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If you are a SAHM or SAHD, how much money does your spouse make?
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Anonymous
| I'm really curious. We're new to this area and are blown away by how expensive it is to live here. To be convenient to my spouse's job, we would optimally live in the Arlington/Fairfax border area (Falls Church zipcode, Merrifield, Vienna, Eastern Fairfax, etc.). IF you SAH, particularly in that area, how much does your spouse make? Do you rely on investments? Do you live far your desired standard of living? |
Anonymous
|
Our desire is what we can afford.
We live in Arlington, by the metro and DH makes $90k. |
Anonymous
| We live in Vienna and my husband makes $135k. We're comfortable, but not as well off as many people around here. |
Anonymous
| $250K. |
Anonymous
| also $250 |
Anonymous
| arlington poster, you give me hope!!! can i ask how many kids you have and how you're living so close-in on 90K? |
Anonymous
| We live in Arlington and my DH made $90k last year. We rent and have two small kids. |
Anonymous
| $165,000 in Silver Spring. Are able to max out retirement savings, but otherwise it's old cars, small house, cheap preschool and not having more than two children! |
Anonymous
We often go to goodwill (to buy and drop off stuff), we gave up our car, I only buy kids stuff at consignment sales (we have 1 child who is 9mo old) and we rent. Our cable is the simplest available and just got hooked up after a few years without it. I dilute EVERYTHING (dish soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc) we use vinegar and chlorine a lot for cleaning up (no expensive fancy cleaners for each different surface) and most important - almost no food item goes to the trash - we make gello out of watermelon skin, we make pineapple spread out of pineapple skin, we eat the shells of the eggs (I learned those recipes in a program called EAT WELL FOR LESS THAN US$1.00). Living frugally is the way to go. All my fancy desires are put away in a forgotten drawer and maybe one day I will dig them out. For now, our main goal is to live haply with what we have. |
Anonymous
My first instinct is to think that last bit is too far...but you know what? Good for you. Not only are you saving on your budget, you are using more parts of what you buy than most people ever do. You also give me hope, as we really want to buy in Arlington, but we're not in the 250K club! |
Anonymous
What is your rent/size of your apartment? DH works in Arlington and we are considering a move there for a better commute (currently living in MD). DH also makes $90, just wondering what we will be able to afford. . . Your post also gives me hope 
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Anonymous
| Sadly 90K inside the beltway (or outside the beltway for that matter) for a family of three is incredibly tight. |
Anonymous
It's hard to keep up with friends in this budget but we often host at home (our building has a huge community room and a pool ).
Our rent is $1300 for 1 bedroom but per contract we'll have to upgrade to a 2bed once baby turns 2yo. We live across the street from the metro. If nothing changes till then our next step will be to rent in a community 1 mile away where a friend right now pays the same amount for a 2bed. The downsides are no garage, coin laundry and no party room/gym. But we will just adjust 
And to the lady who thinks that using up the food is going too far, I can't imagine what you would say if you know we eat the inside of the banana peel  .
Anyway, it's cultural. In our country it's common to eat leaves you often throw in the trash, eat some of the fruits you peel with the skin on for example. You should do some research and learn about the nutritional value of the stuff you're throwing in the trash. Re the egg shells - we crush them to powder and cook in with the rice. You can't see or taste it and the amount of extra calcium you'll get is just unbelievable. |
Anonymous
|
DH is in law school so we have 1 income but also pay for daycare - if we weren't paying for daycare we'd be totally fine.
I make about 110k. We rent a townhouse in Arlington (bus to metro). We sold one of our cars before he went to school. We aren't saving anything but we're making it. If he was truly a stay at home, we'd have an extra $1400 a month and would be GOLDEN. I clip coupons, we don't go out, don't pay babysitters, make lunches, coffee in the AM, don't really buy much new for ourselves but treat ourselves from time to time. We're happy. |
Anonymous
| in nw dc, $260k plus a bonus |