I hate being stuck at $230k HHI and feel poor AF
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Anonymous
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Op says they are maxing their 401k.
Op, so don’t max it. 2023, just invest 4k less overall. Mazda paid for. The bricks project is paid for right? Next time just get. A little heloc. Pay half now, then spread out the heloc payments over a year. They’ll give you longer, but it’s not burdensome to pay back $5k over a year at your level. |
Anonymous
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I think you need to rethink both how you allocate your money and how you think about your money.
When I save money or put away money for retirement, I find it deeply satisfying. It makes me "feel rich" even though I'm not spending that money. It's hugely relieving to me to know that money is there, both for way down the road and also for the kinds of one-off surprise expenses you are talking about. I don't love having to spend several thousand on a repair, but when we do it, I always think how glad I am that we saved for just such a rainy day. Saving that money feels good and spending it when we need to doesn't feel bad. It's part of the plan. But also, if I truly felt "poor AF" on our current income with our current savings plans, I'd look to see if there is a way to reconfigure our finances so we had more disposable income. As you said, you guys are saving aggressively in your 401ks. That's good, but you could step it down by one percentage point and have a little more cash on hand. Maybe it just goes straight into ordinary savings so it's not like you're spending it away, but it's liquid so you can use it when you need it. I would consider it if you really feel like you simply do not have enough cash flow. You also need to thing longterm, especially regarding your mortgage. When are you planning to pay it off? Or maybe you dream of cashing out at some point? Do you plan to have kids? If not, maybe you downsize. Or maybe you stick it out and then you have a major asset and no mortgage. Factor this into your retirement too. If your hours is paid off by, say, 55, and you retire at 60 or 62, based on your current retirement trajectory, what does that look like. I'm betting it looks amazing. You'd have 5-7 years of income with no mortgage, which means you could aggressive save that money, plus you're looking at retirement with no mortgage. Right now that's your biggest expense. One day it won't even exist. Do you still feel poor when you think about it? |
Anonymous
Interesting..so.people around here make it work ny using their homes as a credit card? |
Anonymous
| OP, this is an online anonymous forum where most of the people claim to be millionaires with unlimited savings. If you haven’t figured it out by now, most people on this forum are lying about everything, including their financial status. Please don’t compare yourself to the made up numbers people throw out on here. |
Anonymous
I agree that $5000 per month sounds way too low for a $150K salary, but even assuming you're right... where is your money going? Even if it's $8500, you only mentioned a little over $4000 a month in ongoing expenses which would mean saving half your take home. If you're not doing that, then where is the rest of your money going? |
Anonymous
It's an option. If paying cash is feasible (as it was for OP....) many people would pick that route. |
Anonymous
You're only spending half your take home. Unless you have another $4k/month in expenses, I'm not sure why you say you don't have any money. |
Anonymous
OP is also saving super aggressively for retirement and then calling what is left (which pays a 3k mortgage and a nice lifestyle with money leftover) "trash money." Guess what, the money going into your 401ks is also your income. You are making the choice to save very aggressively for retirement while also building equity in a home. That money is actually still yours, it's just allocated to investments. That's it. If it feels like you need more cash, you could have more cash very easily. Reallocate your income to create more cashflow. It can be a small adjustment. Problem solved. OP, you are being melodramatic about this and you don't actually even have a problem. |
Anonymous
$8500 per mo.take home. -$3100 mortgage -$300 gas + electric -$80 internet -$100 cell phone -$600-800 groceries -$125 gas -$150 car insurance =-$5000 before counting for any health problems, car repair, clothes, health care, savings, weddings, parties, and other emergency expenses. |
Anonymous
| Wait, are you seriously saying "I'm so poor because I only have an extra $5000 a month"? |
Anonymous
| You have an extra $60,000 a year. Maybe $10-$15K of that should go to incidentals and emergencies in a typical year, $20K-$30K in an unlucky year like this one. So you should have $30;000-$50,000 to spare every single year for savings or indulgences (on top of the $30K+ you save for retirement every year.) And you still feel poor? Are you actually just trolling us here? |
Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
| How does a couple earning $20,000 gross a month bring home only $8,500 net? That math doesn't work. Did you mess up your tax withholding? Or are you paying like $40,000 a year for your health insurance or something? |
Anonymous
You’re not “struggling.” You’re saving a ton of money, and you can cover these unexpected expenses. You just don’t have a lot of money to throw around on frivolous things. Which is a long way from “struggling.” |
Anonymous
$5k a month should more than enough to cover additional retirement saving (don’t forget you maxed out on your 401k already) + saving for rainy day (car repairs, yearly vacation,etc) + other incidentals (an occasional Al wedding fit of $200 here and there, baby shower or such). If you can’t budget $5k of extra money, you need to learn how to properly manage your money. There will not be a “good” income level to suit your lifestyle. Tiny tiny violin truly. Many families in the DMV area make it work with way less. |