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

[Marionnette]

Why on earth would anyone here would feel the need to publicly announce their net worth on a message board!

Ummm...that's not my "net worth". Do you understand what that term means? I said that I had more than $100K in savings. There's a BIG difference between liquid assets and net worth.

 

[donaldlovesdaisy]

Ummm...that's not my "net worth". Do you understand what that term means? I said that I had more than $100K in savings. There's a BIG difference between liquid assets and net worth.

Yes I know exactly what it means I guess I just choose a poor choice of words however I still have no clue why anyone would want a bunch of total strangers to know their financial status if for any other reasons then to a) poor mouth or b) brag. I just can't imagine publicizing my financial info to a group of strangers. Like I said before the 2 percent increase or whatever it is not a big deal for our family but I am in the group that either did not remember that this tax break was going to end and I hardly think that makes me or my husband foolish.

 

[eliza61]

Yes I know exactly what it means I guess I just choose a poor choice of words however I still have no clue why anyone would want a bunch of total strangers to know their financial status if for any other reasons then to a) poor mouth or b) brag. I just can't imagine publicizing my financial info to a group of strangers. Like I said before the 2 percent increase or whatever it is not a big deal for our family but I am in the group that either did not remember that this tax break was going to end and I hardly think that makes me or my husband foolish.

why? as you say we're just strangers. we're not going to track her down and stalk her so basically she's throwing out a number that in reality is just that a number.
It's no different that saying "my check decreased by $250 bucks or some one saying that their mortgage is 104K dollars.

 

[vacationer1954]

There are websites where people post all their investments and account balances because without that detail they cannot help each other understand the best choices to make for retirement.

 

[preschoolmom]

Some of the replies on this thread are so incredibly obnoxious

I consider myself to be fairly financially savvy and I had no recollection of this being a tax "holiday". We also don't have cable, so maybe I just didn't spend much time thinking about it when it happened.

We're lucky that it doesn't really impact us. My DH makes a nice living and we are finally what I would call "comfortable".

I think some of the posters on this thread either never really struggled financially, or have forgotten what it was like back in the day. When I was first home, with three babies - and we were living on one (much smaller) income - every dollar did count in our budget. It took years of living like that for us to build our way up to where we are now. Now, we're comfortable. We're also 10 years older.

I imagine that (many of) the people that "every dollar counts" are younger than (many of) the people that made small retirement adjustments and don't notice those types of numbers in their budget any longer.

 

[crisi]

While I know that's an exageration, I never get why it's a surprise to people that this board has lots of pretty afluent people. It's a board full of people who can afford to vacation at WDW!

I'm not as afluent as some here, but am not surprised this is a board with many people who have a certain amount of means.

I'm always shocked by that as well. You see someone's signature with yearly or twice yearly trips to WDW and/or cruises and then you are surprised that they have or make a lot of money? This being the budget board - I'd hope anyone with annual Disney trips under their belt has enough money that the SS tax reverting back to normal isn't going to mean they can't afford groceries!

And I see no difference between hinting at my net worth and someone telling me how much debt they have, how much they spend on groceries every week, or how much the social security tax increase is going to affect their paycheck - which is the same thing as telling me pretty much exactly what you make - all it takes to get your salary from "my paycheck will be $100 less" is eighth grade math.

 

[lilpig]

Some of the replies on this thread are so incredibly obnoxious

I agree! I also did not "remember"..heck I didn't even know about the "holiday" ending until hearing on the news. Thankfully for us our numbers are ok. So I will not have to rearrange anything.

Empathy is something we all need more of. All around.

 

[mdsoccermom]

I'm always shocked by that as well. You see someone's signature with yearly or twice yearly trips to WDW and/or cruises and then you are surprised that they have or make a lot of money? This being the budget board - I'd hope anyone with annual Disney trips under their belt has enough money that the SS tax reverting back to normal isn't going to mean they can't afford groceries!

And I see no difference between hinting at my net worth and someone telling me how much debt they have, how much they spend on groceries every week, or how much the social security tax increase is going to affect their paycheck - which is the same thing as telling me pretty much exactly what you make - all it takes to get your salary from "my paycheck will be $100 less" is eighth grade math.

