I’ve written a few blog posts about how to live on a certain amount of money over the years:
And the number one question I get on those posts is how much would it cost to live on today?
Totally fair question!
Even after severe inflation over the last few years, in 2025, you can live on as little as about $1,200/month, which is $15k/year! 💯
Wanna know how? Lemme tell you all my secrets and tricks and show you a couple real options on how to live on $15k/year in 2025…
How to Live on $15k/year in 2025
In our culture right now, there’s so much suffering going on. So many people are struggling. Incomes went down after COVID and inflation hit HARD. Groceries are about double the amount they used to be pre-COVID and it stinks.
With incomes going down (or staying the same, at best), not up, so many people are forced to live in dire situations and are struggling severely.
My heart truly goes out to you if you’re struggling. I know how hard it can be. How you’re in survival mode for years and it can become such a daunting thing to deal with. It makes you want to give up, it can lead to bitterness, and collectively, much of society has believed that God has left or abandoned us. He’s just no longer there.
That’s a lie from the enemy! God is absolutely there and I can prove it!
Hebrews 13:5 and Deuteronomy 31:6 both say very clearly that God will never leave us or forsake us. Never means never. But if you want further proof of it, take a look at Malachi 3:6.
God never changes. If you felt He was with you before, He is still there. He hasn’t left.
“So why does it feel like He has left then?” someone might ask.
First, we cannot base truth off of our emotions. Emotions change with the wind, especially if you’re female. Our hormones can sometimes make our moods and emotions all over the map, sometimes all in one day! 😬
So what separates us from God?
Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sin separates us from God. He hides his face from us, He does not hear our prayers (James 5:16). This does not mean every time we commit a sin or are acting in an unrighteous way He leaves, but it does mean, if there is unrepentant, habitual sin, He will hide from us.
We need to be right with God, then He will not hide from us, and we can not only be reconciled to Him, but also live a happy and fulfilled life as we seek to put Him first in all that we do (Matthew 6:33).
If you’re not in sin and you’re right with God, you can be sure that He is there, leading and guiding you, ordering and directing your steps (Psalm 37:23).
Whether you’re in habitual sin or not, you’re right there in the palm of His hand. He loves you so very much! ❤️
And if you’re crying out to Him because you’re scared or not sure what to do, you can be assured, He’s even closer to you in those moments (Psalm 34:18).
Either way, He didn’t leave. He’s right there with you, walking with you, wanting to help (Jeremiah 29:11)!
How does He show you He’s there?
Maybe you’ve prayed, asking Him for help, and He’s bringing you to this post sovereignly, knowing this post will help you in some way! I truly hope it does. 🤗❤️
So, let’s get started!!
The specific amount that you live on may differ from these options below, however, the point of this post is to help you to do as many things that you were not previously aware of, in order to get your living expenses down further, all while providing you with NEW resources that will help you save massive amounts of money! This will give you more options. Go through and pick and choose which options and ideas will best fit for your family in particular.
To live on $15k/year, your exact bills can look like one of these two options…
Option 1: Low-Income Apartments
- Rent: $593
- Gas: $30
- Power: $75
- Water/Sewer/Garbage: paid by apartments
- Car insurance: $108
- Internet: $55
- Phone (iPhone): $35
- Groceries: $300
Total living expenses: $1,196/month
Rent: It really depends on where you live as to the exact prices, but if you need to move half-way across the world in order to have a good life and live beneath your means, it may mean doing that for a little while until you’re in a better place financially. At Crestview Commons in Klamath Falls, OR, you can get a one-bedroom apartment for $593, a two-bedroom apartment for $798, and a three-bedroom apartment for $914 as of 2025. They are low-income apts but they are nice. The deposits are the same as the rent and each apartment has a washer and dryer within the unit itself (total score) and a patio/deck with ample outdoor storage space (I used that closet to store resell items back when I was reselling physical items). The apartments include water, sewer, and garbage. There’s two garbage stations through out the apartments, plenty of space for your needs.
There’s also some options on Realtor.com in Portland, OR for $600+ rent for one-bedrooms. I’m not sure if they are in safe neighborhoods though, as I’ve never lived in that city before.
Car insurance: My car insurance is seriously high right now and I have it on my to-do list this month to call around and see if I can get it lower, but that’s what I pay right now. Hopefully yours is cheaper! 😊
Internet: Internet is $55/month in my area. If you don’t have a modem, that is an additional $17/month. What I do is ask the phone/internet company what exact models of the modems they use are and then purchase them cheaper online and buy them outright, so I’m not paying their exorbitant fees to buy the modem and I’m not stuck with a monthly leasing term on that either.
Power: Be sure you go through my free training on how to reduce your power bill. I learned directly through the power company themselves, so it’s a lot of information that is relevant and works the best!
