You need to make $90,000 to be happy in DC

[Anonymous]

My happiness is not related to money. Money comes and money goes.

[Anonymous]

You left out a 0. You need 900,000 to be happy here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My happiness is not related to money. Money comes and money goes.

I think that's really great. But I'm also betting you have never gone hungry. I'm betting that people who can't meet their *basic* needs for life find it more difficult to be happy.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'd say $90k is on the low end to be comfortable for a family's income...I can see $90k being a comfortable number for a single person.

If one spouse is staying at home kids don't cost that much. Basically just the cost of their food and clothes.

But you will have to live in a small condo or the city slum

Is there something wrong with a small condo? Or do you really need to walk 150 feet from the living room to the bathroom?

yes, that is a problem when you have 4 people, kids bicycles, furniture, clothes, sporting equipment, camping equipment, pool toys, occational friend, neighbor who complains about noise, another kid trying to do homework

All you need is two bedrooms and a sofa bed for quests. And if your not a hoarder storage wise you'll be fine. Donate or throw out the stuff you don't or rarely use. If you are a hoarder, rent a storage locker.

[Anonymous]

I think it is a very good salary for a single person who is renting an apartment. Or a young couple, renting an apartment, 1 car, no kids, no pets.

We have a HHI of 250 K. SAHM. Bought a spacious SFH for >300K but with below average public schools. No student debt. No childcare cost. Kids go to public schools. No pets.

We are very comfortable, BUT if we had bought an expensive house with better schools or had childcare costs or had to send our kids to private school (they have been in magnets), or had student debts - we would have needed 9 K more and we would have no savings or retirement or college fund.

Can one live in DC with 2 kids, a sufficiently spacious house with good public school ir private schools, childcare, student debt - in 90 K and still be saving for retirement and college for their kids? I doubt it.

Yes, I also understand that in the rest of the country people do with less and live well. However, DMV population has advance degrees (usually multiple) in competitive fields and they have the same expectation for their kids. A lot of money is required to reach that goal as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a very good salary for a single person who is renting an apartment. Or a young couple, renting an apartment, 1 car, no kids, no pets.

We have a HHI of 250 K. SAHM. Bought a spacious SFH for >300K but with below average public schools. No student debt. No childcare cost. Kids go to public schools. No pets.

We are very comfortable, BUT if we had bought an expensive house with better schools or had childcare costs or had to send our kids to private school (they have been in magnets), or had student debts - we would have needed 9 K more and we would have no savings or retirement or college fund.

Can one live in DC with 2 kids, a sufficiently spacious house with good public school ir private schools, childcare, student debt - in 90 K and still be saving for retirement and college for their kids? I doubt it.

Yes, I also understand that in the rest of the country people do with less and live well. However, DMV population has advance degrees (usually multiple) in competitive fields and they have the same expectation for their kids. A lot of money is required to reach that goal as well.

What in the world are you spending all that money on then?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'd say $90k is on the low end to be comfortable for a family's income...I can see $90k being a comfortable number for a single person.

If one spouse is staying at home kids don't cost that much. Basically just the cost of their food and clothes.

But you will have to live in a small condo or the city slum

Is there something wrong with a small condo? Or do you really need to walk 150 feet from the living room to the bathroom?

yes, that is a problem when you have 4 people, kids bicycles, furniture, clothes, sporting equipment, camping equipment, pool toys, occational friend, neighbor who complains about noise, another kid trying to do homework

All you need is two bedrooms and a sofa bed for quests. And if your not a hoarder storage wise you'll be fine. Donate or throw out the stuff you don't or rarely use. If you are a hoarder, rent a storage locker.

Ok, so I will throw away my childs ice skates, make a teenage girl share a room with brother, Use our luggage as a coffee table, bicycle can be an ornament in living room, rotisserie and slow cooker can fit in teenagers closet, blankets can be used as a table cloth in the summer, winter coats can be hung on table chairs. Field hockey stick belongs where?

[Anonymous]

I love this area for its diversity, the govt jobs, and relatively better legal job markets than other parts of the country. With the expense of living here, I'm now considering relocating, but to where? The jobs (at least im the legal field) are here.

We are also religious and ethnic minorities and I'd only want to relocate to a region that is diverse.

To those relocating, where to? Are you lawyers? Feels frustrating to be working your tails off with professional careers, educated, almost no consumer debt and still living paycheck to paycheck.

[Anonymous]

I'm a fed half way done with grad school and I am pretty proud of my 72k. I read this blog all the time and try to understand either why that isnt a lot of money or what people must be buying in order to make that not a lot of money. I mean I am about to go on a two week safari in Africa--like I actually do expensive things sometimes and STILL feel comfortable. No kids yet, so of course I am coming from one perspective but still...even after reading peoples comments for years on this blog I don't get why I feel ok on that salary and other people dont. And for what it's worth I have no CC debt and I save--I do have student loan debt which sucks I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I'd say $90k is on the low end to be comfortable for a family's income...I can see $90k being a comfortable number for a single person.

