How this military family of four lives well on just $14,000 per year

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/mil...001249660.html

Quote:

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In the years since the recession, the median household income in the U.S. has dropped to just over $50,000, while fixed costs like health care, higher education, and housing have only soared.
Now imagine trying to support a family of four on a fraction of that income.
It's a reality that Danielle Wagasky and her family have lived with for the last four years.

And, perhaps a little surprisingly, they wouldn't have it any other way.
Wagasky, 28, and her husband, Jason, 31, moved with their two young children to a three-bedroom family home in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009. Jason, a member of the U.S. Army, was fresh off a tour in Iraq and decided to go back to school complete his undergraduate degree.

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Her blog: Blissful and Domesticated

Book that inspired her (check for it at the library!): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030...issanddomes-20

Neat story, but the $14K/year budget started AFTER they bought the house.

Being that that's the major expenditure for most families, the budget is entirely conceivable.

Yes, but their house only cost them $30,000 with the kitchen make-over. A young couple with two small children, a 3 bedroom house costing 30k can be a very tight fit (my sister and her hubby are expecting their first child in May and live in a house that cost maybe $35k, is considered 3 bedroom [one of the rooms is the size of a closet, really] and it is smaller than the condo I currently rent [not by much, but still].). So... I still think, even without a mortgage, living off 14k a year with 2 small children is quite the feat. Even I make more than that (but not by much...) and I have trouble making ends meet with student loans, and I don't have kids!!!