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We could do it quite easily, but I'm glad that our current wages allow us to put some money in the bank and have nice little extras.
Our current expenses:
We rent a 2 br apt for $829 heat and gas/garbage are included
car payment for our Passat $259
we own my Corolla
Electric $30
Cable/Internet $50
Credit Card/Misc Bills $250
Car Ins (full coverage 2 cars) and renters ins $148
Cell Phones $60
Gas Corolla 9 gal/mo (This is slightly more than I use) $30
Gas Passat 20 gal/mo (We need to use premium because of the turbo) $65
Storage Locker $37
Groceries $200
Which is a total of $1958
If we needed to we could cut our grocery budget a bit and get it down closer to $150 for the month, not have a storage locker which would save $37 cut out the cable/internet which would save $50 our credit card/misc bills aren't necessities and are mostly eating out that we pay off each month we could cut this out entirely saving another $250. We could cut one of the cell phones which would save $15.
If we spent less realistically we could live on $402 less than our bills right now meaning that we could probably get by on $1556 a month. All that said. We spend a lot more on frivolous things. I currently spend an absurd amount at the fabric store on different things sometimes things that I want to make things out of and others that I want to play with...none of this is necessary. I also spend a $300 or so a month on clothing, but realistically I could cut this out entirely, and I am seriously thinking about doing it and making our clothes because I am generally happier with that than I am with RTW anyway. We also spend a bunch on electronics and entertainment every month that we don't need to.
While we could survive on minimum wage I would hate it. Right now we are saving to buy a house, and while we could be saving more we are doing ok and should have a good down payment soon enough. We probably would not have bought a Passat if we were living on minimum wage either.
This was a very interesting question. Now that I am thinking about what I spend I think I will cut some out so that I can save more.
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Mom to Ameena 7/30/05 & Lilly 1/18/07.
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