Does anyone here live very well on very little?

[Anonymous]

We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say we live very well on relatively little just because we're older (late 40s). First of all, we just feel more secure than we did in our 30s because our 401Ks and home equity have built up and we've had 20 years to save and invest. Second, we have a much better sense of what we want and don't need.

The biggest financial difference is the mortgage. We bought our house in the 1990s before the kids for well under $500k while our new neighbors have to pay closer to $1.5M now.

The spouse loves cars, but I wasn't going to spend $80K for a Tesla. So we got a used 911 for the price of a new Accord and only Porsche aficianados can tell that its 9 years old. It's just as fast and thrilling to drive as a new one. We keep an old SUV in the driveway for when the whole family rides together, but that is pretty seldom.

We are foodies and both love to cook so the eating local and seasonal trend has really brought our food budget down. No money is wasted on tasteless California strawberries or Chilean raspberries in winter. The peaches and blueberries I put away from the summer CSA are tastier and cost next to nothing. We still do lots of dinner parties and you can afford much better wine/cocktails at home than at a restaurant. Loving to cook means we only eat out at great restaurants. When we don't cook, it's never for basic Chinese or Thai delivery or some forgettable restaurant because we're hungry. Going out once a month to a great restaurant like Filo Mare is cheaper than what we used to spend on take-out 3-4x/week. And, we don't order alcohol.

Instead of going to the Mid-Altantic beaches, we share a very rustic up-island rental on Martha's Vineyard with another family for $150/night. The plusher house next door goes to the same stretch of sand for $10k/week. Spending so little on our summer beach vacation means we can go to Paris in the fall, Puerto Rico in winter, or Zion in spring. Our kids have seen the entire world off-season (with self-created school holidays) for what some families spend on Disney.

We see tons of movies (I don't know why more people don't buy the ticket book at E Street for $8/movie) and we're regulars at the Shakespeare Theater ($25 for unsold seats 2 hours before every show). Some people might feel it's a little beneath them to get rush seats, but for me it means no guilt for paying $600 to see Hamilton on Broadway over Thanksgiving.

So yeah, it is possible to live in a nice house in a great neighborhood, drive a Porsche convertible, summer (for 2 weeks) on the Vineyard and vacation globally, enjoy the theater and film, and be treated like regulars at places like Komi on less than a big law partner draw.

Get over yourself. Its only because you have one foot in the grave, er, are old and bought before the housing boom/bubble.

Why be so mean? She admitted these circumstances contribute to why they are doing so well. Everyone's circumstances are different. I think we're trying to see what might be able to contribute to our own success, from what we're reading here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say we live very well on relatively little just because we're older (late 40s). First of all, we just feel more secure than we did in our 30s because our 401Ks and home equity have built up and we've had 20 years to save and invest. Second, we have a much better sense of what we want and don't need.

The biggest financial difference is the mortgage. We bought our house in the 1990s before the kids for well under $500k while our new neighbors have to pay closer to $1.5M now.

The spouse loves cars, but I wasn't going to spend $80K for a Tesla. So we got a used 911 for the price of a new Accord and only Porsche aficianados can tell that its 9 years old. It's just as fast and thrilling to drive as a new one. We keep an old SUV in the driveway for when the whole family rides together, but that is pretty seldom.

We are foodies and both love to cook so the eating local and seasonal trend has really brought our food budget down. No money is wasted on tasteless California strawberries or Chilean raspberries in winter. The peaches and blueberries I put away from the summer CSA are tastier and cost next to nothing. We still do lots of dinner parties and you can afford much better wine/cocktails at home than at a restaurant. Loving to cook means we only eat out at great restaurants. When we don't cook, it's never for basic Chinese or Thai delivery or some forgettable restaurant because we're hungry. Going out once a month to a great restaurant like Filo Mare is cheaper than what we used to spend on take-out 3-4x/week. And, we don't order alcohol.

Instead of going to the Mid-Altantic beaches, we share a very rustic up-island rental on Martha's Vineyard with another family for $150/night. The plusher house next door goes to the same stretch of sand for $10k/week. Spending so little on our summer beach vacation means we can go to Paris in the fall, Puerto Rico in winter, or Zion in spring. Our kids have seen the entire world off-season (with self-created school holidays) for what some families spend on Disney.

We see tons of movies (I don't know why more people don't buy the ticket book at E Street for $8/movie) and we're regulars at the Shakespeare Theater ($25 for unsold seats 2 hours before every show). Some people might feel it's a little beneath them to get rush seats, but for me it means no guilt for paying $600 to see Hamilton on Broadway over Thanksgiving.

So yeah, it is possible to live in a nice house in a great neighborhood, drive a Porsche convertible, summer (for 2 weeks) on the Vineyard and vacation globally, enjoy the theater and film, and be treated like regulars at places like Komi on less than a big law partner draw.

