings but as soon as one of the vehicles needs new tires, or the AC breaks down, or one of the livestock needs a vet call we would be in trouble on 1K a month.

I am actually impressed when people can live on so little but I suspect with the easy availability of payday loans, title loans, or just credit in general that lots of people in that boat sooner or later get into financial trouble when they have an unexpected expense which then just further drags them down. In my neck of the woods predatory lending is alive and well and they prey on the poor, the elderly and the desperate. If you can live on 1K a month for extended periods and avoid those pitfalls then you have my admiration, I couldnt do it.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

If I was a single man, no problem! We work with a lot less per person than he does and we aren't struggling. We have no debt with anyone. We have a few luxuries (prepaid cell phones and internet) that could be shut off. But boy, $1000 a month for a single man, that would be HIGH living here for the same ratio

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Ten years ago, I lived on $300/mo. I shared a one bedroom apartment with a roommate, was on my parent's insurance, ate a lot of venison, ramen noodles, leg quarters and frozen pizza. I had no car and no computer. We had some good times, but I wouldn't call it a permanent solution by any means. I felt trapped a lot of the time. My hobby was finding ways to save money and dreaming about what life would be like when I had some money. Adjusted for inflation, that would probably be around $400-$500 a month now, and if you had to buy a basic health insurance policy, figure another $300 a month. When you don't own any real estate, and don't own a car it really cuts down on potential emergency spending, so if you could save $100-$200 a month for emergencies, that would probably be enough. We didn't have anywhere to garden, but that would have helped a lot, both for food and psychologically. Now there is a community garden around 2 miles away from that apartment.

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http://www.lindsayfarmonsilvercreek.blogspot.com/

DH and I lived off of $5000 a year when we were in college. Mind, those were 1975 dollars.

A tiny oldish apartment, we walked most places, and so forth. I will be interested to see how the homesteaders manage on that kind of income: I will read the responses when I get back from an appointment.

Agreed

A person could probably live in $1000/mo, but he would be dependant on the govt (ie, taxpayers who earn more than $1000/mo) and/or the charity of others if a serious health problem arose.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

I am not sure if any of the "sub thousanders" are including everything or not. It appears we all seem to have different accounting practices, not just lives. I mean, sure, paid for vehicles are great, we have several. But don't kid yourselves. They still need insurance, tires, transmissions, oil, routine maintenance. If you don't do that, which costs a lot of money in the first place, spread over a year, then you are looking at some serious coin at some point, due to the lack of maintenance attention.

What about buildings? Shingling? Putting on tin. These expenses to me, need to be spread out into a monthly column, so you can make a half accurate budget.

Talk of "free firewood". Sure , it did not cost much CASH, but there is still a cost, nothing is free.

Many have spoken of their "free" meat. Now, did you feed the animals anything? Heck, I grow grains for a living, and feed my animals bin sweepings etc., and I do not class the meat I raise as "free".

I simply think many seem to have a different approach to plain accounting methods. The more I read, the more I see this.

Life insurance? Farm insurance? Vehicle insurance?

I just think many are looking at this with different accounting practices in mind. To me, not budgeting or planning for routine maintenance, life insurance, or other costs of living, one is asking for long term major pain.

Not looking for a scrap here, just saying we seem to have different ideals...

My family COULD live on 1000 a month, if we choose to be irresponsible with our maintenance, our futures: At some point, the leaking roof, the flat tires, the blown transmission, and the main bread winner dying, or getting sick, is gonna hit like a ton of bricks. Neglecting any one of these is pure folly in my opinion.

I could probably do it if I didn't have a mortgage or child support.

I was going to ask if anyone of those that say they are living on a 1,000 or less a month have health insurance or vehicle insurance?

What about routine house maintenance - painting, roofing the house/barn/sheds when they need it, fencing that has to be repaired, lawnmowers or tractors that need repairs? Tires for the car, truck, trailers?

Is any of this stuff calculated in your 1,000 a month budget? What about house insurance - do you carry any house insurance? Taxes for property?

In other words, is everything calculated in as a budget item per month including health, medicine, home upkeep, farm upkeep, etc?

I am now married, but as a single mom with one kid in college, there was no way I could live on 1,000 a month as I still had farm upkeep, vehicle upkeep, tractor maintenance, payments for taxes for the farm and tags/insurance for the vehicles.

that did not take into consideration money spent for kid to go to college or any "extras" like a cell phone. I budget for all things and if a fence has to be replaced, well wood posts are not cheap, even if you can cut down cedar trees and make posts, there is still the chainsaw maintenance, oil, gas, etc. New fence to be purchased and put up. I have to replace the shingles on two hay feeders. That is going to run about 500. by the time I buy tar paper, new decking for one, shingles and roofing nails.

