Living well is defined differently by everyone. The amount of income that a family has will often dictate how they define living the good life. When you can’t manage to gross $25,000 a year much less bring it home your idea of living well will be extremely different than those that do. So how do you manage to live well while supporting a family with less than $25,000 a year? It’s not that hard you simply learn to prioritize and you learn what’s really important in life.
Be Thankful for What You Have
When you attempt to live off of less than $25,000 a year you will find that there are times when no matter how much you want something you have to say no. The fact is there are things that you just can’t afford. At a bring home of $25,000 a year you have just over $2,000 a month but with less than that you could find yourself with as little as $600 after taxes are taken out. With only $600 a month to live off of there are a lot of things that you find you can’t afford.
Finding that there are things you definitely can’t afford makes you learn to be thankful for what you have. You have a roof over your head, food on the table and your family is all well. You have your friends and you have income coming into the home. When you learn to be thankful for what you have you learn what’s really important. This isn’t the only thing that you can do to live well on less than $25,000 a year either.
Prioritize
With an income under $25,000 a year you have to prioritize to make sure that your needs are met. There are things that have to be paid first such as the amounts for shelter, utilities and food. Once these are taken care of you know what’s left to do other things with. Things such as phone service, Internet, cable can all be had with less than $25,000 a year. You just might find that you have dial up instead of broad band but it is possible. You just have to examine your finances and find out if you can actually fit these things into your budget.
Saving Money
To live well on under $25,000 a year you have to have a savings plan. If you want to get the things that you desire you will have to find a way to save money for them. This means making every dollar count and stretching your income as far as you can to meet your goals. Saving money has to be included in the household budget, preferably as your first expense. This way you know what you are spending and can see how long it’ll take you to meet those goals.
Tax Refunds
If you have less than $25,000 a year coming into your home depending on the size of your family chances are that you get a tax refund each year. Instead of spending this money on the things that you want right now you will get more of a reward saving it. In a few years you could have enough to buy a home. Once you own your own home you’ll find that your income stretches further, especially when you learn how to do things for yourself.
It’s possible to live well on $25,000 or less a year. Paying attention to what you are doing and getting your priorities straight will be the biggest help of all to you when to attempt to have a good life with so little income.