100k HHI in suburban envirnoment, and we live like kings. AMA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:where do you live? how did you pay off your house in early 30s?

Without entering into too many details, we're in Delaware. We paid off the house in our mid 20s within 4 years of purchase by making sure it didn't cost more than 2x our income; at the time, we made 50k, so we bought a 100k house on a 15-year mortgage. Made extra payments from the start, salaries went up, killed it off.

Well prepare to get your sheet jumped. Some people here will rip you because you don't live here

Yup, that's pretty standard in these threads. It's always interesting, though, because the COLA calculators are pretty consistent in each thread. Our lifestyle would cost ~150k in DC. That's still well under the 300k people declare to be barely middle class. Yet lots of posters come back with the cognitive distortion of claiming that a.) it would cost far, far, far more to live like that in DC while simultaneously claiming b.) we're living like paupers. Which is it? Would it take hundreds of thousands more to live this well in DC, or are we really suffering compared to those in DC?

The COL calculators are extremely misleading. What they aren't taking into account is that DC has some HORRIBLE areas that drive average housing costs down. If you want to live in a decent but not even remotely fancy house you're looking at 750k for close in burbs. That's with kids sharing bedrooms, far from perfect house, old kitchen etc. Yes you can live further out but your lives will suck with the commutes.

If you want a more realistic COL comparison then look up apartment buildings near your place of employment. Then assume you'd work in dc and do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what you get for 100k in Washington DC

http://www.longandfoster.com/homes-for-sale/2201-Hunter-Place-SE-UNIT-201-Washington-DC-20020-219096413

Trying to use the Delaware suburbs to set a comparison is a waste of time.

It really is. We made 400k last year and over 250k of that was spent on housing and taxes. We don't even have a fancy house.

[Anonymous]

Forget everything else- I just want to know how a family of four only spends $300-$400 on food. I take it that you never go out for dinner or do takeout. Are you eating a lot of rice and beans? Anyhow genuinely curious what your meal plan is because I would love lowering my grocery cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ive often wished that DH and/or I had jobs we could take anywhere: teachers, medical professionals, etc. We have friends who have moved to much lower COL areas, akin to what OP has going on, and love it.

Unfortunately DH has a specialized career field that limits our options to very high cost of living areas.

Sorry to hear that, but cheers to you for acknowledging what's possible for others with less specialized fields. Best of luck to you and your husband wherever life takes you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forget everything else- I just want to know how a family of four only spends $300-$400 on food. I take it that you never go out for dinner or do takeout. Are you eating a lot of rice and beans? Anyhow genuinely curious what your meal plan is because I would love lowering my grocery cost.

We do takeout once a week as a date night but primarily eat in--not for money, but for health. Our meal plans are related to a lot of what you'll find in the Blue Zones books--very healthy, primarily plant-based meals with some meats now and then. Tonight's meal, for example, involved mashed potatoes (starting with the actual potatoes), green beans (fresh), fish (frozen), and milk (organic, free-range, etc). Last night was brown rice, black-eyed peas, eggs, cheese, broccoli, and milk / water. The biggest suggestion I can make is to focus on eating less like a normal American and more like...well, someone in one of the Blue Zones. We don't do it for the money at all--several of the things we choose cost a lot, like the half-gallon milk jugs that cost around $4 each, or the eggs that are around $4 a dozen--it's all about the health. But when you eat for health, you naturally eat out a lot less and eat a lot less fatty, meaty, sugary stuff, which then drops costs a lot.

[Anonymous]

New poster. We make around 100k and live in the DC suburbs. I think we're doing ok. Only one kid though.

[Anonymous]

Subjectively, you are happy, content, have everything you want and need, and live like kings in your own mind. That's all you really need to establish to be happy.

Objectively, few people in the DC metro area are impressed with your life style and would certainly not consider it to be living like kings. As you know, everything is relative.

Good luck to you, you seem like a great person who has truly found what it takes to make yourself happy. That's more than I can say for many people here on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:where do you live? how did you pay off your house in early 30s?

Without entering into too many details, we're in Delaware. We paid off the house in our mid 20s within 4 years of purchase by making sure it didn't cost more than 2x our income; at the time, we made 50k, so we bought a 100k house on a 15-year mortgage. Made extra payments from the start, salaries went up, killed it off.

