Living on ⬇️ $1500 /mo Low Income Budget / Thriving not Surviving on Less Money 💰 

Living below my income trying to save money

Live below my means no matter what happens each month still manage to save

I am Killin it! Food prep. Zeroing out all those automatic monthly expenses I don't really need.

Getting a good quality of life , spending wisely. For me it’s not so much the amount as we are quite comfortable. It’s more about making the best of what we have.

I dont gamble anymore and thats a big one, When I go out for coffee I only get drip coffee and not the fancy drinks. I dont buy health insurance. My vehicles I buy used around $3000. I am trying to spend the least as possible. I am done with this consumerist nightmare.

At her age ,it isnt long away . Time flies. Some people start having health issues or have to slow down in their 40s or 50s. Even with insurance there could be out of pocket expenses. Moreover her youngest child is very young

If you watch her retirement video, she has a pretty realistic plan based on her frugal lifestyle.

Doesn't sound enough to me

I am sorry your husband had a stroke but glad he is doing at least some better ❤️ We do definitely have a plan for retirement and are actively working towards those goals 😊 You should check out my retirement video if you haven’t seen it yet.

@@raisingwildflowers I’m so proud of you that you have direction in your life. In life it’s about what makes you happy. I have friends that spend a lot of money on home decor but that’s what makes them happy. That’s not me. When my kids were young me and my husband bought 3 1/2 acres in the country. We had a small mobile home with a note. We started building a small house. It was 24 x 24. Three kids. We had to move into it with 3 kids and it was unfinished. LR, kitchen and bathroom had walls, no ceiling. My husband couldn’t find a job. For awhile we lived off food stamps and $75 that covered our electric bill. We had a water well. It was hard but we were happy. We made it with my husband doing odd jobs. That Christmas we didn’t have money for gifts for the kids. Someone came by and bought something for $20 I spent $5 on each child and had $5 left over for gas so we could go to my parents. We didn’t have water to the shower for awhile so we showered on the porch with a water hose. Eventually I went back to school and became a nurse so financially life got better. But what I remember was we never had the threat of losing our home and we were happy.

Thank you!! 😊

Thanks so much! ❤️

Thanks for the info!! ❤️

He truly is the One that sustains us. Security is in Him.

YMMV?? What does that mean?

We plan on doing that in the future! It was just going to be too cold on this trip.

True. It takes the joy out of life if there is too much cutting back. Life should be lived with a feeling of abundance though what that means may differ from one person to another.

My family went on a beach vacation with extended family every year. We loved it and looked forward to it every year. My mom cooked a ham, turkey and roaster chickens the day before as well as making coleslaw, macaroni and potato salad. She used sales and coupons to get our favorite cereals and bought milk at the beach. We ate off of sale with coupon bought paper plates, napkins and plastic utensils. Basically we brought our food. We rented and apartment or 2 and my mom bought the year end sale towels, chairs, rafts and umbrellas every year. We had a blast. With the money saved we did a lot of field trips and another vacation or rest of summer in the mountains. My aunt required beach hotel rooms with connecting doors, parents in one and adults in another. They rented rafts, chairs, umbrellas and bought new towels at the beach. They ate out for every meal which meant dressing up for every meal. They bought snacks off the boardwalk. They had 21 outfits each, so no laundry. They had fun also. I’m sure you can imagine the expense. Of this vacation. They also did mini weekend vacations in hotels and eating out. Neither vacation is wrong. It’s doing what you want with the money you have. Fun is what you make it. How you do it is your decision. You wouldn’t want their lifestyle, that fine. It works for them. We started doing this when I was 6 yrs old. From age 0-12, my family lived below the poverty line. We visited museums, Embassy events, National Parks and Monuments, zoos. We toured multiple factories and climbed mountains. We went to amusement parks. My mom, a phenomenal frugal woman made all of this possible. I would say we did more than most of my wealthier peers (middle class). I had an aunt that didn’t like vacations. She like her home, neighborhood and way of doing things. Her husband won an award in Quebec, Canada for coaching swimming and diving in the Olympics. She stayed home happily. She did accompany his occasionally, but was happiest at home. She was not a shut in.

@@kenyonbissett3512 what you described is thriving. I was referring to extreme cases where they could not go on vacation even . You had " some luxuries" like renting an apartment or 2. In fact we do that too at times and we always buy our food from supermart delis when we travel to Europe or the more expensive countries in Asia like Japan or do self catering . Its madness to spend 50 dollars per head on a meal. I think I should clarify that I was referring to Extreme frugalists, some even limit or time showers. Your mum provided quite a feast for you at the beach, that was definitely thriving. I often buy a rotiserrie chicken to eat at our hotel or air bnb. We did this in Switzerland too where restaurant prices are insane. Maybe the people I knew on low income when growing up were a lot worse off than you

@@kenyonbissett3512 I agree with lindc. You were thriving.You certainly had the more fun vacation I think with all the goodies your mum.prepared. You ate well and also had comfortable lodgings. Even you camped it would have still been OK. It is fun for kids.You had a " good value" vacation but as pointed out there is nothing wrong with how your Aunt vacationed either. By too " limited a budget" I meant years and years of not having anything other than basics. I guess it depends how we define " low income" and " basics".

