Surviving (and thriving on $12000 ayear) -- a great article on PERSPECTIVE
 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...2000AYear.aspx

Inspiring article! I definitely recommend it for those who'd like some perspective.

Pretty interesting.

I could survive in the in the Philippines on 1K a month. In the USA, I would have to live in mommy's basement.

pretty much how my mom lives. I even thought for a second she wrote that article lol.

Yep. It's all about context and perspective.

Interesting article, but at the same time she makes specific choices that limit her income to that amount as well. Spending time as a cub reporter for a community newspaper rather than working, say, in a restaurant or some other low end job for a bit of extra money is pretty telling.

Effectively, she "lives well" because she has redefined well. She also appears to spend much time and effort on saving a few pennies, with huge opportunity costs that limit her ability to make money.

She has certainly chosen a lifestyle, but I can't wait to see how it turns out when she gets to retirement age, loses some of her mobility, and becomes a burden on the state or family because she never truly saved anything in her lifetime.

Yep - opportunity costs all over that story. There are plenty of high paying jobs for "students" out there. Although I agree that controlling costs is absolutely key to longevity in that kind of a situation, you will never get out of it if you aren't looking for ways to increase revenue as much or more than ways to scrimp and save.

I agree. Also she "plans" to live on $12000 a year, I guess I would give this article alot more cred if it was written by someone who has already lived on that amount.

She should be thinking about retirement, it sounds like she's spent the majority of her life as a housewife, even if she gets a real job after she completes college she'll most likely have to postpone retirement, and even then her social security won't equal what she's getting now in alimony. :(

it takes more thought and energy to live that way than it would to get a good job. like a guy pushing a shopping cart works harder than a guy with a job $0.02

It's one thing to HAVE to live off $12k a year but to choose to live that way is bullshit.

Penny pinching is laziness no matter how you look at it. She bums wash loads off people she baby sits for. Wants free everything without having to do shit other than look through coupon ads and live off her husbands money. I don't understand how people can honestly go home at night and be able to sleep knowing they didn't earn shit today.

Lazy fucking bitch should be brought out to pasture and shot instead of having one of her stories published like its some kind of accomplishment. Fuck that bitch.

her social security would be based on her ex-husbands income if they were married 10 years and she does not remarry

Wow, didn't know that. I guess she's a little better off then.

how about surviving and thriving as a bankrupt hobo?

got any tips on that?

no way can anyone live here in so. cali for 12k a year

No, you can live on your own in the US on $1000 a month. Not easily, but you could do it for sure. Millions do it.

One of my brothers lives in a $300 a month apartment. 2 bedroom, bout 1000 sq ft. He only pays about $50 a month for utilities. He even splurges and has a cell phone instead of landline, and he has cable TV and cable internet. Total luxuries.

Now WHERE in the US makes all the difference of course :) We're not talking Hollywood CA. or anything. Just a no-name little town.

I can always survive.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh - That's awesome.

It might make a difference if she said what part of the country she is in. 12k a year is easy in Iowa, my kid and her husband do it. I bet no so easy in new york...

Fuck that bitch she should come buy my house. We should all rate tha article and bash her ass.

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What's fucked up, is she's choosing to live that way off her ex husband's money. The 12k a year is alimony money which is BS in it's self.

I've never understood why the man has to pay for his ex wife after they are divorced. Total BS and sexist. How many men do you ever hear about getting paid alimony?

It's always equality and women's live until divorce time, then the guy gets bent over and fucked even if the divorce isn't his fault.

4.26 out of 5? :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

God damn I feel like shooting this bitch and they are giving her 5 stars. How can you explain in great detail how lazy and incompetent you are and still get a positive response? I mean this bitch just literally explained how shes the biggest mooch on the planet and they're giving her 4 and a quarter stars for her bitchmade blood sucking ways.

What she needs to do is get off her fat ass and find a job. I mean she is 48 years old and she doesn't have experience doing anything? It's obvious shes too old and fucking tired for any man to buy her shit anymore so now shes resorted to mooching off everyone else. Lowest form of life on the planet and I'll say it again Fuck That Bitch.

Gene, I think the moral to the story was lost on a few people here.

