Can I be a SAHM on about 100k per year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to do a budget analysis. Assume that your income is just over $100K (we'll assume that for various reasons, that anything you get from bonuses, home business is extra for luxuries or debt reduction, not for standard COL). With a tax bracket of roughly 21% federal, make it about 30% total including state, fica, etc. That gives you an annual income of monthly income of about $6000. If you take the expenses listed (rent $2300, car $300, student loan $200) that's $2800 leaving $3200. You have $3200 to pay utilities, food, gas, and all other expenses. You'll have to decide whether that's doable, depending on your family needs. Some of that also depends on where in the metro area you live. COL varies quite a lot between areas. I live in PG County and I find my expenses are at least 10% less than my friends in MoCo. My guess is generally cheaper, the prices in my supermarket, etc. So, that's also a factor.

How is a take home pay of 6K/month is possible for someone who make 100K/year? My husband makes 145K gross and his take home pay after all the deductions is 6300/month....

[Anonymous]

We made (combined) less than 85k last year and had to pay for full time childcare and managed. DH got a raise this year so I went down to part time in September to be home more with DC (am a specialist teacher) and we still pay full time childcare and do okay. Our rent is only $1400, but we have two vehicles and pay around $300 a month for student loans. It is doable, but most of the money we spend is on DC - we only do fancy dinners for birthdays and anniversaries and only buy necessity items for ourselves. My neighbors make around $70k on just his salary with 2 kids and they NEVER have new things and rely a lot on hand me down clothes and toys from relatives and neighbors. I think almost anything is doable, you just have to make sure you are comfortable with lower your non necessary expenses. Oh, and when you do your budget, factor in what you would be saving on childcare, that is no small chunk of change.

[Anonymous]

Yes. We currently live on that (both working) with one child and live very comfortably.

However, it may not be feasible to buy a home in this area on that salary. So that may be something you would have to save long-term for and be o.k. with that idea. Also having another child would begin to squeeze things for us since we'd be paying for 2 daycare costs. That is something you wouldn't have to worry about.

[Anonymous]

We live on about $100k in DC and our mortgage is about the same as your rent. However, we have a huge amount of savings and have no car payments or any other loans except our mortgage. We do travel quite a lot but stay with family or friends, and we don't really buy that much stuff. Our only child is at free public school and I work part time from home so we don't need to pay for childcare. So yes, it is possible, but probably not if you need to fund a pension or college fund or take nice vacations.

[Anonymous]

1) Is DH's job stable? If so, I'd be more willing, if not, I'd keep my job.

2) How much will health insurance cost? How much can you save for retirement?

3) Will you need another car?

4) Before you flat-out quit, did you negotiate a parental leave and possible return at part-time? If you plan on returning in 5 years, can you realistically do so?

5) If you bring in $6K/month
-$2600 (rent--will this go up?)
-$300 (car)-$200 (student loans)
-$600 retirement (this is only 10% of income, but well below the recommended $16.5K/yr limit)
-$400 (health insurance/dr bills--may not include vision or dental)
-$200 (cell phone/utilities)
-$100 (gas)
-$800 groceries=
$600/month or $150/week to pay for diapers, toiletries, incidentals. If your car breaks down, you'll need it to get repaired. If you don't have vision or dental coverage, it could be tighter. Also, I didn't factor in things like vacation, X-mas, clothes and shoes, etc.

I know people make it in this area on a lot less, but I don't like having to count pennies.

[Anonymous]

We make $125K with slightly higher fixed expenses (rent, student loans, daycare) that are the equivalent of living on $100K with your expenses (with no daycare). Of course it is doable, but for us it is tight. We are frugal in almost everything, but I believe it's worth paying to rent in a nice neighborhood (short commute, very little driving on weekends) and for a good daycare/preschool. We take one expensive vacation a year to visit far-off family. We aren't saving as much for retirement and college as I would like, but we are living within our means. I have started tracking every penny we spend on a free Pearbudget spreadsheet and am amazed by how the little things add up (batteries, cough medicine, stuff like that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm planning on quitting my job later in the spring when we have our first child. Is it crazy to think we are going to be able to swing it with me staying at home? DH's base is a little over 100 per year and then we will both be bringing home some variable compensation (him for his bonus, me for a home-based business) that will probably be between 30-60k per year combined. However, we obviously can't live off of the variable part since it's variable. Our rent is $2300, we have a car payment of $300, and very little student loan debt (maybe $200 combined?). I'm just hoping this can work without us being completely stressed over money and miserable. For what it's worth, we will not be having a second child and I hope to stay home for at least five years (ideally more, but it would depend on how much DH is making at the time). We have about $50k in savings.

I hope you don't mean Pampered Chef/Silpada/Avon kind of "home based business"

[Anonymous]

Yes, you absolutely can, as long as you haven't been living above your means and don't have huge home/car/credit card debt. You might have to change your spending habits, but we have lived comfortably on less than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to do a budget analysis. Assume that your income is just over $100K (we'll assume that for various reasons, that anything you get from bonuses, home business is extra for luxuries or debt reduction, not for standard COL). With a tax bracket of roughly 21% federal, make it about 30% total including state, fica, etc. That gives you an annual income of monthly income of about $6000. If you take the expenses listed (rent $2300, car $300, student loan $200) that's $2800 leaving $3200. You have $3200 to pay utilities, food, gas, and all other expenses. You'll have to decide whether that's doable, depending on your family needs. Some of that also depends on where in the metro area you live. COL varies quite a lot between areas. I live in PG County and I find my expenses are at least 10% less than my friends in MoCo. My guess is generally cheaper, the prices in my supermarket, etc. So, that's also a factor.

How is a take home pay of 6K/month is possible for someone who make 100K/year? My husband makes 145K gross and his take home pay after all the deductions is 6300/month....

Not the person that you're asking, but my HHI is $104k; take home is $6758 a month.

[Anonymous]

My husband makes a little over $100,000 and I bring in a bit doing some part time work that is seasonal. We do not live in our dream house but we do have a comfortable home in a good school district. We do not have a car payment but that is because we choose to drive older cars. I do not buy expensive things for myself very often but do not feel like we have to count every penny.

To answer your question, yes, you can make it work!

[Anonymous]

Prepare for an unpleasant power change in your relationship with DH.

[Anonymous]

We "practiced" our post-baby budget for a few months before he was born. In our case, it met setting aside our estimated childcare expenses each month--we put that $$$ into a savings account. In your case, why don't you set up a savings account and drop your paycheck straight into it, and live for a few months on your husband's paycheck alone? That will give you a really realistic idea of what it is like. Plus you get a little nest-egg at the end. I used mine to fund an extended (unpaid) maternity leave. In your case, you might use it to kick of a retirement savings account or something like that.

[Anonymous]

brag

[Anonymous]

Yes, OP, you can. DH makes $100,000/year and I stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live on about $100k in DC and our mortgage is about the same as your rent. However, we have a huge amount of savings and have no car payments or any other loans except our mortgage. We do travel quite a lot but stay with family or friends, and we don't really buy that much stuff. Our only child is at free public school and I work part time from home so we don't need to pay for childcare. So yes, it is possible, but probably not if you need to fund a pension or college fund or take nice vacations.

Why aren't you funding retirement or college funds?