What is you Mortgage Payment and Gross Salary?

[Anonymous]

200K income on one salary (I SAH)
4000K mortgage
no student loans
drive crummy, paid for cars (2002 and 1998)
max out 401K, save on the side as well
one nice vacation a year
live frugaly otherwise (watch grocery bills, shop sales, etc)

[Anonymous]

$600K income
$5100 mortgage (aside - when qualified for this mortgage, HHI was $210K)
$650 car note (11 months remaining)
$3000/month for nanny
no student loans or other debt

Save $50K/yr in retirement accounts, plus other savings.
Biggest splurge is leisure travel.

[Anonymous]

are these mortgage quotes inclusive of real estate taxes and homeowners' insurance in addition to principal and interest payment?

[Anonymous]

Wow. Reading all of these 200K plus incomes makes me feel so poor...I need to stop reading DCUM and focus on the things I do have...

[Anonymous]

$200K income
$3800 mortgage (P+I+E)
$40K/year to retirement (with matches)
$500/month to savings and college (each)
$1500/month in childcare/afterschool care
No debt

Our mortgage is high, but we are pretty young and our careers are just starting to take off. For us, we just don't spend a lot. We have a good chunk in savings (6 months expenses), so while I would like to put away more every month, I don't worry too much about that. we take one vacation a year as a family to the beach, and a few small long weekend vacations as a couple that DH wins through work. We don't buy expensive clothes (we have rare splurges, but save up for them). We have olders cars (2003 and 1999) that are paid off and we stay on top of the maintainance for them. We made our current home energy efficient. Our only major splurge, other than our home remodel (now finished) is our country club membership.

I have quite a few friends that make significantly more than us but don't have nearly as much because they are constantly splurging on cars or vacations while they are still up to the eyeballs in student loan debt. I have one friend whose family went on 3 vacations last year to the tune of $12K. To me, that is insane. I have friends that bring home $300K and can't put enough in savings because between their student debt and expenditures, they have nothing left at the end of the month.

[Anonymous]

Income: 450K
mortgage (all in, including real estate taxes): 4K
student loans: 1300/month
nanny: 3K for 2 kids
single car payment: 400/mo
we max out our 401K, save monthly for both kids' 529 plans and put additional 10% of DH's gross in savings every month

[Anonymous]

Wow, you PPs sure love to post your 6 figure salaries

[Anonymous]

65K lady again (Now known forever as 65k lady ).

PP, I think (No, I know) there are plenty of folks around here who are living in the DC metro area that are not making six figures. For whatever reason, they either aren't on the board or aren't posting to the thread.

[Anonymous]

I also find this thread to be quite mean, in many ways.

The question posed was: what is your mortgage and your annual salary? That question, in and of itself, is not unreasonable. It seems like that poster wanted to get an idea as to what percentage of one's annual salary was being allotted to the mortgage.

The responses stayed on topic at first, but then quickly degenerated into a lot of competitive one-up-manship. People somehow thought it relevant to include how much they had in their 401K, the fact that they had no credit card debt, offered information pertaining to their other savings accounts, college/grad school savings, lifestyle choices, cost of their dependent care etc. It quickly turned into an "I have more" and an "I do better with what I have" than-you-do kind of thing. This thread has become a kind of mirror reflecting the meanness of some people, even though there has not been any overt hostility.

I also have a job that pays six figures and am in many ways very lucky. But I would never put it out there as a basis of comparison by which others can feel small. 65K lady is right -- there are lots of people in this area that are not making these salaries and just not posting to this thread. Why would they? It wouldn't make them feel good. But to let others know that you are in some way superior? Even in an anonymous forum? Too tempting for some to pass up.

I've seen some very well-educated and exceptionally wealthy people lose everything they had pretty much overnight. Some of you may want to remain mindful of that as you sit around feeling so self-satisfied.

Of course, the poster could have simply asked "What percentage of your gross income is devoted to your mortgage?" and gotten the same, if not more valuable information. But it's much more fun to be voyeuristic, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also find this thread to be quite mean, in many ways.

The question posed was: what is your mortgage and your annual salary? That question, in and of itself, is not unreasonable. It seems like that poster wanted to get an idea as to what percentage of one's annual salary was being allotted to the mortgage.

The responses stayed on topic at first, but then quickly degenerated into a lot of competitive one-up-manship. People somehow thought it relevant to include how much they had in their 401K, the fact that they had no credit card debt, offered information pertaining to their other savings accounts, college/grad school savings, lifestyle choices, cost of their dependent care etc. It quickly turned into an "I have more" and an "I do better with what I have" than-you-do kind of thing. This thread has become a kind of mirror reflecting the meanness of some people, even though there has not been any overt hostility.

