Stay-At-Home Mom Explains How She Budgets Her Husband's Paycheck Despite Their Mortgage Being 44% Of His Pay
She assured viewers her family is doing OK, "but thank you for your concern."
Cast Of Thousands / Shutterstock A stay-at-home mom gave insight into her family's financial situation by breaking down how she divvies up her husband's paycheck each month to make sure all of their expenses get paid.
In a TikTok video, Carlee, a content creator who is open about her family-of-four's single-income budget, shared how exactly she makes her husband's check last.
She explained how she budgets her husband's paycheck despite their mortgage being 44% of his pay.
"We got paid today, and by we, I mean my husband. But other than the going to work part, I'm the one who deals with all of the financial stuff," Carlee began in her video. "I'm going to show you how I break down my husband's paycheck. We are a family of four with one income."
Carlee continued, saying that her husband's paycheck after taxes and deductions, including his retirement fund, is $2,980. That's the amount of money that gets deposited into their account on the first of every month.
The only bill that gets taken out on the first of the month is their mortgage, which is $2,650. "I actually upped it last month," she explained. "It was just $2,600 even but, of course, I've been inspired by the people on here trying to pay their mortgage off earlier or just adding a little bit extra to principle and seeing how much interest that takes off over there."
After paying their mortgage, Carlee is left with $330 from her husband's paycheck. During the previous month, Carlee and her family were participating in "no-spend January," a month in which they attempted not to spend any money unless it was an emergency or expenses needed to be paid. Due to that, there was an additional $400 more left in their checking account than they'd normally have.
"So, we have about $730 that will be used over the course of the next 15 days until we get paid again for groceries and gas," she explained. "All of our other bills go out the second of the month just because we have such a big mortgage."
Cell phone bills, internet bills, water, electricity, car insurance, and other expenses like that are usually paid during the middle of the month.
In a follow-up video, Carlee addressed comments from people concerned about how her family was able to survive after paying such an expensive mortgage.
Carlee acknowledged that her finances may seem a bit concerning, especially after doing the math and concluding that her mortgage is about 44% of her husband's take-home pay which he gets twice a month.
"A couple of things — we recently upped my husband's retirement contribution, so we don't see that anymore," she shared. "His take-home pay is less but we were seeing money left over every month and we were like, what can we do with this that's a better investment?"
Carlee insisted that she and her family do have an emergency fund in case something happens and they're tight on money. She reassured viewers that she and her husband are smart with their finances and know that they don't have an extensive amount of funds left over after paying all of their bills and buying groceries, but they make it work.
"We're doing OK," she assured, "but thank you for your concern."
The American dream of owning a home is slowly starting to dissipate due to how high the cost of living has become.
The average mortgage payment is $2,883 on a 30-year fixed mortgage and $3,759 on a 15-year fixed mortgage. Because of this — and all of the other problems plaguing the economy and our wallets — 32% of Americans think they’ll never be able to afford their dream home, per a Bankrate survey.
"Average mortgage rates are now nearly three times higher than the historically low levels hit back in 2021," said economist Lisa Sturtevant. "And there is more and more data coming out to suggest that we should expect that rates will stay higher for longer."
Americans are not only unable to afford a home but renting a suitable apartment in many cities is also nearly impossible due to high rent costs. There seems to be no happy medium, and families such as Carlee's are stuck having to think long and hard about their expenses and what they can afford.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.