Get over yourself. Its only because you have one foot in the grave, er, are old and bought before the housing boom/bubble.

I agree its no great achievement - just trying to answer the OP's question. I hope you'll be in your 40s someday too (the alternative sucks). And I wish that when you're that old, your house will have appreciated a lot, your income will go up, and your mortgage will seem small. I get where you're coming from. When we bought our house, I was jealous that the sellers had paid half of the listing price. Their mortgage for a house in Cleveland Park was less than the rent on our basement apartment! I was so worked up, I kept insisting that we should wring more concessions from the sellers until the spouse said we'd lose the sale. As for the boom/bubble, keep in mind that a $500,000 invested in the S&P 20 years ago would now be worth $2.5 million so our house appreciation really isn't that high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say we live very well on relatively little just because we're older (late 40s). First of all, we just feel more secure than we did in our 30s because our 401Ks and home equity have built up and we've had 20 years to save and invest. Second, we have a much better sense of what we want and don't need.

The biggest financial difference is the mortgage. We bought our house in the 1990s before the kids for well under $500k while our new neighbors have to pay closer to $1.5M now.

The spouse loves cars, but I wasn't going to spend $80K for a Tesla. So we got a used 911 for the price of a new Accord and only Porsche aficianados can tell that its 9 years old. It's just as fast and thrilling to drive as a new one. We keep an old SUV in the driveway for when the whole family rides together, but that is pretty seldom.

We are foodies and both love to cook so the eating local and seasonal trend has really brought our food budget down. No money is wasted on tasteless California strawberries or Chilean raspberries in winter. The peaches and blueberries I put away from the summer CSA are tastier and cost next to nothing. We still do lots of dinner parties and you can afford much better wine/cocktails at home than at a restaurant. Loving to cook means we only eat out at great restaurants. When we don't cook, it's never for basic Chinese or Thai delivery or some forgettable restaurant because we're hungry. Going out once a month to a great restaurant like Filo Mare is cheaper than what we used to spend on take-out 3-4x/week. And, we don't order alcohol.

Instead of going to the Mid-Altantic beaches, we share a very rustic up-island rental on Martha's Vineyard with another family for $150/night. The plusher house next door goes to the same stretch of sand for $10k/week. Spending so little on our summer beach vacation means we can go to Paris in the fall, Puerto Rico in winter, or Zion in spring. Our kids have seen the entire world off-season (with self-created school holidays) for what some families spend on Disney.

We see tons of movies (I don't know why more people don't buy the ticket book at E Street for $8/movie) and we're regulars at the Shakespeare Theater ($25 for unsold seats 2 hours before every show). Some people might feel it's a little beneath them to get rush seats, but for me it means no guilt for paying $600 to see Hamilton on Broadway over Thanksgiving.

So yeah, it is possible to live in a nice house in a great neighborhood, drive a Porsche convertible, summer (for 2 weeks) on the Vineyard and vacation globally, enjoy the theater and film, and be treated like regulars at places like Komi on less than a big law partner draw.

Get over yourself. Its only because you have one foot in the grave, er, are old and bought before the housing boom/bubble.

I agree its no great achievement - just trying to answer the OP's question. I hope you'll be in your 40s someday too (the alternative sucks). And I wish that when you're that old, your house will have appreciated a lot, your income will go up, and your mortgage will seem small. I get where you're coming from. When we bought our house, I was jealous that the sellers had paid half of the listing price. Their mortgage for a house in Cleveland Park was less than the rent on our basement apartment! I was so worked up, I kept insisting that we should wring more concessions from the sellers until the spouse said we'd lose the sale. As for the boom/bubble, keep in mind that a $500,000 invested in the S&P 20 years ago would now be worth $2.5 million so our house appreciation really isn't that high.

But no one gives you a tax deductible govt insured loan to buy half a million in stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's threads like these that make me appreciate the area I live in and the lifestyle that allows me to lead. Our HHI is about $180k. Our house was $330k (mortgage, PITI is $1700/month), and that bought a new build, 3400 SF home, two miles from downtown. Our public schools are pretty good. Child care costs are low. We are able to max out retirement savings and save for college starting when the kids were babies. The job market here is good, and my husband could replace his job easily if he lost his current one. Mine would be harder to replace.

It's a low-stress, financially freeing way to live. I save where I can when it's not too much trouble, but I have no problem dropping cash for the things I want. Having low living costs really frees you up for all the other things you want.

You all should move!

I'm totally with you. Similar situation, similar [earned] income (but we've invested so much over the years that investment income is rapidly approaching earned income).

It's such a better life.

The OP asked if anyone "here" lives well on very little. Some of us don't have the option to move to lower COL areas because of jobs (biglaw, government, contracting, spooks, etc.). I dream of the country life, but unless DH and I change careers it can't happen.

There are government jobs in other parts of the country. I know, I've held one.

If you don't want to move, fine. But claiming that it's impossible just makes us realize how unimaginative and incapable you really are to effect any sort of change in your life.

