How do you manage your finances and family if your income is low range?

[|MINER|]

Yes it is true that no matter how low class a person is he can support his family. Some live a very luxurious life and some live a very poor life.  But in this case, it can be seen that everyone is happy from their place. It is not possible to measure the happiness of people with money. However, money is an inevitable thing to fulfill basic needs.  Food, shelter, health or treatment are three very important elements. No class of people can live without these three.  It is possible to live without education but it is not possible to live without food. Even a minimum income person cannot live without these three.  You have presented the issues very nicely.

[Negotiation]

I would say a simple life with a smile on your face all the time.

I try to maximum time live in a very simple life with limited expenses but sometimes there are some problems is make difficult situations, I try to be happy and smile maximum the time. I want people around me to be good. What I have come to realize is that people who live very ordinary lives and are always happy are the ones who are most restless and even though physically they seem to be really happy. But on the side of danger, trouble always surrounds them.

[tjtonmoy]

That's the logic I like better, thanks
But I'll add a correction too. For some reason you have chosen a model where someone works for someone else, i.e. for an employer. But this is one of the models. For example you can be an investor who just invests money, or you can work "for yourself" by creating your own business. Therefore, you are considering only one scenario. Not the best, but I agree - mass for the majority of the population. But in this option - disposes of remuneration ... the employer! And it depends only on him - what working conditions she offered you, and when he paid the money. Which in turn (we'll dismiss negative scenarios) may depend on the actions or inactions of other people.

Well here's the thing, either you are an employee or an employer. When you work for others, you are getting paid from them. And as you said about business, some other people are getting paid by you because they are working for you. Their living is coming through your hand. Or if you doing the whole business on your own, then you are selling things to get paid by others(buyers). The main focus is work. If you work, you get paid. I just used that example to prove this point.

More precisely in this case it all depends on the purchasing power of the people in your country... Doesn't reality look more logical ?

People like logical statements better. Because whether you are religious or not, it will make sense. But the logical things could be manipulated. Imagine someone talking total BS but he is able to explain that with some logic. People will believe that. This is what politicians do. Well, that's just another topic. But yeah, if something can be proven from every perspective, then we are bound to believe it. And work to earn is an eternal truth. So no doubt in that.

EDIT: I enjoyed this conversation a lot. Thanks for your time. 

[dothebeats]

Yes it is true that no matter how low class a person is he can support his family. Some live a very luxurious life and some live a very poor life.  But in this case, it can be seen that everyone is happy from their place. It is not possible to measure the happiness of people with money. However, money is an inevitable thing to fulfill basic needs.  Food, shelter, health or treatment are three very important elements. No class of people can live without these three.  It is possible to live without education but it is not possible to live without food. Even a minimum income person cannot live without these three.  You have presented the issues very nicely.

While it is true that some people can live without education, we can't ignore the reality that such a thing makes life more difficult for them. In today's world, competition is everywhere and if you want to have an advantage education is always the way hence education is now seen as essential much like food, shelter, and health.

[livingfree]

I know it's tough when you don't get that much income for your family. But starting to breakdown your expenses and list them will make you see the picture out of it.

You'll be able to find what are the unnecessary things that you need to cut down because it's just a waste of money when you spend and include it to your tight budgeting.

Also, if budgeting is still not enough, you need to find more source of income or if anyone in your family is already allowed to work too. Tell the situation so that you get to have a team work for your ease.

Really tough i should say, recommendations and suggestions been given here on this thread by most members might really that sounds easy but on the time that you are on such condition and living
on a country or place on which opportunities and benefits arent something that easily be attained then for sure it would really be so tough on getting out on such situation or condition.If you are really just that someone whose really that have that limited skillset and having that only one kind of expertise in regarding towards your job then going into other extent would really be something a risks.
You cant really just make out some actions or decisions that would really be costing up you money or putting up yourself on such risks on losing  your job because you had focused into other venture
on which focus and time might really be that greatly affected. Lets say that you have decided to take up some business which causes on compromising your priorities specially with your job
then you are really that putting yourself on danger on which you dont really have no choice but to ignore that kind of idea and would be sticking on something that gives you
that sure money or salary. You cant really just simply make out such decision.

