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I Work Overtime Just to Pay Rent. Is This Normal, or Am I Doing Something Wrong? · Becoming Financially Confident

• 0:37
  You make $2,400 a month, but your rent is 1880.
• 0:42
  That's not a budgeting problem.
• 0:44
  That's a real question from someone working overtime every single week just to keep a roof over their head and getting called cheap for it.
• 0:51
  The math behind this story might make you angry, and the fix isn't what you'd expect.
• 0:56
  So stay with me today.
• 0:57
  We're getting into the real numbers right now on the.
• 1:06
  Div.
• 1:09
  Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian.
• 1:12
  I'm Ralph Estep Jr.
• 1:14
  And I just want to thank you so much for spending a little time with me today.
• 1:17
  And today we're going to talk about what happens when you're working hard, but it still doesn't cover your basic cost of living.
• 1:24
  We got somebody who sent in a question.
• 1:26
  They're working overtime just to pay the rent.
• 1:28
  They're cutting expenses.
• 1:30
  No vacations, no extra shopping.
• 1:33
  They're actually even selling things to scrape by.
• 1:36
  And at the same time, they're being called cheap while they're barely making it.
• 1:40
  And the exhaustion of doing that myth every single month and still coming up short, that's exactly what we're going to unwind on today's show.
• 1:48
  If you've got a question for this show, you know, I'd love to answer questions.
• 1:51
  You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question And we'll put a link in the show notes for you.
• 1:58
  But that again, it's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question Well, let's get right into our listener question today, and I want to start with the subject, because when I saw this subject, I was like, oh, I got to listen to this one subject.
• 2:11
  Read this.
• 2:11
  I work overtime just to pay rent.
• 2:14
  Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
• 2:17
  Now, I could have stopped right there.
• 2:18
  But let's get into what the listener actually asked.
• 2:21
  And he wrote this.
• 2:21
  He said, hi, Ralph.
• 2:22
  Is anyone else severely struggling and worried about their rent and other bills?
• 2:27
  Constantly I'm trying to figure this out if it's me doing something wrong or my job paying like garbage.
• 2:33
  I constantly work overtime just so I can pay my rent every month.
• 2:37
  All I ever do is work and go home.
• 2:40
  I live on my own.
• 2:41
  I don't go out.
• 2:42
  I don't shop for myself unless it's things for the house or work items on Amazon.
• 2:47
  I don't impulse buy or have any hobbies that cost money.
• 2:50
  I haven't bought clothes or shoes for myself in years.
• 2:54
  I haven't been on vacation in years because I can't afford to I'm constantly trying to sell things I don't use or need in my apartment just to scrape something together.
• 3:03
  My average monthly spend.
• 3:05
  Here's what I spend, Ralph.
• 3:06
  Groceries, $300.
• 3:07
  I spend 140amonth on gas, work, snacks, 20 bucks.
• 3:12
  My phone, 113.
• 3:14
  WiFi, $100.
• 3:16
  My rent, like I said, 18, 80.
• 3:18
  Electric, 70.
• 3:19
  Car insurance, 100.
• 3:21
  Even help my parents out.
• 3:22
  I send them $75 a month, and I get my hair cut.
• 3:25
  That's 35.
• 3:27
  Now, my usual monthly income is $2,400.
• 3:30
  But, Ralph, I'm tired of people telling me I need to take care of myself more when I feel like I'm already doing my best.
• 3:36
  I'm tired of being called cheap when I've got 40 bucks in my pocket.
• 3:40
  Thank you, Ralph.
• 3:41
  Well, thank you for sending in that question.
• 3:43
  He certainly laid it all out for us.
• 3:46
  But the best part of this is I've got an answer today.
• 3:49
  But we got to start off with the obvious thing.
• 3:51
  When Your rent is 78% of your income, and that's what we're talking about here.
• 3:56
  Rent is 78% of this guy's income.
• 4:00
  The problem isn't your spending, it's your housing.
• 4:04
  And honestly, it's not about cutting more.
• 4:06
  You're already cutting to the bone.
• 4:08
  We're going to look at the real numbers, and we're going to talk about two things that you can actually change today.
• 4:13
  I want to start off with this.
• 4:15
  You've got to see that structural problem for what it is.
• 4:19
  Like I said, rent is 1880 against income of 2,400.
• 4:24
  Now, I'm good at math, but you could put that in a calculator and you find out that 78% of this person's money is going to housing.
• 4:31
  Well, I did a little research, and the standard guideline for rent is about 30% or less.
• 4:38
  Well, you're running at 2.6 times that number.
• 4:42
  That's broken math.
