To those who can't make ends meet on $250K, take note:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Mortgage and daycare alone cost us $7500 a month.

So you're buying a huge house and putting your kids in luxo daycare.

I could spend $1000 every night on a gold-flaked chocolate dessert. I choose not to.

exactly

Who told you to buy a home that sucks up 75% of your income?

just dumb

Totally and completely irresponsible. Lives in lala land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how folks have completely disregarded the whole point of this thread. 10% of families in DC are trying to make it on $11,000 or less A YEAR. Maybe you're not living the lifestyle you hoped. Maybe you don't "feel rich". But if you're making 6 figures you have it pretty damn good compared to a lot of people. That's the point, in a nutshell.

Is it really so difficult to be grateful for what you have once in a while, instead of bitching and moaning about what you DON'T have?

Just a thought as we head into the Thanksgiving season. That is all.

No, you wanted to stir the pot.

Most of us that make good money are very grateful. However, we have every right to vent about our frustrations too.

Sure, you have the "right". You have a right to say anything you want, as do I. Just realize that your "BUT I'M NOT RICH!!" refrain gets a tad bit tiresome. N'est-ce pas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how folks have completely disregarded the whole point of this thread. 10% of families in DC are trying to make it on $11,000 or less A YEAR. Maybe you're not living the lifestyle you hoped. Maybe you don't "feel rich". But if you're making 6 figures you have it pretty damn good compared to a lot of people. That's the point, in a nutshell.

Is it really so difficult to be grateful for what you have once in a while, instead of bitching and moaning about what you DON'T have?

Just a thought as we head into the Thanksgiving season. That is all.

No, you wanted to stir the pot.

Most of us that make good money are very grateful. However, we have every right to vent about our frustrations too.

Sure, you have the "right". You have a right to say anything you want, as do I. Just realize that your "BUT I'M NOT RICH!!" refrain gets a tad bit tiresome. N'est-ce pas?

Yes, but the "I don't have health insurance" gets a tad tiresome, don't you agree?

To someone making $11k/yr, someone making $50k looks rich in comparison. To someone making 50k, someone making 100k looks rich in comparison.
I make $125k/yr, my DH makes $150k/yr. We have great health insurance. We have savings. We don't have debt (we rent, don't own). We are very very fortunate. I also realize that if I made the exact same decisions now - college, loans, career, etc - the results would be different. I didn't get a career by sure luck - it took hard work - but the booming economy gave me opportunities. The same can't be said for recent graduates.
That said, we don't drive luxury cars. Mine is a 2007 sienna with 90k miles. We don't have lavish vacations - we visit family, and sleep at their house. We live in a 2000 sq ft townhome, 1 car garage, patio for a backyard. So to be told I'm "rich" when I envision "rich" meaning real vacations, a larger home, a nicer newer car, I just don't feel like I am rich.
Yes, I am very fortunate. But I'm not living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Or the lifestyle of the "real" housewives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how folks have completely disregarded the whole point of this thread. 10% of families in DC are trying to make it on $11,000 or less A YEAR. Maybe you're not living the lifestyle you hoped. Maybe you don't "feel rich". But if you're making 6 figures you have it pretty damn good compared to a lot of people. That's the point, in a nutshell.

Is it really so difficult to be grateful for what you have once in a while, instead of bitching and moaning about what you DON'T have?

Just a thought as we head into the Thanksgiving season. That is all.

No, you wanted to stir the pot.

Most of us that make good money are very grateful. However, we have every right to vent about our frustrations too.

Sure, you have the "right". You have a right to say anything you want, as do I. Just realize that your "BUT I'M NOT RICH!!" refrain gets a tad bit tiresome. N'est-ce pas?

Yes, but the "I don't have health insurance" gets a tad tiresome, don't you agree?

To someone making $11k/yr, someone making $50k looks rich in comparison. To someone making 50k, someone making 100k looks rich in comparison.
I make $125k/yr, my DH makes $150k/yr. We have great health insurance. We have savings. We don't have debt (we rent, don't own). We are very very fortunate. I also realize that if I made the exact same decisions now - college, loans, career, etc - the results would be different. I didn't get a career by sure luck - it took hard work - but the booming economy gave me opportunities. The same can't be said for recent graduates.
That said, we don't drive luxury cars. Mine is a 2007 sienna with 90k miles. We don't have lavish vacations - we visit family, and sleep at their house. We live in a 2000 sq ft townhome, 1 car garage, patio for a backyard. So to be told I'm "rich" when I envision "rich" meaning real vacations, a larger home, a nicer newer car, I just don't feel like I am rich.
Yes, I am very fortunate. But I'm not living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Or the lifestyle of the "real" housewives.

