What are you cutting in your budget to absorb the Payroll Tax increase?

[disney212]

I was also putting the extra it in my 401K so I figured I would just put a little less in savings each month. Turns out I got a decent enough raise to keep my 401K where it is at now and be able to put a little more in savings. As far as DH's check, we live well below our means and save most of his check. His works offers unlimited OT so he said he will pick up a couple days each month if our trip funds aren't looking plump as he would like. It was way less than $200 a month our of each of our checks so we are not wealthy by any means.

 

[finz2left]

Did people honestly not know it was reverting back?

It shouldn't have been a surprise.

Amen. The funding is CRITICAL for important programs and I'm tired of hearing people whine. You got a GIFT for a couple of years and it hurt the economy. When will people stop kevetching that "congress" spends too much and the deficit is too high, but also complain when the spending stops?

 

[finz2left]

I guess what frustrates me (and I don't just mean in this thread, I mean with people I've spoken to) is that everyone sees this as something "taken away" when what was happening was we were being GIVEN another 2% for a little while, and now that's done.

It's like someone said about the bonuses. I got a $2k bonus this year. If I get $1500 next year, they didn't "take away" $500 from me.

Ding, Ding, Ding. Another Winner! Thank you!

 

[yeahdisney]

When we got 2% break, I increased my retirement fund. Our company merged with a bigger company so our health insurance went down for this calendar year but it comes out of each paycheck not skipping 2 pay periods. I flexed health care for this year, none last year. In my paycheck today i got a couple dollars more then my last paycheck, it lowered my taxable income. I need to go check out DHs check.

 

[deserrai]

My raise was more than 2% so I'll still get an increase. I should have done what others did and put the extra 2% in my 401k. Oh well. It is over now.

 

[crjack]

Crjack, that is what I call the "murphys law of money". It is almost a certainty in my life. As soon as we save up a pretty comfortable cushion in our savings an appliance will break, a car will break, the dog will get sick and have a 2000 vet bill or a college tuition bill will come due. It's almost as if there is some secret triggering mechanism on my savings account.

So true We've had some doozies here at our house in the past and it's always the way.

 

[mebbradley]

We shouldn't need to cut anything. Our base pay is around 25,000 per year. That only works out to be a 41-42 dollar cut but BAH is going up about 75 dollars. We shouldn't need to cut anything.

Hopefully this works out to be true, I'll be anxious to see our LES on the 7-8th.

 

[crisi]

We will keep the same standard of living, not cut anything, should end up with a larger net worth than this year - so we should save more. That is, assuming we don't loose our jobs and the stock market gets a modest return.

We have a significant portfolio. It sits there and makes more money that we don't pay Social Security tax on and don't tend to spend. Both capital gains and dividend income.

So no, not everyone will need to cut somewhere, increase their debt, or lower their savings. People who only have earned income who are experiencing stagnant salaries will. And that is tough, I'm not trying to sound unsympathetic.

 

[TnTWalter]

DH got his first raise in 4 years. And his take home pay this year will be alittle less.

What can you do? LOL.

 

[kiki02]

DH got his first raise in 4 years. And his take home pay this year will be alittle less.

What can you do? LOL.

hard to get ahead or save. you earn more, they take more. taxes, food, oil, phone, water bills....

 

[imsayin]

If they bought a house or a car based on that money being in their hands it can be difficult to swallow. That's why people would have been smart to put the money aside and not consider it a part of their budget.

If they bought a car or house based on that money being in their hands, they weren't paying attention to the fact that this was a temporary tax cut.

 

[lisaross]

I will have to make some changes...not sure where yet! I have used that 2% in my budget BUT i budget everything - vacations, food, camp etc.

My husband has been getting alot of overtime so not really sure what our "regular" take home has been! We also just upped our 401k by 4% -- and this year we pay more for health insurance - so lots of changes.....i will adjust my budget within the month. I got my 1st paycheck yesterday for the year and it stayed the same...i work for a solo practice attorney and i'm sure the accountant did not tell him to adjust the pay yet - so either he'll eat that money or we'll have to pay back?

i know others compared the 2% to a bonus or something -- but when u get that extra in each paycheck for 2 years - its hard not to add it into your budget!

I'm sure we'll all figure our new "normal" budget!

Happy Budgeting - Happy & Healthy 2013!

 

[DawnM]

People see taxes the same way. If they owe they say, "They are TAKING it from me." In reality, they didn't with hold enough from their paycheck each month. They will owe the same whether it is taken out throughout the year or taken all at once at the end.

