To those who can't make ends meet on $250K, take note:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a matter of perspective. Our HHI is $150k. We do not own yet, because there were other things we wanted to spend our money on before we became homeowners. We "make ends meet" and then some. We don't have a lot, but we're so very grateful for what we have.

I DO understand that some people feel like they need more. More space, more cars, etc. This area breeds competition and I don't judge anyone for one second for getting caught up in it. But at some point we should all recognize that the key for being comfortable with what we have has to be a conscious decision. There will always be someone with more. You don't have to participate in the race.

I was just talking about this the other day with the talk about the lottery. If I was to win a lottery - I wouldn't change much. I'd settle debt (student loans, etc), set aside money to buy a decent (and by decent I DON'T mean a $750K+) home, upgrade the car, put a bunch into savings and college funds, then donate the rest anonymously to charities and to family members/friends who need it. I wouldn't know what to do with a lot of money. And I know I have little to no chance of earning more then $60K a year and of course the chances of winning the lottery (not that I buy lottery tickets) is slim.

I often see people recommending getting cleaning companies, lawn care, sleep consultants, professional childproofers... all of those things aren't needed. Neither is eating out and shopping excessively. If you can afford it - go for it. But if you're finding yourself unable to live on $250K a year or more you need to seriously look at your budget and your priorities.

And with regards to a couple of the other posters - you never buy a home when you haven't paid off or sold your old one yet. That's just foolish, IMO. Especially considering the fact that you were laid off. It's also foolish to buy an overpriced 1 bedroom condo (which would be impossible to sell) then a house 2 years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And here we go...

18:24 -- You really think someone making $11,000 a year has a nice, comfortable net worth? Yes, you're drowning in debt. So are many making $250K+ who choose to spend more than they make and/or assume they can never lose their jobs.

Please. Do not try to put your situation side by side with people living below the poverty line. Just don't. Show a little compassion and admit that you wouldn't last 30 minutes on $11K a year.

You mean, like when I was on my own at 13 and living on 10 dollars a week, sleeping on couches and eating meals at work (restaurants) because free meals came with the job? Or, how about when I put myself through both high school and college on less that 7,000 a year? Oh yeah, I did that and still managed to send money to my mom, who was living in her car.

I've been middle class since college and it's definitely a step up, but there is no safety net here and the mistakes cost you a lot more. Trust me, when I made 7,000 a year I did not owe anybody more than I could hope to make in 20 years, like now. And I still support myself and my mom, plus DH's parents and occasionally a sibling or two.

Clearly you people don't know many immigrant families. The class stereotyping on this board is insane. And don't be running out there giving yourslef any awards for compassion, pp. You get an epic fail in that department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a matter of perspective. Our HHI is $150k. We do not own yet, because there were other things we wanted to spend our money on before we became homeowners. We "make ends meet" and then some. We don't have a lot, but we're so very grateful for what we have.
.

We also have a 150ish HHI. I'd say we feel comfortable -- like the pp, we also make ends meet and then some. We're not trust fund babies and we didn't buy our home in 1998. Last year we managed to get by on half our income when DH was laid off. I just can't understand how people who make $100K more than us complain about feeing pinched. If we made that much, hell yes I'd feel rich.

[Anonymous]

I've read all these threads about the 250K crowd saying they are not rich. The problem is that the prevailing attitude of these posters is, that after their really nice house, private school, retirement and savings, and top of the line health insurance, they don't have that much left over. What they don't seem to get is that there are people out there without decent/any health insurance, retirement and savings, and nice homes in safe neighborhoods who also don't have a lot leftover.

They are clueless.

And FWIW, I grew up very comfortably and our two income house makes 170K. So I'm clueless too but at least I can admit it and know enough not to complain and condescend people making less than me about what my income can buy. Newsflash: we know you don't have gold-plated toilets, but yeah, you're still pretty rich, or at least better off than most of the world. I don't begrudge people their high salaries either. Good for you if you bring in a good income - just don't lament about how people don't understand what that amount of money can buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's also foolish to buy an overpriced 1 bedroom condo (which would be impossible to sell) then a house 2 years later.

First off, at the time we purchased the condo people were selling them every 2-3 years. It is still worth about 200k. What did you expect me to do move my entire family into the 800 sqrft 1 bedroom condo when I have enough extra income to buy a house?

Your first mistake was buying the overpriced condo which wouldn't be able to grow with your needs. Renting is not a dirty word. I still rent, actually.