When you’re time rich but money poor and are crafty you can have a wonderful thriving lifestyle from just being creative. vacations are usually about not having to work, being in a beautiful new surrounding and relaxation with good food good drink and a comfortable place to sleep/ sit. This can be achieved on a very low budget with a little planning and some basic necessities. I’ll even argue that the people who become slaves to their belongings having to work all the time to make money to buy and maintain all the things they own without chance to enjoy what they own are actually worse off than those who aren’t burdened by all of the materialism.

She mentioned in other video that her whole family has government health insurance. Her teenage girls have Medicaid do to the fact that their father never paid any child support.

Thank you!! Our camper is on the property. We took it up there before we left on our road trip. We have health insurance through healthcare.gov on a plan with a $0 premium. My teens are on Medicaid because of a deadbeat dad 🙄

I was wondering this too

I believe in one of their videos, they spoke about their daughters wanting to stay instead of going along. 😊

So is she still supporting her daughters financially or are they financially independent? I dont see her include them in the budget

This video will help answer that 😊 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XWl3rqVCeLs.html

@@raisingwildflowers I have watched it but I dont think you talked about whether they are self supporting or you are still providing for them. I just wonder how that affects your budget. Perhaps you have a separate budget for that?

We have health insurance through healthcare.gov on a plan with a $0 premium.

@@raisingwildflowers unfortunately for seniors we dont get that cheap deal, we are required to pay $175 per month medicare premium and $240 per year deductible not to mention hospital deductible and all our prescription costs, plus that 20% that medicare does not pay. Why are seniors punished simply for their age? I work out 7 days a week and am not unhealthy like many young people and the illegals who get free healtchare in California.

Google maps app! We have been using it to find the cheapest gas on our travels 😁

Thanks. I’m going to go check it out. :-)

She probably does cloth diapers or train him to give her signs when he has to go (EC)? I only suppose that though.

She mentioned having healthcare through the government previously. I know she cloth diapers but not sure about traveling with cloth since you can't wash diapers daily.

​@@Mahomesfan615yes, how are these diapers being washed? Maybe she purchases disposable from her grocery budget?

@@Mahomesfan615 She said she won't do cloth diapers while traveling because they don't have easy access to a laundromat

We have health insurance through healthcare.gov on a plan with a $0 premium. We are not using cloth diapers while traveling. I’ve been using cheap diapers and potty training during the day 😆 Diapers fall under Personal - Misc/Toiletries.

I only have one kiddo homeschooling right now (my oldest has graduated). We use a low cost curriculum (Build Your Library) + lots of life experiences 😊 Our school year starts in Aug/Sept and I will spend around $200 on curriculum, books, and supplies for the year.

Falcon has grandparents who like buying toys a little too much 😂 So that is more of an over-abundance issue with us trying to stay minimal 🙃 On our road trip we definitely haven’t needed to buy any toys … the best toys according to the feral toddler are rocks, sticks, and dirt. Here is a video to help answer your questions about my older kids: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XWl3rqVCeLs.html

@@raisingwildflowers I get it about toys My kids usually had too many and outgrew them fast too.

She doesn't pay for health insurance and the kids have Medicaid. We pay over 1,000 a month for 3 people for healthcare. Her budget might work for her but not everyone can do that.

They have insurance through healthcare.gov and pay $0. I'm sorry to hear you have to pay $1500 for 3 people. Everyone has different circumstances and resources available. Not everyone pays the same for health insurance.

@@maribelacosta450 we seniors get screwed and are discriminated against because of our age and made to pay much more for our healthcare.

You sound like a miserable person. Remember while your pointing one finger at someone else, there are 3 pointing right back at you.

We plan on setting things up so we can still travel in the winter 😊 That may mean we are limited to what we can do on the property, but that’s okay for now.

​@@raisingwildflowerstravelling in winter would mean being limited by weather unless you are flying off to warmer climates.

I really wonder too...I think they may not realise how much you need to retire or maybe she has a plan

Work and retirement have all been covered in previous videos.

@@ginnypeckham4022 what she said previously I dont feel will cover retirement

Ok ok, “retirement age” 😉 But just curious, how long do you think it took to make this video? Planning, filming, editing, uploading, more editing. I mean, I enjoy it but it’s still work that produces an income 😎 Also pretty sure renovating houses is hard work that produces💰 Just sayin 🤷‍♀️

@@raisingwildflowerswell said Katie! Work is work😊