Just curious who else is living super frugal

[missydcpc]

In the us, you can choose to have more with held from your paycheck. Some do this because they are bad at saving money on their own. Also, even if the "correct" amount was withheld, if you had certain expenses (large medical bills, job hunting fees, home improvements that are good for the environment, etc) you get a credit. So then the government will do a refund.

 

[krcote]

Quote:
A good true raw diet includes vitamin/mineral/fatty acid additives/suppliments- this is where your increased cost can be incurred. Please contact a canine nutritionist or be sure you are doing your research very well. The lasting physiological effects that an improper raw diet can have on growing breeds of that size will end up costing you thousands in orthopedic repairs and the like.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
it's really complicated

there are *lots* of ways to be employed here
- regular employee where taxes are withdrawn before you see the check
- contract or 1099 employee where you get the full amount and you're responsible for paying all your own taxes
- self employed where you are your own business, get money from your clients and have to pay your own personal and business taxes
and a bunch of other stuff too.

if your taxes are withheld, you can determine the level of withholding generally based on the number of people you're supporting (spouse, minor kids, etc.) when you file your taxes, if that estimated withholding was less than you owe, you have to pay the balance. if it was more than you owe, you get a refund.

some folks deliberately have the withholding set high so they'll always get a refund - sort of like a forced savings account without the benefit of making any interest. but then they don't have to worry about coming up with a payment after they file.

to make it more interesting, there's federal taxes, state taxes, sometimes county or city taxes too. federal taxes are based on your income. the other entities may or may not base it on your income. here in MO, there's a county tax on the value of what you own (car, land, livestock, gold nuggets... ) that is assessed once a year, but no county income tax. some states have sales taxes instead of income taxes.

then there's deductions. tax law might allow for you to deduct interest paid on a home loan from your gross wages before taxes are calculated. what this does is lower the gross, and since the percentages are stepped by the amount of your gross, it might put you in a lower percentage tax bracket. for instance if you made $100,000, and spent $10,000 on interest on your home loan, your adjusted gross is $90,000, and that might lower your federal tax bracket from, say 30% to 25%... (ok, I'm just making up numbers here, but you get the idea.) you get to deduct a set amount for things like dependent kids, and for certain expences, for instance if your medical costs out-of-pocket (not covered by insurance) are > 10% of your income.

there are *thousands* of pages of tax law, and a whole industry built on figuring out what you owe, and how to owe less next year.

so let's just say, No Wonder you're confused. we are too.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
A good true raw diet includes vitamin/mineral/fatty acid additives/suppliments- this is where your increased cost can be incurred. Please contact a canine nutritionist or be sure you are doing your research very well. The lasting physiological effects that an improper raw diet can have on growing breeds of that size will end up costing you thousands in orthopedic repairs and the like.

there seems to be two clear camps on this... those that do the intricate supplements and those that don't. lots of passion on both sides. I'm reading everything.

 

[HeatherLynn]

On the taxes question you also to consider refundable credits. Those tax credits that will also give you back money even after your refused everything you paid in. In some cases you could pay in a 1000 and get a 5000 refund. Additional child tax credit and low income credits will do this. Also some adoption I believe.

Also honestly most people do not understand filling out their w4's and that getting a big refund is actually a bad thing. If you paid in 7000 more than you owed then you allowed the government to borrow your money interest free for the year. So for some who get a big refund they only get that because they paid in WAY too much. My nephew pays huge amounts of taxes but still ends up getting at least 5k back. Thats because he paid in like 13,000. Way more than he had to. He is married with one child and still has them take out money like he is single. So he is just getting back the money he loaned the governement interest free at that point.

I am almost ashamed to admit it but we pay almost nothing in federal taxes and do get more back than we pay in. I have no clue why it works that way but it does. We don't get thousands and thousands like some but its still more than we paid in. Its because our income is low and we have 4 kids and we go to school also. It zero's out our tax obligation and actually leaves all the refundable credits to come back to us. We could live without the refund and its been suggested we just don't claim some of the kids so we don't get more money back but that seems a bit silly. I can take it now and get the family finances in good shape because very soon things will have to change and we will all still be struggling. Also most the time we end up using the federal to pay more to our state. Roughly 33% of each check is taken up in taxes where I am at. Almost none of that is federal.