It is a mistake when someone who's still employed and started his/her own business and then you're not performing well on your job. That's not what the company signed you for and you don't have to compromise your job just because you are having your own business.

From there, your professionalism is also at stake because you're showing to the company that you're not capable with that. It's hard as we've said but you need to show that you're eager in doing things on your own without compromising and sacrificing what you're up because you're paid there for your salary.

We've got ways of dealing this problem but make sure that you don't have to compromise what you're committed to.

[poodle63]

Yes it is true that no matter how low class a person is he can support his family. Some live a very luxurious life and some live a very poor life.  But in this case, it can be seen that everyone is happy from their place. It is not possible to measure the happiness of people with money. However, money is an inevitable thing to fulfill basic needs.  Food, shelter, health or treatment are three very important elements. No class of people can live without these three.  It is possible to live without education but it is not possible to live without food. Even a minimum income person cannot live without these three.  You have presented the issues very nicely.

While it is true that some people can live without education, we can't ignore the reality that such a thing makes life more difficult for them. In today's world, competition is everywhere and if you want to have an advantage education is always the way hence education is now seen as essential much like food, shelter, and health.

well having education is one way to make earning money for food become easier, i can't bother elaborating about how essential it is to have proper education in this modern world.
quite literally everything is based on education, even more so if you are ivy league graduate, you're literally gonna be accepted anywhere where the salary is proper for you.
you want to get into big fortune 100 company even FAANG its piece of cake for those ivy league graduates, but its definitely impossible for those without education, so basically by not getting education you isolate yourself from all the opportunity in this world to put it bluntly.

[slapper]

That's easy, you don't spend too much on the lifestyle and stay within the limits. I have learned this trick from a family that stays very close to us and is almost like a second family. In India, the neighborhood is always at its peak and there is a lot of sharing of thoughts, festival reunions, and bonding. I have seen that family living on minimum wage for many years. The condition is due to uneducated father and mother who is doing laborious work every day and if they earn something for that day then they would eat otherwise they would just let go of the dinner or lunch. They have a daughter who is doing her graduate studies. Her father made tremendous efforts by applying for the scholarship and then only it was possible for her to take admission in college. But he succeeded and finally, she is pursuing her dream education.

Fact though they have (almost) no money, still she takes care of her family by not being burdened with extra expenses. She would generally walk to college, do a part-time job, and survive on that money for her college needs.

The only thing they would avoid is going to any entertainment stuff (movies, concerts, paid trips, long tours etc), or they would use public transport for almost everyday and every commute. They avoid eating outside since that could eat up their days of ration in a single go! They would not go shopping where you have to flaunt fancy clothes and pay 10x the cost.

These are really small things that they keep doing but they are still happy in small bubbles. They still make it up to every function and cultural programs and festivals with everyone else. It feels no difference and they are happy about it.

I would say a simple life with a smile on your face all the time.

Such stories are heartwarming. In today's fast-paced, consumerism-driven society, this family's approach to life reminds us what matters. This family's effort to live within their means and enjoy the simple things is admirable in a time when the economy encourages excess

Would our economy collapse if everyone practised minimalism? Or would it become more sustainable?

Material possessions don't guarantee happiness. Prefering public transport to pricey outings shows the family's strength and adaptability. They inspire by their dedication to education despite financial limits. Though basic, it was full of purpose and delight

[wiss19]

There is one thing that I can say from my personal experience, and it is that you actually spend money based on how much you earn, which means that when you are earning a lot of money, you will see that there is a lot of money being spent, but if you are suddenly downgraded and now you are earning way less than before, you will see a considerable drop in your expenses in that period, you and the family will obviously start spending more carefully in that situation so things start to become manageable after a short while.