Well, the number of trips in one's signature means very little. We've seen many posts on here from people who plan those trips no matter what. We've seen many posts from people who have planned multiple trips while charging off their credit card debt, on the verge of bankruptcy, being given a gift trip, wondering how they'll feed their family of six on $25 a day and so on.

 

[crisi]

At some level I'm an optimist. I hope that most people here are here because they are Disney fans indulging themselves in a hobby they can afford. Not addicts feeding an addiction that is having a negative impact on their external lives. So I hope that MOST of us with multiple trips under our belt are fans - and I know there are a few addicts - I suppose I'm just as naive, but in the other direction.

And because I can be naturally frugal myself - I don't assume anyone trying to feed their family for $100 a week or making homemade laundry detergent while going to Disney is doing it from necessity (I've done both) - that sort of frugality is a hobby activity for me.

 

[flowerboy]

Gave up soda, less eating out, less vacation, cut down on target, walmart junk food buying. Also was planning on buying furniture not now. Not only are payroll taxes going up, so is healthcare premium, insurance premium, property taxes. Wages not so much. I knew it was coming and planned to enjoy for awhile, I'm still young. Will start to cut back this year.

 

[eliza61]

Some of the replies on this thread are so incredibly obnoxious

I consider myself to be fairly financially savvy and I had no recollection of this being a tax "holiday". We also don't have cable, so maybe I just didn't spend much time thinking about it when it happened.

We're lucky that it doesn't really impact us. My DH makes a nice living and we are finally what I would call "comfortable".

I think some of the posters on this thread either never really struggled financially, or have forgotten what it was like back in the day. When I was first home, with three babies - and we were living on one (much smaller) income - every dollar did count in our budget. It took years of living like that for us to build our way up to where we are now. Now, we're comfortable. We're also 10 years older.

I imagine that (many of) the people that "every dollar counts" are younger than (many of) the people that made small retirement adjustments and don't notice those types of numbers in their budget any longer.

I guess that's where we differ. I think as you get older you NOTICE every thing. You gain wisdom along the way and because I'd like to retire soon I'm almost fanatical about what news comes out of washington. Believe me I am following the SS, medicare debate like a hawk because I'm now living in AARP-ville I do remember when I made bone headed decisions with my money and I do try not to be obnoxious about it but it's because I remember those days that I'm so diligent now.

different ages just mean different things.

Yeah you had the 3 babies but I've got 2 college tuitions and zippo financial aide When you get there, ask me again about watching every dollar. I just had an argument with my freshmen son. He lent his bf $100 bucks over the holiday, even though he hasn't paid for his spring term books, can't tell you how happy that made me. Yeah, I'm watching every quarter.
And now that I'm thinking retirement (within 6 or 7 years) I have to keep in mind that I can't recoup from my stupid mistakes. When I stayed home with my sons, I always knew that I would return to work so I didn't have a problem having a big car note. Now I have to really think about it because I don't have another 10 years of income to make up for it.

Age IMO has nothing to do with watching every dollar. whether your just started out, middle age or in AARP-vile you should be doing that, different ages just mean different set of expenses.

 

[edk35]

I guess that's where we differ. I think as you get older you NOTICE every thing. You gain wisdom along the way and because I'd like to retire soon I'm almost fanatical about what news comes out of washington. Believe me I am following the SS, medicare debate like a hawk because I'm now living in AARP-ville I do remember when I made bone headed decisions with my money and I do try not to be obnoxious about it but it's because I remember those days that I'm so diligent now.

different ages just mean different things.

Yeah you had the 3 babies but I've got 2 college tuitions and zippo financial aide When you get there, ask me again about watching every dollar. I just had an argument with my freshmen son. He lent his bf $100 bucks over the holiday, even though he hasn't paid for his spring term books, can't tell you how happy that made me. Yeah, I'm watching every quarter.
And now that I'm thinking retirement (within 6 or 7 years) I have to keep in mind that I can't recoup from my stupid mistakes. When I stayed home with my sons, I always knew that I would return to work so I didn't have a problem having a big car note. Now I have to really think about it because I don't have another 10 years of income to make up for it.

