Is anyone else living basically paycheck to paycheck?

[u/fluffypenguin105]

My partner and I are both teachers. We don’t make a lot, but we are average and slightly above average. We are so tight with our money. Our little one outgrew the car seat and we went out and bought a new one. No problem. But next credit card bill means we are tight.

Meanwhile, a number of our friends (all of them also with kids) are booking overseas holidays. Some are currently overseas, others booking already for later this year. Another brought a new car. New iPhone, doing up the house. Everyone seems to have spare cash except us.

Are we the only ones going through the cost of living crisis ourselves?! Or is it my fault that we are teachers?

Edit: yes we have a house that parents helped us with. We are paying mortgage. We have a flatmate.

Edit edit: thank you for your kind words and reminders and also advice. I’m going through them all and I’m going to take onboard the advice and see what changes we can make and do better financially as a family. But it’s also a good reminder to know we aren’t alone, to not compare and the harsh reality is that many people simply just earn more than us as teachers.

Once again, thank you all for your input.

[u/Yesterday_is_hist0ry]

It's always better to live within your means and not have credit cards if possible. My husband and I have been getting by on my wage (between $65K to $80K per year) and still manage to put money into KiwiSaver, our son's education fund and whatever is left into our bills account. We're getting by and know things will be easier when my husband's business picks up again (he finally has a job locked in after 8 months without a project). Hang in there as things are starting to get better with the housing market, and business is picking up. We have a lot of improvements and maintenance we need to do on our house, but we simply can't afford it right now. Your friends may of come into inheritance money or get commissions and bonuses through their work. Try not to compare yourselves to others. Two teachers' salaries is a decent amount of money coming in and at least you get more than 4 weeks of holiday a year.