• 4:43
  That doesn't mean you're broken.
• 4:45
  But there are a couple of things you can trim because I want to throw these out to you.
• 4:48
  Your phone at $113 a month, and.
• 4:51
  And Wi Fi at 100.
• 4:52
  There's some soft spots.
• 4:53
  You might be able to cut those and maybe free up about $50 a month, but that's not going to fix the structural problem you have here.
• 5:01
  And of course, you've got groceries and gas and.
• 5:03
  And helping your parents, but those aren't leaks either.
• 5:07
  The problem is you can't budget your way out of math.
• 5:10
  That just doesn't work.
• 5:11
  So let's dig into this housing issue.
• 5:14
  We got to look at both sides of that.
• 5:15
  We got to look at your income and your housing.
• 5:18
  $2,400 a month isn't a living wage where you're paying 1880 in rent.
• 5:23
  You already know this.
• 5:25
  The frustration in your voice.
• 5:26
  You get it.
• 5:28
  That's the job.
• 5:29
  That's not a failure on your part.
• 5:32
  So as I'm thinking about how to help you with this, let's talk about your income first.
• 5:37
  Is there a job nearby paying meaningfully more for the similar work?
• 5:41
  Maybe that's where you got to start.
• 5:42
  Can you go find a job that will pay you more and more?
• 5:45
  It sounds like based on your income, you're probably living in a more high fluent and a higher income area.
• 5:52
  But maybe that's not the case.
• 5:53
  Maybe you need to go get some skills or some certification, anything to open up a higher paying lien.
• 5:59
  The goal for you is to work smarter for more pay, not just add more overtime hours.
• 6:04
  I commend the fact that you're doing that.
• 6:06
  But you've still got a baseline structural issue.
• 6:10
  So that's the income side of this.
• 6:11
  Now, on the housing side, a lot of people don't want to go there.
• 6:14
  We actually did a show about this a couple weeks ago.
• 6:17
  Maybe a roommate is the answer.
• 6:19
  It's not giving up.
• 6:20
  It's not throwing up the white flag.
• 6:21
  It's just simple math.
• 6:23
  So think about a roommate.
• 6:25
  Maybe you move to a cheaper neighborhood and that's not settling.
• 6:28
  Again, that's just the math.
• 6:30
  Or maybe a smaller studio apartment in a.
• 6:33
  In a different area could run half of what you're paying now.
• 6:36
  I'm not telling you to go do anything right now.
• 6:38
  Just start to research this.
• 6:40
  You don't need to commit to anything yet.
• 6:42
  Your housing cost is the one number that you can actually change.
• 6:47
  Everything else may be complicated, but then I want you to build an escape plan instead of a survival plan.
• 6:53
  What I hear in the tone of your voice, and of course this was a written thing, but right now you're in survival mode.
• 7:00
  Right now you're thinking about Ralph.
• 7:01
  How do I get through the week?
• 7:03
  If I can get through the week, how do I get through the month?
• 7:05
  And then it's just this vicious cycle of repeating.
• 7:09
  But an escape plan asks a different question.
• 7:12
  And the escape plan needs to ask what needs to change to make this sustainable.
• 7:16
  And as I said, this could be a better paying job.
• 7:19
  Maybe a roommate.
• 7:20
  Maybe you look at a cheaper area or maybe even a different city.
• 7:25
  So just Pick one option this month and actually research it.
• 7:28
  Now, I'm not saying pick 12, but write down what you find, even if it's small.
• 7:33
  Because what I found working in this field for 30 years, if you're stuck in a survival plan, you're not going to get out of that.
• 7:40
  An escape plan actually helps set you free.
• 7:44
  Now, one of the other things you mentioned in here, and I want to go a little bit deeper in this, you said you're tired of people telling you to take care of yourself while you're drowning.
• 7:52
  And I hear that.
• 7:53
  Because in my view, you're doing everything you can do.
• 7:56
  You're not lazy, you're not careless.
• 7:58
  You're not spending money frivolously.
• 8:00
  You're doing everything right.
• 8:02
  And.
• 8:03
  And the numbers still aren't working for you.
• 8:06
  Well, that's what.
• 8:07
  Here's what faith doesn't promise as we mention this.
• 8:10
  This is a show about faith and finance.
• 8:12
  Faith doesn't promise that hard work always pays off.
• 8:15
  It's clear to me you're putting in the hard work.
• 8:17
  It doesn't promise that doing the right thing will make the math balance.
• 8:21
  Clearly, the math is not working for you.
• 8:24
  But here's what faith does promise.
• 8:27
  It promises that you're not alone in this.
