Are your expenses outpacing your earnings currently?

[Quixote1818]

Last edited Fri Oct 27, 2023, 09:20 PM - Edit history (2)

Just saw this post https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218405212
and wanted to see how DUers are being impacted. I honestly haven't noticed much difference recently. For a bit when gas was up and a few items I shopped for were up a bit, but not so much now. Seems like most years currently.

I'm 100000% sure any MAGA's who got huge raises under Biden and bought a giant new truck are going to say things are horrible no matter how great they are. That's why I don't give a F about these polls. Things are too divided for polls to mean much anymore.

Editing to add this. LOL

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bLsRnx5wAds

77 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, my expenses are outpacing my income badly
	16 (21%)
	Yes, my expenses are outpacing my income a bit but it's manageable
	14 (18%)
	Seems like most of the past few years
	6 (8%)
	No, my income is outpacing my expenses a bit currently
	31 (40%)
	No, my income is doing awesome compared to the past few years
	7 (9%)
	Other, please explain below
	3 (4%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[snpsmom]

1. We are currently

paying rent/ mortgage payments for two of our children because they don’t have stable incomes. Otherwise we would be fine.

[Tree Lady]

12. That is happening a lot

My daughter bought a mobile home on land you own in a family park for her daughter and family, she is paying $2000 a month of costs but total is $3000 or more.

My ex let my grandson in late 20's live rent free while he was out of work. He just got new job so will probably pay a little soon. He tried to get his own place a few years ago and was too much.

The grand daughter who got mobile home was renting fine but lived two hours from my daughter, when she got pregnant daughter wanted her close so bought a place in her town that cost more to live in.

[petronius]

2. Can't decide between "a bit" and "doing awesome," but month over month

I earn more than I spend. For the record, I live/work in California and I'm a union member...

[True Dough]

26. I chose "other"

because I'm somewhere between "a bit" and "doing awesome."

[MichMan]

3. The original thread was about expenses going up more than income

I'm not surprised at the result since most people's income has not gone up as much compared to rising expenses due to inflation etc. Doesn't mean you are spending more than you make.

[spooky3]

4. Can you check the wording of several of your response choices? Nt

[Quixote1818]

10. Thanks. Yikes. 😆 nt

[getagrip_already]

5. Going into retirement, we dont really count.. ;)

My wife won't admit it, but she is retired and we are living on my income, which ain't bad fwiw.

But we are dipping slightly into savings. We have a very good base so no worries, but if I was a whiny magat I'd be crying that I was spending more than I make.

Yet, my mortgage will be paid off in a couple of months. Both cars are paid off. I selfishly have a boat I can easily sell. We have non-essential monthly expenses we can eliminate.

My wife can go back to work if only she would... err... well, I'll save my marriage and shut the hell up.

But oh, the crisis! I'm spending more than I'm making! The dems are to blame for my Doordash bills, and the guy who mows my lawn, and the couple who clean my house, and my amazon buys. And.....

[paleotn]

9. "I'll save my marriage and shut the hell up. "

God, how many times have I said that in the last 30+ years.

Some of us are doing just fine in this economy, but many of us aren't. I really worry about the generations behind me. They aren't getting the breaks I got thanks to Uncle Sam, 4 years in the Navy and vastly cheaper state university cost. Way, way, way too much student debt today. And companies who don't want to pay those coming up what they paid us.

[getagrip_already]

11. My wife and i hooked up in '77 in college

And married in 86. We've been a couple the entire time.

We established no fly zones, d'tants, and have violated treaties. It's all good.

The spy vs spy games can be really fun.

[paleotn]

13. Ha! 1988 here.

After all these years, we're a symbiotic organism. We communicate telepathically sometimes. She knows what I'm thinking sometimes before I do.

[getagrip_already]

15. Yeah, those looks can get you in trouble...

I didnt say anything!

Oh yes you did!

Lol

[Happy Hoosier]

16. I do worry about the next generation.

I am unabashedly trying to leverage where my wife and I are to give our daughter a chance. She should be able to finish college without debt. And we hope we can leave her a nest egg when we finally exit, stage left.

[sarcasmo]

34. Good logic. After 20 years of marriage, shutting your cake hole is the best option.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

6. Check your wording on the first couple options. ('expenses outpacing expenses')

[Quixote1818]

7. Thanks. Fixed. Nt

[mike_c]

8. we're retired but doing better than most, regardless

We've lowered our expenses a bit. We're no longer dividing time between two states. But between my pension and our Social Security, plus Medicare and supplemental coverage, we're just fine. Like the DUer up-thread, I retired from a good union job in California. After the pension checks begin arriving, those union dues suddenly sound like a real bargain!

The Biden admin forgave my student loans. That's huge.

