<p>2016BarnardMom, which cable package do you have? When I tried to cancel my Comcast cable, they offered me something which I don’t think is heavily advertised on their website - but I am now paying about $10 a month for the first 20 channels. So basically I can get the local and network channels without worrying about an antenna working in my basement apartment. I agree that I like to actually watch things on the TV and have it in the background sometimes.</p>
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<p>This is interesting to me because I am in that income range right now. I rent, in an east coast city, live pretty frugally, don’t own a car, and am trying very hard to get out of that income range because I feel like I need to be saving money and I don’t have the capability to do that right now.</p>
<p>I can be really good about packing lunch every day, cooking dinner every night, etc, but we are in our busiest time at work and recently I had a few days where I had no groceries, I had no time to go grocery shopping, and I was in the office for over ten hours every day. I just made myself make lists and go out and get a bunch of stuff that would be easy to make and would at least keep me making my food. I don’t want to be somebody that never eats out, but I try to make my eating out intentional, so it’s not frequent, it’s having a good time with a friend, and it’s really good food, and I go to cheaper places. I don’t want to be spending my money buying the same fast food every day for lunch.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I spend a lot of money on my kids. Not necessarily clothing- they do not shop in pricey stores and now they have money to buy their own clothes. Over the years I spent a lot on summer camp, but I always worked and I needed a safe place to put them. Additionally, we have gotten them tickets to a few concerts ( cheaper seats) and they do have iPhones ( my daughters phone cost one penny as a trade in). My kids have laptops and we have a third car that they will share. I am not getting a 4th car, and my college sophomore has no interest in having one at school. I spent a lot on tutoring- my older one needed a physics tutor plus SAT/ACT tutor, and my younger one just finished up with her SAT tutoring. I also buy them dresses and get their hair done for prom, etc. Basically all of my money goes to them LOl!!</p>
<p>My kids work over the summer and make a lot of money due to tips. My husband opened a retirement account for both of them and put some of their money in it. The rest is money that they have when they want to go out with friends or buy something that I won’t buy them. My younger one is not a spender. My older one is home from school and I keep reminding her to slow down and not spend so much. I just told her not to have another pedicure- just had one two weeks ago!! I think I have had two in my whole life. She needs to stick to a budget because she is home for another month. Some of her friends work, whole others seem to have unlimited use of their mother’s credit card. </p>
<p>My older D is at a college that she loves and we have the entire amount in her 529 plan. If my D15 stays in state the same will be true for her. OOS and she will need some merit $. We will not qualify for FA.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but car maintenance is critical to making them last. Oil changes, etc. Park further away from front of lot, avoid dings. It costs $50 more per year to park in a garage at my metro station, but I pay it, preserves finish on car. I make my cars last.</p>
<p>busdriver–1/3 to balance–that’s the range of playing with money to fit your particular needs–use it for basics, investments, or to splurge a bit depending on your finances.</p>
<p>My sister’s stepson and his wife just had a baby. My sister realized the baby A. Does not need gifts at first and B. Has a lot of relatives. She gives a small gift for birthdays and Christmas, and puts the rest into a 529 account for baby.</p>
<p>As is often/usually the case, the irony is that the people who could benefit from reading and reflecting on a thread like this will never see it and don’t care anyway.</p>
<p>We are a very low income family. We get by in a variety of ways.</p>
<p>1) I am a leasing agent in an apartment building. So, when I got this job I found out that I get a rental discount for living here. We moved here and downsized. The move saved us $500+ a month on rent and utilities. Plus, we get free basic cable. We were not paying for cable, so that is just a bonus for having moved here. It also means I live where I work and don’t need a vehicle or gas for my job.</p>
<p>2) I shop at Aldi’s and do only one big food shopping trip a month. I spend about $150 on that one shopping trip. We spend a little more throughout the month to get milk and bread. Paper products are purchased as needed from WalMart or Target. We are not vegetarian, but I do try to have several meatless meals every week. Meat is generally the most expensive food item.</p>
<p>3) I buy everything, except for food, online. I am a member of different points programs and get points for purchases. I buy toilet paper from walmart, get points per dollar spent, have it delivered (for free, I make sure to get to the free shipping). I then use those points to get gift cards or cash. These points is how I pay for my kids Christmas and birthdays.</p>
<p>4) We have purchase a mixture of new and used cars. They are all paid off. They all had warranties when we purchased them so that we would not need to worry about paying for expensive repairs. My D won her car at her senior prom post prom party. Otherwise she wouldn’t have a car.</p>
<p>5) H is over 50, so we are members of AARP. We get discounts on car insurance from AARP. We also get free or discounted items at restaurants. There may be discounts on travel, I have not looked into that.</p>
<p>I forgot to include that the $150ish monthly in groceries covers H, S ('16) and me. D is away at college, so there are just 3 of use eating on that.</p>
<p>We are not big spenders. But yes, we do optimize what we can to save on our taxes (we just increased a charitable donation, for example).</p>