Age IMO has nothing to do with watching every dollar. whether your just started out, middle age or in AARP-vile you should be doing that, different ages just mean different set of expenses.

I hear ya!!!! We have two in college....a freshman son who seems to think money grows on trees. He took his girlfriend to Cheesecake factory for their 1 MONTH ANNIVERSARY in Oct. We also have a dd who is a sr. in college and an 8th grade son. We have learned the value of a buck LET ME TELL YOU. We do a lot of things differently NOW than we did in our 20's and 30's.

 

[ilovemk76]

I guess that's where we differ. I think as you get older you NOTICE every thing. You gain wisdom along the way and because I'd like to retire soon I'm almost fanatical about what news comes out of washington. Believe me I am following the SS, medicare debate like a hawk because I'm now living in AARP-ville I do remember when I made bone headed decisions with my money and I do try not to be obnoxious about it but it's because I remember those days that I'm so diligent now.

ITA

I wish I was told some of the stuff at 25 that I know now. I would be retired rather than still working.

 

[comicguy]

When the tax holiday took effect I put the extra into my 403b but now that it is expired, I do not really want to adjust the 403b down, so I will make some sort of compromise (stop drinking soda should even it out, have not had a single soda in a week!!!) Let's see if I can keep this going!!!

 

[Planogirl]

ITA

I wish I was told some of the stuff at 25 that I know now. I would be retired rather than still working.

You and me both! It never even occurred to me that there was a need to save for retirement. It all seemed so far off at that point.

I won't change anything. It's not enough of a change for me to do much of anything different.

 

[Marionnette]

ITA

I wish I was told some of the stuff at 25 that I know now. I would be retired rather than still working.

I was lucky to have parents and in-laws who helped to guide us when we were first starting out. My father-in-law is the son of immigrants who only spoke broken English. He never completed high school because he was called to serve in WWII. Yet, he learned by seeking the advice of people who were successful and had wealth. One of the first pieces of financial wisdom he gave me was that you will never learn how to be rich by listening to a poor man. People who have money aren't rich because it was given to them. They are rich because they know how to keep it from slipping away.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

As we moved from Georgia to Florida - it isn't really changing our budget. No state income tax more than makes up for the extra 2%

 

[preschoolmom]

As we moved from Georgia to Florida - it isn't really changing our budget. No state income tax more than makes up for the extra 2%

Nice! I dream of life in a no income tax state!

 

[MomToOne]

I agree! I also did not "remember"..heck I didn't even know about the "holiday" ending until hearing on the news. Thankfully for us our numbers are ok. So I will not have to rearrange anything.

Empathy is something we all need more of. All around.

What we need is for people to take a personal responsibility for knowing what the government is and isn't doing. If you were doing that, you would be well aware that it was a temporary decrease in the SS contribution. It was all over the news when it was first passed, when it was passed again at the end of last year, and for the last 6 months.

People need to wake up and pay attention. Watch the evening news, read some other newspapers or websites. Not once in awhile, every day. Ignorance is no excuse. And no, I won't give you sympathy because you chose to be ignorant.

 

[disykat]

At some level I'm an optimist. I hope that most people here are here because they are Disney fans indulging themselves in a hobby they can afford. Not addicts feeding an addiction that is having a negative impact on their external lives. So I hope that MOST of us with multiple trips under our belt are fans - and I know there are a few addicts - I suppose I'm just as naive, but in the other direction.

And because I can be naturally frugal myself - I don't assume anyone trying to feed their family for $100 a week or making homemade laundry detergent while going to Disney is doing it from necessity (I've done both) - that sort of frugality is a hobby activity for me.

I agree! Sure, some people do it by making more of an effort to make it a priority and others do it easily, but I assume they can do it without putting themselves on the edge of making it.

Our tax liablity is going up what feels like "considerably" to us, but it will just mean less extra spending or less savings. It kind of rolls into all the other crazy expenses we've got right now with our second child about to enter college. Our budget really isn't firm enough to categorize where that money will come from, and we aren't making specific plans because we've been purposely living beneath our means, we'll just spend less because we only spend what we have.