How much should a family be making to afford to raise 2 children in this area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm asking because my birthing decision is going to be based on how many kids I can afford. When I was younger I wanted 4 now that I'm older I want 2. But I want to make sure I can afford it and be comfortable. I don't care for all the expensive extracurricular activities and camps etc. I'm talking about the basic necessities. Ideally I want to be able to afford 2 kids on just my salary, so that my husband's salary will just be extra income. If you have 2 children what's your HHI, where do you live and are you comfortable.

Do you have family to help with infant/toddler care?

[Anonymous]

I largely agree with everyone who says this question is impossible, but I think the biggest question mark within it is "this area." I suspect the cost of raising kids is radically different between Bethesda, Fairfax City, Bowie, Capitol Hill, and Burke. And most of us have enough constraints that we can't just randomly choose one of those areas based on how much we want to spend (constraints including commute logistics, proximity to family, school preference, etc.).

Personally, I'm comfortably raising two kids on an income that's pretty modest by DCUM standards, but that's because I live and work in PG County.

[Anonymous]

I think the biggest shock for most young families is the cost of childcare. The daycares associated with the various federal offices downtown charge almost $2k/month for an infant. Most other reputable childcare centers in the district are going to charge you between $1.5K and $2K/month for full-time care, and if you have a nanny, you can expect to pay between $17-$25/hour depending on her experience, driving ability, one vs two kids, etc. Private schools in DC charge between $30K and $40K/year, not including summer camps.

The other stuff, like housing, is also expensive, of course. But it's really the cost of quality childcare, IMHO, that throws new parents for a loop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm asking because my birthing decision is going to be based on how many kids I can afford. When I was younger I wanted 4 now that I'm older I want 2. But I want to make sure I can afford it and be comfortable. I don't care for all the expensive extracurricular activities and camps etc. I'm talking about the basic necessities. Ideally I want to be able to afford 2 kids on just my salary, so that my husband's salary will just be extra income. If you have 2 children what's your HHI, where do you live and are you comfortable.

Do you have family to help with infant/toddler care?

Op, yes I do. I have so many family members to choose from.

[Anonymous]

Agree with other PPs. $250k is enough for a decent lifestyle with 2 kids in the DC metro area.

[Anonymous]

I'm a single mom by choice to 2 kids. We live in a TH in a W district. I make $175K. I work from home full time for a multinational company. This allows me the flexibility to work when the kids are sleeping and not have to pay for before or after school care. When the kids were infants and toddlers, I used an in home daycare. Kids are 3 years apart so there was only a short span of overlapping daycare and I saved up for it.

My mortgage of $2800 is my only debt. No car payment or student loans. I fully fund my 401K and try to put $250/month per child into their 529s.

Kids can be involved in up to 2 after school activities each.

We're okay. I wouldn't say I go to bed every night and don't think about money but for the most part each month it works out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a single mom by choice to 2 kids. We live in a TH in a W district. I make $175K. I work from home full time for a multinational company. This allows me the flexibility to work when the kids are sleeping and not have to pay for before or after school care. When the kids were infants and toddlers, I used an in home daycare. Kids are 3 years apart so there was only a short span of overlapping daycare and I saved up for it.

My mortgage of $2800 is my only debt. No car payment or student loans. I fully fund my 401K and try to put $250/month per child into their 529s.

Kids can be involved in up to 2 after school activities each.

We're okay. I wouldn't say I go to bed every night and don't think about money but for the most part each month it works out.

Wow kudos to you! A lot of people in your situation would be really struggling but you're making it work nicely.

[Anonymous]

We make close to 300k with two kids and family to help and we still feel tight given 401k contributions, mortgage for a nice house in good school district, 529 contributions, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the biggest shock for most young families is the cost of childcare. The daycares associated with the various federal offices downtown charge almost $2k/month for an infant. Most other reputable childcare centers in the district are going to charge you between $1.5K and $2K/month for full-time care, and if you have a nanny, you can expect to pay between $17-$25/hour depending on her experience, driving ability, one vs two kids, etc. Private schools in DC charge between $30K and $40K/year, not including summer camps.

The other stuff, like housing, is also expensive, of course. But it's really the cost of quality childcare, IMHO, that throws new parents for a loop.

Personally I think there's another shock equal to the childcare shock, and that's the college savings issue... we've never paid for childcare because I pay home (and even have family to help with most babysitting), but the amount we *should* be saving for college per kid per month is huge. Go to any online calculator for this (for example the VA 529 site has a good one) and prepare to be shocked!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make 225k and are about to have two kids. It's doable.

Is this a joke? Of course it is doable on nearly a quarter of a million dollars annually. It is also doable on my salary. $60K

[Anonymous]

HHI is $140k and we are expecting our second soon. We will be fine - won't be able to fund 529s and will have to scale back on vacations but the mortgage, retirement, childcare, etc will all be paid. It certainly helps that our current only is entering kindergarten this year.

ALOT of people make it on ALOT less, trust me.

[Anonymous]

Here's us. Not living comfortably.

3 kids

HHI 130

Rent is 1800.

We also have a rental property OOS costing 1300. Rental income is already figured into our HHI.

All 3 kids are home with me. I work two pt jobs from home while my husband works ft outside the home.

We have a car payment to be done by December. After that, our only debt is the rental mortgage.

Things are tight. Retirement isn't fully funded. Emergency fund is maybe 3 months of expenses. College savings are a joke. We are just dumping all our cash into debt and then savings. I hope to *activate* into a stronger earner once all kids are in school. I plan to trade my two pt jobs into something ft with nicer benefits.

We'd be on easy street if we both made 100 and could get rid of the OOS property completely.

[Anonymous]

100k bare minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's us. Not living comfortably.

3 kids

HHI 130

Rent is 1800.

We also have a rental property OOS costing 1300. Rental income is already figured into our HHI.

All 3 kids are home with me. I work two pt jobs from home while my husband works ft outside the home.

We have a car payment to be done by December. After that, our only debt is the rental mortgage.

Things are tight. Retirement isn't fully funded. Emergency fund is maybe 3 months of expenses. College savings are a joke. We are just dumping all our cash into debt and then savings. I hope to *activate* into a stronger earner once all kids are in school. I plan to trade my two pt jobs into something ft with nicer benefits.

We'd be on easy street if we both made 100 and could get rid of the OOS property completely.

I don't understand the rental income thing. Can you explain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's us. Not living comfortably.

3 kids

HHI 130

Rent is 1800.

We also have a rental property OOS costing 1300. Rental income is already figured into our HHI.

All 3 kids are home with me. I work two pt jobs from home while my husband works ft outside the home.

We have a car payment to be done by December. After that, our only debt is the rental mortgage.

Things are tight. Retirement isn't fully funded. Emergency fund is maybe 3 months of expenses. College savings are a joke. We are just dumping all our cash into debt and then savings. I hope to *activate* into a stronger earner once all kids are in school. I plan to trade my two pt jobs into something ft with nicer benefits.

We'd be on easy street if we both made 100 and could get rid of the OOS property completely.

Can you foreclose on the rental or do a short sale?

Don't take this the wrong way but three kids isn't a joke. We make close to 400k and probably won't have three kids!