I KNEW your hubby must work outside construction when i read the first sentence. My big brother and his family are experiencing similar circumstances. he is just starting a roofing business and he has alot of debt (from starting up the business) and makes a TON on a good week, but bad weeks can be really, really bad. They are learning to budget, any advice? They have a new baby, just over a week old.

We're in the 3-4k range a month also, as long as DH has a decent amount of surf lessons on the side to supplement the income. It can be tough to be a teacher
This is nothing for the bay area, we do not own a house (our rent is already half of our income and the general rule with a mortgage in this area is to double your rent, yikes!). I drive a 12 year old volvo wagon and DH drives a 13 year old honda (thank goodness for longevity of foreign cars!). We have deffered and forbeared our student loans for a couple of years until I go back to work. I am also watching a neighbor's infant daughter for $60/day, 2-3 days/week (very excited about grocery money!).
Did you know that if you have a student loan as a SAHM, you qualify for an "economic defferment"? (at least through Direct Loans-government agency). Your DH income does not count, because it is Your loan. So, you can put Your income as $0. This can last 2 years and you are not charged interest because it is a defferment instead of a forebearance. Every little bit helps

We were in the bracket of over $5k, and, living comfortably. However, after my DH and I seperated (18 months ago) we are making it on $1500 a month. I don't want to leave my 2 & 3 year olds with strangers, so, we make do. But, $1500 a month when my mortgage is $800 is nearly impossible with 4 young children. Wishing I was making it month to month. LOL

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We fall into the 3k-4k and we still live paycheck to paycheck. Between all my medical bills that occured this July after my seizures that's made us bump to paycheck to paycheck.

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Happily married to my geek
Proud homeschooling, cloth diaperin, attached parenting, slinging, simplier, breastfeedin, sewing mama mades, christian and funky mama

We are a family of now 7 people. My hubby makes almost 3000 take home. This is after med ins, etc... We also live in very high priced California. Even, like this we still manage to get bills paid, debt repayment (slowly but surely) and are now saving (this feels great). We were also a paycheck to paycheck family before I started reading financial books. I totally recommend Ramsey's stuff. After the holidays, things will even be better for us since we will have even less expenses and will be able to dedicate more to debt repayment and savings. We don't owe much, the bigger bulk of our debt is student loans.

I live in an expensive part of California and agree that many factors go into the answer to this question, namely, the cost of living. Our monthly income may seem high, but relative to our mortgage payment, insurance rates, property taxes , or even the price of a loaf of bread around here, it's not that high. Two years ago, we sat down and took a hard look at our expenses vs. our income. I was sick of being moody and irritable with my kids because I was worried about money! It was eye-opening experience, to say the least. Suze Orman books helped us do that, but since then, I've read others that are also helpful - as well as great information on websites. Compare mortgage rates, home loans, CD rates, auto loans, credit cards, mortgages and more & clarkhoward.com: Save more, spend less and avoid ripoffs, to name a couple.

My point being, that you can't know where it's going until you write it down. Seeing it on paper/computer screen made all the difference for us. We're still working toward our financial freedom and pat ourselves on the back every time something gets paid off.

Gaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.