Scraping by on $500k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

PP knows nothing about biglaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

You're full of excuses!! No wonder you have 300k in law school debt.

Sure keep hanging onto those loans and enjoy that monthly payment for the next 20 plus years of your life. They are hardly the same as a mortgage and if you think they are there's no point trying to explain it to you.

No. But you should have lived in a cheap rental following law school for at least 3 years and spent all of your money getting rid of those loans. Fwiw I don't think "poorer people" have 300k in law school debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

Exactly! Everyone in biglaw makes partner, so this is a minor hiccup. Making partner is awesome and buys immediate financial security and is an option for everyone who is willing to work hard for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time. Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 [b]decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time.[/b] Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

+1. You can't do it all on 300k. You're simply unable to invest in yourself (investments, savings) when you decide to take on 2 kids, rack up insane law school debt and buy a home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 [b]decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time.[/b] Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

+1. You can't do it all on 300k. You're simply unable to invest in yourself (investments, savings) when you decide to take on 2 kids, rack up insane law school debt and buy a home.

Curious what your mortgage is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 [b]decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time.[/b] Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

+1. You can't do it all on 300k. You're simply unable to invest in yourself (investments, savings) when you decide to take on 2 kids, rack up insane law school debt and buy a home.

Curious what your mortgage is.

Why? The issue isn't PP's mortgage.. It is the 3,500 in student loans and daycare expenses each month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 [b]decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time.[/b] Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

+1. You can't do it all on 300k. You're simply unable to invest in yourself (investments, savings) when you decide to take on 2 kids, rack up insane law school debt and buy a home.

Curious what your mortgage is.

Why? The issue isn't PP's mortgage.. It is the 3,500 in student loans and daycare expenses each month.

There can be more than one issue. I'm also curious what the mortgage is.

[Anonymous]

Maybe people posting on this thread should watch the documentary on Netflix "Happiest People on Earth." It might be eye opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

Surely you will be able to pay those off in no time once one or both of you make partner at a biglaw firm, no? Seems temporary to me. Pretty soon 300k will be something you can knock out in a few months if you want to.

LOL. Neither of us are associates in BigLaw or could ever lateral. Not because we don't want to, but because DH and I do not work in an area of law that BigLaw values/offers/where we could be successful. We are on a 25 year repayment plan. Student loans have 6-9% interest rates and more typically the latter. They are too high to refinance with lower rates. I take full ownership of the decision to go to law school, but there is a reason why people don't "pay down" mortgages either (with much lower interest rates, by the way).

To PP who suggested we had children too early, DH was in his mid-30's and I was 29/31. So you are saying that we should have waited 10 years until our loans were lower to have children and be in our 40's? My monthly payments would have only been HIGHER not lower, commiserate with our income. My mom was older when she had me, and while to each is own and I completely respect my female colleagues who had children later in life, I was ready and didn't want to be like my mom. So you're saying poorer people should never have kids?

I have sympathy. It sounds like you've created a difficult situation for yourselves. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a long road out. I would quibble with your framing a bit. It's not so much that "it's tough in this area," it's that you 2 [b]decided to finance $300k in higher education, have 2 kids (requiring expensive daycare), and purchased a home, all basically at the same time.[/b] Those decisions are what's making your financial picture so difficult, not that it's "tough in this area." Good luck.

+1. You can't do it all on 300k. You're simply unable to invest in yourself (investments, savings) when you decide to take on 2 kids, rack up insane law school debt and buy a home.

Curious what your mortgage is.

Why? The issue isn't PP's mortgage.. It is the 3,500 in student loans and daycare expenses each month.

Well actually we don't know that the mortgage doesn't play a part.

[Anonymous]

For anyone interested, that blog posted a follow-up post:
http://www.financialsamurai.com/a-500k-redo-how-one-rich-couple-got-their-mojo-back/

[Anonymous]

Damn I wonder how we are able to make it on our HHI of 100k.

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone can be truly "scraping by" with a $500k HHI, but I can understand that you may feel that there is not much "cash" left to throw around after all expenses are taken care of. We make an HHI of $300k, but between mortgage in an expensive city, education savings, retirements savings, daycare + nanny for 2 kids (we work long hours so need more care), student loan debt (if any), there is certainly enough to cover all basic, discretionary expenses, but not a whole lot of room for luxury (granted, we do throw A LOT into retirement and have a sizeable emergency fund). I think the "scraping by" feeling comes from expecting to have a ton of cash to throw around at $500k HHI but realizing you "only" have $1,000 per month left over to spend on luxuries - which won't buy you a chanel or lambo or Bora Bora vacation every month.