I also have a job that pays six figures and am in many ways very lucky. But I would never put it out there as a basis of comparison by which others can feel small. 65K lady is right -- there are lots of people in this area that are not making these salaries and just not posting to this thread. Why would they? It wouldn't make them feel good. But to let others know that you are in some way superior? Even in an anonymous forum? Too tempting for some to pass up.

I've seen some very well-educated and exceptionally wealthy people lose everything they had pretty much overnight. Some of you may want to remain mindful of that as you sit around feeling so self-satisfied.

Of course, the poster could have simply asked "What percentage of your gross income is devoted to your mortgage?" and gotten the same, if not more valuable information. But it's much more fun to be voyeuristic, isn't it?

Actually, I think you misquoted OP's question. She listed her household income, mortgage, car expenses, and childcare expenses. Her question was how do people manage to have big expensive houses and big expensive cars--do they make huge salaries? I haven't read any of the responses as being mean spirited. And I'll add that 65K lady (the first to respond), has responded several times. I'm not criticizing that at all; but she's obviously just as curious as everyone else! I'll add that I posted my kids' college savings plan in response to someone who quoted me and asked about it. I'm following the thread because I'm curious; I think an anonymous forum is a great way to see how much/what people can afford (or think they can afford) at different income levels--ranging from 65K lady who seems perfectly happy, to some families pulling in over half a million. I don't look down on those with lower incomes, or up to those with higher. I just think it's interesting to see what's out there.

[Anonymous]

"And I'll add that 65K lady (the first to respond), has responded several times. I'm not criticizing that at all; but she's obviously just as curious as everyone else!"


Heck yeah, I'm curious.

[Anonymous]

Also, part of why I keep posting is sort of in the spirit of letting other folks not in the six digits know that they are definitely not alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also find this thread to be quite mean, in many ways.

The question posed was: what is your mortgage and your annual salary? That question, in and of itself, is not unreasonable. It seems like that poster wanted to get an idea as to what percentage of one's annual salary was being allotted to the mortgage.

The responses stayed on topic at first, but then quickly degenerated into a lot of competitive one-up-manship. People somehow thought it relevant to include how much they had in their 401K, the fact that they had no credit card debt, offered information pertaining to their other savings accounts, college/grad school savings, lifestyle choices, cost of their dependent care etc. It quickly turned into an "I have more" and an "I do better with what I have" than-you-do kind of thing. This thread has become a kind of mirror reflecting the meanness of some people, even though there has not been any overt hostility.

I also have a job that pays six figures and am in many ways very lucky. But I would never put it out there as a basis of comparison by which others can feel small. 65K lady is right -- there are lots of people in this area that are not making these salaries and just not posting to this thread. Why would they? It wouldn't make them feel good. But to let others know that you are in some way superior? Even in an anonymous forum? Too tempting for some to pass up.

I've seen some very well-educated and exceptionally wealthy people lose everything they had pretty much overnight. Some of you may want to remain mindful of that as you sit around feeling so self-satisfied.

Of course, the poster could have simply asked "What percentage of your gross income is devoted to your mortgage?" and gotten the same, if not more valuable information. But it's much more fun to be voyeuristic, isn't it?

This post says more about its author than it does about any of the previous responders to whom she/he refers. I have read the posts on this thread as pretty matter-of-fact in tone and have no idea where this pp reads in their being "self-satisfied" or mean in nature.

In fact, I have found them informative. Our family is preparing to send our dc to preschool and saving for a home, so it is helpful to see how others balance their financial obligations. Sure there is some voyeuristic fun involved too - but that is the nature of online message boards as a whole and there is no harm done in this case.

[Anonymous]

What I have learned from these posts that even with large incomes, families not always buying the most expensive house they can, are saving for retirement, children's educations, etc. and driving older cars/paying cash for them. In today's society where you see spending everywhere, it has been motivational to see so many DC Urban Moms being so fiscally prudent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP, whereabouts do you live and drive? These things can certainly skew perception. I happen to frequent a nursery in Potomac and when I'm driving there I always feel as if I woke up in East Hampton during social season. I believe even the children drive Mercedes SUVs there.

But then I come back home to my block and my brain readjusts.

Potomac attracts conspicuous consumers. Don't assume that they actually are wealthy based on the cars that they drive.

Please . . Potomac is no different than Bethesda, McLean, Great Falls and Chevy Chase. Some people are conspicuos, some are not. You sound like a unhappy, jealous person.

Ok, say Potomac is no different. How does my statement about Potomac make me a depressed, jealous person? Not sure I see the link. And, for what it's worth, our household income is 450K and we live in Bethesda, so I'm not exactly in the position to be jealous.