No debt: The first thing you might notice is that I don’t have any debt. This is true. I’ve been very blessed in all my single years, to not have any debts to pay. I’ve worked extremely hard to live on ONLY what I bring in and not a penny more. If I didn’t have the money, I didn’t buy it. And being extremely frugal, I’m good at getting all that I want on a very tight income.
Car: The next thing you might notice is that I don’t have a car payment. My car is paid for, I don’t have a loan on it.
Satellite TV: I don’t personally have satellite TV. There’s a boatload of options to watch TV for FREE online nowadays…
- YouTube videos (you can watch just about anything here, but they do have a free movie section too!)
- TubiTV (you can watch things like Littlest Pet Shop here)
- Pluto TV (you can watch one of my favorite shows, all seasons of The Andy Griffith Show here)
- Amazon Freevee (lots of great options there)
- The Roku Channel (check out Sonic!)
- Plex TV (a few good ones to check out on here are: His Girl Friday, Penelope, Just My Luck, Growing Pains (Kirk Cameron! ❤️), Garfield and Friends, A Walk to Remember, Penny Serenade (never seen this one yet, but it’s on my to watch list!)
- Hoopla (movies to check out: It Takes Two, Nancy Drew, Raise Your Voice, She’s All That, 16 Wishes, Food Inc 2, Serendipity, Zapped, Radio Rebel)
*They all have bad options on them (scantily dressed women movies), so when you’re looking for movies to watch, be sure your husband and your kids are not in the room. Then just bookmark the pages of the movies, so you can watch later with them. I gave some links to cut through some of that and get you started right away! 🥰
Groceries: I go through Instacart for groceries and my bill is about $300/month (you can learn how to get your groceries FREE here), but it might be more for your family and it might be cheaper for you if you don’t go through them and you’re single like me. If you qualify and you need it, you can apply for Food Stamps and WIC to help cushion the blow of food also. There’s nothing wrong with being on assistance when you need it. Just don’t take advantage of the system and get off as soon as you can. 😊
Roommate: For this option, you don’t have a roommate, it’s your own apartment!
Gas: Gas is pretty cheap for me, because I don’t really go anywhere at this point (everything is delivered to me and I get cheaper prices online than in stores). I work from home on this blog and in my faith-based printables shop, so I’m not running around a lot. I homeschooled my kids when they were home, so didn’t have to take them to school every day. Whenever I have to run errands (or go to church, etc.) I plan trips where I do all the errands in the vicinity at the same time.
Option 2: Furnished Rentals
- Rent: $700
- Gas: $30
- Power: paid by rental
- Water/Sewer/Garbage: paid by rental
- Car insurance: $108
- Internet: paid by rental
- Phone (iPhone): $35
- Groceries: $300
Total living expenses: $1,173/month
Rent: It really depends on where you live as to the exact prices you see, but even if you have to move to another city or state while you’re in financial despair, it may be worth it until you can afford more. Furnished Finder is an AH-mazing resource wherever you’re at in your journey though, especially if you’re single. Each place will vary in cost and deposit. Some will have cleaning fees or application fees on them, which you do not get back. This is considered temporary shelter and you can stay anywhere from one month to years, depending on your particular landlord and what you work out with them. In the Furnished Finder I’m living in currently, I’ve been here a little over 3 months and don’t have any plans to move in the next three months still.
The neighborhood is super quiet so I can get my work done and the landlord is amazing! There’s security cameras all over the property and I have a full-size fridge and dishwasher in the unit. There’s no stove, but I do have an induction burner hot plate (which works way better than I thought it would!) and access to the washer/dryer anytime I want. It’s comfortable and everything in the place is high quality.
This is a REALLY great site to find something, because it’s cheaper than a motel and you can literally travel the world, travel to the ocean, etc. living in different places you find off that site! The site is originally intended for traveling nurses, but anyone can rent a place through them (they usually ask what you do though).
If you need cheaper than $700/month, there’s an option in Starkville, Mississippi for only $539/month and it looks nice. The cheapest states to find something are: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, and West Virginia. Other states that are lower than the national average are: Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, and Nebraska.
Your stay may not be as nice if you go through someone without at least 1 review, if they’ve been on Furnished Finder for at least a year. If they have like 0 reviews and have been on there for 3 years, I’d personally pass, just to be safe. One Furnished Finder I stayed in was SOOOO cold (50’s) during the day AND at night during the winter. They gave me 3 heaters to use and I used them all, but it only kept the room to 60’s when the heaters were able to be on (couldn’t run 24/7) and I couldn’t take it and had to leave. They didn’t have any reviews. The one I’m in now has reviews and I’m super happy and comfortable here.
