Getting By

I completed the purchase of my friend Carole's trailer this morning. We're so happy we could spit!! The lady who sold it stayed on a while and we talked about various things but one of the conversations got me thinking.

We're told that we should always have 3 months salary tucked away so that it will tide us over if our jobs disappear. I don't know anyone who has been able to do that. How many people who are paying a mortgage and raising a family can afford to set aside about $7-8000 (and up) in case of an emergency? It never happened in my household. Even today, my backup is my line of credit.

I'm told that in order to purchase a nice house these days the buyer has to take on a 50 year mortgage and sometimes can only afford to pay the interest on the loan for the rest of their lives, thereby never really owning their own home. Part of the problem lies with buying above our means but even older houses have become so costly that it's impossible for people earning minimum wage to buy one.

When my husband and I bought our 13 year old house back in 1968 it cost $19,000. Our family income at the time was probably around $10,000 a year. Today, a house in my neighborhood (almost 40 years later) is worth around $200,000. The average income is maybe $50,000 so you can see how much more difficult it is for a family to buy a house in this day and age. I honestly don't know how they do it.

For many years it has been almost necessary for a family to have two incomes in order to get by. In my family, we kept our expectations lower and managed with one regular income and me working part-time. There was never much money for luxuries but we did okay. I used to think that modern families just needed to cut back on their expenses and they'd do as well as my generation did but it's becoming more apparent that the cost of living has simply gotten too high for them to get ahead.

When my husband and I retired I told my children that we'd be spending all of their potential inheritance during our golden years. My lovely children said "go right ahead!" I'm hoping there'll be a bit left for them, though.