Support a family of 4 on $55k/year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many jobs that pay $55K might not offer health insurance.

You are out of touch with reality.

In reality, I have 3 friends who work for companies that do not offer insurance to their employees. Apparently, they used to but not anymore. So 2 out of 3 of them pay for their own plans and the third one goes w/o insurance.

[Anonymous]

A bunch of people said it can be done.

However, we make more than that now and right now I'm sitting here PO'ed that my visiting family used up too many paper towels.

It will get stressful. Do it only if you are confident you won't get upset by money matters because the kids will know and get stressed out too.

[Anonymous]

It is hard to read this thread. I make about 62k, with a wife and two kids. Evend doing homeschool, it sounds hard to imagine.

[Anonymous]

Not without some type of govt assistance - reduced fee daycare, food stamps, housing assistance, disability income,etc

hate to break it to whomever is posting on this board, but 55K is not considered the poverty line in the US, even in DC, it's considered the "median" income. Usually to get government assistance, you need to be poorer than that.

[Anonymous]

Old thread alert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not without some type of govt assistance - reduced fee daycare, food stamps, housing assistance, disability income,etc

What ... You won't qualify for govt assistance making 55 a year

[Anonymous]

It can be done, but it is very very tight. We did it on less than that, BUT like one of the posters mentioned, we bought our small town home way before the boom and our monthly mortgage payment is only about 1K. It is probably much more difficult nowadays. You may need to look into supplementing income with a evening/weekend job, babysitting, dog walking, stocking shelves etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a 3 BR place? Can't the kids share a room? I realize it's not perfect but it will bring down the cost of housing. And Silver Spring, Wheaton, Glenmont, Takoma Park all have metro access AND affordable housing. Take a look. Yes, it will be tight but you can do it. And we are a family of four and eat very well (meat, fresh produce, cheeses, etc) for $700 a month and often less depending on coupons and sales.

I own a metro accessible three four bedroom house that I rent out. It is walking distance to the Glenmont metro. There are plenty of shops nearby and community amenities like the Wheaton - Glenmont Pool, Wheaton Regional Park, tennis courts walking distance from the house (brand new), a brand new elementary school and a middle school. Rent is $1595 per month, which covers my mortgage payment. We lived there with one car.

Also, a lot of people seem to assume people all work downtown. Downtown DC is second largest employment center the area after Tysons Corner.

[Anonymous]

I would like to find something metro accessible/safer, for less than 1200...commuting to the district. Any reasonable options?

[Anonymous]

This depends on a lot of things, but it can be done. If there is an ounce of debt, however, you're in trouble from the get-go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say no, it's not doable in DC. Not responsibly and not independently and not without a ton of stress.

I would not opt for this scenario, no no no.

Hie thee to Indianapolis or something. There, it can be done.

What in the world do you mean by that? Mighty big assumption there little lady!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you are all nuts who think you can do this in Metro DC for $55k. [b]We do $225k as a couple and have 2 kids and I think it's not enough for where we are (childcare is a mortgage in itself)! The problem here is HOUSING. You are so screwed with the money [/b]you shell out on housing here. Have you seen prices in Arlington? Anything that is metro accessible is going to cost you. That is the biggest problem. And the metro is crazy expensive and 1/2 the time tracks are closed on the weekends - WTF! I'm from Chicago and do business in NYC - public transportation should not work that way esp. for how expensive metro is!

On $55k at about $3500/month net - you are looking at min 1/2 of that on a place to live. My husband has a rental property in Reston we rent at $1800/month - for the sake of keeping the same tennants month/month - we have not raised rent in like 2 years and won't - we barely break even on the investment but at least don't worry about it. Let me tell you I will not let us live there. It's a 3BR with a finished basement - actually very nice house but terrible neighborhood with in Reston as we all know, there is no metro. But it's pretty safe and centrally located.

So we're down to $1800/mo. I don't know I suppose you can say $600/mo in groceries for a family of 4 (assuming you aren't eating all starch/fast food every meal and sneaking some nutrition in). Probably at least $200 on utilities and $200 on bus transportation when possible or say you have to have a car/gas - that hikes it up to at least $400/month. Some money for clothing, insurance, etc. You know in life you have to bank a little for emergencies - so um, isn't that all your money? It's the housing here that does you in I'm convinced of it. Anywhere else in the US you can afford something ok for not as much - but not here!

You are so far out of touch with reality that it boggles the mind!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you are all nuts who think you can do this in Metro DC for $55k. We do $225k as a couple and have 2 kids and I think it's not enough for where we are (childcare is a mortgage in itself)! The problem here is HOUSING. You are so screwed with the money you shell out on housing here. Have you seen prices in Arlington? Anything that is metro accessible is going to cost you. That is the biggest problem. And the metro is crazy expensive and 1/2 the time tracks are closed on the weekends - WTF! I'm from Chicago and do business in NYC - public transportation should not work that way esp. for how expensive metro is!

On $55k at about $3500/month net - you are looking at min 1/2 of that on a place to live. My husband has a rental property in Reston we rent at $1800/month - for the sake of keeping the same tennants month/month - we have not raised rent in like 2 years and won't - we barely break even on the investment but at least don't worry about it. Let me tell you I will not let us live there. It's a 3BR with a finished basement - actually very nice house but terrible neighborhood with in Reston as we all know, there is no metro. But it's pretty safe and centrally located.

So we're down to $1800/mo. I don't know I suppose you can say $600/mo in groceries for a family of 4 (assuming you aren't eating all starch/fast food every meal and sneaking some nutrition in). Probably at least $200 on utilities and $200 on bus transportation when possible or say you have to have a car/gas - that hikes it up to at least $400/month. Some money for clothing, insurance, etc. You know in life you have to bank a little for emergencies - so um, isn't that all your money? It's the housing here that does you in I'm convinced of it. Anywhere else in the US you can afford something ok for not as much - but not here!

You sound sheltered. And awful.