Can I be a SAHM on about 100k per year?

[Anonymous]

I SAH on around 100k and a mortgage of 2200/mo and no car payment, no student loans. I hate to say it, but we felt strapped. My DH contributes the max to retirement AND we saved for college and we had one hundred fifty thousand cash set aside. I returned to work after two years so we could have some luxuries. I went back at 20/hr 3 years ago and I just got my W2 and I hit one hundred fifty two thousand this year. It was the best financial decision we could have made for me to return to work.

Your views on retirement and college savings are a bit immature. You only have 50k saved. That is nothing. Do people like you have any clue what health insurance and prescriptions cost the elderly? Do you actually think that government safety net will still be there for you?

I would think differently f your situation if you were a homeowner with a STATIC low mortgage, but you are at the whim of rent, which never goes down, you only have 50k in savings, and you are unphased about retirement and college savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

Wow, PP what a couple of jerks. Don't worry about it. You are doing your best. They just prove that you can't buy decency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I SAH on around 100k and a mortgage of 2200/mo and no car payment, no student loans. I hate to say it, but we felt strapped. My DH contributes the max to retirement AND we saved for college and we had one hundred fifty thousand cash set aside. I returned to work after two years so we could have some luxuries. I went back at 20/hr 3 years ago and I just got my W2 and I hit one hundred fifty two thousand this year. It was the best financial decision we could have made for me to return to work.

Your views on retirement and college savings are a bit immature. You only have 50k saved. That is nothing. Do people like you have any clue what health insurance and prescriptions cost the elderly? Do you actually think that government safety net will still be there for you?

I would think differently f your situation if you were a homeowner with a STATIC low mortgage, but you are at the whim of rent, which never goes down, you only have 50k in savings, and you are unphased about retirement and college savings.

You have no idea how much we have saved for retirement! The 50k is liquid cash. And, the reason I said we can do retirement and college savings through my business income is because there are tax benefits to doing so.

[Anonymous]

OP, you're only 27. It doesn't much matter.

I was 35 when my first kid was born, and plan to retire at 62, so for us, it wouldn't have made sense to take five years off at that stage in life. Plus, my income was 50% of our HHI.

[Anonymous]

We do it on that much. Our mortgage is a little less than your rent, no car payment, low (but higher than your) student loan debt. We feel strapped because we currently have no savings as well as some credit card debt we are paying off, but we want for not too much. I don't see it as a long-term plan, but for now it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live on about $100k in DC and our mortgage is about the same as your rent. However, we have a huge amount of savings and have no car payments or any other loans except our mortgage. We do travel quite a lot but stay with family or friends, and we don't really buy that much stuff. Our only child is at free public school and I work part time from home so we don't need to pay for childcare. So yes, it is possible, but probably not if you need to fund a pension or college fund or take nice vacations.

Why aren't you funding retirement or college funds?

If you are poor the government will give you free grants and money or colleges will steal money from the paying to pay for the poor freeloaders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

so you got a hand out for your paid off home and are still using public services? Unbelievable. You are the type of people that shouldn't be helped because your situation is not temporary and was created by you to achieve income subsidies.

[Anonymous]

PP, you don't have to justify yourself to ANYONE. Ignore the assholes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

so you got a hand out for your paid off home and are still using public services? Unbelievable. You are the type of people that shouldn't be helped because your situation is not temporary and was created by you to achieve income subsidies.

Excuse me? How does owning our own home = income subsidies? Did you read what I wrote? The only subsidy we have is medicaid, because while my husband gets free health insurance through his job, it's self only. To insure the rest of us, it would cost $500/month. The only ones who are covered, are our children. As far as we're concerned, it's only temporary until either the economy picks up and DH can find a job with a bigger company or I go back to work in 2 years and we'd be able to afford *real* private insurance (really hoping for the former). Our home? We own out right because my husband paid for it 20 years ago. Not everyone believes in owning for 5 years and then trading in for bigger and better, whether they can afford it or not.

I debated whether or not to post on here. I knew some stupid troll would post something along the lines of "ha ha you're poor and pathetic. get a job." Sometimes the classism and racism on this board absolutely take my breath away. I thought I'd post anyway to show that yes it IS possible to stay home without making a ton of money because you know what? This is supposed to be DC Urban Moms and Dads not just Upper Middle Class and Above DC Urban Moms and Dads Who Happen to Live in the Right Areas: Poors Need Not Bother Posting Here.

I realize that you are nothing but a troll, looking to spread misery around for whatever reason.

[Anonymous]

I swear I will never understand why people come on these posts clutching their pearls because someone isn't saving hundreds of thousands of dollars for college. There are things called scholarships, you can encourage your children to aim for those. You can also point them to the FAFSA which will enable them to pay for their own education. Help out where you can- pay for room or board, or books, or whatever. I want to give my kids as big a boost as I can, but I'm not forking over $100,000 when they turn 18 years old so they can go drink for four years and never understand what it means to have to pay for your education. MANY people on these boards have student loan debt and do just fine, self included. My children will not suffer some huge mantle of injustice if they have to incur some themselves.

