Anyone Under 100k???

[Anonymous]

I am amazed reading through Urban Moms and Dads, everbody seams to make at least 100k and yeah way more.
Is this a forum for rich people? Where are the families who make under 100k with two people working. People who can't afford Nannies and Cleaning Lady.
People who trying to make it on a daily basis, and don't have big 401k and lots of investment funds????
Or maybe there is just another site for us then???
(oh yeah and I have nothing against wealthier people, but some of us didnt have the chance to go to college or went and still don't make alot of money and we out here trying to survive )

[Anonymous]

No worries. For some reason, some people who make over $100K get verbal diarrhea and have to spout their paycheck to everyone.

[Anonymous]

i think it is the area...i don't think everone makes 100K but it is more common. Jus tin thinking about it everyone that i know makes at least that.

[zumbamama]

5 figures here. I don't even know anyone who makes 6, besides the bossman. I have no huge investment funds, no inheritance, no Ivy education. I am my own cleaning lady. I have no nanny. I've never been to Europe and shop at discount stores. Life is simple, but still rocks!

[Anonymous]

zumbamama will you be my friend?

[Anonymous]

100k is alot of money but for this area it really is not over the top wealthy. I wouldn't bet that people making right around 100k have cleaning people, nannys and live luxurious lives. That is probably more the people making 250k plus.

[Anonymous]

Just ask in the single moms forum

[Anonymous]

Under 100k here. Way under.

[zumbamama]

Anonymous wrote:zumbamama will you be my friend?

fo shizzle!

[Anonymous]

A lot of people make $100K around here - there are a lot of very educated (and over-educated) and very driven (and overly-driven people here. We're similar to Boston, NYC, parts of California (and to a lesser degree, Chicago) in that way. Also housing is so expensive here that it's easier to live here if you're a higher-earner. My peer group is pretty high-earning; quite a few of us have Masters degrees and most of us have 15 years of experience in white-collar fields, and those things can lead to 6-figure salaries.

I made $100K+ for a couple of years, but I was working absolutely ridiculous hours (till 10 or midnight sometimes) and traveling frequently. When I got laid off - and then pregnant - I made the decision to accept a lower salary in exchange for a more balanced life. I miss the extra money sometimes - ok, most of the time (that extra $20K was all disposable income)- but I don't miss the hours, and if I still worked like I did before, I'd never see my daughter.

[Anonymous]

Husband and I together make 90k..he's phd student, we rent a house, do a nanny share and spend our vacations visiting family. Big student loans...but still feel like life is comfortable.

[Anonymous]

We JUST hit 100k this year. Both college educated, but in nonprofits/govt. I feel ya! We rent, use public schools, I stayed home because my salary wouldn't have covered daycare at the time, we can't have another child because of finances, we put 10% each into a 401k, but it's not much because we never made much money! We have 1 old car. We have student loans. We split a vacation w/ another family (also in govt. work and young!)

[Anonymous]

I think you also find that peopl who make more than 100k are in jobs that allow them the time to visit this board during the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No worries. For some reason, some people who make over $100K get verbal diarrhea and have to spout their paycheck to everyone.

agree

[Anonymous]

I like this board because sometimes it makes me feel better off than we are. In Washington I often feel surrounded by tons and tons of people with the kind of money that makes your head swim. There seem to be so many families with only one working parent who have annual incomes above $500k and up into the multiple millions. I think often one doesn't relaize how much certain professions earn. You might be really surprised if you started researching incomes for jobs around here.

DC has a very high cost of living compared to most other areas of the country. $100,000 here is like $200,000 else where (cities in the South and MidWest mostly) but only like $25,000 in NYC. Its all relative. There is a calculator on line (cant remember where) that lets you compute different costs of living from your zip code to another. Its to help people comnsidering a move. I stumbled on it a few years ago and was amazed at how much cheaper it is to live other places. As an adult with a pay check I have only lived here, paid rent, then bought a house, had kids, paid for preschool and private school, car insurance, food and clothing for a family of 4, etc... in Washington, DC. I do know when I visit my parents in another city far away, that gas, food, and other things are a lot less expensive.

Quite honestly, if you live in say NW DC, I have a hard time imagining a family making it on less than $250k (and President Obama needs to adjust his income definitions based on where people live. $250,00 in this town does NOT make you rich, not at all...) and at that amount of annual income you would need financial aid (and could get it) if you want to send your kids to private school. Well, I guess though that does depend on your mortgage too but, I think most people with school aged kids have a hefty monthly mortgage payment. Certainly, the further out you go, the less expensive it gets and different parts of the city are much less expensive but, lots of the close in areas of MD and VA are just as expensive.

What I find amazing is how many people here have significant family money (trust funds or just generous parents) that they can tap for schools costs, camps, vacations, and almost everything else. The number of families who don't seem to work for their money is more mind boogling to me then those who just make the big 6 and 7 figure salaries. The number of people who have second homes, vacation homes, is amazing, too, and even third homes. All I know is that I have found it is best NOT to think about other epoople's money and just focus on all the things in your life that are good and satisfying and make you happy.