Feel poor at 300k HHI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you think that you should be swimming in money Scrooge McDuck style on that money. Not reasonable.

Why shouldn't they think that? Half the people on this thread have jumped in to point out that they make 17 times the median income or whatever. Either $300k is rich and you should live like Scrooge McDuck or its middle class for around here. Can't be both.

Earning $300k gives them choices. The more choices the higher up the chain. They have far more choices than the above average family in the area. They chose the house budget, they chose the school and chose to take on student loans to fund it, they chose to have a child and they chose to have jobs where they can afford to choose a nanny to make things work better. They wisely chose to fund their eventual retirement. The choose to spend the remaining $6k a month on things that do not include a vacation. They could change many of the above reasons choices and choose to take a nicer vacation, or live in a bigger house (probably with a longer commute and/or lower public school rating). Choices abound.

Problem is they need the tony No Arlington address because of commute and eventually schools. They could 'choose' a cheaper house but compromise on seeing their kid or school quality. Going private saves nothing and wastes money most cases.

I think part of this vitriol is this is a likely dual career working family, both working over 40 hours, and they use money to fill in gaps (nanny, take out, etc). A lot of $200k families have a $100k+ earner with a teacher or wah arrangement so the lower earner becomes household labor to reduce childcare costs etc. it's even more striking for the families earning $200k with a SAHP, they are mug wealthier than a dual income $200k family. And in no Arlington there are a lot of SAHM (see: MONA).

Need? No. They WANT. Many people commute from other areas or pick schools that aren't a GS 10. Having the LUXURY to be so choosy just speaks to the point that they are not middle class.

[Anonymous]

You're ignoring all you have for all you think $300k should buy you. Gratitude and perspective will help. Stop being bewildered by all you're lacking and look more closely at what you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you think that you should be swimming in money Scrooge McDuck style on that money. Not reasonable.

Why shouldn't they think that? Half the people on this thread have jumped in to point out that they make 17 times the median income or whatever. Either $300k is rich and you should live like Scrooge McDuck or its middle class for around here. Can't be both.

Middle class is not the same as poor.

Also, it is absolutely preposterous to look at other people's vacations and home additions, and start feeling sorry for yourself. I know it's natural and normal, but it is ridiculous.

Try, try to get some perspective. You are so fortunate, so unbelievably lucky to have what you have. Other people going on vacation more often than you do while you manage homes, and loans, and nannies, and all the rest of it, is really not something to go complaining about.

People in DC have family money. They have lobbyist and defense contractor jobs. They are WEALTHY, not just rich. You are merely rich, so you can't do everything that they do. It's really not going to kill you.

[Anonymous]

OP, I will take the heat off of you by telling you that we have a HHI of 400k and we don't do much better. We bought a house in a good school district because we know we can't pay for private and won't make this high income for much longer. So we have a large mortgage, large student loan payments, nanny, and we both work like dogs. We pay a lot of $ every month for therapies for our kids that are not covered by insurance, and we also pay OOP for other medical expenses because our health insurance network isn't great. We are by no means poor, struggling, or strapped for cash, but we aren't saving either, and we do road trips for vacations and stay with family.

[Anonymous]

What kind of work do you do that you can't get child care hours to work?

[Anonymous]

I'd never buy a four-bedroom house in North Arlington, have a full-time nanny, and try to pay off student loans on that salary. Face it, you want the trappings of a rich life on what's basically a typical upper middle-class salary for this area. Scale back or shut up, but don't expect any sympathy. You're almost a caricature of a typical North Arlington resident.

[Anonymous]

I think you lose perspective on DCUM. I certainly have and very much resent finding DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, why can't you do a nanny share??? Obvious fix to reduce your child care costs.

You really don't live in No Arlington -- very few working moms here. So no one to do a nanny share with. I guess some commuting mom from fairfax, but how do you coordinate that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you think that you should be swimming in money Scrooge McDuck style on that money. Not reasonable.

Why shouldn't they think that? Half the people on this thread have jumped in to point out that they make 17 times the median income or whatever. Either $300k is rich and you should live like Scrooge McDuck or its middle class for around here. Can't be both.

Earning $300k gives them choices. The more choices the higher up the chain. They have far more choices than the above average family in the area. They chose the house budget, they chose the school and chose to take on student loans to fund it, they chose to have a child and they chose to have jobs where they can afford to choose a nanny to make things work better. They wisely chose to fund their eventual retirement. The choose to spend the remaining $6k a month on things that do not include a vacation. They could change many of the above reasons choices and choose to take a nicer vacation, or live in a bigger house (probably with a longer commute and/or lower public school rating). Choices abound.

