400k salary and creep factor we never really have much left

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are clearly doing something wrong if you can’t save with this income. Are you buying designer clothes? Eating out non stop? Even then I can’t see how you can go through this much money.

I was OP without doing those things.

OP, one thing I found that really helped was a monthlong "spending fast." Almost no spending for a month. Eat from the pantry/freezer except for some fresh vegetables and fruits, shop your closet, make your coffee. It really helps you reset and also see where you're mindlessly spending.

Eating out is probably a big one for us. I think a lot of it is also just gifts/meal trains/ those kids if obligations. We have about 50 birthday parties a year and then I get invited to do a meal train or baby shower usually 2x a month and these add up. I usually spend $75 on the meal train because I hate cooking and the shower gifts and invited to social events where you often pay like someone’s birthday dinner add up.

50 birthday parties??? One a week??

24 showers/meal trains per year in addition. I'd venture to guess, op, that if these numbers are true you may be spending more on your social life in addition to these parties and showers than you're accounting for. It sounds like you have a very active calendar, are there lots of meals out, coffee dates, other functions that you're not budgeting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is some simple advice. You do NOT know what you are spending your money on. That much is clear from your post. Start with tracking everything that you are spending. Categorize the spend. Then you will see, really easily, where you can cut. From there, you can determine which buckets you want to increase using the savings from the wasted spend.

+1

Our big expenses are similar to yours, and our HHI is $210k. You’ve got money slipping through your fingers somehow. Put your stuff in mint.com and figure out what categories are eating your money.

I agree with this, but on the income side. Don't rule out that someone is embezzling your funds or your just losing them into an account you're not tracking.

[Anonymous]

We just started using Simplify and the monthly reports have been eye opening. We tried You Need a Budget and it was too time consuming. Simplify is MUCH easier. We're not setting a budget and allocating funds right now, we're just seeing where our money goes.

[Anonymous]

Simplifi by Quicken. Ends in an i

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a fairly modest lifestyle but with $400k salary and we do reasonable travel (not international or anything, like 4 star domestic trips, half drive half fly, public schools, just paid off cars but before payment was $600 a month, 567k mortgage balance (house worth 1.4 from appreciation), childcare is about $7k a year total, camps/activities for kids add up to several thousand but run of the mill team stuff… What’s the thing that had the biggest impact for everyone on just cutting down on spending? We spend on everything! A lot is charity, at least $15k a year for that and then it seems like endless other expenses and emergency expenses related to kids, pets and home. Advice needed. I would love to be more meaningful with our money and at least have something more to show for it like doing an amazing trip every year.

$400k household income is now middle class (unless you're single with no kids). Been this way for a while.

That's a misunderstanding of what, in the past, middle class families were like. Middle class families budgeted their monthly spending. They had to eat all their leftovers to make the grocery budget stretch for the week. They sometimes had to delay paying bills. They had to save for years before going on vacation. Clothes needed to be mended because there was no money to buy new replacements. OP doesn’t experience any of that, neither do I, but I would never call myself midfle class.

This. People seem to think being middle class means being able to afford everything you want. It doesn’t. I grew up middle class. People drove to the OBX and rented an old beach house 1 week a year. Nobody flew. Nobody had leather in their cars or new kitchens. A dead fridge needing replacement was a major expense. Kids didn’t go to pricey camps and definitely didn’t go to private college, and almost everyone had loans even for state college. Our retired parents still live in the family home (that is still not renovated) and don’t “snowbird” or taking Viking cruises in Europe.

THAT is middle class, regardless of what DCUM thinks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live a fairly modest lifestyle but with $400k salary and we do reasonable travel (not international or anything, like 4 star domestic trips, half drive half fly, public schools, just paid off cars but before payment was $600 a month, 567k mortgage balance (house worth 1.4 from appreciation), childcare is about $7k a year total, camps/activities for kids add up to several thousand but run of the mill team stuff… What’s the thing that had the biggest impact for everyone on just cutting down on spending? We spend on everything! A lot is charity, at least $15k a year for that and then it seems like endless other expenses and emergency expenses related to kids, pets and home. Advice needed. I would love to be more meaningful with our money and at least have something more to show for it like doing an amazing trip every year.