Well it depends. There's a big difference between being BROKE and being poor. Poor is permanent (no matter how much money flows into a poor person's hand). Broke is temporary. Many billionaires and millionaires and successful people were broke before.

Keep in mind the age. Not to long ago it was damn near required that women marry their income and not become an "old maid". If and a big if they wanted or could get a job, it was pretty much being selfish and they were either a nurse or a secretary. So yes for some generations alimony was damn fine. Literally her job was the home.

Now my father did not get alimony when he divorced and gained full custody way back when (very rare) primarily because he was the main bread winner and he waived a small amount the court offered. However he was awarded child support which was never paid.

However on the flip side there are plenty of male gold diggers who do get alimony. Hell didn't britney's ex get some too, plus other fat checks and now for certain child support.

BTW there is nothing wrong at all saving pennies. It takes very little to no damn time. Hell I use coupons, why not. I read the paper anyways, take a second or two to rip out a few and drop them into my shopping list/envelope. Sure I guess I could be watching tv while that file uploads or posting here.
Also thrifts stores, hell they do not bother me either and hell it is half off every friday. Certain things I will not buy there, however some shit is just the same just nearly 80 times cheaper. Lastly why toss something out when I can slap it on ebay or craigslist and have someone else pay for it?

For those that are bashing her saying she is not planning for her retirement, it sounds like she is doing just that. She says in the article that in 2 years she will have her degree. I would assume once she has her degree she will be getting a job in whatever field it is in and bettering her life. She says in the article that she is doing this as a way to better her life. I don't see her as lazy or stupid. To me stupid is when someone goes to work and makes a good wage and spends it all on junk they don't need that will never pay them back and eventually that job comes to an end or they find themselves later in life with little or no savings and just a bunch of wasted money.

yea, I never understood alimony either :-/

i pay like 1k rent a month.. No way could i live off 12k a year.

You think the alimony part is bad, take a look at how child support and custody gets worked out. I'll tell ya, the people who pay for it and keep that ring off their finger are smarter than all of us.

I smoke crack rocks.

Yeah right,

I know people surviving on less than $10k/y in a country that's MORE expensive than the US. And funny shit is that they're happy :( very fucking sad to me...

I pretty much had it good on $12k/y when I was a student. But it wasn't a choice, I didn't stop growing from there. But CHOOSING to keep yourself confined to these limits and searching for free stuff rather than progressing in work is just plain fucked up.

This is what was told to me about alimony. It is mainly given to someone (almost always a wife) that has been in a long term marriage (over 15 years) and has no immediate ability to get a job that they will be able to support themselves with.

For example if you are married for 18 years and you want your wife to be a stay at home mom or a housewife that doesn't work then you get divorced the court then says, "well, she spent the last 18 years outside of the job market so she will only be able to get a job that is minimum wage or close to, so we are giving her alimony/spousal support to help her out until she can take care of herself."

It is often stupid, but that is the idea behind it. It really is no different than a wife getting half of a business a guy built up while they were married even if she did nothing directly that helps grow the company.

did you read the article? Here she says, "Make no mistake: I'm poor by choice, because I needed to change my life. I chose to leave my marriage, and I chose to become a student. I can live this way because I know it won't be forever. I'll have my degree in two more years, and I'll go back to work."

Sure she is mooching off of some people buy using their washer and dryer or looking for free food and cheap stuff, but she has said that she is 48 years old and trying to work full time while going to school full time is too much for her to handle so she is working part time while going to school then when she is done with school in a couple of years she will go back to work full time. How is this lazy? she is getting an education so that she can get an education and get a good job. Would you rather she work at McDonalds and not get any health insurance so that she ends up getting food stamps and welfare and government healthcare and live on the system for years to come?

well if you live with someone who also makes that much its easier

Her rent and ultilities are deeply discounted, as part of her grant, the same as a single Mom can go back to college and work the system. She has goals that aren't far reaching, and could, in those 2 years - give her enough data and anecdotal observations, to publish a book.

It's definitely great for perspective......

Just some things that can be gleaned from this

1) The power of choices
2) The importance of foresight and planning ahead
3) The importance of CONTEXT when determining value
4) The key role of OPPORTUNITY COSTS in decisionmaking

Dildozer cares not for the have-nots