Are we the only ones struggling financially?
- Thread starter sunflower232
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- vent working moms
sunflower232
New member
kokavkrystallos
New member
@sunflower232 PSA: Tell your congresspeople that the tax credits don't help as a reimbursement. We need to get the amount as a monthly stipend. Getting reimbursed for daycare doesn't actually pay for daycare.
onanewpath
New member
@sunflower232 Feel blessed
joevincent
New member
@sunflower232 I just want to SCREAM every time I'm seeing the struggle posts it includes I'm so tired and I have to ALSO take care of the dogs in addition to the human I have to take care of already or we are struggling but we ALSO need to spend thousands dollars on the dogs and cats. Why on earth you want to divert the resources from your spouse children house to the animals when you DON'T have enough recourses already?? Ugh! Yeah tell me that they are family too, yuck
infomommax
New member
@sunflower232 My husband just started working full time (with 10 hours of overtime a week) so right now I feel like we are doing better, but I am struggling to get the credit cards paid off and save as well. The car breaks, I needed to pay income taxes from 2020 when I didn’t update my job, we also have the vet coming up, the other car breaks. We will soon have one daycare costs however only 90 dollars a week for two days.
It’s exhausting.
It’s exhausting.
pyroisonfire
New member
@sunflower232 Same here. Husband and I both have good paying jobs, HCOL area, can't seem to stay ahead as there's always *something* coming up and it's extremely frustrating. I just stopped contributing to my 401k because we need the cash now to more quickly pay off credit card debt and get that down. We are seriously talking about moving to a different part of the country with a much lower cost of living next year. I'm pregnant with #3 and when we planned, we had plenty of money, but I have no idea where in the world it's all suddenly going. Maybe we've just hit a rough patch with expensive things coming up, maybe it's inflation kicking our asses on groceries and gas, I have no idea. Maybe a bit of both. We can stay on top, but it's difficult to get ahead. I'm tired.
gottmaninst
New member
@sunflower232 No, you're not. My husband and I only have one car. I had one but thanks to the tiktok challenge where people teach you how to steal a Hyundai or Kia with a USB cord, my car was stolen. We were going to get me another, but we've had some financial issues. We're trying to address this first.
I've got student loans which are starting up again.
I've got student loans which are starting up again.
kenjisan70
New member
@sunflower232 Having a second child is a bad idea.
truthkeeper
New member
@sunflower232 Solidarity.
Both make good incomes, mortgage is way reasonable (bought in 2016, refinanced at 3%) own both cars outright. Really scaled back eating out when we had our first kid… and covid made it a habit.
But
Fucking daycare costs are astronomical. Our second starts next week. To prepare my husband and I both got new jobs to help bring in more income. Tightened up elsewhere, and dialed back 401k funding from where I’d like to be. With the goal of increasing our rainy day fund before that second daycare bill hit and it became impossible. Got a few house fixes done before baby to get ready…
Then the whole HVAC broke: 10k gone, and then a pressure valve broke, and with that they found a leak: 5k gone.
So here we are with less in savings and daycare just announced a 12% increase starting in September. We aren’t swimming in debt, just can’t catch a break to get ahead despite us trying our best to prepare.
Both make good incomes, mortgage is way reasonable (bought in 2016, refinanced at 3%) own both cars outright. Really scaled back eating out when we had our first kid… and covid made it a habit.
But
Fucking daycare costs are astronomical. Our second starts next week. To prepare my husband and I both got new jobs to help bring in more income. Tightened up elsewhere, and dialed back 401k funding from where I’d like to be. With the goal of increasing our rainy day fund before that second daycare bill hit and it became impossible. Got a few house fixes done before baby to get ready…
Then the whole HVAC broke: 10k gone, and then a pressure valve broke, and with that they found a leak: 5k gone.
So here we are with less in savings and daycare just announced a 12% increase starting in September. We aren’t swimming in debt, just can’t catch a break to get ahead despite us trying our best to prepare.
@sunflower232 Relate ! I’m in a low cost area and we have cut back on so much just to break even. A/C use has been cut back, no more eating out as even fast food is expensive, neither of us have bought new clothes for awhile. I know I have it better than most as at least I never stress about mortgage being paid, and we have an OK savings, so I feel bad about complaining but I miss having a cup of white mocha at Starbucks once in awhile.
Idk what I’m going to do in October when my credential renewal for work is $205
Idk what I’m going to do in October when my credential renewal for work is $205
elite_jedi
New member
@sunflower232 We’re struggling. We have two good jobs and a low housing payment (bought nine years ago) but daycare and a few poor choices has put us in a good deal of CC debt. We’ll be ok, we’ll get it paid off, but…ugh. We have so much equity but I’m afraid if I tap it for this we’ll just end up back here in three years. I feel like we need to suffer for it a bit. Just living what we thought was a middle class lifestyle and have realized we need to scale it way back.
@sunflower232 It is really hard. Hopefully once kids start school it will become easier? 
@berean34 I hate to be a Debbie but it doesn’t. I thought this too but until they can get themselves to and from school safely school sucks because it’s not planned around a 2 working parent household. Starting at 8:30 and releasing at 3:20? So you’ll need before and after school care. Then there’s administrative no school days. What are we supposed to do for that? Snow days? Guess I gotta call in too. Field trips, lunch money. It never ends. It never ends.
@dlrjdg Yes, it does. It started with a government grant but became permanent.
If you are lower income, it is even less than $250 per child. We live in a beach city in California. However, it used to be $800 per month (max).
Our school district also offers transitional kindergarten for most kids, childcare for kids starting at age 3 (but wait list is long), and multiple dual language immersion programs.
Not every school district in California does this.
If you are lower income, it is even less than $250 per child. We live in a beach city in California. However, it used to be $800 per month (max).
Our school district also offers transitional kindergarten for most kids, childcare for kids starting at age 3 (but wait list is long), and multiple dual language immersion programs.
Not every school district in California does this.
sherlockpwns
New member
@sunflower232 We are not struggling but compared to couple of years back, we are definitely saving less, contributing less to 401k combined, and spending more. Second kid childcare, picking up back some expensive winter activities, kids activities etc + house stuff + spouse being out of work for extended time after layoff and now me being laid off.
I’m taking summer off (paid by severance) and do not want to work now but if I do not start a new job or some freelance gig in November (and that’s when my unemployment runs out), we may need to make some adjustments.
I’m taking summer off (paid by severance) and do not want to work now but if I do not start a new job or some freelance gig in November (and that’s when my unemployment runs out), we may need to make some adjustments.
@sunflower232 Unexpected home costs are the WORST. We had to have a new well drilled last summer, a fun $12K.
missjasmine
New member
@sunflower232 I feel this wholeheartedly. We are in a similar situation. My child changes from a daycare to a more school environment in Aug. We've been paying both the daycare and school since May. These two total more than our mortgage. If it's not one thing, it's another as far as finances. Good luck!!