We make a similar HHI, $280k w/ one child under 5, and are both under 35. We don't feel squeezed at all. No debt except for mortgage/car. Employer takes care of retirement plan, so perhaps that is another thing that would make our effective income higher. We drive one mid-level luxury car and one average car and live in a 4-bedroom close-in TH (that is bigger than most SFHs in our area), and live a generally comfortable life with vacations, clothes, restaurants etc.

We don't feel squeezed for a second and we both grew up in wealthy professional households, but don't have family money (but family did pay for all education). Curious what in your budget creates such a squeeze? I consider us lucky, comfortable and indeed, rich- maybe because we have no education debt and an employer-financed retirement plan? Is that what's hitting you other $250k HHs and making you feel 'not affluent/rich'?

[Anonymous]

What's your mortgage? What do you pay in childcare and/or tuition?

When you say the employer takes care of retirement, do you mean you're not contributing $33,000 of your $280,00o to a 401(k) plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's your mortgage? What do you pay in childcare and/or tuition?

When you say the employer takes care of retirement, do you mean you're not contributing $33,000 of your $280,00o to a 401(k) plan?

PP here-

Mortgage PITI $3500
Childcare $1000/month

Don't want to go into specifics on my plan as I don't want to identify my employer, but have mixed defined benfit/contribution plans...employee contribution is small, rest covered by employer.

[Anonymous]

Your child is in a free preschool or K?

And yeah, $33,000 does take a bite out of $275,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
To someone making $11k/yr, someone making $50k looks rich in comparison. To someone making 50k, someone making 100k looks rich in comparison.
I make $125k/yr, my DH makes $150k/yr. We have great health insurance. We have savings. We don't have debt (we rent, don't own). We are very very fortunate. I also realize that if I made the exact same decisions now - college, loans, career, etc - the results would be different. I didn't get a career by sure luck - it took hard work - but the booming economy gave me opportunities. The same can't be said for recent graduates.
That said, we don't drive luxury cars. Mine is a 2007 sienna with 90k miles. We don't have lavish vacations - we visit family, and sleep at their house. We live in a 2000 sq ft townhome, 1 car garage, patio for a backyard. So to be told I'm "rich" when I envision "rich" meaning real vacations, a larger home, a nicer newer car, I just don't feel like I am rich.
Yes, I am very fortunate. But I'm not living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Or the lifestyle of the "real" housewives.

We make a similar HHI, $280k w/ one child under 5, and are both under 35. We don't feel squeezed at all. No debt except for mortgage/car. Employer takes care of retirement plan, so perhaps that is another thing that would make our effective income higher. We drive one mid-level luxury car and one average car and live in a 4-bedroom close-in TH (that is bigger than most SFHs in our area), and live a generally comfortable life with vacations, clothes, restaurants etc.

We don't feel squeezed for a second and we both grew up in wealthy professional households, but don't have family money (but family did pay for all education). Curious what in your budget creates such a squeeze? I consider us lucky, comfortable and indeed, rich- maybe because we have no education debt and an employer-financed retirement plan? Is that what's hitting you other $250k HHs and making you feel 'not affluent/rich'?

I never stated we felt "squeezed". The reason we do not have lavish vacations or new cars or bigger home is because we put a lot into our children's college education plans and are saving for a down payment so we can buy a home. That is our choice. We have no debt, and I am very grateful for how sucessful we are. I just don't consider myself "rich", although I can certainly understand why someone making $50k/yr would consider us rich.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read all 8 pages but I don't think the people making 250K who say they have trouble making ends meet mean that they are poor and having trouble buying food. The problem is that many people have an expectation that since 250K is a lot of money that it should easily cover school tuition or childcare, mortgage for a mid sized SFH (2000 sq feet) that is not located an hour from where you work, retirement savings, and college savings for 2 kids. If you throw in pre-existing debt from school loans many of those things if not all are off the table.