Making it on $250,000 a year (WaPo business section, front page, Sunday)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where can you get takeout for a family of four for $25 per night, other than at McDonald's? We do takeout maybe 3 times a month, but it's at least $60 per time.

We get Peruvian chicken takeout once/month or so, from a little place down the street in Silver Spring. We spend about $18 for a roasted chicken and three sides. It feeds the four of us (two adults, one teenage boy, one tween boy) and sometimes we have leftover chicken.

$60 for takeout is absurd.

I don't think anyone is saying that take-out CAN'T be cheaper (obviously, as you mentioned, there are places where you could get a meal to feed four, for $20), but I certainly wouldn't say that $60 is "absurd." I think it is naive to say that feeding the family can easily be done in the DC area for such a low place. I live in a lower-income area (PG county), and the little local ethnic take-out places still cost us $30-$40 (for our family of four). As another PP mentioned, even going to Chipotle can cost $40. Yes, $60 is on the higher side and we would usually try to avoid those places, but $60 on takeout also doesn't necessarily mean you are living large.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone think the numbers cited for Alexandria, Bethesda and the District were a bit off?

I thought the property taxes were way low, but other expenses estimated high, like dry cleaning and cleaning person.

Any comments?

Often the tradeoff for making an income in the $250K+ range is time. Things like cleaning help, takeout meals, and a close-in, low-maintenance home may seem like luxuries to some people, but if you're working a 60, 70, 80 hour week they become virtual necessities.

[Anonymous]

Agreed re: outsourcing certain jobs...lawn care/cleaning/peadpod, etc. are all the things that add up but seriously, we'd NEVER see the kids if we didn't fram out some of these tasks.

We are in this exact demographic and things like childcare costs, parochial school tuition, and student loans are killing us. We rarely eat out, don't buy tons of junk (I hate shopping), don't really travel much, don't buy new cars, and we are still just barely making it. We'd be able to do public schools if we lived in a better school district, but we can't afford the mortgage there...catch 22.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed re: outsourcing certain jobs...lawn care/cleaning/peadpod, etc. are all the things that add up but seriously, we'd NEVER see the kids if we didn't fram out some of these tasks.

We are in this exact demographic and things like childcare costs, parochial school tuition, and student loans are killing us. We rarely eat out, don't buy tons of junk (I hate shopping), don't really travel much, don't buy new cars, and we are still just barely making it. We'd be able to do public schools if we lived in a better school district, but we can't afford the mortgage there...catch 22.

If you have an annual household income of $250K, how can you not afford a mortgage in a better school district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where can you get takeout for a family of four for $25 per night, other than at McDonald's? We do takeout maybe 3 times a month, but it's at least $60 per time.

We get Peruvian chicken takeout once/month or so, from a little place down the street in Silver Spring. We spend about $18 for a roasted chicken and three sides. It feeds the four of us (two adults, one teenage boy, one tween boy) and sometimes we have leftover chicken.

$60 for takeout is absurd.

I don't think anyone is saying that take-out CAN'T be cheaper (obviously, as you mentioned, there are places where you could get a meal to feed four, for $20), but I certainly wouldn't say that $60 is "absurd." I think it is naive to say that feeding the family can easily be done in the DC area for such a low place. I live in a lower-income area (PG county), and the little local ethnic take-out places still cost us $30-$40 (for our family of four). As another PP mentioned, even going to Chipotle can cost $40. Yes, $60 is on the higher side and we would usually try to avoid those places, but $60 on takeout also doesn't necessarily mean you are living large.

My point was, takeout doesn't have to cost "at least" $60/pop, as the PP said. It can cost that, but it doesn't have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed re: outsourcing certain jobs...lawn care/cleaning/peadpod, etc. are all the things that add up but seriously, we'd NEVER see the kids if we didn't fram out some of these tasks.

We are in this exact demographic and things like childcare costs, parochial school tuition, and student loans are killing us. We rarely eat out, don't buy tons of junk (I hate shopping), don't really travel much, don't buy new cars, and we are still just barely making it. We'd be able to do public schools if we lived in a better school district, but we can't afford the mortgage there...catch 22.

If you have an annual household income of $250K, how can you not afford a mortgage in a better school district?

It can be hard to save enough for a down payment if you have grad school loans. We live in CC DC and most homes start at $700K (to well over $1.5 M)--which means that you have to be able to save $140K plus closing costs before buying a house. There's also a wedding to pay for, presumably.

The point being, if you didn't get lucky with the housing bubble; if you don't have parents able/willing to help you out; if you want to start your family within a few years of graduate school (say, late 20s, early 30s)l if you have student loans (because your parents weren't able to foot the bill)--it can be awfully hard to save up enough for a down payment to buy a house in a JKLM district, much less Bethesda or close-in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed re: outsourcing certain jobs...lawn care/cleaning/peadpod, etc. are all the things that add up but seriously, we'd NEVER see the kids if we didn't fram out some of these tasks.

We are in this exact demographic and things like childcare costs, parochial school tuition, and student loans are killing us. We rarely eat out, don't buy tons of junk (I hate shopping), don't really travel much, don't buy new cars, and we are still just barely making it. We'd be able to do public schools if we lived in a better school district, but we can't afford the mortgage there...catch 22.

