Family budget if your HHI is around 375k

[Anonymous]

I can't fathom how we can make so much and still end up with so little at the end of the month. I need to get organized with a family budget and stick to it. Any examples of budget (family of 4 both working OH with 3 yo and 4.5 yo and $4,500 mortgage) or words of wisdom would be welcome.

[Anonymous]

Your mortgage is one problem. That's an insane payment. Do you live in the District? Are you going to do private schools?

[Anonymous]

Mortgage (include PITI)
Childcare
Student loans and other debt repayment
Insurance (life, health, disability, car, personal property)
Charitable contributions
Savings

What do you net per month?

[Anonymous]

AFTER taxes (and 401k and other withholdings), our budget breaks down something like this (very gross estimates):

mortgage: 20%
tuition (1 child): 20%
groceries, utilities, insurance, etc: 15%
cleaning & yard services: 4%
childcare: not sure, since we pay 2x per year

Mortgage is our only debt. Paid cash for cars and had no student loan debts (thank you parents!).

Others make it work on that salary (or significantly less than your $375k) by not having as large of a mortgage. Our home is worth ~$1.25m, but the mortgage is only for $400k b/c of when we bought and how much we had to put down. Can you refinance to lower your payment? We lowered our payment by almost a third when we did a refi, as the rates had changed so much.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is around $290K and we also have 3 kids in daycare. Our take home, after maxing out both 401(k)s, benefits, dependent care, taxes etc., is around $12,500.
Our big monthly fixed expenses are:
$4800 mortgage
$3000 daycare (soon to drop to $2000 as one starts K)
$600 to 529 plans
$800 to various savings accounts
$450 for a car loan

After that, it's groceries, utilities, yard care, life insurance, parking, etc. We are fortunate to have paid off our student loans before kids!

[Anonymous]

Depending on what your deductions look like, you could be left with anywhere from 21--24k a month- what does your actual net look like? At your income level you should really be maxing out all retirement accounts simply for the tax breaks.

Are you able to game your AMT? Do you have disparate incomes and a hefty childcare bill that could make a work break economically advantageous?

A $4500 mortgage can be fine or insane on that income depending on what your other non-negotiable expenses are. We can't give budget advice unless you say what you can't compromise on. No example is going to help you overcome 200k in student loans or a 3 grand a month nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't fathom how we can make so much and still end up with so little at the end of the month. I need to get organized with a family budget and stick to it. Any examples of budget (family of 4 both working OH with 3 yo and 4.5 yo and $4,500 mortgage) or words of wisdom would be welcome.

We net about $14K/month after taxes and 401. It is tight around here, but we look something like this:

2,800 Mortgage (include PITI)
1,800 Childcare and tutor
1,200 Student loans
300 Insurance (life, health, disability, car, personal property)
25 Charitable contributions
2,400 Savings/529s/other investments
500 car
800 utilities/yard/cell phones
500 gym/kid activities

This adds up to about $11.5K Only $2.5K left for vacations, shopping, and home/auto repairs. Our savings, investments, and home equity are growing slowly but surely, but the money just seems to go so fast

[Anonymous]

I make $200k and I remember when I thought that was a ton. Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't fathom how we can make so much and still end up with so little at the end of the month. I need to get organized with a family budget and stick to it. Any examples of budget (family of 4 both working OH with 3 yo and 4.5 yo and $4,500 mortgage) or words of wisdom would be welcome.

We net about $14K/month after taxes and 401. It is tight around here, but we look something like this:

2,800 Mortgage (include PITI)
1,800 Childcare and tutor
1,200 Student loans
300 Insurance (life, health, disability, car, personal property)
25 Charitable contributions
2,400 Savings/529s/other investments
500 car
800 utilities/yard/cell phones
500 gym/kid activities

This adds up to about $11.5K Only $2.5K left for vacations, shopping, and home/auto repairs. Our savings, investments, and home equity are growing slowly but surely, but the money just seems to go so fast

Wow, you make $14,000 AFTER taxes and you only donate $25 to charity? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't fathom how we can make so much and still end up with so little at the end of the month. I need to get organized with a family budget and stick to it. Any examples of budget (family of 4 both working OH with 3 yo and 4.5 yo and $4,500 mortgage) or words of wisdom would be welcome.

We net about $14K/month after taxes and 401. It is tight around here, but we look something like this:

2,800 Mortgage (include PITI)
1,800 Childcare and tutor
1,200 Student loans
300 Insurance (life, health, disability, car, personal property)
25 Charitable contributions
2,400 Savings/529s/other investments
500 car
800 utilities/yard/cell phones
500 gym/kid activities

This adds up to about $11.5K Only $2.5K left for vacations, shopping, and home/auto repairs. Our savings, investments, and home equity are growing slowly but surely, but the money just seems to go so fast

Wow, you make $14,000 AFTER taxes and you only donate $25 to charity? Wow.

Bet your bottom dollar that's a typo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on what your deductions look like, you could be left with anywhere from 21--24k a month- what does your actual net look like? At your income level you should really be maxing out all retirement accounts simply for the tax breaks.

Are you able to game your AMT? Do you have disparate incomes and a hefty childcare bill that could make a work break economically advantageous?

A $4500 mortgage can be fine or insane on that income depending on what your other non-negotiable expenses are. We can't give budget advice unless you say what you can't compromise on. No example is going to help you overcome 200k in student loans or a 3 grand a month nanny.

Seriously? We make 300 with 250k in student loans and a 3000 a month nanny a 4100 month mortgage and are doing fine.

[Anonymous]

If you make $14k a month after taxes and you can't make ends meet, someone needs to hit you with the clue stick. And I say this as someone making about $10k a month.

In fact, crying about this in a public forum is rather offensive. Hire a damned financial adviser.

[Anonymous]

But the PPs are making it just fine if they are saving/investing around $2500 per month after 401 has already been contributed to. The savings amount is their choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $200k and I remember when I thought that was a ton. Lol

to most of the world, it is. don't be an ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make $200k and I remember when I thought that was a ton. Lol

to most of the world, it is. don't be an ass.

To most of the world $500 a year is a lot. My point was that it never seems to be enough, does it?