[Happy Hoosier]

14. Things were rough the last few years....

Had disaster after disaster happen. And medical bills racked up. Came close to financial disaster, but things stabilized and we’ve nearly fully recovered. Should be out of all debt except the mortgage in a few months provided no other disasters happen. After that, can maybe rebuild the emergency fund.

[NewHendoLib]

17. Other - wife and I are both retired, she is taking SS - I am waiting until I am 70 (2 more years)

We downsized, live frugally, and find we can draw from our IRA to pay our bills - we feel really fortunate. I didn't enjoy my 25 years in big pharma, but we are reaping the benefits of the 401K I accumulated while there.

[doc03]

18. I retired in 2010, thanks for the SS COLA. But my pension has lost

about 1/3 of its buying power to inflation since then. My IRA balance has never recovered from the
2020 COVID crash.

[Sympthsical]

19. Not hurting, but noticing the cost increases

My partner and I are DINK professionals, so expenses vs. income isn't really a thing for us.

However, we both grew up poor and are pretty frugal about things, so we notice costs. The big things we've noticed are groceries in particular and insurance things started jumping for some reason. We installed solar last year, so utilities haven't really been on our radar (we use very little gas, because we both tend to shower at the gym most days, so not a lot of hot water).

We have, however, been sliding money to young adult nieces and nephews and been seriously side-eyeing the rent they're paying on various apartments. It's easily double what I was paying on my own apartment before we bought the house four years ago.

So groceries, housing, and insurance are anecdotally where I've noticed how a paycheck-to-paycheck family could be feeling it.

Complete side note: WTF is going on with streaming services? They're all increasing. The whole point to the situation is that I didn't want cable. We can afford it, but we're thinking about clipping out a few of the services out or putting them on rotation. It's the principle of the thing. Especially when they think they're going to put ads on shit I'm already paying for. That's a real hard no.

[PortTack]

28. When various streaming platforms announce increases, I drop them for a couple of months or more

Cuts that increase right out!

[progree]

20. I'm retired, so my only income is Social Security. I supplement that with drawing down my retirement accounts

Last edited Thu Nov 9, 2023, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)

My Social Security is about the average amount and doesn't begin to cover all my expenses..

My retirement accounts -- both stocks and bonds have gone way down in the past 2 years. I tap them to cover the spending gap.

On top of its reduction in nominal dollar value, its purchasing power has been reduced 12% in the past 2 years, based on the CPI. Meaning that $100 today buys what $88 bought just 2 years ago. So even if my retirement accounts had been flat, their real value would be 12% less in purchasing power.

So its a double whammy.

EDIT - I looked at some of my bond funds - they are down 20% in value in the last 2 years. But given that they earned about 7% in interest payments over those 2 years (averaging 3.5%/year), those accounts are down by 13%. On top of that, the purchasing power is reduced 12% by inflation.

Combining the two impacts (the reduction in the nominal dollar value of the account, and the reduction of the purchasing power of a dollar), I've had a 23% reduction in the purchasing power of those accounts.

1-0.13 = 0.87,     1-0.12 = 0.88
0.87 * 0.88 = 0.77,   1 - 0.77 = 0.23

And these are bond funds, supposedly a self haven investment.

Fortunately the ones I have are all intermediate term bond funds. Longer term bond funds have been slaughtered.

Note this isn't Biden's fault - Federal Reserve policy sets the interest rate, not the White House or Congress or the Supreme Court (yet)

[Midnight Writer]

42. Same here. I am retired with a low income, but I draw down retirement savings to make ends meet.

It is how I planned my retirement to be by saving and investing during my work years.

"I ain't rich, but I ain't worried."

[3Hotdogs]

21. House mortgage is paid off. We're retired. Defined benefit pensions.

W ain't rich. But we ain't sufferin'.

[xmas74]

22. Yes but

I'm paying off medical expenses. I'm paying what the insurance didn't cover for my surgeries and my chemo. It's not cheap.

[Chuuku Davis]

23. Yes, we are falling behind financially

And we have a 2005 Honda Insight->55 mpg.
Seldom drive though.

[BigmanPigman]

24. As an artist then as a teacher I could never earn enough

to survive, whether it was in Phila., PA in 1984 or San Diego, CA since then. My old friends still ask me if I buy "used" food. Yes, I do because I HAVE to. When you are single and have health issues your whole life and must work for health insurance, you save every damn penny. Thanks a lot fucking GOP!!! I wish every politician did not have any health insurance EVER and then maybe they would start to see the real picture, but I doubt even that would effect their selfish, hateful miserable existence.

I have eaten out once in the last 4 years and that is NORMAL for me (it was with a gift card or I wouldn't be able to). I haven't seen a movie in 4 years and that is NORMAL for me. I haven't bought new clothes, never have had my haircut by anyone else in 30 years, my last vacation was in 2005. I can not afford to buy anything except for when it is 15 years old and broken. No $$$ for a phone since 2011, no new car since 2010, no money for heat (I burn candles), or new eye glasses, etc. When someone bitches about not having $$$ to me it falls on deaf ears. I am living in near poverty in San Diego. Everyone here has tons more money than I do and they do not even want to even know what my
existence is like since they are embarrassed. I spend all of my money on old/expiration date food, health bills, and gas and electricity and TAXES. I pay my taxes yet those who can afford to pay taxes cheat since they know how to do it and hire the right accountants. I am not having a nice life at all!!!!!