When looking for a place, I choose “entire place” in search results. It’s usually things like a studio apartment over their garage or mother-in-law unit they rent out. There are options for roommates too on the site, so if you go that route, it’s even cheaper. Some people rent out their RV’s too, so there’s lots of different options, depending on your needs. It’s not really a good resource for someone with a family, but if it’s just you or just you and your spouse, it’s a great option for a little while. Till you can save money and get a place of your own. Remember that this is just a season for you, it’s not forever and not having any utilities is a big bonus and it’s fully furnished spaces, so you don’t have to have anything like kitchen hand tools, dining tables, pots/pans, etc. They even start you off with soaps, trash bags, and everything so you really don’t need anything but your suitcase!
If you have a space you can rent out to others, it’s a great way to make some additional income for your family as well (!!!) which might help you be able to survive your financial situation in the meantime. Since you don’t have to rent it out forever, you can just do it for a year or so, till your finances are better, no problem. But it can be a great option too, similar to Airbnb, but more long-term than that (1 month+).
Freebies by mail: If you live in a Furnished Finder place for a few months and plan to stay a bit (and the landlord lets you get mail there- they usually do), you can fill out a moving card with the USPS. When you have your mail forwarded, USPS gives you a lot of freebies and discounts at companies. I got a free full-size 2-topping pizza at Figaro’s Pizza and I gotta say, their pizza is legit. The pepperoni pizza is SOOO good; the best I’ve ever had! ❤️ A grocery store also sent me a $10 coupon off my groceries. This is another great way to get some freebies with each place you stay at!
Car insurance: My car insurance is seriously high right now and I have it on my to-do list this month to call around and see if I can get it lower, but that’s what I pay right now. Hopefully yours is cheaper! 😊
Utilities: NONE! All utilities including power/gas, water, sewer, garbage, WIFI, and even TV with streaming are all provided by the landlord in this option, making life super simple.
No debt: The first thing you might notice is that I don’t have any debt. This is true. I’ve been very blessed in all my single years, to not have any debts to pay. I’ve worked extremely hard to live on ONLY what I bring in and not a penny more. If I didn’t have the money, I didn’t buy it. And being extremely frugal, I’m good at getting all that I want on a very tight income.
Car: The next thing you might notice is that I don’t have a car payment. My car is paid for, I don’t have a loan on it.
Groceries: I go through Instacart for groceries and my bill is about $300/month (you can learn how to get your groceries FREE here), but it might be more for your family and it might be cheaper for you if you don’t go through them and you’re single like me. If you qualify and you need it, you can apply for Food Stamps and WIC to help cushion the blow of food also. There’s nothing wrong with being on assistance when you need it. Just don’t take advantage of the system and get off as soon as you can. 😊
Gas: Gas is pretty cheap for me, because I don’t really go anywhere at this point (everything is delivered to me and I get cheaper prices online than in stores). I work from home on this blog and in my faith-based printables shop, so I’m not running around a lot. I homeschooled my kids when they were home, so didn’t have to take them to school every day. Whenever I have to run errands (or go to church, etc.) I plan trips where I do all the errands in the vicinity at the same time.
Even if you make more than $15,000/year, you may still want to live on less…here are some of those reasons:
• To simplify your life and make life easier. Things get real simple when you are living on less. Those fancy cars, fast food tabs all the time, elaborate houses, they all disappear in comparison. You start to realize exactly how little you REALLY need in order to make it through life. THEN, when you do have more, you can appreciate it all the more! 😍
• To get out of debt. Many people deliberately live on less in order to get out of debt. This is, in my opinion, extremely wise. If you’re serious about getting out of debt, you’ll need to make some drastic changes. While that may not be living on $15k/year, it could be living on half your income. If you are married and you both work, try getting to the state of living where you’re not dependent upon both incomes, but only one. If one spouse makes $2,000/month, this means you have $2,000 to put on debt! You can get out of debt super fast that way and then once you ARE out of debt, go back and get your nice house again, get that nice car, just pay cash for the car and rent, so that you’re not getting BACK in debt!
• To retire early. Outside of kingdom work, who wants to work all their life? Not me! There was a reason I worked 80+ hours a week for those 4 years. So that I can provide for my family as a single mom, making good money and getting somewhere. Put money aside to buy a house or car with cash, to put away for college for your kids, their cars, my retirement, and so on. Work hard now, so that you don’t have to work so hard for the rest of your life.
• To prepare for emergencies. What if you or your spouse were laid off at their jobs? What if a natural disaster overtook your home? There are a million and one things that could happen and having a nice, well-stocked savings can drastically help in the event of an emergency.
• To prepare for kids. Some people like to live on little in order to prepare for having kids or adopting. While I feel kids are inexpensive to raise (see my post on how I get my kids clothes completely free here), they still do add to the expenses each month. You might need a bigger house with more bedrooms, a bigger car, more food, and so on. Saving now to prepare for those expenses is wise. As for baby equipment, just don’t buy new and you’ll save a ton (you’ll want to buy the crib and car seat new for safety reasons though). I used to go around yard saleing to gather up all I needed when I had my two little ones.
