Budget Frustration

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Ugh op. You have to cut:

1. Mortgage to $2500
2. Beach week
3. Vacation
4, cell phones (check google fi)


Then set a more realistic budget for shopping, groceries, camps, entertainment childcare.
You’re not special. Make a budget and stick to it.

Okay, Google Fi is $30 unlimited data but Verizon is $40 — that $50/month is crucial? We have 5 phones on the plan, and I don’t want metered data and have to monitor people’s usage (I wouldn’t mind prepaid where it just drops to 3G after N GBs).

With a $5000 PITI and zero other debt, I can’t understand why we can’t fit into the 28% rule? We are $800 below it!

https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-home-can-you-afford-mortgage-rule-of-thumb-1289846

Anyone who makes $250k and has a higher 28% mortgage, please compare our budget.

What I’ve gotten is: NO VACATIONS, no organic food, and no cleaner.

You are missing git entirely - cut back on your mobile, travel, DIY house repairs, cut out streaming, reduce your grocery bill by at least 1/2, reduce your shopping, and no cleaners.


My mortgage has always been under $2k. So, I spend and do what I want on less income. Your housing is a huge issue.

A mortgage under $2k is like a $400k house. Where the heck do you live?

Where are all of you finding $500k homes in the DMV?

Just because they’ll bank approves you for the mortgage at 28% doesn’t mean you should take it, especially if you want to spend $15,000/yr on vacations.

We make $250,000 and both max our our 401ks. Our take home (after taxes, 401k, FSA, health insurance) is around $11,000/mo. If you do the 28% math on that number you get a housing budget of about $3000/mo.

We live in Silver Spring, where there are many $400-700,000 houses for sale right now.

Ok, but we make $250k and have a mortgage of $4900 and we are doing fine. So I think if OP would cut else where they would be fine.

Thanks, could you share a rough idea of your monthly expendiures.

Here's the budget I seem to be getting from people's suggestion:


Income: Self $12500
Spouse $8300
TOTAL: $20800

Expense
Income Tax: -$5600
House -$5,100.00 ($1.2M house)
Daycare -$1,688.00 (ends Sep 2022)
Insurance -$400.00 (Life, car, umbrella)
Internet -$50.00
Mobile -$300.00 (How would google fi help, for 5 that's still $240 even on flexible low data plan https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6201699?hl=en)
Home Repair -$1,166.67 (Old house, we expect 1% repairs a year)
Streaming -$40.00
Groceries -$800.00
Vacation -$200
Camps -$200.00 (au pair rather than camps)
Med -$133.33
Shop -$300.00
Kids Activities -$166.67 (rec sports and academic enrichment)
Cars -$200.00 (Paid off, this is just maint and gas for short commutes)
Utils $-375.00

Expenses: $16552

Savings: $4248

So given this, we should be able to have some wiggle room.

I think a big change is that I calculated my true taxes, which I think overestimated by $4k

PP here. Sure, I'll give you our budget. Take home monthly is $13,500.

PITI $4900
Groceries: $900
Dining out/takeout: $450
Utilities: $475
Cleaners: $220
Cell Phone: $185
Newspapers: $20
Gas/Metro/Parking: $150
Dog food/meds/vet: $300
Dry cleaning: $50
Auto Insurance: $67
Life Insurance: $69
Subscription Fees: $55
Bar Dues: $75
Pool membership: $70
Summer camp: $367
Kid activities: $250
Home supplies: $100
Personal care: $300
Family activities: 150
Gifts: $300
Clothing: $250

Travel: $250
Dental: $250
Medical: $100
Auto maintenance: $200
Home Maintenance: $250
Home Furnishings: $200

That totals about $11,000 per month. We save the remaining $2,500/month ($30k-ish) plus we are paid bi-weekly so we get four "extra" paychecks for year for an extra $10k or so in savings.

We got a lot of beef about $1500 grocery bill, but we don't do take out so your $1350 food (groceries + dining) is very similar, is that why folks are up in arms, they assume we also do dining on top of high groceries?

But I was comparing costs, and even at Costco Organic eggs are 2x price of conventional; and Organic milk from Costco is not any cheaper than WF which baffles me.

DP. We basically shop exclusively at Mom's Organic Market or similar places and it's $1,200 per month for a family of five. We do very limited dining out so it balances out. I don't think it's unreasonable given your take home. Our total car insurance is $80/month but then one of our cars is 10+ years old without collision and we have a $2K deductible on the other. I'd rather self-insure for most things under ~$5-$10K in potential costs. Is your summer camp averaged over the whole year? If so, then it makes more sense at $400-$500 per week per kid. Home maintenance looks low. Most homes will average 1% of the cost and more if it's older and those costs are often lumpy (e.g., new decks, roofs, heating, HVAC, appliance, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have looked at Misfits or Imperfect Foods since you eat so many fruits and veg? They might be cheaper.

You might not need organic milk if you do South Mountain Creamery. Their prices are sometimes cheaper than Whole Foods.

All of the above deliver.

Moms and Trader Joes have much cheaper milk and eggs than SMC sadly; though we love them, SMC is a bit premium.