You have enough extra income to cover both? I thought you were complaining and ranting about not having enough to cover both and blaming it on the housing/condo market?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read all these threads about the 250K crowd saying they are not rich. The problem is that the prevailing attitude of these posters is, that after their really nice house, private school, retirement and savings, and top of the line health insurance, they don't have that much left over. What they don't seem to get is that there are people out there without decent/any health insurance, retirement and savings, and nice homes in safe neighborhoods who also don't have a lot leftover.

They are clueless.

And FWIW, I grew up very comfortably and our two income house makes 170K. So I'm clueless too but at least I can admit it and know enough not to complain and condescend people making less than me about what my income can buy. Newsflash: we know you don't have gold-plated toilets, but yeah, you're still pretty rich, or at least better off than most of the world. I don't begrudge people their high salaries either. Good for you if you bring in a good income - just don't lament about how people don't understand what that amount of money can buy.

Thats bullshit and you know it. ANYONE OF YOU i make less then 200k a year and have hice house people live with in your means people. WHEN DID YOU BUY YOUR HOUSE, how much is worth now and what is your mortgage. A lot of us who bought later would most hapily trade our salary for yours if we could get the same deal on your house you did.

But you still live in a nice house right? A house you can't fucking afford, but I bet it's nicer than someone making 11K. Your post is barely coherent. And I bought in November 2005, the peak of the goddamn bubble, we just bought within our means. We could have qualified for much, more house but we GASP thought ahead. Don't take your anger out of me, and don't complain about your 200K salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read all these threads about the 250K crowd saying they are not rich. The problem is that the prevailing attitude of these posters is, that after their really nice house, private school, retirement and savings, and top of the line health insurance, they don't have that much left over. What they don't seem to get is that there are people out there without decent/any health insurance, retirement and savings, and nice homes in safe neighborhoods who also don't have a lot leftover.

They are clueless.

And FWIW, I grew up very comfortably and our two income house makes 170K. So I'm clueless too but at least I can admit it and know enough not to complain and condescend people making less than me about what my income can buy. Newsflash: we know you don't have gold-plated toilets, but yeah, you're still pretty rich, or at least better off than most of the world. I don't begrudge people their high salaries either. Good for you if you bring in a good income - just don't lament about how people don't understand what that amount of money can buy.

Thats bullshit and you know it. ANYONE OF YOU i make less then 200k a year and have hice house people live with in your means people. WHEN DID YOU BUY YOUR HOUSE, how much is worth now and what is your mortgage. A lot of us who bought later would most hapily trade our salary for yours if we could get the same deal on your house you did.

150K HHI poster here. We purchased our home in 2009. I'm sure it's lost some value, but I don't care because we plan to stay long-term. We started out in a 1 br apartment and saved. We stayed in our little apartment even after our first child was born (infants really don't need that much space) and continued to save. Eventually we had 20% for our down payment. Could we afford McLean or Chevy Chase -- nope. But we managed to buy into a neighborhood where we can see ourselves raising our family.

I was still in high school when real estate in this area was affordable for common folks like myself. Instead of complaining about getting the short end of the stick, we just have to learn to live within our means. Sorry pp

[Anonymous]

What is PP ranting about and why is she posting pictures of a kitchen, a pool at an apartment complex, and a lobby?

Yes if you are low income you can get on a waiting list (a LONG waiting list) for reduced income housing. So what?

[Anonymous]

I don't know what 21.38/23.34's problem is, besides being a troll. Poor people don't live in luxury off their food stamp benefits. They live. Period.

If you really want to see what a snippet of what its like to be poor in America, you can check out the episode of 30 Days where Morgan Spurlock and his gf lived for 30 days on minimum wage. The rules for the *experiment* they were only allowed to start with one weeks worth of pay at minimum wage each, no credit cards, no health insurance, and no back up savings. Here's part 1. The rest you can find linked after the end of the video.

If you're having a hard time making ends meet, then you need to cut back. End of story. We're lucky in that we own our home and 2 cars out right: We inherited our house and our cars are 5 and 12 years old. One's a compact for me and the kids, the truck my husband needs for his job. Times were hard this year for us because there wasn't alot of work for DH and I had to stop working a few years ago when we realized our sn son would need full time care (that we couldn't afford). We cut coupons, buy everything on sale/used (for the kids, I can't remember the last time I bought new clothes for myself), freecycle, and we've been renting out rooms in our basement.

I'd love to take vacations, upgrade to a bigger car so that I can take the kids around on play dates (my car only fits 2 car seats so if I host it's our house or nothing), start a college fund for the kids or even go back to school. But we can't afford that right now.