[Anonymous]

i'm a wahm, dh's income is about $120k, and i take in about $13k as a home-based contractor. we just had #2, and we're still doing ok. we take home about $7500/mo after tax. $1800/mo for mortgage, $350/mo for hoa, $1000/mo for college funds, and $1350/mo for daycare. that leaves about $3k/mo to live off of. dh eats out for lunch daily, and we eat out on the weekends. we take about 2 vacations a yr and don't feel like we're going without. no car or student loan bills. it's totally do-able. it just depends on how luxurious your lifestyle is and what you are willing to go without.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

so you got a hand out for your paid off home and are still using public services? Unbelievable. You are the type of people that shouldn't be helped because your situation is not temporary and was created by you to achieve income subsidies.

Your attitude is disgusting. Get a life. And some compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?

so you got a hand out for your paid off home and are still using public services? Unbelievable. You are the type of people that shouldn't be helped because your situation is not temporary and was created by you to achieve income subsidies.

Excuse me? How does owning our own home = income subsidies? Did you read what I wrote? The only subsidy we have is medicaid, because while my husband gets free health insurance through his job, it's self only. To insure the rest of us, it would cost $500/month. The only ones who are covered, are our children. As far as we're concerned, it's only temporary until either the economy picks up and DH can find a job with a bigger company or I go back to work in 2 years and we'd be able to afford *real* private insurance (really hoping for the former). Our home? We own out right because my husband paid for it 20 years ago. Not everyone believes in owning for 5 years and then trading in for bigger and better, whether they can afford it or not.

I debated whether or not to post on here. I knew some stupid troll would post something along the lines of "ha ha you're poor and pathetic. get a job." Sometimes the classism and racism on this board absolutely take my breath away. I thought I'd post anyway to show that yes it IS possible to stay home without making a ton of money because you know what? This is supposed to be DC Urban Moms and Dads not just Upper Middle Class and Above DC Urban Moms and Dads Who Happen to Live in the Right Areas: Poors Need Not Bother Posting Here.

I realize that you are nothing but a troll, looking to spread misery around for whatever reason.

Thank you for posting. Keep it up! We need more diverse perspectives on these forums.

[Anonymous]

The problem stems from the fact that PP suggested that OP could SAH on $30K/year. What PP neglected to mention until this post is that 1) she pays no mortgage or rent, 2) she relies upon Medicaid and WIC.

I think that it would have been more honest had PP offered these details in her initial post, instead of "gloating" that she can SAH on so little. I'm sorry that PP has had to suffer through this, but I also think that her initial post was very, very misleading.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're doing it on <30k a year. All things are possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Yeah by freeloading , welfare and wic you lazy slob

Yup, that would be the only way this is possibly.

You know what? Fuck you both.

I held down a job from the time I was 15 until I gave birth to my second child at 31. The only reason I didn't go back to work is because I didn't realize that there are things like child care subsidies, of which I have no doubt that we would qualify. The reason I stay home now, is because my youngest son has speech and developmental delays. He started a county therapy based preK this year and I'm looking forward to him going to kindergarten so I can go back into the workforce. The only government subsidy we *take advantage of* is medicaid, and only for my children. I honestly don't know why I bother after last week when my son was sick with an ear infection that went untreated for several days because medicaid denied the medicine his ped prescribed. I would love to be able to go back to work right now so that I can have access to a better insurance system with doctors who actually give a crap about their patients.

I was on WIC... for the 3 months the initial batch of vouchers they gave me was good for. The whole process was awful and dehumanizing, and made me feel like an animal at a meat processing plant; all for a loaf of bread, 6 dollars worth of veggies, a bottle of juicy juice, a box of cheerios and some cheese a week. I'd rather keep my dignity and clip coupons than go through that again.

We get by though. We own our home outright and we rent out rooms to make ends meet. We have basic cable and internet. We use a magic jack and prepaid cell phones. My mother works with a woman who routinely passes on clothes to us, so that all I have to worry about is shoes twice a year. I cut coupons and shop sales. We eat at home and in the summer we grow alot of our own veggies (in case you think "but I don't have the room!" we don't either, I use containers). I shop yard sales, thrift stores, craigslist, and freecycle. We never did a lot of classes because my youngest was such a difficult child and I felt like I was disrupting the other people when I couldn't stop him from crying, but we did find some affordable programs through the county park system. There are lots of fun free or cheap things to do out there with your kids as well.

Anyway, I didn't mean to come across as bitter as I started out. Things aren't ideal, but we still have a good life, even on so little. My kids are healthy and happy, there's food in their bellies and a roof over their heads. What more can one ask for?