Is 200K enough

[Anonymous]

we make $250k and have two kids in private school.

[Anonymous]

Another thought: if you have cc debt, it sounds like you don’t have an emergency fund. After you pay off the debt, you need to keep living frugally until you have some cash savings. DH drives a 2007 sedan, so we have enough saved to buy a new one tomorrow, plus enough to replace the water heater and electrical panel, which are both old.

Take heart: it took us years to get here. You don’t need to save that much immediately, but you need to end each month with more money than you started. If you can’t do that, you need to start living like you’re poor. Look at cutting vacation, buying the kids used Christmas presents, cutting any activities, declining kids birthday parties. Examine your credit cards to ensure you have the most advantageous interest rate. We’ll do anything to save $2. Reddit has a forum called r/povertyfinance that has great advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we make $250k and have two kids in private school.

no way to pay for 2 kids full price at private school at 250K. We can not pay even for just 1 kid at private full price.

[Anonymous]

I’m the pp who said we have a similar mortgage. I wanted to clarify that our old mortgage was similar. We moved to a LCOL area and now have a smaller mortgage with more breathing room, but we were living like this when we were in the DMV and still had an emergency fund. It’s doable, but you have to be willing to sacrifice during the daycare years.

[Anonymous]

We were struggling on $200K with a $5K mortgage due to a layoff. We were over by about $1000 each month but we reduced our spending and stopped 529 and savings account contributions so we broke even every month. We wouldn't have had an issue with a $3500 mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On that income you’ll have to make choices. Yes, someone who is not on this board would cringe at that comment, but it’s true - especially in this area.

You make $16,666 a month. With a 5% 401k contribution and assuming a 30% tax burden, you bring home about $11,000 a month.

After you pay your mortgage, you have $7500 left over.

Yes, you can live off that but with kids and being in NOVA it will require sacrifice and budgeting. Maybe $200 a month to the kids 529s, keep car expenses low.

We just bought a Toyota Corolla for $25000 out the door. That’s a perfect car for a family with 2 kids. You’ll need to think along those lines to make your money go further.

Since you have a $3500 mortgage, have you lived in your house for awhile? Do you have a lot of equity?

You forget healthcare. I make appx 200k in DC, as a fed, and my biweekly paycheck is 4000 dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll weigh in bc this was us - none of this sell the car bs. I make 200K to live my life not to eat ramen and drive a car without heat.

I ended up in similar debt. I transferred to a 12 month 0 apr card. I limited but didn’t stop the eating out and DoorDash. With little kids food ordering is the only thing I can savor and use as a treat. Cut down grocery bill, cut down subscriptions, cut down any clothes buying or dumb buying like Amazon or small things for kids that they didn’t need. Got a few credit cards for the bonus put electricity bills on it, then used the bonus to pay down the credit card balance. The reality is it’s real shitty to be in this position with a high income but house and childcare will do you in. I also don’t want to live like a poor monk so had to find where I could cut and where I could still “enjoy.” Paid of all debt in one year and have been debt free for months now. Also and this I’m kind of ashamed to admit I did some bank bonuses that got me extra money for extra payments.

The only reason you needed to "live like a poor monk" was because you failed to live within your means initially. You made that choice, then you had to make the choice to cut back and pay it off.

I hope you have worked on building an emergency fund and not just back to spending everything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP we make more like $300 k and no mortgage, but still feel like it’s not a lot of money in this area for any extras or luxuries. I feel pretty poor in Bethesda compared to other families. We budget a lot.

You make $300K and have no mortgage. WTH do you spend your money on?!?! I get that housing is expensive in Bethesda, but what else are you tossing $$$ at

[Anonymous]

My husband and I were making about 275 in 2015 and had a decent but small house in Alexandria, modest mortgage ($2500 ish) and we found it really hard once the second kid came around. Two under two in daycare was. A real struggle. We were running up like 2-3 k a month in credit card and then paid that off the next month but never could get out of that. Maybe if you both have pensions or something but we could never save. And never mind you are watching everyone around you drive BMW SUVs and taking their kids for ten days in Italy or their beach house in Rehoboth - it just wasn’t what we wanted - to be making what is actually a huge amount of money in most of the world and still feel poor. Luckily we found a low cost of living area where my husband could keep his federal job and I got a remote job. It also helped once the kids were out of toddler daycare stage, although camps and braces etc are not cheap either.
Anyway it was not enough for us in dc - there is always something “more” you need - and we are able to do more for our kids here. It might be different for you .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll weigh in bc this was us - none of this sell the car bs. I make 200K to live my life not to eat ramen and drive a car without heat.

I ended up in similar debt. I transferred to a 12 month 0 apr card. I limited but didn’t stop the eating out and DoorDash. With little kids food ordering is the only thing I can savor and use as a treat. Cut down grocery bill, cut down subscriptions, cut down any clothes buying or dumb buying like Amazon or small things for kids that they didn’t need. Got a few credit cards for the bonus put electricity bills on it, then used the bonus to pay down the credit card balance. The reality is it’s real shitty to be in this position with a high income but house and childcare will do you in. I also don’t want to live like a poor monk so had to find where I could cut and where I could still “enjoy.” Paid of all debt in one year and have been debt free for months now. Also and this I’m kind of ashamed to admit I did some bank bonuses that got me extra money for extra payments.

The only reason you needed to "live like a poor monk" was because you failed to live within your means initially. You made that choice, then you had to make the choice to cut back and pay it off.

I hope you have worked on building an emergency fund and not just back to spending everything

Emergency fund is better than ever I left out something, no credit card or car debt AFTER I paid off the car loan for a used Subaru.