[Bucky]

25. Once I get my whorin' and cokin' habits under control, I'll be back in the black...

Till then, my trouble will feel far away

[ret5hd]

33. Is this you? :

[Elessar Zappa]

27. Barely covered each month. Only a little is leftover.

[PortTack]

29. I was fortunate enough to retire from the medical profession with a fair amount stashed away

Too, b4 I retired I moved into a beautiful prairie style duplex. shortly after my sweet landlady passed so I bought it from the estate. So I have this beautiful home to live in that also brings in some income.

Lucky to have been in the right spot at the right time

[Aussie105]

30. Treading water.

Married, both retired.

I can save a bit every month, but sometimes things crop up like the wife's cataract eye surgery, that puts a dent in the bottom line that takes months to recover from.

Got the bills and expenses trimmed down with a sharp knife.
I loves me some computer bits and pieces, but that is on hold for the next 6 months.

We both have healthy bank accounts though, but we all know what happens when you go month after month where expenses outstrip income. Trying to avoid that slow slide down.

[onethatcares]

31. breaking even

both retired, SS is both our incomes, own our home, own our two vehicles (2004 nissan truck, 2020 elantra) . Not alot of excess income but we budget enough to go to dinner once a week.

Freaking homeowners insurance is starting to blow up that budget though.

[phylny]

32. "Other."

We are retired with a pension, 401K, and two Social Security checks. We are doing fine. That being said, I'm amazed at the prices for food and wonder how people are managing.

[The Wandering Harper]

38. eating less,

no entertainment budget, wearing tattered clothes and broken shoes, etc.

[phylny]

40. I'm sorry.

[NickB79]

35. Since late 2019, our income has increased almost 50%

We went from a family of 3 making 80K a year, to making 120K a year. It was a combination of my wife going from part time to full-time work, and both of us being in high-demand fields (food quality and pharmacy) that were deemed essential through the pandemic. We're both union as well, so pay raises have been substantial the past two years.

We're just plowing the extra cash back into home improvement, savings, the mortgage, solar panels, and a college fund for our daughter to use in 5 yr when she graduates high school.

[dembotoz]

36. doing ok but have tightened the belt quite a bit

as long as nothing major goes wrong......
last 2 years had some unusual expenditures...
sons out of state wedding, unplanned move, overly long hunt for a different car....
but remained afloat

I do watch my pennies much closer.
I don't go out to eat much at all anymore.....I am sort of a recluse so that does not bother me .....
I do keep track of all my expenses now....handy notebook

but things are ok....not really good but ok

[Raftergirl]

37. Some things have gotten more expensive but nothing that has changed our lifestyle at all. We have more money

than we can spend. H retired in 2020 and has a 6 figure pension and his retirement bennies pay for our Medicare A&B, supplemental and our prescription plan. He also works 10 or so hours at his old agency at an hourly rate based on his final salary. 75% of those earnings goes back into his 403B and he uses the rest as his fun money. I haven’t worked in 30 years but reached full retirement age in March so I’m contributing more to our income than I have since my kid was born. Next year my SS will increase by $1200/month when H reaches full retirement age and our monthly income will increase by about $5000. As it is we only spend about 1/2 of our monthly income now on all our expenses. We still have a mortgage ($800/month at 2.3%) which we could pay off if we wanted to but with a mgt rate so low it is silly to pay it off.) Except for having to take the required distribution from H’s 403B we don’t plan on having to touch our other investment accounts.

We paid for private high school and private 4 year college for our kid from savings and monthly income and had very little left over at the end of each month. But since then it’s been like living on easy street so we don’t get concerned about stuff getting a bit more expensive.

And fortunately our kid is doing great and needs no help from us at all.

[The Wandering Harper]

39. my income has declined while prices go up

f'ing sucks

[Polybius]

41. I can't even afford to renew my Star membership

Hurting badly. On the plus side, I'm eating less so I'm in better shape.

[GoodRaisin]

43. My income and my expenses are about the same.

I guess by my own design. I’m retired, draw social security, and have an IRA. I spend the money from the SS first, and supplement the rest of what I need to live on with IRA distributions. The IRA investments earn dividends, which pretty much covers what I take from the IRA, so the principal more or less stays the same, which is going about the way I planned it (so far, about 9 years into retirement).

[jfz9580m]

44. Kick

Last edited Sun Nov 12, 2023, 12:22 AM - Edit history (4)

This thread made me sad..
These are the left issues that I wish got more oxygen…