Anonymous wrote:I am completely perplexed as to how so many people can afford a 'middle class' lifestyle in this region where they own a decent home, buy new clothes all of the time, drive a new car ever 5 years or so, save for college, pay for childcare and have money left over for savings. We make $180HHI. Not the highest for the region, I know, but according to US census data for the areas of the DMV, in-line with the crowd. We max out our retirement accounts, live in a modest $1700 per mo apartment, and have no debt. We drive a very reasonably priced Mazda 3 that is paid off. We are trying to save for a house, but by the time we factor in the cost of living for everything and sock away savings for retirement, there isn't a whole lot to save per month for a house. At the rate we can save liquid cash, it'll take quite a long time to have a downpayment on a modest place that costs less than $600k. We don't have kids yet though. But for the life of me, I have no idea how in the hell people are affording kids, homes, cars, and new clothes all of the time in this area. Are people really that much in debt or are saving very little for retirement?
I'm in IT and our ENTRY LEVEL hires are making 70K/yr. Lots and lots of people in IT around here. It think you are comparing yourself to people who have been making more money than you for a long time. You probably should take a look at how blue collar folks are living and you will get a better apple to apples comparison to your current situation.
I grew up around here (McLean) and the people I know who are 2 income like yourselves and making sub 200K are from wealthy families and could afford to pick low paying careers. My best friend is a social worker. she is 41 and has never stopped living off her parents payroll.
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