General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The individual mandate: I and others warned that this was coming, too. [View all]bhikkhu
(10,716 posts)we do pretty well so far, and it has been easier the past couple of years than 2008/09.
On edit - a rough monthly budget is: 1300 for mortgage and debt service, 600 for food, 200 for power, gas, water and garbage, 60 for cellphones and internet.
We're in the process of getting the whole debt redone under a new loan which will make things easier, but so far so good. There's very little room for extras, but we've been pretty good about finding things 2nd hand, and I can fix just about anything myself. One trick to living within your means is to really not want things very much. The kids have more trouble with that than me, but we do pretty well.
The one big thing is health insurance, which we don't have. Any bad luck on that front and we'd be pretty thoroughly screwed in a hurry, so I'm looking forward to finally getting health insurance as a "waiting to exhale" type of relief. We'll finally be secure in our home, and know that some little health problem won't cost us everything.