I know plenty of people who live very well on less than $1k/mo. They don’t have ANY mortgage, they bought a house they could afford. They don’t have cable tv, particularly if they have children, who are exposed to enough filth as it is without paying extra to bring it into their homes.
However, in one respect the writer is probably way off. $100/mo electric is really extraordinary. I know because I pay about that and I’m fanatical about keeping it low.
Avoid borrowing. Live within your means. Don’t pay for things that only pollute your kid’s brain, like cable tv and college tuition. Don’t live in an area with high crime and high taxes. Don’t smoke and you’ll save over $100/mo on cigs alone. (That will come in handy one day when Soc Sec has gone under, and you have to retire.)
Trouble is, nobody wants to change their habits.
You know people who have children and live well on less than 1K per month? What do they do for a living?
avoid borrowing—live within your means
Ah what an old fashioned idea. How quaint. And what a great life that concept allows us to have when we understand keeping up with or outdoing every one else is not where happiness and security comes in to play. If more people understood that, our country would not be in the mess it is today.