The surge in prices for essentials like groceries, clothes, and appliances has made it increasingly challenging to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. This economic climate poses a significant challenge for single-income households, making it difficult to make ends meet.
A user asked the forum, “How are single-income households surviving in this economy?”. Here are the top responses.
NO CHILDREN
“I’m single with no children.”
EATING RICE AND BEANS
“I’m making a lot of rice. A lot of beans. Sometimes, I make rice and beans. Other times, I do beans and rice. It’s pretty cool.”
LIVING LOW-QUALITY LIFE
“Well. It’s just me, and I live as a bachelor. Not even a full-sized apartment. I have a mini fridge, and I had to buy a deep freezer in order to properly buy groceries. At least I have my own bathroom and no roommates, I guess. There was no stove or oven either, so I had to buy a single burner from Canadian Tire.
The quality of living has gone down tremendously. I don’t feel like I live in Canada anymore.
The price I’m paying for my bachelor house is a little more expensive than what I was paying for a two-bedroom apartment pre-pandemic.”
HOME-COOKED FOOD AND USING OLD CLOTHES
“Old, well-maintained cars. Home-cooked food, eating out only once a week. Clothes were used for years. One subscription service at a time.”
WORKING ON WEEKENDS
“I am a single mom of two living in MA. I do not get child support, and I cover 100% of the health insurance. I pay $2500 in mortgage, and that’s one of my biweekly checks.
The rest is paid with the other cheek, and I do Uber and Doordash on the weekends when I don’t have my kids. I am blessed to have a $92K salary working in the medical device industry, but even at that, it’s not enough. I don’t know how other people do it.”
QUIT EATING MEAT AND DIARY
“Single parent here. We quit eating meat and most dairy. I buy a big jug of concentrated Castile soap and make my own hand soap, cleaning products, etc.
Fast food is less frequent, and often just small snacks instead of meals. I buy as much as I can at the dollar store/ Facebook marketplace/ liquidation store. We also do a lot of free activities around town.”
EATING ONE MEAL A DAY
“I’m a mother of three. I’m eating one meal a day right now.”
LIVING IN A CAR
“Homeless. Living in a car. I earn 40-60k a year.”
NOT GOING OUT A LOT
“Small-town Wisconsin is pretty ok. I live alone. I work at a factory on the DuPont schedule. Can manage expenses fine. I don’t go out a lot or do a lot of “treating myself,” but that’s not due to lack of money.
I just generally don’t do much random spending. I also am not a Picky eater, so eating the same thing or eating simple things is cheap and easy.”
LIVING IN RURAL AREAS
“Living in rural areas helps a lot. I know several single-income households with the one working that doesn’t even make 75k, and they own their house, two cars, etc.”
PRACTICING LOW-COST LIVING
“Midwest, lower cost of living. Purchased our house at the right time and sold my fixer-upper at the right time. Mortgage is under 4%; payments are about 1100 with insurance.
In my career, I have a company vehicle and company gas. My wife has her own vehicle, 0% interest, low monthly, and is still in NFL coverage.
We have 0 kids. We have cats. I have health insurance on our cats that pays out 80% of the fix, so that covers a lot. My wife is a coupon queen. She makes a $300 grocery run for $97.”
PAYING ALL THE DEBTS QUICKLY
“Moved to a lower cost area and paid down debt as quickly as possible.”
OWNING ONLY FEW THINGS
“Live simply, own a few things, never buy in excess, skip doctor and dentist visits when insurance isn’t available, reuse as much as we can, and steer clear of single-use items.
I won’t lie, though; it is difficult. Additionally, your definition of comfort is probably very different from mine.”
MEAL PLANNING
“Meal planning has helped me cut down on the amount I spend on groceries. I always make a list ahead and only buy those things when I go grocery shopping.”
UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WANTS AND NEEDS
“Budgeting, understanding the difference between wants and needs, living in an LCOL (aka the sticks, town pop, was less than a 1000 people) area and one spouse (me) with a six-figure (mid 100’s) income.”
TIGHT BUDGET
“Severe budgeting. I’m the only person working in my household right now as my wife watches after our baby. This means I cover all of us on my health insurance, I pay the gas and insurance for two cars, and I pay for groceries for us.
Without a tight budget, we would sink.”
MAKING FRUGAL CHOICES
“We’ve always been frugal, so it hasn’t really felt much different. Family of 5 on one income.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.