A Reddit poster is feeling dissatisfied with her family’s financial situation. She feels like just about everyone in her life is doing better with their money than she and her husband — including many callers to the Dave Ramsey Show, which she listens to regularly.
Meanwhile, she and her husband are struggling. Her husband works for a small business that is not paying him much, and the couple is earning a combined $60,000 per year, which isn’t enough to cover all that they need. She doesn’t feel like she could ever build wealth based on her current situation, despite the fact that she is trying to do the right things,. And, unfortunately, she’s starting to give up hope because it feels like everyone else is rich and she’s stuck.
So, is she right, and, if so, what are her options for fixing the situation?
A $60K combined household income has a Reddit poster feeling frustrated
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median weekly earnings for full-time workers in the second quarter of 2025 total $1,196, which means the typical worker has a median annual salary of around $62,192. This is for a single worker, and since the original poster (OP) and her husband are both working, the couple is making considerably less than the average household.
This low salary relative to what many other people are making is likely a key source of the OP’s frustration because she is not imagining that everyone around her is richer than she is. Most people probably are earning more than her family.
Numerous other Reddit posters also pointed out that given her husband’s job — working as a skilled driver — he should be making more than he is. However, he is working for a small family business that doesn’t pay a huge salary, so a number of posters think he is being taken advantage of and should be looking for a better job to bring up the couple’s combined household income.
How to cope with a salary that feels too low
The OP’s husband may very well want to heed the advice of the posters who suggested that he look for better-paying work so the couple can hopefully bring their salary closer to the median or even above it.
As long as the OP and her husband stay in their current jobs despite the low salaries they are earning, they are always going to have a harder time financially. They are likely always going to feel broke compared to others around them, since so many people earn more than they do.
Of course, not everyone has the option to just go find a higher-paying job, and it’s not 100% clear whether the OP’s husband could actually transition easily to better-paying work.
The bottom line is, even if others are making more than you, you should hopefully still be able to achieve financial success. You just need to make smart choices about your spending, including:
- Limiting your fixed costs. This is the amount you spend on things like housing and car payments. The lower your recurring bills, the more you can save
- Living on a budget. Making intentional choices about money becomes even more essential when you don’t have a lot of it.
A financial advisor can actually be very helpful to people who don’t have a ton of excess income, as a skilled advisor can work with people like the OP to make the most of the money they have. Of course, finding a way to earn more is always helpful as higher incomes give you more to save and spend. However, with the right advice, people really can achieve financial success at every income level.
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