How to be poor?

[arbol]

You are a father, with a couple of extra units, so what you say counts.

I'd suggest being vocal, among your peers.

[Grant H.]

Good timing on this thread.

My employer (Space/Defense) has recently made the move to mandatory "Jab" (they aren't vaccines), or DAILY testing/Mask when in the office, so we will see how long my job lasts. The international travel portion of my job is pretty much shot given that lots of foreign countries are requiring a jab to get in now. Thankfully I am mostly WFH, with a little HQ time, and my boss appears to be willing to work with me to transition to a less travel, more HQ/Home based role on the team. But, I am not hopeful that my career at this company will extend past the next 6-24 months. I will play their mask/testing game as long as I can be 80%+ WFH, and continue to collect my check/benefits/etc, and then peace the hell out when it gets past the point I am willing to tolerate.

My wife and I were talking about our finances and future plans in regard to all of this just last night. I am the majority income for our DINK household, and it would suck to lose my salary, but we are actually pretty well positioned if that happened.

We have no major debt beyond our house. The couple small debts that are still tagging along are going to get paid off in the next 30-90 days.
We have an anniversary trip planned for this fall that we are going to take.
We have a couple projects around the house in work that are consuming our expendable income right now (all DIY to save on labor, but spending some of the savings on nicer/better parts pieces)

Once our anniversary trip is done, and the projects are wrapped up, we will be "battening down the hatches" for a while, and see where this all goes.

As for tightening the proverbial belt:
Stop eating out - We actually eat out a lot right now, but we are both capable of cooking and happy to eat left overs. Meal plan, make large batches and eat it for 2-3 days, or freeze and reheat later.
Sell the extra car - We have 3 cars and my motorcycle right now. We are selling the 3rd car. The bike doesn't cost enough to insure/drive to be worth selling, but registering/insuring/maintaining 3 cars adds up.
Sell the extra stuff - Everyone has too much stuff anymore. Sell the excess that you don't need or use.
Cut out extra expenses - Add on subscriptions to HBO, ESPN, etc... We have and use Netflix and Prime. We currently have Hulu (promo for a year at $1/mo), but will cancel it when that runs out. Similar deal with Disney+. Talking to a buddy of mine, he spends $250/mo on streaming with add on packages (HBO, Starz, etc). Youtube is free. Netflix is cheap etc...
Stop watering the grass - If things really do get tight for folks, stop watering the grass. Water bills are expensive, and green grass is generally a waste. Water a garden instead (less water, and you get a return on that investment). If you have an HOA, well, then you have to deal with those asshats, but you bought there...
Look through your recurring auto-charges - Seriously. Look at what gets auto-charged each month to a card. What of that can be cancelled?

The list goes on and on.

Something that Irving touched on, but I went a little further with, is solar. Offgrid solar systems to power critical infrastructure (fridge, freezer, furnace, etc). Doesn't have to be a massive system, but I shaved $40-50/mo off my electric bill and I don't have to worry about power outages and a freezer full of expensive meat. Most grid tie systems (Sunrun, Namaste, etc) won't run power anything without the grid being present, and are overpriced.

Edited to add:

On the sell extra stuff one, if you have a storage unit that you are paying to store stuff... Why? What is in there that you can't get rid of and save that $50-500/mo?

[Bailey Guns]

Wasn't trying to bust your balls. Just pointing out some differences.

[ray1970]

But I have no idea how to be that level of poor with kids

Don?t take this as advice but rather just me sharing my personal thoughts.

As a husband and father of two, there isn?t anything I wouldn?t do or sacrifice to take care of my family and make things as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

While I feel this whole Covid thing and especially the push for everyone to get the vaccine is a bunch of garbage, if I had to choose between following my moral compass and being destitute or taking their stupid vaccine to maintain my family?s lifestyle I would take the shot and continue on with my life.

I wouldn?t be happy about it for damn sure but I also don?t think whatever they would inject me with would be any more or less harmful than the virus.

I guess what I?m saying is that I would take a bullet for my loved ones so taking some shot for them wouldn?t be the worst thing I could do.

Now, take the wife and kids out of the equation and everyone can go f**k themselves and I?ll live in a van down by the river and eat dog food to survive.

[FoxtArt]

Don?t take this as advice but rather just me sharing my personal thoughts.

As a husband and father of two, there isn?t anything I wouldn?t do or sacrifice to take care of my family and make things as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

While I feel this whole Covid thing and especially the push for everyone to get the vaccine is a bunch of garbage, if I had to choose between following my moral compass and being destitute or taking their stupid vaccine to maintain my family?s lifestyle I would take the shot and continue on with my life.