It makes me crazy. It doesn't seem to matter how much explaining you do, people either say they are "getting something back from Uncle Sam" (believe me, Uncle Sam never GIVES you anything!) or that it is so terrible that the government is TAKING their money away if they owe.

FWIW: We knew this was temporary, but we spent much of it on home improvement anyway and we are ok with that.....we already have a decent savings account that we contribute to monthly.

Dawn

I guess what frustrates me (and I don't just mean in this thread, I mean with people I've spoken to) is that everyone sees this as something "taken away" when what was happening was we were being GIVEN another 2% for a little while, and now that's done.

It's like someone said about the bonuses. I got a $2k bonus this year. If I get $1500 next year, they didn't "take away" $500 from me.

 

[mhsjax]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't see $120K as being a high income. Of course, much depends on where you live. Try to get by on that salary in the NYC or DC metro areas. It's really tight. I can envision someone from those regions, who is in that salary range, feeling the pinch of an additional $200 being taken from their paycheck(s). If they bought a house or a car based on that money being in their hands it can be difficult to swallow. That's why people would have been smart to put the money aside and not consider it a part of their budget.

Exactly. I don't live in those areas, but with 3 teens $120K is no where near a high income. It isn't horrible but not high. I mean have you seen teenage boys eat? OMG. lol

 

[annsteere]

Seems to be a very unusual percentage of responders who remembered this was temporary and put the "extra" SS money into savings.

I remembered at first that this reduction was temporary. Then DH changed jobs and I started thinking his new paycheck was what he'd consistently earn at the new job.

I get it that we are just returning to standard tax rates. But it does mean that each check will now be smaller than it was. I forgot this change was coming. That makes me unusual on this thread. I doubt it makes me unusual in the general population.

We will adjust by decreasing the amount we pay off on our mortgage each month.

 

[Halbleib1]

Did people honestly not know it was reverting back?

It shouldn't have been a surprise.

Exactly it was called a payroll tax holiday when it was put in place. It was never meant to be perm. It is not really a tax increase since it never should have been lowered to begin with. Yes it was nice having the extra money but social security was already in trouble without adding this into the mess.

No one likes paying more but we need to face some tough facts in this country. Our debt is not going to pay for itself. Our lawmakers esp need to face these facts and stop wasting money.

 

[Tony66]

We realized that it was temporary, so we have been setting the funds aside for our next WDW trip. We will miss the savings, but we won't have to cut something else essential from our budget.

 

[robsmom]

Exactly. I don't live in those areas, but with 3 teens $120K is no where near a high income. It isn't horrible but not high. I mean have you seen teenage boys eat? OMG. lol

I think it is relative to the area that one lives in, but also to the lifestyle that they grew up with and/or have become accustomed to. I have friends that grew up with high income parents and to them $120K is not very high. I have friends that grew up with next to nothing and $120K is a fortune. It is just a reality of life that expectations change with income and lifestyle. To a person living in public housing, a townhouse in Northern Virginia would be pure luxury. To a person who grew up in a large house in one of those suburbs, that same townhouse is a starter house. It is all relative.

 

[Donnainnj]

When we got the "raise" (extra 2%) 2 years ago, dh and I increased our 401k withholdings . Now that its being changed back, We are planning on a month or so of figuring it out without making any changes, and if it puts too much strain on our budget, then we'll amend our 401k withholdings back to what they were 2 years ago. Inthe meantime, we'll take it from our entertainment slot the budget & hopefully, it won't be a problem to adjust w/o having to stop the extra 2% going in the 401k's. Thankfully, we never treated this "holiday" as income so we are not going to miss it. I am glad to be in this position.

This is exactly what we did/and plan to do
Donna

 

[ekatiel]

Seems to be a very unusual percentage of responders who remembered this was temporary and put the "extra" SS money into savings.

I remembered at first that this reduction was temporary. Then DH changed jobs and I started thinking his new paycheck was what he'd consistently earn at the new job.

I get it that we are just returning to standard tax rates. But it does mean that each check will now be smaller than it was. I forgot this change was coming. That makes me unusual on this thread. I doubt it makes me unusual in the general population.

We will adjust by decreasing the amount we pay off on our mortgage each month.

If you've been on this board for any amount of time, you realize that nearly everyone here: 1) Has 100K in savings 2) Has NO debt, not even a car or a house 3)Has fully funded retirement and college savings accounts and 4) Has the financial memory of an elephant . I just roll with it . Many people who see this thread are probably embarrassed to admit they didn't know it was coming.

For us it went something like this: "Crud, we're going to be getting less money. Oh yeah, there was that holiday thingie like 2 years ago ." I imagine it was the same way for the majority of the population, except for people willing to post on this thread!! --Katie