• To start your own business. Depending on the business you want to start, it can become very costly. Blogging is probably one of the cheapest businesses to get started in, but it requires investment just the same…in your time. You have to build it. It can also be very lucrative. Within 1 year from my starting a blog, I was making $10,000/month! I’m not saying that’s normal, but I am saying, it’s possible!
How to get your cost of living down and how to spend less money on whatever income level you’re at:
• Don’t use any credit cards. You don’t want to incrue any debt. Being debt-free allows you to have a completely free lifestyle.
• Pest control. Don’t pay $125/quarter for a pest control company to come and spray the exterior of your home! I can tell you the exact product they use! It’s a concentrate, so you just mix it with water and spray and it works AWESOME! I love this stuff! Best of all, it’s only $40 and the bottle lasts like forever! Just be sure to use gloves when you mix and spray it. After you spray it and it dries, it is safe for pets and humans, so you can even spray it indoors if needed in certain spots.
• Find and use the cheapest cell phone service you can. Net 10 is a great prepaid service and if you don’t use your phone much, the prepaid cards can last you 3 months! Last time I used their service, it was $30 for a phone card, which lasted me 3 months, so $10/month. Now, I have my iPhone, but the service is very cheap and I’m not on a contract at all. It’s MY phone (again, paying cash for what I want).
• Use cash back sites like Ebates. You’re going to spend the money anyway, might as well get paid to shop! If you don’t have an account, you can sign up here and get a free $10 gift card! To receive your free gift card, just make one purchase of $25 or more and they have every site I shop at on there, so it’s very easy. I put a sticky note on my computer so I remember to go through them first. I’ve been with Ebates for about 5 years now and have earned to-date $7,236.84. They are a pioneer in the cash back industry and I highly recommend them!
• Negotiate your bills. Did you know that you can do that with some of them? You totally can. Negotiate credit card bills, everything, and get that DOWN!
• Use free budgeting software and tracking services like Personal Capital. If you don’t have a pre-set budget, you’re dead in the water before you even start. You have to tell your money where to go each month or it likes to spend itself!
• Meal plan. Like budgeting, you have to tell your meals what to make or it can take over your expenses. You’ll go out to fast food too much, nice dinners, and so on. Having a meal plan set up makes things a lot simpler.
• Stop paying for stuff. Just decide that there are things you won’t pay for anymore! Here’s my list of 15 things I refuse to pay for. Here’s a post I wrote about how I get all my household products for FREE, including diapers, baby wipes, pull-ups, candles, soaps, dishwashing detergent, cleaners, and SO much more! I literally never pay for household goods anymore because of these ways! You can also join local groups on Facebook in your area that give away things for free every day (or start your own group to get free stuff). The things that they give away are incredible! Here’s a post about what I’ve seen being given away and how you can literally get everything you buy for FREE, yes today, in 2025! I know because I’m doing it! 🥰
Increase your income to put into savings:
• Start a blog. Staring a blog is first because it’s my own favorite personal way to make money by doing what I love, serving others! If your heart is about helping others and sharing your knowledge with the world, then you should go for it. I started out with a dream of making $1,000/month by 1 year and ended up making $10,000/month by 1 year! My life has changed drastically. Though the results are not typical, you never know until you try. I surely didn’t know when I started, but God did!
I recommend going through Bluehost and through my site, you can get the cheapest cost (I worked out a deal with them on your behalf!) You have to pay upfront for how many ever years you want to choose, but by far, this is the cheapest and best plan.
• Rent out a portion of your home. If you’re able to, rent out a portion of your home on Furnished Finder to make some money quick. There are ALWAYS people looking for places on that site!
• Take surveys online. It won’t get you rich, but it’s income and you want as MANY revenues for income as you can. You can check out my 25 best survey companies here.
• Sell things around the house. Here’s a post I created teaching you how to find FREE things to sell and here’s a post giving you 40 ideas of things you can sell right now that you might already have in your home!
Related: 5 Real Ways to Add $500/month Steady Income which will help you on how to save money fast (you can find even more ideas for increasing your income here!)
Whatever income you currently live on, whether $15k/year is a dream to you or it’s 1/10th of what you currently make, there are things that you can do to improve your financial outlook and I’m here to prove it. In my darkest time, I was homeless.
I had absolutely nothing and now, I make pretty dang good money and have no debt. I can come and go as I please, have a nice savings account, and have a lot of options opened up to me now…but it didn’t all come without hard work and God in my life every step of the way.
No matter what your financial situation, you can improve it using these tips. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to let your friends know. Because this information, truly is life-changing to women who want to be home with their kids, or are already home with their kids, but are struggling financially to STAY home with them.
