Life is Easy in NW DC on $300k, AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you only have one cell phone?

Yes I have one cell phone. My wife has another

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

Good point. We're a little above $300k and around $14.5 take home each month.

+1 We're at 340 and bring home about 14k/month. I'm usually a little confused when people post budgets here because the take home vs. HHI always seems off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

Good point. We're a little above $300k and around $14.5 take home each month.

+1 We're at 340 and bring home about 14k/month. I'm usually a little confused when people post budgets here because the take home vs. HHI always seems off.

maybe it would be better to post gross monthly and then list deductions that bring it to net. Actually it might be helpful for me to think about my budget that way....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you only have one cell phone?

Yes I have one cell phone. My wife has another

So $160/month for two people? what plan do you have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you only have one cell phone?

Yes I have one cell phone. My wife has another

So $160/month for two people? what plan do you have?

It's actually $207.63/mo. and it's a Verizon unlimited data plan. However, it gets a little complicated because my wife's work reimburses her for something like $70 per month for the data.

But, my spending figures were all rounded to the nearest thousand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think $5K per year to charity on an income of $300K is the least bit generous.

We have a similar income and two kids but we give around $15K which I also don't consider enough or particularly generous.

We are so privileged and fortunate. $5K? Good grief.

I wasn't going to say it because I was sure someone else would. I think it's fine that OP is giving $5k, but I don't think OP should've mentioned that's a generous amount on $300k. It should've been stated without commentary.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

Yes, it's a little more than $13.5k "take home" per month. That's right. Is everything clear now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

PP here, yes, it does. Our HHI is similar, but our take home is significantly less. We do Roth 401K/TSP, which is part of it, but doesn't explain all it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

Yes, it's a little more than $13.5k "take home" per month. That's right. Is everything clear now?

No, because unless your brokerage savings are pre-tax, that means your numbers don't add up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

Yes, it's a little more than $13.5k "take home" per month. That's right. Is everything clear now?

Not really. That's a total of about $160k take home, but the after tax expenses you listed are $20k over. That's not including the $5k annual donation (which I agree is generous):

74k taxes
---
36k 401k contribs
36k brokerage savings
10k 529
---
48k housing (includes PITI, utilities, and various home improvement/maintenance items)
21k daycare
11k groceries
9k insurance and medical
2k verizon
---
11k restaurants
11k clothes and other merchandise
9k travel
14k misc/uncategorized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

Yes, it's a little more than $13.5k "take home" per month. That's right. Is everything clear now?

No, because unless your brokerage savings are pre-tax, that means your numbers don't add up.

Huh, not sure where or how my numbers wouldn't add up, but here are a couple thoughts.

"Take home" ignores my end of year tax refund. We got something like $7k last year and it went straight to the brokerage account.

Part of the daycare (I think $5k) is paid pre-tax through an FSA account. That also wouldn't be reflected in "take home"

Part of the medical/insurance line item (about $4k out of that $9k line item) is paid pre-tax and isn't in "take home"

Lastly, there is a possibility that some of the expenses (particularly in restaurants or uncategorized) were actually business expenses that were reimbursed. I'm a FED, but I didn't include my travel per diem in expenses, but I probably have some restaurants, food, taxis and incidentals that still show up in expenses. My wife also sometimes travels for work, and she uses our credit card and gets reimbursed for everything. I try to cancel out or hide the big stuff (flights and hotels) but I probably miss a lot of incidentals.

Otherwise, I am as uncertain as you are why you think things don't add up.

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, still really curious about how you can save so much without scrimping at all. What is your monthly take home (after taxes, tsp/401k, health insurance, etc.). And for the TSP/401K, are you doing regular or roth?

I've posted my budget upthread. Take a look. We do traditional 401k/TSP, not Roth.

From what you posted, it looks like you are taking about $15K home a month. That seems pretty high for an annual salary of $300K.

My last paycheck was 3342.08 after all the deductions. I get paid biweekly. My wife's paychecks are like 3100 something but she only gets paid twice a month. So, I think that works out to more less than 14k "take home" per month. Is this easier way to break things down for you? I don't usually think about things this way. "Take home" is a weird concept to me, because it seems to treat 401k (savings) the same as health insurance (spending) and taxes (a different kind of spending). Not to mention all the complications about putting things in FSAs, or how many exemptions you claim, or whether you get a tax refund, etc. But, does that help your question?

That works out to be approx. $13.5 take home every month.

Yes, it's a little more than $13.5k "take home" per month. That's right. Is everything clear now?

Not really. That's a total of about $160k take home, but the after tax expenses you listed are $20k over. That's not including the $5k annual donation (which I agree is generous):

74k taxes
---
36k 401k contribs
36k brokerage savings
10k 529
---
48k housing (includes PITI, utilities, and various home improvement/maintenance items)
21k daycare
11k groceries
9k insurance and medical
2k verizon
---
11k restaurants
11k clothes and other merchandise
9k travel
14k misc/uncategorized

I think I addressed your comment as well in my last post. You think it's off by about $20k, but I think you're not accounting for tax refund (which went straight to the brokerage), plus the pre-tax components of daycare and medical (which don't come out of "take home"). I think that makes up for most of the difference. I also think it's highly possible my expenses included some reimbursable expenses from work. I didn't include as "income" the reimbursements we got from work travel, but they'd still likely show up in the expenses I listed. Lastly, I rounded all of these categories and rely on Mint to spit everything out for me. I'm not shocked if that's not 100% lined up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think $5K per year to charity on an income of $300K is the least bit generous.

We have a similar income and two kids but we give around $15K which I also don't consider enough or particularly generous.

We are so privileged and fortunate. $5K? Good grief.

I do. I donate $500 on the same income.

You make $300,000 and donate $500?! No comment.