If you have an annual household income of $250K, how can you not afford a mortgage in a better school district?

It can be hard to save enough for a down payment if you have grad school loans. We live in CC DC and most homes start at $700K (to well over $1.5 M)--which means that you have to be able to save $140K plus closing costs before buying a house. There's also a wedding to pay for, presumably.

The point being, if you didn't get lucky with the housing bubble; if you don't have parents able/willing to help you out; if you want to start your family within a few years of graduate school (say, late 20s, early 30s)l if you have student loans (because your parents weren't able to foot the bill)--it can be awfully hard to save up enough for a down payment to buy a house in a JKLM district, much less Bethesda or close-in Arlington.

Heck, even drop the price to 500k, 100k is hard to save (plus another 15K in closing/moving expenses) on a 250k income, especially when you are saddled with a six figures in student loans, it is very difficult to save. Of course there is always renting, but then you get crushed without the tax deduction.

We got lucky with the housing bubble and made 200k off a home, there is NO WAY we could be living in the house we live in without that. We purchased back in 2000 with 100% financing and sold at the peak in early 2006 and walked with exactly 225k-TAX FREE. We then moved that money into the stock market and made another 15% on top of that and then pulled before the market tanked. This would have never been possible without the enormous stroke of luck in hitting the market just right WITHOUT the expense of kids. We also got a head start and made that home purchase in 2000 when I was 22 and DH was 24, lucky way to start life out.

[Anonymous]

$60 = two soups, one appetizer, four entrees from Tara Thai. We certainly spend more than $25 any way you slice it for takeout. Then again, I have two children with large appetites. When I cook, I know I have to make enough for 6 servings to feed the four of us.

[Anonymous]

If that's where you really want to live for the school district then you could easily rent without breaking the bank.

[Anonymous]

15:36 here. $250,000 gross really isn't that much net once you subtract taxes, student loans (close to $100k, sadly), childcare, things like health and life insurance, 401 K contributions, etc...
Our house cost $600,000 and we're not in Bethesda or a well regarded school district. We like where we are but our local public wasn't an option and we truly cannot fathom being able to afford private school.
I don't know how you guys can get by on groceries in the $100 range per week. We usually spend at least $175 per week and I shop at Giant or Safeway, nothing fancy. I do coupons and specials wherever I can, and I always buy generic if it's available. Our cars are older. Most of our furniture is from Ikea. We don't have credit card bills but we spend an awful lot of what we make each month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If that's where you really want to live for the school district then you could easily rent without breaking the bank.

I live in a nice school district and rents are around $3,500/mo and up from there (non-apartment, apartments are around $2,500 for a 2BR). My mortgage is $2,700/mo and I was a lucky one to hit the housing bubble perfectly.

We could not afford to rent our house for $3,500/mo even with our just under 250k income. Once you factor in small kids childcare, that runs us more than the mortgage. I can see why women don't work, often it just does not make finaicial sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:36 here. $250,000 gross really isn't that much net once you subtract taxes, student loans (close to $100k, sadly), childcare, things like health and life insurance, 401 K contributions, etc...
Our house cost $600,000 and we're not in Bethesda or a well regarded school district. We like where we are but our local public wasn't an option and we truly cannot fathom being able to afford private school.
I don't know how you guys can get by on groceries in the $100 range per week. We usually spend at least $175 per week and I shop at Giant or Safeway, nothing fancy. I do coupons and specials wherever I can, and I always buy generic if it's available. Our cars are older. Most of our furniture is from Ikea. We don't have credit card bills but we spend an awful lot of what we make each month.

I find Giant and SW very expensive. I'm lucky to have a Wegman's near by.

If you cool from scratch, I find that I can feed a family of 4 (kids under 5yrs old) on $100 in groceries, PLUS one night eating out.

This means the main fruit and veggies are apples, grapes, broccoli, green beans, winter squash, clementines, and sweet potato (this time of year, more opens up in the warm weather). We do a lot of lentil soup with anduille sausage (a $6 package of it goes in the whole soup that lasts 2 nights). We also grill chicken breast (we buy organic in bulk from Costco) on Sunday nights. 6 breasts last all week...they go on green salads, in quesadillas, in soups, in stirfry, and the leftovers get made into chicken salad.

Cooking/shopping on a $100 weekly budget takes A LOT of planning. I would love to offer classes of some sort, I think busy families on a budget would benefit from meal and grocery plans to get them on the right track. Though I think a family on a budget might not want to pay for such a class!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And where can you get takeout for a family of four for $25 per night, other than at McDonald's? We do takeout maybe 3 times a month, but it's at least $60 per time.

We get Peruvian chicken takeout once/month or so, from a little place down the street in Silver Spring. We spend about $18 for a roasted chicken and three sides. It feeds the four of us (two adults, one teenage boy, one tween boy) and sometimes we have leftover chicken.

$60 for takeout is absurd.

Chinese food. 5 dishes with enough leftover for the next night.

[Anonymous]

Where is Wegmans? We don't have one in Potomac?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is Wegmans? We don't have one in Potomac?

Sadly, no.