It happened to me in the last couple of years when I saw very bad times, I lost my job that was paying me very well and then I struggled to find a good job, and the jobs that I did in between were paying me way less than what I used to earn, maybe about 3x less, however, we used to manage as a family and we went through the hardships and things started to become good after that.

When you go from very good to bad, you actually learn a lot of things, and the main thing among them is that you start to understand the value of money that you might have not realized before when you had a lot of it.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

There are many people around us, where their income is not enough to manage a family how do you manage your family and economy? There are many people who manage their family very well even though their income is very low in their personal life, how do you manage it?

I would start by saying, if you don't have a stable income to take care of a family don't start one. Alot of problems can be avoided by not doing this because when you start a family that you can't take care of them you'll begin having problems like Feeding problem, education problem, housing problems and other problems. Also don't get married to a liability, don't marry a girl that you'll have to provide everything, for the rest of her life. You're getting a partner and not a entering into a sponsorships. You'll love your wife and provide for her but it shouldn't be a situation that if you don't have she can't take care of herself. Before marrying make sure she has something doing so the both of you can put food on the table as you can never know what the future holds for your current job.

In a circumstance that something unfortunate happens and you were comfortable when you go married but now your income and that of you wife isn't sufficient to take care of your family, here are some suggestions of mind, adding to what others have said;

• Equip yourself and your wife with skills that's based online so you can apply for a job that you can use as your side hustle to take care of some bills that would had removed money from your income. Instantaneously when income isn't enough, the first thing to do is to get another job or do something to add more income.
• As you get more income coming in, you reduced your expenses so you can have enough to take care of your family. You can change schools for your kids from private to government, change house to a less costly one to maintain and get rid of many liability that you have in the house.
• You can then use the money which you'll get as extra after doing the second advice to invest in assets, you can invest in business that'll give you passive income or in assets like Bitcoin that gives capital gains. You can also pick interest in building a business that gives you cash flow to increase your income.
• When you do all this and it goes as planned you can easily bounce back to your former self, and not to forget to plan your money before it comes as that helps you to live on the minimum budget but to other it seems you have enough but all you're doing is living on a budget.

[BitDane]

There are many people around us, where their income is not enough to manage a family how do you manage your family and economy? There are many people who manage their family very well even though their income is very low in their personal life, how do you manage it?

If the incoming fund does not suffice to meet the basic needs of 3x meal a day, then the family need to adjust by reducing the meal, or the provider looking for an additional source of income.  Very low does not necessarily means it is not enough for the basic needs.  These families manage well because they do plans and budgeting in order to make their income fit the budget.  The family is probably does not engage in extra spending and mostly each penny in their hands is smartly budgeted and allocate to needs.

[ice098]

If the incoming fund does not suffice to meet the basic needs of 3x meal a day, then the family need to adjust by reducing the meal, or the provider looking for an additional source of income.  Very low does not necessarily means it is not enough for the basic needs.  These families manage well because they do plans and budgeting in order to make their income fit the budget.  The family is probably does not engage in extra spending and mostly each penny in their hands is smartly budgeted and allocate to needs.

In our case, we did not reduce the number of meals per day but rather we decrease the amount per serving and also some ingredients for it. In that way we can still have the good number of meals per day and we can manage our finances so well. We are avoiding spending in house deliveries of foods and other items , maybe we will only by those things if there's special occasion. We prioritize things that we need over our necessities, inflation is hard here.

[pawel7777]

In our case, we did not reduce the number of meals per day but rather we decrease the amount per serving and also some ingredients for it. In that way we can still have the good number of meals per day and we can manage our finances so well. We are avoiding spending in house deliveries of foods and other items , maybe we will only by those things if there's special occasion. We prioritize things that we need over our necessities, inflation is hard here.

