Rebecca and Joe have two young kids, and a third is on the way. They are renting at the moment and love the neighborhood they live in—but they both think they need more space to match their growing family. Should they keep renting? Buy a home? Move in with his parents? Their lease is up soon and the pressure is on (or so they think).
To complicate things, we find out that their fixed costs, alone, make up for 105% of their take-home pay. As a refresher, I recommend spending no more than 60% on fixed costs. But they’re spending more than they make every month. Something’s got to give.
They feel frustrated. They feel overwhelmed. They feel like failures as parents because they can't provide for their kids. There are many layers to this on both the financial side and the psychological side. Let’s dig in.
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156. "We have 2 kids, 3 cars...but only 1 month of savings" (Part 2)
155. “We have $22k in cc debt—but I want to renovate the house” (Part 1)
154. “We’re drowning in debt, but I drive a BMW”
153. “We’re married. Why do I have to ask him for money?”
152. “The world is going to end. So why bother investing?”
151. “Our gas is about to get shut off, but I refuse to sell any of my 7 cars”
150. “We’re broke, but I spend $350/mo on clothes” (Part 2)
149. “We have no savings but bought our kid a $500 toy for Christmas” (Part 1)
148. “We have 2 kids and $0 invested, but refuse to get 9-5 jobs”
147. “I don’t trust him with money, so I check his cc accounts”
146. “I'm jealous when I see friends' vacations on Instagram”
145. “Am I a bad mom if we can’t do a $7k Disney trip?”
144. “We make $245K. Why do I have to ask my wife for dinner money?”
143. “I maxed out my credit cards on our $45k wedding. Are we broke?”
142. “We have a $2.3M net worth—but we cut coupons”
141. “We only have $2k in savings but she can’t stop going to the mall”
140. “He put our $1M into one risky investment. Will we lose it all?” (Part 2)
139. “I’m afraid he’ll leave if I don’t stop stressing about the budget” (Part 1)
138. “My wife doesn’t want me to take a $720k job offer”
137. “MLMs, crypto, real estate—I can’t stop falling for get-rich-quick schemes” (Part 2)
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