I wouldn?t be happy about it for damn sure but I also don?t think whatever they would inject me with would be any more or less harmful than the virus.

I guess what I?m saying is that I would take a bullet for my loved ones so taking some shot for them wouldn?t be the worst thing I could do.

Now, take the wife and kids out of the equation and everyone can go f**k themselves and I?ll live in a van down by the river and eat dog food to survive.

Good post. I think in truth, most would unfortunately follow this same path as well, they just wont own up to it. It's easy to act principled online, but principles are pretty hard to eat.

[Grant H.]

Don?t take this as advice but rather just me sharing my personal thoughts.

As a husband and father of two, there isn?t anything I wouldn?t do or sacrifice to take care of my family and make things as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

While I feel this whole Covid thing and especially the push for everyone to get the vaccine is a bunch of garbage, if I had to choose between following my moral compass and being destitute or taking their stupid vaccine to maintain my family?s lifestyle I would take the shot and continue on with my life.

I wouldn?t be happy about it for damn sure but I also don?t think whatever they would inject me with would be any more or less harmful than the virus.

I guess what I?m saying is that I would take a bullet for my loved ones so taking some shot for them wouldn?t be the worst thing I could do.

Now, take the wife and kids out of the equation and everyone can go f**k themselves and I?ll live in a van down by the river and eat dog food to survive.

The .gov/Powers-that-be know this and are exploiting that in every way they can. I think that most parents would absolutely choose this over having to put their children at risk of less than the best possible.

A friend of mine is 3 years away from his 20yr mark in the .MIL and will likely face a dishonorable discharge for refusing to take this. He has a wife and kids, but he is planning on refusing it.

I didn't think the decline of the USA as it was intended would arrive this quickly, but it's for damn sure being accelerated and driven into the dirt...

I spent some time on the phone with a close friend who is a GP Doc, and he is suggesting that anyone that opts to get a jab choose the J&J or the NovaVax, as they are NOT mRNA based, which is what's being pushed so eff'ing hard (to the point that there is reasonable suspicion about exaggeration of side effects with the J&J to sway public opinion away from it).

[Irving]

Don?t take this as advice but rather just me sharing my personal thoughts.

As a husband and father of two, there isn?t anything I wouldn?t do or sacrifice to take care of my family and make things as easy and comfortable for them as possible.

While I feel this whole Covid thing and especially the push for everyone to get the vaccine is a bunch of garbage, if I had to choose between following my moral compass and being destitute or taking their stupid vaccine to maintain my family?s lifestyle I would take the shot and continue on with my life.

I wouldn?t be happy about it for damn sure but I also don?t think whatever they would inject me with would be any more or less harmful than the virus.

I guess what I?m saying is that I would take a bullet for my loved ones so taking some shot for them wouldn?t be the worst thing I could do.

Now, take the wife and kids out of the equation and everyone can go f**k themselves and I?ll live in a van down by the river and eat dog food to survive.

Good post. I think in truth, most would unfortunately follow this same path as well, they just wont own up to it. It's easy to act principled online, but principles are pretty hard to eat.

Both good posts. The problem with this trend, is that they aren't just making one person in the family get a vaccine. I'm not worried about the vaccine on a personal level, more a societal level, but do I want my daughter to get what I feel is an unnecessary injection? Should I bankrupt our family and risk losing my family and custody of her when she'll eventually be made to get the vaccine anyway? I don't know. I don't like any of this, but the radical changes that need to happen aren't going to happen fast enough, and I'm not in a position to effect any changes to the situation. Reality is setting in and decisions are going to have to be made.

[Great-Kazoo]

Both good posts. The problem with this trend, is that they aren't just making one person in the family get a vaccine. I'm not worried about the vaccine on a personal level, more a societal level, but do I want my daughter to get what I feel is an unnecessary injection? Should I bankrupt our family and risk losing my family and custody of her when she'll eventually be made to get the vaccine anyway? I don't know. I don't like any of this, but the radical changes that need to happen aren't going to happen fast enough, and I'm not in a position to effect any changes to the situation. Reality is setting in and decisions are going to have to be made.

Do what you feel is best for you. The hell with everyone else feelings and opinions. If they're not paying your bills, medical care and everything else who gives a shit?

Like i told the guy next door, yesterday, again. Mind your own fukin business.

[MrPrena]

health. good health.

I don't care someone accumulated millions. if someone is on therapy which does not cover by insurance, that mills will turn in thousands in 4 years.

I remember with Provenge was not covered by major insurance and people had to cough up $90k+ / year (pre 2010 dollar).

[Irving]

For anyone reading who can afford it, now would be a great time to up the limits on your auto policy for uninsured/under insured motorist.