How much money do we need to live comfortably?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does preschool for two kids only come to $1200? Do uou mean per kid, so $2,400?

No, I mean $1200/mo total. It's half-day preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, we are in a similar situation, though our HHI is a bit less, but we are still paying off school loans which eats up a ton of money. Once our loans and car are paid off, and we're no longer paying for daycare (god help us) we'll be able to eat at debt and sock more away in savings. We have a plan and know we'll get there in about 3-5 years. It's frustrating in the meantime, but such is life.

And yes, we have life, ST and LT disability insurance, socking away as much as possible in 401K, and a smaller amount in the 529. I don't think you're alone in this WTF feeling that I'm making pretty good money but still feel like I'm struggling. It's a phase that we'll all muddle through.

Thanks for the support!

[Anonymous]

We make $180K, taking home approx 8K a month after 401K and insurance.

I've posted in these topics before. Here is the breakdown of our expenses are:

$2100 - mortgage
$2100 - preschool for 2 kids
$1000 - student loans (me and DH)
$500 - utilities+cable+cell phone
$185 - life and disability insurance
$1000 - food (including all dining out and paper goods)
$300 - housekeeper
$30 - gym
$200 - gas
$50 - gardener in the summer
$50 - prescriptions/doctor
$500 - shopping, travel, toiletries, etc...

[Anonymous]

I read on DC Urban Moms often that people say "when daycare/preschool is over..."...Just wait..your preschooler will go to elementary school and that money will be spent on soccer/piano/spanish/tutors/art/gymnastics/swimming/etc/etc/etc....

[Anonymous]

To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

Do you mean Silver Spring? Then many would argue that you compromised on schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

Do you mean Silver Spring? Then many would argue that you compromised on schools.

There are many great schools in Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

OP, we have a HHI of $250k, so a bit more than you, but I also find myself suprised that it does not go further. However, it seems to me you should be able to save more given your expenses (unless you are missing some big line items in your quick breakdown earlier in the thread). Our expenses are very similar, but we are able to fully fund 2 401k's, 2 IRAs, and contribute to 2 529s (this total amount is about the difference between our HHI and yours). We still have $$ left over to save or pour into the house and we also give a lot to charity. I have been using Mint to track our spending. It's not perfect, but I absolutely would not do it on my own, so it's better than nothing. I was able to see that it wasn't our spending on food that was out of control, but rather it was spending on vacations and home improvements that was the biggest drain on our budget. For us, it's more the big-ticket items than the "latte factor".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are your big ticket items?

Mortgage
Childcare
Food
Loans
Etc.

Mortgage - $2500/mo
Preschool - $1200/mo
Au pair - averaged to $1400/mo
Housekeeper - just reduced use/cost - was $400/mo; now $240/mo
Loans (cars, school) - $800/mo
Food - I don't know but a LOT. Now that we're budgeting I expect to get a handle on that

I don't understand where your money is going.

We make less than you (HHI$180K) and we max out our 401ks, put $4K/year in IRAs, and save $1500/month towards college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

Do you mean Silver Spring? Then many would argue that you compromised on schools.

Another S Spring resident here and nope, we didn't compromise on schools. We chose to live here, we think the schools are great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

Do you mean Silver Spring? Then many would argue that you compromised on schools.

Another S Spring resident here and nope, we didn't compromise on schools. We chose to live here, we think the schools are great.

Where in Silver Spring? We live there too, our house is smaller than yours and is worth a little more (closer to 500)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are your big ticket items?

Mortgage
Childcare
Food
Loans
Etc.

Mortgage - $2500/mo
Preschool - $1200/mo
Au pair - averaged to $1400/mo
Housekeeper - just reduced use/cost - was $400/mo; now $240/mo
Loans (cars, school) - $800/mo
Food - I don't know but a LOT. Now that we're budgeting I expect to get a handle on that

I don't understand where your money is going.

We make less than you (HHI$180K) and we max out our 401ks, put $4K/year in IRAs, and save $1500/month towards college.

OP here. One item I missed is our $5,000 annual health insurance deductable, which we'll likely meet this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To live here like the equivalent of the middle class of most other areas in the us you need to make at least 375 to 450k. Any less and you will have to compromise on house size (smaller than 3000sqrft), location, schools etc... This is if you didn't buy before 2004. Housing costs are the killer where a standard middle class sized home costs at least 1million.

I have a standard middle class home, 5 br, 3 full bath, approx 2000sq ft upstairs with a 2000 sq ft walkout basement in SS, just outside the beltway for $460K. A standard middle class home does not costs $1M.

Do you mean Silver Spring? Then many would argue that you compromised on schools.

Another S Spring resident here and nope, we didn't compromise on schools. We chose to live here, we think the schools are great.

Where in Silver Spring? We live there too, our house is smaller than yours and is worth a little more (closer to 500)

We are in 20902. Our house is worth closer to $500K too, but we just got a really good deal from some desperate sellers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, my husband makes $210K and only nets $8,000 a month. How can you have a mortgage, daycare and still save $3,000 a month on $200K gross?

Net after what? How is your effective tax rate 54%? This doesn't make any sense.

After 401(k) contributions and health, life and other types of insurance.

Yeah, new poster here, but it still doesn't add up. That is a lot of insurance. And even if that were the case, it is not really honest to say that you ONLY net $8k/month because you are choosing to put a disproportionately high % of your income toward insurance.