Challenge - Design a budget for 120 K HHI

[Anonymous]

Oh, 120 is take home! Then you're basically in our situation. Ok, 10:16 again with revised numbers.

Rent a 3 bedroom in further out MC burbs: $1800
Childcare for younger kid: $1100
No aftercare for older one since you can pick up?
Life insurance: $200
Renter's insurance: $10/month
Car insurance: $170
Gas: $120
Food: $1000
Utilities: $200[internet, water, heat, no cable]

Savings: $1500 (you'll have 3 months worth of above expenses saved up by Oct)
College accounts: $1600 for both kids
Retirement: $1800 total contributions for you & DH
Vacation: $300

[Anonymous]

Does no one buy clothes, shoes, cell phone service, household things, presents, and all the incidentals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, 120 is take home! Then you're basically in our situation. Ok, 10:16 again with revised numbers.

Rent a 3 bedroom in further out MC burbs: $1800
Childcare for younger kid: $1100
No aftercare for older one since you can pick up?
Life insurance: $200
Renter's insurance: $10/month
Car insurance: $170
Gas: $120
Food: $1000
Utilities: $200[internet, water, heat, no cable]

Savings: $1500 (you'll have 3 months worth of above expenses saved up by Oct)
College accounts: $1600 for both kids
Retirement: $1800 total contributions for you & DH
Vacation: $300

Life insurance at 200? That's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does no one buy clothes, shoes, cell phone service, household things, presents, and all the incidentals?

ITA. Every time I look at these budgets I wonder how these people don't end up at Target buying laundry detergent, drawer pulls, light bulbs, and an ironing board with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, 120 is take home! Then you're basically in our situation. Ok, 10:16 again with revised numbers.

Rent a 3 bedroom in further out MC burbs: $1800
Childcare for younger kid: $1100
No aftercare for older one since you can pick up?
Life insurance: $200
Renter's insurance: $10/month
Car insurance: $170
Gas: $120
Food: $1000
Utilities: $200[internet, water, heat, no cable]

Savings: $1500 (you'll have 3 months worth of above expenses saved up by Oct)
College accounts: $1600 for both kids
Retirement: $1800 total contributions for you & DH
Vacation: $300

Life insurance at 200? That's crazy.

Crazy too much or crazy not enough? I get a decent amount through work, employer subsidized plus we supplement with more that we get privately. So I was kind of taking a stab in the dark about what some one else should expect to pay out of pocket. I'm assuming OP is older than I am, so would need to pay more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does no one buy clothes, shoes, cell phone service, household things, presents, and all the incidentals?

ITA. Every time I look at these budgets I wonder how these people don't end up at Target buying laundry detergent, drawer pulls, light bulbs, and an ironing board with me.

Yep, add to that car repairs/maintenance (oil changes, brakes as well as other mechanical issues - will average at least $80 per month for the two cars over the course of a year).

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. Well done! There was by and large consensus among everybody and so that was heartening. And we are pretty much on a sensible track.

Incidentals happen ALL the time (shoes, clothes, books, birthdays, car repairs, haircuts, extra-curricular activities, runs to Target, eating out, etc). Tutoring helps though income stream is variable.

After working hard to be debt-free, an emergency fund is what we are working towards now. Need to make bigger contributions to retirement as well. Housing is very low priority right now. Saved childcare cost in a year will probably go towards more extra-curricular activities or down-payment fund? We'll see how this plays out. If we do like a house and the numbers look good, we can borrow from family for down-payment as well.