At what point did you throw in the towel because DC is just too expensive?

[Anonymous]

We moved here almost 8 years ago with tons in savings, CDs, no cc debt and retirement accounts large. Fast forward and we now live paycheck to paycheck with a small savings account as our emergency fund, retirement accounts took a huge hit because of the economy and tons of cc debt. We are both in our early 30's, have 2 kids but feel like we'll never be able to buy a house let alone a condo or be able to afford anything. We rarely eat out and when we do it's not at high end restaurants, I clip coupons, buy the kids clothing used, we've cut back on anything we could to pay for preschool which I know isn't a necessity but we found it important for our oldest. But, at what point do you just say enough is enough?

[Anonymous]

At no point. It is expensive because people want to live here.

[Anonymous]

We've been here two years. I've never made as much as I do now, and felt as poor as I do here. We are seriously considering moving. We like it, but it seems like you need to be making very substantial sums of money to be comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think it would be that much cheaper to live somewhere else? Sure, some of your fixed expenses would probably go down, but would your income remain the same? It's not DC that is expensive, it's the fact that you had children. Children are money pits.

[Anonymous]

OP why did you move here in the first place? Are your jobs portable?

[Anonymous]

What did you do to lose so much money? Did you move here before kids? Without divulging too much, where do you live in town? It is expensive here, but manageable if you are careful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved here almost 8 years ago with tons in savings, CDs, no cc debt and retirement accounts large. Fast forward and we now live paycheck to paycheck with a small savings account as our emergency fund, retirement accounts took a huge hit because of the economy and tons of cc debt. We are both in our early 30's, have 2 kids but feel like we'll never be able to buy a house let alone a condo or be able to afford anything. We rarely eat out and when we do it's not at high end restaurants, I clip coupons, buy the kids clothing used, we've cut back on anything we could to pay for preschool which I know isn't a necessity but we found it important for our oldest. But, at what point do you just say enough is enough?

Well what happened other than the economy, which would have happened no matter where you lived? You must have spent your savings on something to go from "tons" to "small" and you must have bought something to run up that cc debt. Sounds to me like you are living above your means. Of course I also wonder why you felt so flush when you got here given that you didn't even have enough saved or sufficient income to buy a home. As for the one expense you do mention, DC happens to be the only place I know of where there are so many free preschool options. What gives?

[Anonymous]

DC doesn't have "free daycare" for 0-3. Unless you are destitute / living under poverty line.

[Anonymous]

What happened, OP? Did you miscalculate the cost of living when agreeing to accept your jobs in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been here two years. I've never made as much as I do now, and felt as poor as I do here. We are seriously considering moving. We like it, but it seems like you need to be making very substantial sums of money to be comfortable.

I'm confused as to why you didn't realize this before you moved here.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused about why moving to the D.C. area is in any way correlated to the decline of their retirement funds.

[Anonymous]

All the people responding here seem to be incapable of empathy.

DC is expensive. Rent alone is exorbitant. I imagine they moved here with savings thinking they'd rent for a while and then buy. If that was 8 years ago, that would put them at about 2005. Housing jumped significantly (it was already on the rise) from 2005 until 2007. Not to mention, that was on the cusp when some areas of DC were still on the verge of gentrification. And of course, with the housing boom and then bust, rents have skyrocketed.

So add to that the overall economy crapping out their retirement funds, and it makes sense that they are living paycheck to paycheck.

The cost of living is high here, and it's hard for people to know that before moving here. It's only been in the last few years that people have recognized DC nationally as an expensive place to live. Whereas, people have always been aware of New York's high cost of living.

A decade ago, DC was still the murder capital of the world, and you could still rent in Silver Spring, et cetera, for a reasonable amount. That has all shifted dramatically in the last 8 years.

And even though incomes in DC are higher than other places in the country, they still have risen (on average) as much as housing costs have in the region.

[Anonymous]

meant "have not risen (on average) as much as housing costs have in the region."

[Anonymous]

To the OP, are you living in the city? Have you given thought to moving out to PG county and renting somewhere there for a while?

[Anonymous]

I call bullshit. If you are in your early 30's now you couldn't have been more than 25 when you moved here. 25yo's do not have large retirement accounts, tons of CD's or huge savings accounts unless they come from family money. The people I know like that aren't throwing in the towel b/c they can easily afford to live here. You are lying about what your financial situation was when you got here.