Are you living beyond your means?

[MikeWaters]

eom

[bigpiney]

Nope, 4 kids in a 2 bed 1 bath house. Only debt is mortgage which will be paid off in 5 years. We are going to add on soon though. Going to talk to contractors next month I hope. It is getting a bit crowded.

[MikeWaters]

I think most people that are in fact living beyond their means don't really believe that they are.

[TripletDaddy]

First define "living beyond your means," then it will be easier to answer your question.

Is it a simple "rev > expenses" approach?

[MikeWaters]

First define "living beyond your means," then it will be easier to answer your question.

Is it a simple "rev > expenses" approach?

I use the same definition approach as the apostles.

[BarbaraGordon]

I had considered posting about my church's sermon yesterday. Keep in mind that I go to a bubblegum church. One of the criticisms of these mega churches is that they're all grace and no works. That they never want to step on anybody's toes or make anybody uncomfortable. This one is in a pretty affluent area where everybody drives luxury cars and the kids all go to private school.

Well yesterday he didn't pull any punches. He said, hey, if you're upset about the economy because your stocks plummeted, or because you can't make your house payments anymore, or because you're upside down in your SUV and can't find anybody to buy it...well, don't come crying to me. If you'd been living by biblical principles you'd never have found yourself in a 4500 s.f. house driving two Escalades on $150k per year.

I was impressed.

[ute4ever]

...If you'd been living by biblical principles you'd never have found yourself in a 4500 s.f. house driving two Escalades on $150k per year.

I was impressed.

Any idea what the pastor's salary is? The late Adrian Rogers who built the Bellevue Baptist megachurch in Memphis (seating 7500) was pulling down over $1 million per year from his sermons and radio show.

[BarbaraGordon]

Any idea what the pastor's salary is? The late Adrian Rogers who built the Bellevue Baptist megachurch in Memphis (seating 7500) was pulling down over $1 million per year from his sermons and radio show.

I have no idea. They don't live the life, so to speak. They're certainly not up to Archaean standards. They drive corollas and live in a very average neighborhood. But they may be putting away a ton. A lot of the pastors out here pull a very healthy salary.

[RedHeadGal]

Probably. It seems to be human nature to spend what you have, plus a little more. I'm not much of a spender in general, but I'm certainly not living all that frugally (compared to what I could be doing).

It's also easy for people to point to their lives and the areas where they sacrifice or that seem more "grounded" and gloss over the areas where they spend. There are so many areas in which we spend and save, so many different sources of credits and debits, it's easy to make yourself believe you're okay when you're gradually sliding into financial difficulty, which is why I would expect the poll to reveal that virtually no one here is in this category.

[SteelBlue]

Nope, 4 kids in a 2 bed 1 bath house. Only debt is mortgage which will be paid off in 5 years. We are going to add on soon though. Going to talk to contractors next month I hope. It is getting a bit crowded.

Wow, we are kindred spirits. I have 4 kids in a 3 bed 2 bath house of about 1400 sq/ft. We like the place. I have 9 years left on my mortgage and I bought it at a rock bottom price of $90K. Other than our home we have no debt.

[bigpiney]

Wow, we are kindred spirits. I have 4 kids in a 3 bed 2 bath house of about 1400 sq/ft. We like the place. I have 9 years left on my mortgage and I bought it at a rock bottom price of $90K. Other than our home we have no debt.

That is what I want to have. I plan on adding on about 250 sq feet in the form of a master bed and bath.

We bought ours at 87 K but it may cost close to that much to add on. I am waiting for most of the contractors to be really hurting iwth the slow down so I can get better prices.

[MikeWaters]

buy a storage shed, put it next to your house and cut a door in your hose to the storage shed. Caulk the seal between the shed and the house. Put up a layer of thin insulation and then drywall that sucker. Run an extension cord for your light behind the dry wall. Cut yourself a window for the air condition unit. Done.

Much less than 87k.

[TripletDaddy]

buy a storage shed, put it next to your house and cut a door in your hose to the storage shed. Caulk the seal between the shed and the house. Put up a layer of thin insulation and then drywall that sucker. Run an extension cord for your light behind the dry wall. Cut yourself a window for the air condition unit. Done.

Much less than 87k.

In South County, much of the new construction for townhomes comes with these weird 2 car garages, known as "tandem" garages. Basically, instead of 2-wide, the garage is 2-deep. Stupid concept because if you need to get the front car out, you have to move the rear car out of the way.

What many folks are doing......using their tandem garage as a 1-car garage. They put up a drywall halfway through their garage, mud and tape it, and convert the back end of the garage into a regular room. It connect to the main house just as the old garage door would. I have seen them used mostly as play room for kids. This totally violates the CCRs as well as the local building codes, but it is much cheaper than paying for the extra bedroom.

[Levin]

buy a storage shed, put it next to your house and cut a door in your hose to the storage shed. Caulk the seal between the shed and the house. Put up a layer of thin insulation and then drywall that sucker. Run an extension cord for your light behind the dry wall. Cut yourself a window for the air condition unit. Done.

Much less than 87k.

"I built my house of sticks, I built my house of twigs. With a hey diddle diddle, I play my fiddle, and dance all kind of jigs."

For an emergency preparedness obsessive, you're sure satisfied with crappy houses that can't withstand a gnat's fart.

[MikeWaters]

"I built my house of sticks, I built my house of twigs. With a hey diddle diddle, I play my fiddle, and dance all kind of jigs."

For an emergency preparedness obsessive, you're sure satisfied with crappy houses that can't withstand a gnat's fart.

like I wouldn't use some ropes and stakes.

[bYuPride]

I would say I've probably been living beyond my means. I bought my home less than a year ago, so for me, it's a pretty big mortgage. My home isn't big, but it's sufficient for now. I have 2 car payments and am still going to school. 2nd baby comes in December.

That said, I'm cutting back on a lot of stuff and rearranging our spending. So we're starting to live within our means now.

My road bike is paid off. :)

[Solon]

I'm definitely living beyond my means. Like Fletch, I foolishly squander my paycheck on food and heat.

[cougjunkie]

Any idea what the pastor's salary is? The late Adrian Rogers who built the Bellevue Baptist megachurch in Memphis (seating 7500) was pulling down over $1 million per year from his sermons and radio show.


I posted on CB a while ago I was watching that show My Super Sweet 16 on MTV, the girls dad was a pastor he lived in about a 15000 sq ft house on the water in Baltimore. One of the biggest houses I ahve ever seen, and he spent close to 2 million on his daughters birthday.

[BarbaraGordon]

he spent close to 2 million on his daughters birthday.

Awesome.

I added up what we spent altogether on my 9-year-old's birthday this week and I was flabbergasted. My parents would be horrified.

[Coach McGuirk]

I could take over a 50% cut in my earnings and I would be able to afford my house, my cars, and the likes. I am sure I would have to scale down donations, vacations and other frivolous activities when I have to make that adjustment. I think I live well within my means.