$12,000 a year is plenty to maintain what I do/got.
I have zero debt.Havent had any debt since 08.

Always figured entire budget Plus 30% was good enough to me.
Seemed like I was comfortable with life if I could bank a third of my check.

Boco with you on the debt being zero. Also, we rent out our farm land so after taxes we net about a positive $12,000. But it is all the oddball stuff that costs us money. How much do you guess you spend fishing? Assuming you are not a guide who gets paid. I figure hunting and trapping hits me for a few thousand a year. Or are we just talking living expenses?

X2

And gas for the goat!!

Well I dont fish much anymore but most of my life I could cast a line from home to the river,lol.Right now I could walk about half a mile down to the falls and catch pike sturgeon and pickerel below the falls.
Same with meat hunting.
Trapping can be further out or not depending on which of the grounds I am trapping,one trapline starts pretty close to home. I fish and hunt at the cabins also.Doesnt really cost anything it is just the lifestyle of most everyone here.

What I spend money on is town taxes,heat hydro,phone,tv,internet,insurance,and various licences, grocery store food,Gas for the vehicles and toys and just wasting money on "stuff".All my hobbies make money so I dont even consider tanning and fur sewing work,I just do it when I feel like it.Even when I go on holidays I wind up coming back with more money than I left with since I usually hit a pow wow or two when travelling and sell tons of fur.

Pick up aluminum cans beside the road, that's what I learned from Cathryn for better or worse.

Forgot about that...lol

I'm comfortable on this. I could get by on much less but like putting monthly deposits in the kids brokerage accounts, paying for my daughter's tuition, and not having to worry if I have cash in the bank when things break and need replaced. Like new tires on the wife's van two weeks ago, and $400 plumbing parts to fix a leak between the house and meter yesterday.

Need 6 figures to live if you got youngins, truck payments, payroll, and a mortgage these days. Make anything less than six figures, then you are not middle class. You are poor.
Thank you Federal Government and Central Banks.

I don't know if I admire those of you with very low expenses or that I am glad I am not in that standard of living bracket. With federal, state, sales tax and charitable donations we are well over half of the 40K many of you state and we have not covered any living costs.

Bryce

Nessie...I had alot on my mind today. Lol

Run..i got 5 contractor garbage bags of 3m today..today from some people qho drink alot of beer and give me their cans...

Well I answered the question...but right now we make little more than 40K. While we raised our 4 kids we made Over 140K until my Stroke and my Wife's Directors job along with 400 others being eliminated when her company she worked for sold. We learned what Life throwing us a curve ball was.

We paid for 3 Daughter s weddings and helped with our Son's Wedding before our downsizing.

25k. live small.

I’m not sure if having low expenses is the same as standard of living. Everyone has a different cost of living, my family’s income would have a person eating like a king in some areas, and living in a shack in others. It is all subjective really.

40k in some areas is a dream, 40k in others, will barely pay the school and property tax.

Pretty good stuff.

That’s the truth

100000 now so when I retire in 6 years im done working as everything is paid off mortgage vehicles toys and i have no debt now so when I retire ill do whatever I want to do.

No debt is where it is at! I was there, but built a new house, so will have a mortgage for a bit until we pay that off in 10-15 years. Right around the time I retire.

Boco..it's 20000 for us.

Our biggest expenses are propane and.car insurance.

Before Jerry met me and bought my homeplace..he could have made it easily on 10000

We have 2 homes..3 hrs apart and all the bills associated with them that are paid.

We make almost half that on ramps in that 4 to 6 week window.

The more we sell the less we have to come up with somewhere else.

Jerry takes 6000.00 for trapping out of his fur money and the rest of that goes into a savings account or a cd.

He's workng..partime.as he wants..so he can go trapping.

He's gonna be working 3 days a week when he comes back..but that goes into the checking account cause something always seems to come up.

Fuel is a huge expense for us...

Not just for trapping but just in general