It's the same thing, whether you reduce the number of servings or just the amount per serving - you eat less food. Good, nutritious food is an absolute basic need and you shouldn't be looking to save on that, unless you're out of any other saving options. Especially when you have kids - the amount and quality of food will have a huge effect on their development. Many people don't fully realise that.
If possible, try eat as close to the nature as possible, avoid processed foods, grow your own fruits/vegetables and hunt/fish yourself, if you have such possibility.
Ordering takeaways is the worst option possible: it's hardly ever fresh (usually get saggy in the transport), almost always unhealthy (produced with cheapest ingredients/fried in an old oil etc) and much more expensive than cooking yourself. I'd drop that completely.

[terrific]

It happened to me in the last couple of years when I saw very bad times, I lost my job that was paying me very well and then I struggled to find a good job, and the jobs that I did in between were paying me way less than what I used to earn, maybe about 3x less, however, we used to manage as a family and we went through the hardships and things started to become good after that.

Many can relate to you. It is what happened to the most in the labor markets where most jobs were gone and many employees were laid offs by their companies.
That's the need that they're seeing and did it for the sake of their companies. While the competition is very tough, many does have to accept those low offers because of survival while waiting for a better opportunity.
Maybe this or by next years, things will be better for the employees that are earning in the minimum wage or even lower than that when most opportunities comes again to the majorty of us.

[panganib999]

When you're living under low wages, you really have no choice but to work with what you have, that includes budgeting, making sure that you don't fall out of line when it comes to your expenses, watching how much you spend over what you earn and what you are able to save, and all that stuff. You could look at applying for another job but understand that this comes with the consequences of not being able to have much time for yourself moving forward, since it's going to eat up on whatever time you have for yourself and for your family for the sake of money.

I say it's best to be low-earning and not have a family, you have better options and you can easily make decisions without taking the other person's feelings into account, but I understand that not everyone here has that liberty, to which I loop back with we should really work with what we have.

[blockman]

In our case, we did not reduce the number of meals per day but rather we decrease the amount per serving and also some ingredients for it. In that way we can still have the good number of meals per day and we can manage our finances so well. We are avoiding spending in house deliveries of foods and other items , maybe we will only by those things if there's special occasion. We prioritize things that we need over our necessities, inflation is hard here.

Inflation sucks and we're all having hard time getting on the recovery for each of our lives just because of the effect of the covid pandemic. Before I was also into food deliveries as it saves me a lot of time in meal preparation and I just have to do what I have to do while waiting for the food to come. But with inflation, meal prices have also increased and I can feel already the regret if I do order a food for myself and for my family. It's best to cook on our own and just as you have said, one way is to decrease the serving if you are trying to save. And we're all economical and what we do is we cook for lunch and then whatever is the left over, we try to maximize it and reheat that for our snack or even in dinner. We just got to do whatever it takes for us to save money despite living with not a lot from our sources of income. Avoiding extensive spending habits should start and don't go with your friends that are pushing to spend a lot of money just to be in and be with them, they're not going to feed you and your family with their gimmicks and hang outs.

[shinratensei_]

I would say a simple life with a smile on your face all the time.

I try to maximum time live in a very simple life with limited expenses but sometimes there are some problems is make difficult situations, I try to be happy and smile maximum the time. I want people around me to be good. What I have come to realize is that people who live very ordinary lives and are always happy are the ones who are most restless and even though physically they seem to be really happy. But on the side of danger, trouble always surrounds them.

thats true, people really don't show if they strangled in debts, most people under minimum wage might like happy but honestly they always have something going on that become fleething thoughts in their minds.
its still undeniable that having high income brings more happiness, the pressure of having debts alone is already nerve wracking sometime stressing out but there's nothing for people with minimum wage can do except slowly paying off their debts.
having more and more income as the time goes still the key but the question is how can we increase our income? since its easier said than done.

[alastantiger]

There are many people around us, where their income is not enough to manage a family how do you manage your family and economy? There are many people who manage their family very well even though their income is very low in their personal life, how do you manage it?