[Anonymous]

Um. Living in low income housing does not mean you live for free. It means you pay a reduced rent. For some places, its a fixed rent. If it is subsidized, you'd pay based on how much you earn.

And if you earn 11K you would not have money to be "ballin'" with or without housing costs. You'd still have bills, food, childcare, etc to pay.

[Anonymous]

What is the point of this thread? I feel stupider for having read it.

[Anonymous]

Up until 2 years a go for 29 years I thought make ends meat ment so poor you could only.afford the end pieces of lunch meat. You know the package at the grocery store that only has the cheese and lunch meat.end pieces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what 21.38/23.34's problem is, besides being a troll. Poor people don't live in luxury off their food stamp benefits. They live. Period.

If you really want to see what a snippet of what its like to be poor in America, you can check out the episode of 30 Days where Morgan Spurlock and his gf lived for 30 days on minimum wage. The rules for the *experiment* they were only allowed to start with one weeks worth of pay at minimum wage each, no credit cards, no health insurance, and no back up savings. Here's part 1. The rest you can find linked after the end of the video.

If you're having a hard time making ends meet, then you need to cut back. End of story. We're lucky in that we own our home and 2 cars out right: We inherited our house and our cars are 5 and 12 years old. One's a compact for me and the kids, the truck my husband needs for his job. Times were hard this year for us because there wasn't alot of work for DH and I had to stop working a few years ago when we realized our sn son would need full time care (that we couldn't afford). We cut coupons, buy everything on sale/used (for the kids, I can't remember the last time I bought new clothes for myself), freecycle, and we've been renting out rooms in our basement.

I'd love to take vacations, upgrade to a bigger car so that I can take the kids around on play dates (my car only fits 2 car seats so if I host it's our house or nothing), start a college fund for the kids or even go back to school. But we can't afford that right now.

Also note that they didn't try fairfax county welfare. I have no sympathy for you if you own your own home, If I were a janitor and had no housing costs I would be ballin' like

No of course they didn't try fairfax co welfare. They were in Ohio, and the rules were living on minimum wage with no assistance. If you watch the video, they end up majorly in the hole. They both get sick, little things like common colds, and iirc a workplace injury. Not having health insurance, they have to take off work and go to the ER, and it puts them more and more behind the 8 ball.

And I'm not asking for your sympathy, I was just trying to illustrate that the grass aint always greener. Where we live property taxes are no joke; it's what pushed us to fixing up the basement and renting the rooms out. Then of course you have the upkeep on a 50 year old home. Again we're fortunate in that my husband is handy and can handle most of the things that go wrong. But someday, we're going to have to replace our crumbling plumbing system. My husband gets full coverage insurance for his job, but only for himself. If we put the kids and myself on his plan, we'd pay $500 a month, which we can't afford. We qualify for Medicaid for the kids, but if I get sick, we're fucked. Our son is a state sn preschool; it's clear that he could benefit from private therapy, but we can't afford anything else.

Still, I know things could be, much worse. We have a nice house, DH has a job, my kids are healthy and happy. I'm grateful for all of that and don't worry too much about the rest.

That doesn't mean we are out there ballin' and makin' it rain. Even if we were, it'd be like, scattered showers of ones with a few quarters thrown in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone can't make ends meet on 200K+ (or close to that) - they're doing something wrong.

I agree with your basic point, but in fairness, I've read those threads, and you're setting up a bit of a straw man (as is OP with the thread title), since the 250K posters don't say they can't make ends meet, just that they aren't living a "rich" lifestyle.

"We make about $290K and we have a nanny. And after 401k and such, we pretty much live paycheck to paycheck."

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/6305.page#32573

That's just one example.

We make $150K combined. I'm only PT. We have a nanny, pay for two private schools (elementary, preschool), and have a savings. Our only debt is our house. We just bought a leather living room set.

I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone can't make ends meet on 200K+ (or close to that) - they're doing something wrong.

I agree with your basic point, but in fairness, I've read those threads, and you're setting up a bit of a straw man (as is OP with the thread title), since the 250K posters don't say they can't make ends meet, just that they aren't living a "rich" lifestyle.

"We make about $290K and we have a nanny. And after 401k and such, we pretty much live paycheck to paycheck."

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/6305.page#32573

That's just one example.

We make $150K combined. I'm only PT. We have a nanny, pay for two private schools (elementary, preschool), and have a savings. Our only debt is our house. We just bought a leather living room set.

I don't get it.

And let me add that we did NOT receive an inheritance, nor have we been given "gifts" from parents.