Well prepare to get your sheet jumped. Some people here will rip you because you don't live here

Yup, that's pretty standard in these threads. It's always interesting, though, because the COLA calculators are pretty consistent in each thread. Our lifestyle would cost ~150k in DC. That's still well under the 300k people declare to be barely middle class. Yet lots of posters come back with the cognitive distortion of claiming that a.) it would cost far, far, far more to live like that in DC while simultaneously claiming b.) we're living like paupers. Which is it? Would it take hundreds of thousands more to live this well in DC, or are we really suffering compared to those in DC?

The COLA calculators somehow aren't right. If you could buy a house here for $150K, it would work. But you can't.

I mean, we live in DC on $170K and I feel we do fine, don't really budget, vacation, etc. Have retirement - and recent planning showed we would be fine for retirement.

But we bought our house for ~$430K (and it's a 2 BR in a bad school district -- but ok b/c we're at a good charter in DC). But buying in my neighborhood now would be at least $600K (and we'd like another bedroom).

It's really the cost of housing that kills it in DC. You can't even buy a 1BR condo in my neighborhood (which is not the best, nor the worst) for $100K. I think it's around $200K for a 1BR in an older condo (new build is a lot more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does homeschool look like with two working parents? Especially homeschooling four kids?

The plan right now is for one of us to stay home to teach, most likely my wife.

But than your HHI won't be 100k if one of you is staying at home bc previously yu claimed you are both teachers who make (combined, I assume) 100k.

And if your school choices are homeschooling or montessori than the public schools suck, right?

So, not quite so rosy. You sorta get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Nothing op has typed shows the he and his family "live like kings". Their food/meals sound boring and actually sorta meager, both husband and wife work, vacations?, kid activities? nothing about living in luxury like a king.
Sure, you may be better off than some, but you also aren't that well off and def not "living like a king"

A better post title would be

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing op has typed shows the he and his family "live like kings". Their food/meals sound boring and actually sorta meager, both husband and wife work, vacations?, kid activities? nothing about living in luxury like a king.
Sure, you may be better off than some, but you also aren't that well off and def not "living like a king"

A better post title would be

Exactly. Living a basic middle class lifestyle. Definitely not like “kings.”

[Anonymous]

So basically, you can't pay for your kids' college, you can't take vacations, you live in a very modest home, you can't afford school tuition, and you live like kings? Kings of what, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forget everything else- I just want to know how a family of four only spends $300-$400 on food. I take it that you never go out for dinner or do takeout. Are you eating a lot of rice and beans? Anyhow genuinely curious what your meal plan is because I would love lowering my grocery cost.

We do takeout once a week as a date night but primarily eat in--not for money, but for health. Our meal plans are related to a lot of what you'll find in the Blue Zones books--very healthy, primarily plant-based meals with some meats now and then. Tonight's meal, for example, involved mashed potatoes (starting with the actual potatoes), green beans (fresh), fish (frozen), and milk (organic, free-range, etc). Last night was brown rice, black-eyed peas, eggs, cheese, broccoli, and milk / water. The biggest suggestion I can make is to focus on eating less like a normal American and more like...well, someone in one of the Blue Zones. We don't do it for the money at all--several of the things we choose cost a lot, like the half-gallon milk jugs that cost around $4 each, or the eggs that are around $4 a dozen--it's all about the health. But when you eat for health, you naturally eat out a lot less and eat a lot less fatty, meaty, sugary stuff, which then drops costs a lot.

Milk is not healthy.

[Anonymous]

If you are real (and I admit to always doubting the veracity of these posts), I’m happy for you.

I don’t understand it, it’s not how I would like to live- but you pay your bills and you are happy. That makes me happy for you. We don’t all have to want the same things to appreciate the simple beauty of any family creating then enacting the life that they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are real (and I admit to always doubting the veracity of these posts), I’m happy for you.

I don’t understand it, it’s not how I would like to live- but you pay your bills and you are happy. That makes me happy for you. We don’t all have to want the same things to appreciate the simple beauty of any family creating then enacting the life that they want.

But what is the point of this post?