$400k household income is now middle class (unless you're single with no kids). Been this way for a while.

That's a misunderstanding of what, in the past, middle class families were like. Middle class families budgeted their monthly spending. They had to eat all their leftovers to make the grocery budget stretch for the week. They sometimes had to delay paying bills. They had to save for years before going on vacation. Clothes needed to be mended because there was no money to buy new replacements. OP doesn’t experience any of that, neither do I, but I would never call myself midfle class.

This. People seem to think being middle class means being able to afford everything you want. It doesn’t. I grew up middle class. People drove to the OBX and rented an old beach house 1 week a year. Nobody flew. Nobody had leather in their cars or new kitchens. A dead fridge needing replacement was a major expense. Kids didn’t go to pricey camps and definitely didn’t go to private college, and almost everyone had loans even for state college. Our retired parents still live in the family home (that is still not renovated) and don’t “snowbird” or taking Viking cruises in Europe.

THAT is middle class, regardless of what DCUM thinks.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not uncommon. Coastal living with kids is expensive. We’re in a similar boat.

https://www.financialsamurai.com/400k-income/

Hahahahaah this breakdown is HILARIOUS.

150 for phones.
A Toyota Highlander?
Daycare AND preschool?.
Utility costs and insurance plus maintenance are hella low.
A TWO million dollar house!!!! 2k per month on food. 1500 per month in a 529.
Multiple vacations. life insurance AND umbrella.
Baby and toddler items 200 per month- wtf? Buy a used crib. A hand me down stroller. Costco diapers and wipes.
Personal car and clothes 350/mo
Both parents work but previously he said mc was a parent SAH.
And they donate to charity.

Gtfoh. They have every single thing covered. Thats how a budget works. There is nothing left over because they have a retirement, 529, daycare for 2 kids, food, utilities, both a life insurance and umbrella policy. THREE weeks of vacation PLUS random getaways in their entertainment budget.

After daycare years they will have 5200 a MONTH surplus.

I could not roll my eyes any harder.

+1,000 DCUM, never change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, we have 465k left on our mortgage. Have two teens. HHI is 130k. My husband maxes out his 401k, we put away 6k for college each year. Two cars, paid off. Have about fifty thousand in savings outside of 401k and 529s. About 250k equity in house.

You are doing something wrong if you can’t save more on that HHI.

This is hard to believe on HHI of just $130,000.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t middle class if you own a home in a major city (SF, LA, NYC etc). You could sell it tomorrow and live like a king somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

I’m on the same boat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, we have 465k left on our mortgage. Have two teens. HHI is 130k. My husband maxes out his 401k, we put away 6k for college each year. Two cars, paid off. Have about fifty thousand in savings outside of 401k and 529s. About 250k equity in house.

You are doing something wrong if you can’t save more on that HHI.

This is hard to believe on HHI of just $130,000.

That’s almost poverty level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not uncommon. Coastal living with kids is expensive. We’re in a similar boat.

https://www.financialsamurai.com/400k-income/

He’s spending thousands of dollars a year on charity & entertainment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, we have 465k left on our mortgage. Have two teens. HHI is 130k. My husband maxes out his 401k, we put away 6k for college each year. Two cars, paid off. Have about fifty thousand in savings outside of 401k and 529s. About 250k equity in house.

You are doing something wrong if you can’t save more on that HHI.

This is hard to believe on HHI of just $130,000.

That’s almost poverty level

In 2021, the median household income of Silver Spring households was $91,970. Silver Spring households made slightly more than Marlboro Meadows households ($91,852) and Libertytown households ($91,953) . However, 7.3% of Silver Spring families live in poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m on the same boat

I’m also in the same boats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not uncommon. Coastal living with kids is expensive. We’re in a similar boat.

https://www.financialsamurai.com/400k-income/

$2M house, car in SF, buying only new clothes, charity, daycare AND preschool, vacations that require flights—where do I begin