Survival strategies of the working poor.

[donnafreedman]

That's the topic of an upcoming MSN Money column. I don’t mean it in a grim, joyless way, i.e., "How we (barely) keep the wolf from the door." No, I’m looking for people who live on less – maybe a LOT less – than what people say you "need" to survive and who are content with the results of their choices.
What kinds of decisions have you made? What can you live without, or do for yourself, in order to create the kind of life you want for your family?
I’d need to know exactly where your money goes (e.g., “We make $35k a year and spend X% on mortgage/rent and utilities, X% on food, X% on retirement…”).
In other words, real numbers to show how it really can work, as an inspiration to others in the same boat.
And yes, I’d love to publish your secret weapons, especially if they go beyond "clip coupons."
If you'd be interested in making this kind of statement, please private-message me and we'll talk. Thanks.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

It sounds like an interesting and useful article. (We don't qualify as "working poor" by anyone's definition.)

[Sharon]

I look forward to reading this article.

[busymom]

I think the "working poor" who make a go of it seem to do a combination of things. Learning to live without the extras (cable t.v.), bringing lunch from home, making do with a $10 purse when they'd rather have a Coach purse, not spoiling the kids with the latest electronic gadgets, etc. I think that says more about how the lifestyle works than dollars & cents, although some readers may want specific details.

[swamp]

When I was in law school, I was pretty much dirt poor.

A few of the things I did:

Used ground venison instead of beef (because my brother had shot the deer and it was free) Venison makes very tasty lasagna, tacos, goulash, stew, stroganoff, meatballs, and any other beef based dish.

Went to bars with free hors d'oevres for dinner.

Went to lectures at the school that served snacks and had that for dinner.

Taught 1 swim lesson a week in exchange for a free gym membership.

My last year of law school I was a house mother at a sorority, I got free room, board, phone, TV, and $100 a week.

Rode my bike everywhere and kept the car parked.

Splurged on night skiing, $10 for a lift pass instead of $50 for the day.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

My clients have an average income of about $860.00 a month. Some get subsidized housing, most don't. I honestly don't know how they survive, yet some even manage to save up money.

[998fbird]

At the time I left my marriage I was making $21,000/year before taxes and I received $75.00/week for child support for my only child. I live in a HCOLA. My childcare cost $75.00/week and my rent was $450/month. My survival strategies were to make sure I paid my rent and childcare first. I planned menus, made a list and shopped with a calculator, when I reached the limit, I was done shopping. I sewed my son's summer play clothes, simple shorts paired with matching t-shirts and inexpensive sneakers from Wal-Mart. I carried my lunch everyday and my big weekly splurge was $5 Chinese lunch special. My car was older and paid for. I didn't have cable tv, but did rent movies for watch with my son. We also watched a lot of PBS. I was lucky to find a tiny cottage near a local bike trail and we each had a bike. I had friendly neighbors who had a pool and were generous and let us use their pool. I didn't have laundry facilities at my cottage. Every Sunday I got up at 6am to go to the Laundromat to do laundry. In the summer my landlord let me use his clothesline to dry the clothes. That helped save money. I was also really blessed that coworkers were incredibly generous and gave me lots of clothes for my son. I also know that memories are as important as money, so when I received a tax refund of $900 I used the money to take a trip to Florida. I had friends in the Orlando area and a friend recommended a terrific travel agent who helped me put together an incredible 5 day stay at Disney World and 4 extra days to visit with my friends. It has been almost 20 years and my son still talks about that trip. That time of my life was challenging but I have some really great memories and learned a lot about how to manage money and still have a good time.

[gsbrq]

Most important survival strategy for me when I was poor was to never let my housing consume too much of my overall budget. Whatever I had to do to keep housing cost down, I did....I've lived in dodgy neighborhoods, had roommates, lived in teeny-tiny places, worked out part of my rent in doing cleaning or other work around the house. In my experience, by far the best way to live on a small housing allowance is to learn to live with less space. You really don't need nearly as much as you might think.

I also didn't carry credit cards. Ever. Only took money out of the bank if I was buying groceries or paying bills. Carried a couple of apples & a cashew-butter w/honey sandwich (I'm allergic to peanuts) in my bag wherever I went, so that I always had a meal when I couldn't make it home in time. Drank only water or tea.

No cable, no tv, no internet service; I'd go to the library every day to use the computer. Also used the library for books, cds, movies, and books-on-tape; these were my main sources of entertainment.

During this time, I honestly never felt terribly deprived; I did have some very difficult times when financial emergencies came up, but as far as day-to-day living I was pretty happy. I had friends who were also poor, and our entertainment was typically a potluck over at somebody's house, playing a board game or party game, or just talking & listening to music.

If you're so strapped that food is an issue, a full or part-time job in a restaurant can help; the cooks knew I was poor & would frequently give me food that was left over at the end of the shift. I mostly only had to buy bread and fruit at the grocery store.

[nrg70]

When I had to file bankruptcy at 30 I had to start from scratch. It was from poor money decisions in my 20's that led to this so I went to the library and got books on frugal living. I would say that a second hand crock pot from the goodwill was my best purchase and let me make quality tasting meals from cheap cuts of meat and inexpensive items. Plus, I could eat for days on this as well as occasionaly have friends over too. I learned you could get DVD's, CD's etc etc from the library as well as books and this helped alot too since my entertainment budget was practically nothing. In the summer, I used a small grill on the stoop outside my apartment to cook which kept my energy costs down, and was just plain fun too. I took the bus to work and used my car on the weekends. I shopped for xmas presents for my family all year round and this made a big difference come Xmas time!

[pepperdoo]

Can I do this on my income and not count Paul's life insurance?