If one spouse is staying at home kids don't cost that much. Basically just the cost of their food and clothes.

But you will have to live in a small condo or the city slum

Is there something wrong with a small condo? Or do you really need to walk 150 feet from the living room to the bathroom?

yes, that is a problem when you have 4 people, kids bicycles, furniture, clothes, sporting equipment, camping equipment, pool toys, occational friend, neighbor who complains about noise, another kid trying to do homework

All you need is two bedrooms and a sofa bed for quests. And if your not a hoarder storage wise you'll be fine. Donate or throw out the stuff you don't or rarely use. If you are a hoarder, rent a storage locker.

Ok, so I will throw away my childs ice skates, make a teenage girl share a room with brother, Use our luggage as a coffee table, bicycle can be an ornament in living room, rotisserie and slow cooker can fit in teenagers closet, blankets can be used as a table cloth in the summer, winter coats can be hung on table chairs. Field hockey stick belongs where?

Move to a mobile home. There are at least 4 communities within 1 hr of DC. Super cheap living.
Put the crap in storage or give it away.
How in the world do you think poor people live on 1/2 -1/4 of what you make?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love this area for its diversity, the govt jobs, and relatively better legal job markets than other parts of the country. With the expense of living here, I'm now considering relocating, but to where? The jobs (at least im the legal field) are here.

We are also religious and ethnic minorities and I'd only want to relocate to a region that is diverse.

To those relocating, where to? Are you lawyers? Feels frustrating to be working your tails off with professional careers, educated, almost no consumer debt and still living paycheck to paycheck.

Go on city-data
There are options but you have to look for yourself. Everyone isn't going to want the same thing. I could say Chicago, someone else might say Boston.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What in the world are you spending all that money on then?

Not really spending too much as our fixed costs are very low. If I add the non-essential costs - travel, kids EC activities, entertaining, maid service, home improvement, vehicle maintenance, miscellaneous - we will still be spending under 30K yearly. So- we are probably very frugal as far as DCUM is concerned, but we feel that we are really living very lavishly.

Rest is for - our retirement, fully funding college for both kids (undergrad, med school and beyond, professional school). If we can afford it we will pay for their weddings as well as the down payment of their house - but that is really not a priority for us. We want to make sure that kids do not have student loans because we have seen and heard too many stories of high earners who are not wealthy because it takes them years to pay off student loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd say $90k is on the low end to be comfortable for a family's income...I can see $90k being a comfortable number for a single person.

If one spouse is staying at home kids don't cost that much. Basically just the cost of their food and clothes.

Only until they are babies. Unless you never plan to send them to any activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Move to a mobile home. There are at least 4 communities within 1 hr of DC. Super cheap living.
Put the crap in storage or give it away.
How in the world do you think poor people live on 1/2 -1/4 of what you make?

By being poor and having the poor of everything. Hardly a role model worth emulating.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:When our HHI was 150k, living in the suburbs, money was very tight with kids. Then one spouse was suddenly unemployed for 6 months. During that period we could not make ends meet. I wish I were exaggerating.

Both spouses gainfully employed now, one increased salary dramatically, so HHI is up to 250k. We can breathe now but I still get anxious remembering those 6 months and how close we potentially are to financial ruin. Even after years of experience and tens of thousands of higher education expenses (probably higher).

Before any jumps on me, we do not live extravagantly and always within our means. It's just that this area is insanely expensive and has become much moreso over the past decade.

Extravagant will mean different things to different people. A good quality non-extravagant (happy) life only requires -

1. Food and Beverages in your belly
2. Cloths on your back and Shoes on your feet
3. Good Health & Health Care
4. A Roof over your head
5. A full time job you enjoy
6. Public Education
7. The occasional splurge.

Everything beyond that is extra, some would say extravagant. And anyone of the above 7 categories only require basic levels to be happy. You don't need to be in the best neighborhood, the best schools, wear the best cloths, eat fancy food, or be house poor.

I would add a safety net and retirement savings. Nothing extravagant, but enough not to worry too much.

Yes, but a modest house in a working class part of town with shit schools still costs a fortune. We bought a 1200sf townhome that had been marginally improved for $300K that was less than we paid in rent for a 2BR apt. Because we are not rich, we did an FHA loan and our monthly mortgage was $1800. Such is DC. Where I'm originally from $1800 a month buys you a hell of a lot more.

And really, who aspires to simply providing their family the bare minimum? I'm not extravagant, but I'm not living my life with a poverty mentality either just so you can feel superior and holier than thou.

Zillow reports 407 listings between $50,000 and $200,000 for homes/condos/townhouses with 2+ bedrooms and 1+ bath in DC.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/DC/house,condo,mobile,townhouse_type/12_rid/2-_beds/1-_baths/50000-200000_price/192-770_mp/priced_sort/39.021984,-76.79409,38.764926,-77.23526_rect/11_zm/1_fr

Zippidy do da. If you don't want to live crammed in a tiny condo, in a neighborhood zoned for crappy schools, or surrounded by questionable elements, then you won't be happy now will you? Happiness was after all the whole point of the matter.