• 8:30
  God sees your diligent work.
• 8:31
  He sees those overtime hours that you're putting in.
• 8:34
  He sees the fact that you haven't taken a vacation in years.
• 8:38
  I love what the psalmist says in Psalm 69, verse 3.
• 8:42
  It says, I'm exhausted from crying for help.
• 8:45
  My throat is parched.
• 8:48
  That's what exhaustion sounds like in scripture.
• 8:50
  And that's where you are right now as you contemplate what to do.
• 8:54
  The answer in the psalm isn't, try harder.
• 8:58
  What is it saying?
• 8:58
  It doesn't say, oh, go try harder.
• 9:00
  It says, cry out.
• 9:02
  God isn't asking you to manage an impossible situation better.
• 9:06
  He's inviting you to ask a different one.
• 9:09
  And listen, you're allowed to be tired of this.
• 9:12
  You're allowed to want out of this vicious cycle.
• 9:14
  That's not weakness.
• 9:16
  That's wisdom.
• 9:17
  And I just want to encourage you something.
• 9:19
  You're not failing at life.
• 9:21
  You're failing at a math equation that was never built to work.
• 9:25
  Those are two very different things.
• 9:27
  And once you name the real problem, that's the first step towards fixing it.
• 9:31
  So here's your win for today.
• 9:33
  I want you to look up one housing alternative that you haven't actually researched.
• 9:37
  As I talked about earlier, maybe that's an apartment listing in a cheaper neighborhood.
• 9:42
  Yes.
• 9:42
  Maybe it's getting that dreaded roommate.
• 9:44
  Maybe it's picking up and moving to a different part of the city, or maybe even a new city.
• 9:50
  And don't commit to doing anything right now.
• 9:52
  Just find the real number and give yourself one option.
• 9:56
  Because as you reframe this, you can't choose a door you haven't found yet.
• 10:00
  So today, go and find that door.
• 10:03
  Which brings us back to Psalm 69:3.
• 10:05
  That's our Bible verse for today.
• 10:06
  And I want to read that again because it is so appropriate for today.
• 10:11
  It says, I'm exhausted from crying for help, my throat is parched, my eyes fail, looking for my God.
• 10:19
  And I want to give you a little context here.
• 10:21
  David wrote this from inside an impossible situation, not from the other side of it.
• 10:26
  He was within it.
• 10:28
  And he didn't fix it by managing better.
• 10:30
  He fixed it by crying out for a way through it.
• 10:33
  So friend, you're not, you're not broken for being exhausted.
• 10:37
  You're just human.
• 10:39
  And the path forward isn't squeezing yourself smaller.
• 10:42
  You've tried to do that.
• 10:43
  It's not working.
• 10:44
  It's finding a situation that actually fits.
• 10:48
  And how about we pray together right now?
• 10:50
  Heavenly Father, I bring before you today someone who is exhausted and it's not because they're lazy.
• 10:57
  It's from working constantly and every month coming up short.
• 11:01
  Lord, they've cut everything they can cut and it still isn't enough.
• 11:06
  So right now, Lord, I just want you to open their eyes to those options.
• 11:09
  They haven't seen things like a better job, a different place to live.
• 11:14
  And Lord, give them courage to look at those choices that feel scary, but it might actually lead to their survival.
• 11:21
  And Lord, release them from that self blaming and that math that never was going to work out in the first place.
• 11:27
  Help them build a plan that leads somewhere instead of just keeping them afloat.
• 11:32
  And we ask this in Jesus name.
• 11:35
  Amen, friend.
• 11:37
  You're not cheap, you're not failing.
• 11:40
  You're caught in math that was never built to work.
• 11:43
  But now you know the real problem.
• 11:45
  It's not your spending.
• 11:47
  And now that you see that, it changes what you do next.
• 11:49
  So here's my takeaways for today.
• 11:51
  See that structural problem?
• 11:53
  Rent at 78% of income is never going to work.
• 11:56
  Look at both sides as we talked about.
• 11:58
  Look at your income, look at your housing options, research some alternatives.
• 12:02
  Build that escape plan instead of a survival plan.
• 12:05
  And I truly believe you can make this work.
• 12:08
  And if you're suffering something through like this as well, and you don't know what to do.
• 12:11
  I want to encourage you to send me a voicemail.
• 12:14
  I want to hear your voice.
• 12:15
  You can record that by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail I'll put a link in the show notes, but again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail.
• 12:27
  Thank you so much for joining me today.
• 12:29
  I want to encourage you, as always, stay financially savvy and may God bless you and you have a great day today.