 

[oldcrowfarm]

Quote:
I know I said that I would read all before commenting/questions/etc, but I HAVE to tell chicmom I am so darned proud of her! You took a HUGE step today, honey, not a baby step!

Keep it up, you are doing fantastic! I hope that I can do half as well on my journey, too!

Sybil

 

[HeatherLynn]

I am freaking out guys and need advice. My husbands company was bought and we are having to switch from our HMO which I love to a PPO which I am not. How do we afford healthcare. It seems like if anything big happens we are messed over and will have to do without healthcare. Not a little thing. We nixed me having any more kids for sure. I just don't know. I guess we are going to do a savings account for medical expenses. We will be doing a ton more home remedies I promise that. We now have to stay uber healthy. We just don't make enough to afford anything big happening. Under this new plan my son needing stitches would have ended up costing us $1500. Thats a ton of money to me. It would take me several months to save up that much.

I know this is stupid but my first reaction is to go shopping to make myself feel better. I'm not going to but dang its tempting.

 

[jdopler]

Heatherlynn- Resist the "retail therapy" as best you can. if all else fails try to just window shop at a thrift store.. sometimes just looking, filling a basket and then walking away will give the same feeling as actual spending. Good luck, from someone without any insurance for the past 4 years!!

zzGypsy- look in your phone book or online for a local butcher or locker where farmers take live animals. often they have lots of organ meats no one wants as well as the larger bones. they can't sell these usually b/c it comes from an animal someone purchased from the farmer. But often will gladly give it away to reduce their waste.. Organ meats are much more important to dogs than muscle meat. think of wolf kills in the wild, they often eat the "guts" first (stomach, intestines, liver, heart, kidneys etc)
Congrats on your decision to feed raw, it is much healthier, albeit very labor intensive! Good luck, lots to research..

 

[HeatherLynn]

Quote:
I went to overstock.com and window shopped rings. lol I know I won't buy but its nice to look. Sometimes I wonder how much good the insurance is doing us honestly. I did the figures and we ended up paying half of the costs anyway. Considering if we did not have insurance the bills would not have been as high.......well I just don't know. I know to have work on my neck done without insurance we would be looking at 300 to 500 per visit but what they ended up charging to the insurance was roughly 3500. A bit insane.

I am just frustrated right now and just feel like throwing in the towel. We live frugal, we save, we pay sky high prices for the insurance, i follow the little plan and do everything i am supposed to do. We pay our bills and do without. Skip vacations. Got educations, Nothing more we can do really. We literally are just doing every little thing we should be. And somehow its just not good enough. Then I look at a family member. They work little and sometimes not at all, didn't bother even graduating, bought a time share, vacation several times a year, fancy cars they ended up not having to pay for somehow, don't pay their bills, don't have insurance and don't pay their hospital bills. They seem to be flourishing. I cannot even figure out how they do it. I know they mooch off family but our family doesn't have that much so not much to sponge ya know. What are we doing wrong? It just feels like this frugal hard working life we are teaching the kids will just leave them just as frustrated as I am right now. The light at the end of the tunnel is burned out right now.

 

[Totalcolour]

Quote:
HeatherLynn - you are doing it RIGHT!

20 Years ago, I had just been divorced, no money, a $600 dollar month health problem, not job, no insurance, depressed . . .

And I had to live the frugal life for a bit (14 years of frugality, with help from new spouse)). Finally got a job, a pretty good one, paid off my bills, saved, no vacations, remarried and we saved and saved. It was hard sometimes. And sometimes I too felt like that light at the end of the tunnel was a train!

But it worked. Now it's 20 years later. Home is paid for. We have a boat. We have our animals. We have 6 rental properties (not yet paid for - it's our retirement plan). Life is good once again.

Our children learned how to be frugal, and they are debt free. My daughter is a single mom with 2 boys, finished her degree (education already paid for), has a house of her own and I'm glad we taught her those things.

It's hard WHILE you are living it - but it WILL pay off in the long run. Stick with it. You can do it too!