You have a lot of work to do to be able to avoid issues. This is a problem with a improper planning. I see no other way around this on. If your income is low then it is time to increase your certificate,.skillet so be more employable

[HONDACD125]

When you're living under low wages, you really have no choice but to work with what you have, that includes budgeting, making sure that you don't fall out of line when it comes to your expenses, watching how much you spend over what you earn and what you are able to save, and all that stuff. You could look at applying for another job but understand that this comes with the consequences of not being able to have much time for yourself moving forward, since it's going to eat up on whatever time you have for yourself and for your family for the sake of money.

I say it's best to be low-earning and not have a family, you have better options and you can easily make decisions without taking the other person's feelings into account, but I understand that not everyone here has that liberty, to which I loop back with we should really work with what we have.

It is difficult for people who have low monthly salary or people with low income to meet their budget. Of course, we should not increase our expenses with our income, but there are some things that we need in every situation. So we cannot ignore these basic things. Time is a precious thing, which is very important for you and your family, but when the economic conditions are bad, instead of prioritizing time, you should prioritize improving your economic conditions.

In my opinion, family is very important in human life. It is not necessary if we cannot give more time to our family, but it is more important to give our family a better life and facilities. I think it is better to do two jobs than one, but having a family is very important, because the happiness of the family includes our happiness. Limiting your life to yourself can be a very difficult life.

[red4slash]

In our case, we did not reduce the number of meals per day but rather we decrease the amount per serving and also some ingredients for it. In that way we can still have the good number of meals per day and we can manage our finances so well. We are avoiding spending in house deliveries of foods and other items , maybe we will only by those things if there's special occasion. We prioritize things that we need over our necessities, inflation is hard here.

It's the same thing, whether you reduce the number of servings or just the amount per serving - you eat less food. Good, nutritious food is an absolute basic need and you shouldn't be looking to save on that, unless you're out of any other saving options. Especially when you have kids - the amount and quality of food will have a huge effect on their development. Many people don't fully realise that.
If possible, try eat as close to the nature as possible, avoid processed foods, grow your own fruits/vegetables and hunt/fish yourself, if you have such possibility.
Ordering takeaways is the worst option possible: it's hardly ever fresh (usually get saggy in the transport), almost always unhealthy (produced with cheapest ingredients/fried in an old oil etc) and much more expensive than cooking yourself. I'd drop that completely.

It is not wise to reduce the number of servings or whatever it is per day, because it is a basic need that we cannot reduce in my opinion. You see, we have to stay healthy and one of the ways to achieve that is by eating enough and being nutritious, health has to be prioritized because it affects everything, for example, working has to be healthy, right?
I agree with you that taking food in nature is a very good thing. You can start by growing your own vegetables, after all it's now easy to garden with modern farming methods. I think it's possible, it just depends on whether we want to do it or not.

[uchegod-21]

I hear people say do not start up a family if your income is low but this is not applicable in all cases. A low income earner should as a matter of necessity order his wants according to their order of priority. Why spend things you do not need? Scale of preference is the solution here.
 A family who earns a very low income should not be in a competition with the next family. Go for good products and services but at affordable prices.  All expenses should be within the family's budget and not to impress anyone.
And while managing the family's scarce resources,  an alternative source of income should also be looked into.

Basically, we have to live a lifestyle that is in accordance with our income and of course we can enjoy it, sometimes what makes things difficult for us is a lifestyle that is not in accordance with our income. However, we can change the economic situation, as long as we can manage our income and expenses well. When income rises, expenses should not follow so that there will be a lot of remaining income that can be allocated to invest so that we can improve our lives in the future.

Yea, many will overlook this. They believe in "the higher the income,  the higher my expenses". Most times we make things difficult for ourselves. Once income rises, they go for expensive houses, cars, schools and many other expensive stuffs thereby giving little room for little or no investment. All this will only increase the suffering and hardship the more.
I am not saying we should still struggle financially even when we have more income,  live comfortably but spend wisely and save for the future, invest for the future.  Just make plans for the future so you don't need to run your family with low income for ages.