Eh, maybe if you work in something that translates to the state level. Some of the secrety stuff you can only do around here.

I had an SCI clearance.

That describes a 'trait'. Where you an analyst for Arabic intelligence? GIS expert identifying suspicious locations in N Korea? DOD program manager building secure document repositories? All these have jobs in civilian industries but not necessarily in small low COL cities.

+1. Dh has a 'secrety' contracting job and although I would love to relocate to a lower cost of living area the jobs in his field are here.

[Anonymous]

I am an excellent cook. I entertain a lot and create elaborate and delicious menus, that would cost an arm and leg to get catered.

I have also been asked to cater parties by friends, because I can cook easily for 60-70 people at a time. I have only cooked for my own siblings though. Since I save such a lot on food, I can splurge in wine and booze for my parties.

I agree that it does not take money, but it takes time. I end up getting up very early to cook for at least a few days before a party. I don't mind because I love entertaining and my kids and DH also enjoy having people over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

Different pp here with similar income a few thousand higher. We max retirement and have significant college savings. International travel every two years to visit family. Use ff when poss and generally stay with family, but also travel domestically a few times a year.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to add,w are a family of four.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

Different pp here with similar income a few thousand higher. We max retirement and have significant college savings. International travel every two years to visit family. Use ff when poss and generally stay with family, but also travel domestically a few times a year.

Impressive! Gross?
Budget, please? I'm doing something wrong - Not maxing, no college savings and no internAtional travel here. Help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

Different pp here with similar income a few thousand higher. We max retirement and have significant college savings. International travel every two years to visit family. Use ff when poss and generally stay with family, but also travel domestically a few times a year.

Impressive! Gross?
Budget, please? I'm doing something wrong - Not maxing, no college savings and no internAtional travel here. Help!

Yes,pls post your budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

90k gross. No not maxing out on retirement/college. We do have savings. We are very frugal travelers and having just one child certainly helps with airline fees. My friend with three kids can't even consider flying internationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

90k gross. No not maxing out on retirement/college. We do have savings. We are very frugal travelers and having just one child certainly helps with airline fees. My friend with three kids can't even consider flying internationally.

It's all about the mortgage. you net at least $5k a month maybe more if not maxing 401k. Let's say you have a $1500/month mortgage b/c you bought a while back. $1000k groceries. $500 health insurance. $2000 discretionary left. 3 tickets to Europe & hotel maybe $6000? You could save up that easily in a year no problem in two.

Try doing it with our $3k mortgage since we are in our 30s and bought our $700k townhouse in 2011. Much harder math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

90k gross. No not maxing out on retirement/college. We do have savings. We are very frugal travelers and having just one child certainly helps with airline fees. My friend with three kids can't even consider flying internationally.

It's all about the mortgage. you net at least $5k a month maybe more if not maxing 401k. Let's say you have a $1500/month mortgage b/c you bought a while back. $1000k groceries. $500 health insurance. $2000 discretionary left. 3 tickets to Europe & hotel maybe $6000? You could save up that easily in a year no problem in two.

Try doing it with our $3k mortgage since we are in our 30s and bought our $700k townhouse in 2011. Much harder math.

We also bought our townhouse in 2011. But we spent 300k. Its a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do okay on 90k income. We went to London/Paris for spring break and are headed to Disney this Fall. Small mortgage because we bought an older townhouse further out. Public school for our one kid.

Are you also maxing retirement and building savings? Saving for home repairs? is the 90k gross? What's your secret for funding international travel for the family?

Different pp here with similar income a few thousand higher. We max retirement and have significant college savings. International travel every two years to visit family. Use ff when poss and generally stay with family, but also travel domestically a few times a year.

Impressive! Gross?
Budget, please? I'm doing something wrong - Not maxing, no college savings and no internAtional travel here. Help!

Yes,pls post your budget.

Take home pay is just under $5k per month, plus maybe an average of $500 per month from spouse. Retirement is already taken out, as is health insurance.

Mortgage, PITI = $1450
Utilities incl phones and internet = $300
Childcare = $100 for occasional aftercare, kids now both in school
Food and groceries, incl eating out = about $1000
Vacations = about $5k a year
Clothes for kids and occasionally us = maybe $500 a year
College savings = currently only $150 a month, but already have $50k plus saved for 3 and 6 year olds.
Gas = $40 a month, we don't drive much, but I guess it's more if we've driven to the beach or the mountains for a day or the weekend.
Activities = kids are not signed up for any but we do stuff as a family all the time, museums, hikes, day trips, etc.

Feel free to slam me for this, I'm sure I've left something out. We 1) have robust retirement and savings due to our age and length of time saving, as well as relative frugality (we do a lot of thrift store shopping, for example) and 2) have a relatively low mortgage payment because we didn't buy in the last few years and live in a neighborhood most people wouldn't have considered when we bought.