Pray tell what is failing to live within my 200k means? Mcd is takeout and I eat beans and rice and I sew my clothes to mend them? Seriously it sounds ridiculous and that’s why I’m telling the OP to be realistic with a mortgage and kids and living in DC. Sure you can eat ramen for the next year and get out of debt but you can also drop dead and your 200K sure doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

The phrase "comparison is the thief of joy" comes to mind.

Also, some people are given more (family support via money and childcare). Those people are neither better nor worse than you.
When I'm able to remind myself of this I am a lot happier. I get that it is easy to think those with more must have done something to earn more, and are therefore better in some way. Maybe they chose fields that are more lucrative. Maybe they were just lucky with family money/support. It doesn't make you less. You aren't less because you take your family camping for a week instead of to Italy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is a huge amount of money. The problem is that you don’t know how to live within your means. I have never had a car payment because I always bought a cheap second hand car with cash. I never paid for a gym membership because I cycle to work and walk up every set of stairs.
Don’t save with Vanguard while you are carrying credit card debt.

This^^^

$200K is a good amount (obviously)!

You need to budget and figure out why you got into debt. Then you must live within your means, and that includes paying off that $15K in debt as quickly as possible.
Once you do that, realize that you just lived on "less" in order to pay off debt. So decide where you want to direct that "debt $$" for the future. I'd recommend not increasing your lifestyle with 100% of it, instead build a 3-6 month Emergency fund and continue to put at least 75% into savings.

200k is not a huge amount of money. That’s solidly middle class in the DC metro area. That will go a decent bit further if you don’t live in a HCOL though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll weigh in bc this was us - none of this sell the car bs. I make 200K to live my life not to eat ramen and drive a car without heat.

I ended up in similar debt. I transferred to a 12 month 0 apr card. I limited but didn’t stop the eating out and DoorDash. With little kids food ordering is the only thing I can savor and use as a treat. Cut down grocery bill, cut down subscriptions, cut down any clothes buying or dumb buying like Amazon or small things for kids that they didn’t need. Got a few credit cards for the bonus put electricity bills on it, then used the bonus to pay down the credit card balance. The reality is it’s real shitty to be in this position with a high income but house and childcare will do you in. I also don’t want to live like a poor monk so had to find where I could cut and where I could still “enjoy.” Paid of all debt in one year and have been debt free for months now. Also and this I’m kind of ashamed to admit I did some bank bonuses that got me extra money for extra payments.

The only reason you needed to "live like a poor monk" was because you failed to live within your means initially. You made that choice, then you had to make the choice to cut back and pay it off.

I hope you have worked on building an emergency fund and not just back to spending everything

Emergency fund is better than ever I left out something, no credit card or car debt AFTER I paid off the car loan for a used Subaru.

Pray tell what is failing to live within my 200k means? Mcd is takeout and I eat beans and rice and I sew my clothes to mend them? Seriously it sounds ridiculous and that’s why I’m telling the OP to be realistic with a mortgage and kids and living in DC. Sure you can eat ramen for the next year and get out of debt but you can also drop dead and your 200K sure doesn’t matter.

Living within your means means just that. If you want to eat more than beans and rice/mCd's takeout, then you have to have a budget that will enable it. Most often that means not overextending for a house. Because once you spend on that, it's a huge financial drain and expensive to reduce the costs (selling a home means a loss many times, once you pay realtor/transfer taxes/etc).

So yes, you could drop dead next year or next week. But that doesn't mean you should live financially and accumulate debt. It means you budget and find ways to enjoy life within your budget. That is difficult to do if your mortgage and car payments take up too much of your take-home pay. Much easier to do if they dont'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The phrase "comparison is the thief of joy" comes to mind.

Also, some people are given more (family support via money and childcare). Those people are neither better nor worse than you.
When I'm able to remind myself of this I am a lot happier. I get that it is easy to think those with more must have done something to earn more, and are therefore better in some way. Maybe they chose fields that are more lucrative. Maybe they were just lucky with family money/support. It doesn't make you less. You aren't less because you take your family camping for a week instead of to Italy.

Yes!!! Stop comparing yourself to others and you will be much happier. If you cannot afford the trip to Italy, then find a trip you can afford (be it camping or renting a home at MD beaches, etc) and do just that. There will always be someone who "has more/does more", and it doesn't matter if it's because they make more, they are in massive debt, or they have family $$$ help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is a huge amount of money. The problem is that you don’t know how to live within your means. I have never had a car payment because I always bought a cheap second hand car with cash. I never paid for a gym membership because I cycle to work and walk up every set of stairs.
Don’t save with Vanguard while you are carrying credit card debt.

This^^^

$200K is a good amount (obviously)!

You need to budget and figure out why you got into debt. Then you must live within your means, and that includes paying off that $15K in debt as quickly as possible.
Once you do that, realize that you just lived on "less" in order to pay off debt. So decide where you want to direct that "debt $$" for the future. I'd recommend not increasing your lifestyle with 100% of it, instead build a 3-6 month Emergency fund and continue to put at least 75% into savings.

200k is not a huge amount of money. That’s solidly middle class in the DC metro area. That will go a decent bit further if you don’t live in a HCOL though.

it is more than most of the DC metro area makes.

And yes, if you live in a HCOL area or anywhere, it's on you to find a way to budget accordingly. But everyone should aim for an EF, it helps when "emergencies happen" so you also don't have to stress about finances as much. And yes, emergencies will always happen, all you can do is plan with a EF