Support a family of 4 on $55k/year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

OP said a family of 4 with one breadwinner. Hence, one spouse is staying home with the children and no need for daycare.

It's very tight, but doable. With $55K, you are taking home about $3500/month net (I used the payroll calculator at http://www.surepayroll.com/calculator/calc_paycheck_netpay.asp, taking home $55K, 2 deductions for the children and monthly pay--it said $3484.79 for net pay). I looked at apartments and you can rent 3 BR apartments for $2000-2200 in the Fairfax area. That leaves $1300-1500 for everything else. Utilities would probably be about $200-250 (including phone). Several people on another thread said that they feed a family of 4 on about $600-800 per month. That leaves about $300 per month for everything else. If you are willing to have a 2-BR apartment, it's more like $1800-2000 and you end up with about $500 per month for everything else.

Yes, it's very tight, but doable.

car? insurance? life insurance? health insurance? dental work? All has to come out of that $300 - $500.

Very tight ... unless you are paying less in rent (maybe by living with relatives).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

OP said a family of 4 with one breadwinner. Hence, one spouse is staying home with the children and no need for daycare.

It's very tight, but doable. With $55K, you are taking home about $3500/month net (I used the payroll calculator at http://www.surepayroll.com/calculator/calc_paycheck_netpay.asp, taking home $55K, 2 deductions for the children and monthly pay--it said $3484.79 for net pay). I looked at apartments and you can rent 3 BR apartments for $2000-2200 in the Fairfax area. That leaves $1300-1500 for everything else. Utilities would probably be about $200-250 (including phone). Several people on another thread said that they feed a family of 4 on about $600-800 per month. That leaves about $300 per month for everything else. If you are willing to have a 2-BR apartment, it's more like $1800-2000 and you end up with about $500 per month for everything else.

Yes, it's very tight, but doable.

car? insurance? life insurance? health insurance? dental work? All has to come out of that $300 - $500.

Very tight ... unless you are paying less in rent (maybe by living with relatives).

There are many people, yes, even suburbanites, who don't have a car. They use public transportation and live within walking distance of a store. And some people at the lower end of the salary range forgo health insurance.

Seeing as I know a handful of people who survive on $9-11/hr jobs and only make about $25K, I bet that a family of four can make it on $55K. Not as comfortably off as many, but they can make ends meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are many people, yes, even suburbanites, who don't have a car. They use public transportation and live within walking distance of a store. And some people at the lower end of the salary range forgo health insurance.

Seeing as I know a handful of people who survive on $9-11/hr jobs and only make about $25K, I bet that a family of four can make it on $55K. Not as comfortably off as many, but they can make ends meet.

Yes, it is doable -- but very very tight, if it means no car and no health insurance.

[Anonymous]

That income qualifies for CHIP health insurance for the kids.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anything is possible depending on what you're willing to sacrifice. If they can move to Herndon, it's a bit cheaper (and the Herndon Park n Ride is right there to get you downtown).

$1600 for a 3br.

Food wise if you buy only what's on sale, you "should" be able to feed the family for around $100 a week. Yep you'll be eating a lot of pasta and rice dishes, but it's cheap. Start couponing and you'll bring that number down even more.

Utilities in an apartment are pretty cheap, and if you just do internet you can use the free streaming for TV. Get on freecycle.com, and scour craigslist for people giving away plants (farmers or individuals overplant and many don't just want to toss them. Free food).

Absolutely can be done, as long as you plan.

[Anonymous]

I SAH and my Dh earns more than that, but we really miss my income. Maybe it can be done, but what kind of life is that? I couldn't stand always being so tight finacially, and NEVER getting to go out to eat, or date nights, or vacations.

[Anonymous]

You do what ou have to do, and living on very little can be done. At a certain point, the scale tips from "modest but comfortable" to "stressed all the time about money." I think 55k for a family of 4 in the DC area is pretty close to that breaking point.

[Anonymous]

OMG I am a single parent and it is VERY hard for me. However, if there was another person there and I didn't have to pay for day care, I guess it could work out somehow. I think you would definitely be eligible for some assistance.

[Anonymous]

^^ I make 55k btw.

[Anonymous]

55k in Fairfax DOES NOT qualify you for any type of assistence - even with THREE kids. We made it work for the last year. Before that and with one child, our income was only around 51K. We own a small townhouse. We are now at 59K with three children and I SAH with no problems. We can't go on elaborate vacations, but we have savings and enough each month for whatever we need. We don't however, have enough to save for college at this point. But I value being home before saving for that right now.

[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.

this is the correct answer. if you have the option to live on $55K versus having more income or moving to cheaper area, then those are better choices. Having no car in Fairfax is horrible on a teenager (i grew up there) - lots worse on a family of 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it can be done -- my parents raised a family of six on a Catholic school teacher's salary -- but my mom worked like a dog and we never went to dinner or bought new clothes. I strongly believe that money is more important than time (as long as you have basic needs met.) Both DH and I earn less than we might in order to have more free time. However, I think in Fairfax, though, 55K may be a bit too tight. Depends on what your housing expenses are. If you could create a side business of your own that brought in 10-20k a year, definitely yes.

I think you mean the opposite, no?

Yes, I meant the opposite. D'oh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I SAH and my Dh earns more than that, but we really miss my income. Maybe it can be done, but what kind of life is that? I couldn't stand always being so tight finacially, and NEVER getting to go out to eat, or date nights, or vacations.

Some people don't have a choice. You had the choice. I know a family of 3 and the wife was seriously considering giving up her job because daycare was eating up more than 60% of her salary. She was able to keep her job because her mother decided to retire early and now takes care of the grandchild during the days. But, for some people, who are in low-income jobs, they don't have the choice, they just make do with what they have.

And I agree with the person who said to move to Herndon. Not necessarily Herndon, but Fairfax is not the cheapest place to try to live on a small fixed income. There are other locations like Herndon that will be cheaper to live and still provide easy commute to downtown for the one breadwinner.

[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.

Just be aware, that while the COL is lower elsewhere, so are the salaries. A job that pays $55K here may only pay $40-42K in Indianapolis. You might still be ahead based on the difference in cost of living, but there are very few jobs that will pay the same in lower COL areas as they do here in this area.