<p>Here is the advice I would like to have. How does one whose income far exceeds $100,000 a year get it to LOOK like it is less than $100,000 a year for financial aid purposes at one of those highly generous colleges? Deferred compensation of some kind for four years? How?</p>
<p>My deferred didn’t show up on W2 until I actually got paid, but in my case I didn’t have a choice, my employer forced the vested schedule on us.</p>
<p>I shop at Aldi’s and do only one big food shopping trip a month. I spend about $150 on that one shopping trip. We spend a little more throughout the month to get milk and bread. Paper products are purchased as needed from WalMart or Target. We are not vegetarian, but I do try to have several meatless meals every week. Meat is generally the most expensive food item.</p>
<p>Wow…what do you buy at Aldi’s that provides most of your food for a family of 3 for a month? and what meatless dishes do you serve?</p>
<p>You have a 16 year old son…those guys tend to eat a lot!!! Does that 150 include lunches at school or does he qualify for breakfast/lunch at school??</p>
<p>Mom3ToGo and I are both savers so we probably were going to be somewhat Ok. I’m also an analytical geek and a bit OCD … so … a little after FirstToGo was born I created a master spreadsheet. </p>
<p>It was our financial plan for the rest of our lives. A line per year. Columns for all major expenses and inflows … included mortgage, food, college, cars, etc. … it goes out to column BJ … so about 65 columns wide. Playing around with this made the leverage points very clear … cars are a black hole of money … the mortgage can be timed to help with college etc. Once the tactical goals were set then sticking to a plan was pretty easy … for example; sending the bonus money right to the mortgage or a 529 plan … because I could see exactly how it helped us reach our goal. This worked so well I stopped updating the file when the oldest got to be about 15 because I knew we were on track, we knew the plan, and short of a disaster (2008 crash) we would be fine.</p>
<p>If anyone is interested in more. If I knew how to post a scrubbed version of the file in a public place I would … any techie gurus want to help me here? I guess I could email it to anyone who send me their email in a PM.</p>
<p>PS - this took quite a bit of time to set up … but I spent maybe an hour a year updating it. I don’t like the on-line tools I’ve tried because they are black boxes … type in all the info … and out pops the answer. That is not what I wanted … I wanted to see the affect of each decision … and where the leverage is.</p>
<p>To a point, dadx. I don’t see a lot of people posting here who are single parents and/or have suffered job losses or other major financial setbacks (due to health issues, divorce, etc.). I would love to be in the position of having income that “far exceeds” $100K for the purpose of financial aid, or being able to live on a spouse’s income and save mine, but I’m not. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I am taking in all of this advice even though I am sort of “stuck” for the next year until my younger child graduates from high school. I live in an expensive community (where renting is not much cheaper than owning) with a poor job market for my field. I know other people in my situation who are likewise struggling. Yes, I could move to a different city for a job and force my daughter to spend senior year as the “new girl,” or make her give up her expensive, lifelong EC (dance) but I am not willing to do that. So I take whatever small steps I can to stem the flow and muddle through until she graduates. I appreciate all the suggestions here, particularly 2016BarnardMom’s.</p>
<p>For me, controlling food costs is really difficult. My daughter lives on fresh fruit, which is expensive (especially this time of year). My son, when he is home, wants a lot of meat (which I never buy/cook when he is at school). Helping him adapt to the lack of an “unlimited meal plan” is a challenge every holiday break and summer. It’s actually cheaper to have him be away, at least from a care and feeding standpoint! I try to cook as much as possible and have enough leftovers to take to work on as many days as I can but that is not always easy when I often work 10-12 hour days.</p>
<p>We did give up our land line and I am pretty close to pulling the plug on cable. It’s in a package with our internet and thus doesn’t cost much but it would be another thing. We keep the house really cold in the winter (and hardly EVER use the AC in the summer), have paid-for, high-mileage (but well-maintained) cars, and try to take public transportation whenever possible. Both my kids work PT (my son is the only one of his friends working over winter break). I can’t remember the last time we had a proper vacation. The kids have “current” clothes but many of mine are 5-10 years old. My winter boots just passed the 20-year mark, and I have not bought a jacket or coat in at least 5 years.</p>
<p>3togo, you should patent your financial plan! I would love to have it. Will PM you.</p>
<p>Except that interest rates have been so awful the last few years that any account that “earns interest” isn’t a good place to park college savings. I was lamenting the other day that I haven’t had a good opportunity to teach my kids about compound interest, particularly the youngest, because rates are so, so terrible. We have used other options in our 529 plan besides just interest bearing accounts, but just saying… you have to grow your investment in other (possibly more risky ways). And even the age banded options aren’t always safe – D1’s 529, which was in the 17+ age bracket (should be safest) still took a significant hit during the recession. Some rebound over the next few years, we just took out 1/8 of the total each semester (assuming 8 semesters). But still…</p>
<p>Another family here with nothing but “dumb” phones. D1 (age 23) finally decided to pay for her own smart phone a couple of months ago – she is still on my plan, but paid for the phone and sends me a check for the data plan portion each month.</p>
<p>Sally305, I am also a single parent who had some job bumps during the recession. In a good spot now, though. But SO GLAD we had saved for college so our kids could stick with their education plans.</p>