All those things add up. So for those that live on 1,000 a month, do you count all that stuff in your budget? If not, how do you plan for something like tires, roofing, new water heater, etc?

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

I see some referencing subsidized housing and food stamps. Use of either would negate the claim of living on less than $1 K. We are debt free and own our own home. Property tax, personal property tax, auto insurance, health insurance and homeowner's insurance probably come to over $1 K per month. Rather than trying to live on such a small amount, I would spend time and energy trying to increase income, if possible.

I do my accounting by counting money. But, I don't count time as money. Everything I have is paid for. Always has been. I worked hard saved my money and bought my place. Same with my car. All the trucks I ever had, all the tractors I ever had, everything. No credit, never. I don't have live insurance because I couldn't possibly collect on it. If my children want to have life insurance on me, that's up to them. And I don't have health insurance because I'm pretty careful about what I put in my body. And when it's time to die, I'm ready. Been around plenty long enough. I built this house myself 7 years ago, I'm pretty sure it will outlast me. I did account for automobile insurance, homeowners, and real estate taxes in my accounting.I drive about 20 miles a month.
Meat runs down through the woods. If I need some, I sit out there a while and shoot some. I raised chickens for years by letting them free range. My children are grown and gone, and my wife passed away some time back and I'm not going to be getting another one. So, I live fine on less than $300 a month. That is not to say that I only have $300 a month. That is how much it costs me to live.

Apparently she hasn't hit menopause yet.

That's over $20,000/yr. I think I would just bank the $20,000 and in 10 years you would have $200,000 + interest.

I think the key is debt. Due to our house payment, we couldn't do it. Once our house is paid off, yeah $1,000 a month would be very do-able, even with a few luxury items in the budget. This is assuming DH is still working and keeps our current healthcare benefits at their current cost.

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Jen
If my typo's bother you, come on over and take a chair. We can discuss it over some "ham and swill calzones"
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We are a Family of 7 and we live on less than $1000 a month. Actually allot less. First the situation. We have no debt at all. Our main expenses are for insurance. Our taxes only amount to a little less than 200 yr for property. We spend about $30 a month on things we cant make for ourselves. Vehicle maintaince runs another $30 month. We have homeowners and vehicle insurance only. No health insurance or life insurance both by choice, but that is a different discussion.

That being said, keep in mind we spent allot more than that for several years, to get to this point. We have solar and wind electric which has already paid for it self, but cost several thousand dollars. We have a mini farm set-up all paid for with all the equipment and back-up we could ever need. We have two paid for Trucks that run on used motor oil, so no fuel bill, but the set-up to process the oil and the trucks were not cheap. Our tractor also runs on used motor oil. We have an electric car which has solar panels on the roof that will need batteries about every 6 to 10 years. Our solar system will also need batteries at some point down the road, which has been figured in. We also have a $5000 dollar emergency fund for anything that goes wrong, as well as Many times that invested for the future or in case of a death of myself or my spouse. Although we are able to save each month even at a thousand a month. We made allot more than that for several years to get to this point.

So the moral is yes you can live very comfortably on less than $1000 a month IF you get yourself set up for it first. We pinched pennies for years and did every project like it needed to last forever to get to this point. At this point we dont have to live on less than $1000 a year but we do by choice.

Live on $1000 a month AND build and save for the future and especially for independence? Absolutely not. Such an income sentences you and your children to abject poverty and threatens their future, their security and their safety.

There is a huge difference in saying "Yes we live on $1000 a month" and "we only have $1000 a month" Everybody don't feel the need to drizzle away every cent of their income.

Living by myself, yes, I can (and have) rent a studio for $425/mo, all util included except electric. My highest electric bill there in the middle of a snowy winter was $13. Insurance for my truck is $35/mo, the studio is within 2 miles form my work so I "could" walk if needed, otherwise figure $70/ two weeks for gas, cell phone w/internet $60/mo. Of course if I was only making $1000, I wouldn't be working full time... That leaves $340/mo for food & other stuff. It wasn't fun having neighbors so close, but it is doable...

You are quite right, but the question was "Can" you live on $1000 a month. right?

In 2005, I lived on $8,500 for the year. In 2006, I made a bit over $10,000.
I was single, renting, no debt and I rode a bicycle everywhere. I live in Canada and had no healthcare worries. I worked 2 and 3 jobs at a time and decided that I needed to go back to college or this was what my future was going to be like forever.
After that, I had student loans and then student debt. I bought a cheap car and moved to take on a good paying job. I ended up taking on more debt to put my kids thru university.

I am pretty minimalist in my lifestyle and I live well now but I have taken the lessons from those years to heart. The secret is get out of debt and have a plan for your future and old age.