A finance poll

flyjawn

on my own i make very good money but i also have two small children so daycare and other costs add up fast in my world.  if i was on my own i'd probably count as just beyond paycheque to paycheque.

however my SO has an income about 25 times greater than mine and therefore my situation is dramatically different when i take that into account. 

i've ensured that certain things are taken care of - my kids have college funds that will cover them no matter what school they choose to go to; my retirement savings fund has been topped up so that i'll be able to retire comfortably and every debt i had has been paid off. 

i don't kid myself though... i always joke that i'm  just one really big fight away from being back to buying $8 flip flops!

brookelynpaisley

We don't have as much in savings as we probably should, but we're saving every month. We have enough that a crisis wouldn't damage us. We also don't own a home though, so the extent of our risks are dog illness and car repair (which, since our friends are mechanics, wouldn't be that bad).

I'm the only one with stable and predictable income. If I had to, I could cover us without dipping into savings.

desertsun

I feel like we live very comfortably and within our means, and like Nebb mentioned, most of our extra money goes toward paying off car and student loans. I think if I lost my job, we could get by for a bit. It'd be harder if my DH lost his job. But we don't own a home. I think renting helps to limit big unexpected expenses.

ichellemay1

We are close to paycheck to paycheck.  Due to health reasons, I had to quit teaching last year.  FI was laid off just before that happened.  He started a new job in June.  I started a new job in July, but am making about 1/2 what I was.  We have a relative small amount of CC debt (under $5K).  FI car is paid for, we refinanced mine to get a lower payment.  The only other debt we have is our house - technically that is an asset.  I stress about money, but FI keeps reminding me to take things day by day.  We've had a tough year, but are getting through it one step at a time.

lharri12

Oh Blue, you just love it when people give you an opportunity to brag about your financial situation!

Steph0871

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_finance-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:1d5a3ba5-2208-437a-9c17-8f166738d1cdPost:01a5b729-36ec-4621-acf8-22137643f74d">Re: A finance poll</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh Blue, you just love it when people give you an opportunity to brag about your financial situation!
Posted by lharri12[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>WTF?  I'm just going to assume this was a joke?</div><div>
</div><div>Anyway. FI and I are unfortunately in the 'paycheck to paycheck" category.  But like others said, it's because we're paying off debt not wasting money on going out to eat, shopping, vacations, etc.  We're both only 24 (almost 25), and went to good schools.  So we've got quite a bit of student loan debt; about a year's worth of salary.  We have a little CC debt, which we're close to paying off (mine was all actually from college-related expenses.)  </div><div>
</div><div>We've both been paying for ourselves since 16 or so, so neither of us was able to use high school jobs to save prior to college.  However, we were able to pay for about 1/3 of the wedding (my dad offered the rest, or we would have had a smaller wedding) in cash.  </div><div>
</div><div>Once this is over, we'll start saving for a house.  We were lucky to find a great apartment at a really reasonable price, so I don't mind renting for another year to save up cash.

</div>

jemmini6

We are pretty comfortable right now.  Neither of us are debt free, but I consider ours to be 'good' debt, aka mortgage, student loans, cars, etc (no credit card debt, we both pay off our cards every month).  It's all very managable and all worthwhile and typical stuff to have debt on.  We also know exactly what debt each of us has and we have the same financial priorities, which helps a lot.

FI has an excellent job, which is 90% of the reason we are doing this well.  My job is okay, it pays all my bills, but doesn't leave me with a lot extra for savings each month.  I definitely would not be able to have this lifestyle on my own yet and I really appreciate all that my FI does for us.  Hopefully the economy will pick up soon and I can actually get a job utilizing my degree and contribute more overall, but all in all, we are doing pretty well, especially at our age.