Problem is they need the tony No Arlington address because of commute and eventually schools. They could 'choose' a cheaper house but compromise on seeing their kid or school quality. Going private saves nothing and wastes money most cases.

I think part of this vitriol is this is a likely dual career working family, both working over 40 hours, and they use money to fill in gaps (nanny, take out, etc). A lot of $200k families have a $100k+ earner with a teacher or wah arrangement so the lower earner becomes household labor to reduce childcare costs etc. it's even more striking for the families earning $200k with a SAHP, they are mug wealthier than a dual income $200k family. And in no Arlington there are a lot of SAHM (see: MONA).

Need? No. They WANT. Many people commute from other areas or pick schools that aren't a GS 10. Having the LUXURY to be so choosy just speaks to the point that they are not middle class.

Please we live in No Arlington, their mortgage is for $800k house which is about as cheap as you can go and get a liveable but old SFH. Unless they move to PG and got much much worse schools, it's the commute that has to suffer, i.e. Give up even more time for their kid. I've been looking for a job in suburbs for years but my field is just downtown. They made a decent compromise but makes $300k just middle class

[Anonymous]

I sometimes feel this way on a $220k income, but we have a smaller mortgage, no student loans, and no nanny, so I can see how you'd feel that way at $300k. But most of our neighbors have luxury cars, take these crazy vacations, spend money on things like yoga and barre classes, and have weekly house cleaners. Most on one income. We don't have or do any of those things. They either don't save as much, make a lot more, or have family help. Or all of the above. Obviously I can't ask, but I admit I'm curious.

[Anonymous]

OP, I feel the same way, our HHI is $230k and I don't know where it all goes. I think part of it is that DH and I like nice things. We are looking at boats, and our budget has gone from $10k to $45k.

[Anonymous]

Enough of these stupid troll threads OP. F off.

[Anonymous]

I'm so sick of these posts - it seems like there's a new one every week. Your expenses are too high, OP. You bought more house than you could afford given your other expenses (e.g. student loans and daycare). I hate to sound like a 10 year old, but DUH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Our mortgage payments are fixed at about 3750/month. Student loans of 1k/month (one lawyer), and we have a nanny because we can't make our work schedule fit with daycare and have no local family.

I think it's funny that people have to justify why their student loans are so high. Oh, I'm a lawyer, so it's ok that my student loans are insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you think that you should be swimming in money Scrooge McDuck style on that money. Not reasonable.

Why shouldn't they think that? Half the people on this thread have jumped in to point out that they make 17 times the median income or whatever. Either $300k is rich and you should live like Scrooge McDuck or its middle class for around here. Can't be both.

Earning $300k gives them choices. The more choices the higher up the chain. They have far more choices than the above average family in the area. They chose the house budget, they chose the school and chose to take on student loans to fund it, they chose to have a child and they chose to have jobs where they can afford to choose a nanny to make things work better. They wisely chose to fund their eventual retirement. The choose to spend the remaining $6k a month on things that do not include a vacation. They could change many of the above reasons choices and choose to take a nicer vacation, or live in a bigger house (probably with a longer commute and/or lower public school rating). Choices abound.

Problem is they need the tony No Arlington address because of commute and eventually schools. They could 'choose' a cheaper house but compromise on seeing their kid or school quality. Going private saves nothing and wastes money most cases.

I think part of this vitriol is this is a likely dual career working family, both working over 40 hours, and they use money to fill in gaps (nanny, take out, etc). A lot of $200k families have a $100k+ earner with a teacher or wah arrangement so the lower earner becomes household labor to reduce childcare costs etc. it's even more striking for the families earning $200k with a SAHP, they are mug wealthier than a dual income $200k family. And in no Arlington there are a lot of SAHM (see: MONA).

Need? No. They WANT. Many people commute from other areas or pick schools that aren't a GS 10. Having the LUXURY to be so choosy just speaks to the point that they are not middle class.

Please we live in No Arlington, their mortgage is for $800k house which is about as cheap as you can go and get a liveable but old SFH. Unless they move to PG and got much much worse schools, it's the commute that has to suffer, i.e. Give up even more time for their kid. I've been looking for a job in suburbs for years but my field is just downtown. They made a decent compromise but makes $300k just middle class

It doesn't actually.

http://www.hughcalc.org/midclass.php


You are upper class, and apparently incredibly stupid also.