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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20. “My wife is going to divorce me unless I can stop being so cheap”
19. “My husband has been promising that we’ll buy a house in a few months… for five years”
18. "He's the man & he should pay. We can't go on like this any more"
17. “I think he should pay for everything because he’s the man”
16. “We’re worth $8 million but I comparison shop for strawberries”
15. “I have a $1 million trust fund and I’m scared to spend money on food”
14. “I hide my spending from my husband”
13. “I’m dumb with money and he’s making me feel worse”
12. "My husband won't talk about money with me"
11. “My wife wants to quit her job but I’m worried about money”
10. “Money is overwhelming so we find instant gratification elsewhere”
9. “I hid thousands of dollars of credit card debt from my husband”
8. “My wife is spending too much money”
7. “My parents keep expecting us to pay for them”
6. “We can’t afford to live in NYC, but my wife doesn’t want to leave the city”
5. “I paid off $50,000 of debt, but I still feel guilty buying toothpaste”
4. “My wife didn’t know I had $450,000 of debt until yesterday”
3. “My husband is going broke, but he won’t let me help”
2. “We’re worth $1 million, but we're so cheap, our friends don't want to see us anymore”
1. “My husband doesn’t trust me to run our business”
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