If your HHI is less than 100k

[Anonymous]

hey DC people. I used to live. 1325 for 700 Sqft roachy duplex in Huntington (alexandria, route 1), I left and went to Detroit. that 1300 gets me 2800 sq ft in a historic neighborhood with an historic building (1890), 2005 upgrades) two balconies, a patio a two car garage. 3 floors (it would cost 2 million in some DC neighborhoods or more). My commute is short, my wife walks. Our salaries are also higher now, as there is less competition in Detroit for professional jobs.

The city right now is at a turning point, we are about to go through what DC went through in the 90's, financial restructuring and possibly bankruptcy. IF you have kids and you are paying 2700 a month in DC you can pay 1000 here and put your kid in Private school (our schools are as bad as DC, maybe worse)


In Detroit you can live like the typical mid to super income DC person.

And did I mention we still save have my wifes income a month on top of 401k and other investments.

It is rough around the edges here but it is real America and cheap as dirt.

[Anonymous]

We have figured out that we need our monthly housing and kids' schooling expense to be under 3K. That means for some years we paid tuition and lived with a low rent. And some years we have lived with a 3K mortgage + utilities but kids went public.

[Anonymous]

Interesting that those making this income seem to express much more appreciation/gratitude than a lot of the big earners on DCUM, who think they don't make enough

[Anonymous]

approx 100K
own
mortgage is $1950/mo
took out $337,000 at first, but refinanced after a year and a half and put a little more down, so new mortgage was $320,000
Cost of house was $340,000


I wouldn't say I feel poor (except when I see DCUM regulars saying they can't make $300k budgets), but we do have to be careful about what we spend. We definitely won't be able to afford private school and we don't live in one of the greatest school pyramids. Also, we don't get to travel as much as I'd like, but we do manage to take a few vacations a year. We save a fair amount every month too, which is really important to me. I don't think we will have enough to retire on though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hey DC people. I used to live. 1325 for 700 Sqft roachy duplex in Huntington (alexandria, route 1), I left and went to Detroit. that 1300 gets me 2800 sq ft in a historic neighborhood with an historic building (1890), 2005 upgrades) two balconies, a patio a two car garage. 3 floors (it would cost 2 million in some DC neighborhoods or more). My commute is short, my wife walks. Our salaries are also higher now, as there is less competition in Detroit for professional jobs.

The city right now is at a turning point, we are about to go through what DC went through in the 90's, financial restructuring and possibly bankruptcy. IF you have kids and you are paying 2700 a month in DC you can pay 1000 here and put your kid in Private school (our schools are as bad as DC, maybe worse)


In Detroit you can live like the typical mid to super income DC person.

And did I mention we still save have my wifes income a month on top of 401k and other investments.

It is rough around the edges here but it is real America and cheap as dirt.

Do you live in Indian Village? Your post has me craving Greek Town, Coney Island.

[Anonymous]

HHI, 80
Current Rent, $1550
Mortgage to start soon, $1500

Things are tight for us but our healthcare is about 15-20% of DH's salary. We also have two small kids so preschool is a huge chunk of our budget. I keep telling myself that in 10 years, we'll look back and smile at how we were able to pinch pennies so well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in N. Bethesda/Bethesda area, HHI of $125k, mortgage & HOA is about $2700. We are extremely lucky that we do not have childcare cost, vehicles payments or any other major expense. We are only having 1 child and the grandparents have setup and funded his college fund. We recognize we are lucky but we are only having 1 for this reason.

This is us too, except we have three children and our HHI is perhaps closer to $140. It is a little tight but not awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that those making this income seem to express much more appreciation/gratitude than a lot of the big earners on DCUM, who think they don't make enough

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:100K last year
(85K when we purchased our house, and 40K a few years ago, DH's salary, I stay home)

House in downtown Bethesda, bought 2010: fixer-upper, 50% down and $2700 mortgage.

DH took out maximum loan so that we could also pay for renovations to gut the first floor and rebuild.

The key here is that we had saved a significant amount to afford a big down-payment.

that is still a crazy mortgage payment on that salary!

NP here. $2700 is 27% of the current household income - which is a reasonable percentage. The prior salary ($85,000) would have been a little tighter (at 32%) but regardless- they have shown they have a history of saving (saved up for 50% down). I would actually argue that the $2700 is not a crazy mortggage payment on that salary. It may not give room for a lot of extras, but it appears as if the PP can live quite frugrally (hence being able to save the very large down payment).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:100K last year
(85K when we purchased our house, and 40K a few years ago, DH's salary, I stay home)

House in downtown Bethesda, bought 2010: fixer-upper, 50% down and $2700 mortgage.

DH took out maximum loan so that we could also pay for renovations to gut the first floor and rebuild.

The key here is that we had saved a significant amount to afford a big down-payment.

Oh my gosh. This is nuts. Reminds me of when my friend who is a real estate agent told me I'd be surprised about how many people in Arlington and Bethesda are living paycheck to paycheck.

Anyway, we are on the 'lower' end ourselves. Our HHI is $116k, but our mortgage is $1700. We pinch pennies, but we still live very well.

[Anonymous]

It's good the PPs posting here give higher end DCUMers a reality check. We are at 280k HHI and feel very comfortable, affluent even, but I'm always shocked at the posts that some imply that even at this HHI we should somehow feel pinched.

[Anonymous]

PP, nah, ignore those wacky posters. We feel well off at a HHI of $150k. Doesn't mean we get everything we want, at all, and I sure would like to be able buy new windows for the house and not carry any cc debt. But you know what? I have everything - everything! - I need. I feel wealthy, indeed.

[Anonymous]

I would feel rich at 150k!!

[Anonymous]

$100K Single income
$2575 mortgage, bought this year

It seems crazy, but we have no daycare expenses (DH stays home), no other debt, 6 month emergency fund plus savings for a new car and a new roof, prepaid tuition 4 years for each kid. We spent years living well below our means and saving a ton to be able to buy into better schools for our kids.

[Anonymous]

$100K Single Income (just recently hit this number) - Spouse SAHM
Own - $375K Mortgage on a $750K house (Mclean) - Mortgage $2550

One elementary age kid involved in lots of activities (which adds up), 2-3 vacations a year (family timeshare), saving for retirement -- so its tight, but doable.