How can we save with this breakdown

[Anonymous]

$500/month is a low grocery bill for 3 people, especially if their kid has entered the ravenous tween/teen years already.

We have spent $300/wk on food with our teenagers in the house. And we weren't eating anywhere fancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since child is in school full time, why are you waiting until next year for her to get a parting job?

To even say private school isn’t a choice, shows you aren’t easy to cut things. It IS a choice.

Get rid of safe deposit box. They have safes on amazon for about $20. What is in there that you need at a bank?

Stop funding 529.

Stop donating. Your spouse can volunteer if she wants to give back

Shop at Aldi.

The classes and therapy are very high. You can drop some, I’m certain.

Protein powders amount should be reduced or buy a cheaper Brand

100 for household items is a lot for 3 people. A tube of toothpaste, some toilet paper and paper towels, 1-2 bottles of shampoo, one of conditioner, soap, etc doesn’t cost this much for us. Are you buying cheaper brands? Tide pods?
lawn exterior - do it yourself

Cut down on gifts to both your parents

The wife going back to work might not make sense if that also would add child care expenses, work wardrobe, dry cleaning, increased wear/tear on a car, higher gas expense etc to their expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If staying out of public school is that high a priority, I would look into parochial schools, which are typically a fraction of the cost of other private schools.

Reducing the private school tuition is an idea to consider if public isn’t an option. We pay $2000/month for parochial school in NoVA for 4 kids, so $2000 for 1 seems pretty high (unless it’s for special needs then please disregard).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it incredibly sad that people are recommending decreasing your donations. You should be able to give $100 a month on a HHI of $140k when you live in a house you’ve inherited.

Are you donate Nazi? You’re entitled to your opinion but it is one legitimate way to decrease expenses. I’m the one who suggesting donating time, instead.

I’m not sure what a donate Nazi is but the people who post here are so bitter and stingy. Hardly anyone ever has a donation/charity line item, and most people who post here are making more money than 90% of Americans. I just find it incredibly depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since child is in school full time, why are you waiting until next year for her to get a parting job?

To even say private school isn’t a choice, shows you aren’t easy to cut things. It IS a choice.

Get rid of safe deposit box. They have safes on amazon for about $20. What is in there that you need at a bank?

Stop funding 529.

Stop donating. Your spouse can volunteer if she wants to give back

Shop at Aldi.

The classes and therapy are very high. You can drop some, I’m certain.

Protein powders amount should be reduced or buy a cheaper Brand

100 for household items is a lot for 3 people. A tube of toothpaste, some toilet paper and paper towels, 1-2 bottles of shampoo, one of conditioner, soap, etc doesn’t cost this much for us. Are you buying cheaper brands? Tide pods?
lawn exterior - do it yourself

Cut down on gifts to both your parents

The wife going back to work might not make sense if that also would add child care expenses, work wardrobe, dry cleaning, increased wear/tear on a car, higher gas expense etc to their expenses.

Having only 1 spouse working poses the following risks --

1. If the only working spouse loses his job, the family is vulnerable.
2. If the couple divorces, the non-working spouse is vulnerable.
3. The non-working spouse never builds up her own income. If you stay in the workplace, you can build skills, get raises, get a 401(k) contribution, etc. If the non-working spouse's salary is so low that daycare is the same as the non-working spouse, then the non-working spouse should not have chosen such a low-wage field. Women need to be proactive and act in their best interests, including trying to maximize their income.

[Anonymous]

OP, why doesn't your wife work? There are many legitimate reasons to make that decision, but the fact that you are making this post tells me you are stressed about the life you're living. You've basically replaced the cost of a mortgage with the cost of private school, so you're not really saving on the house.

I am mostly a SAHM, but I am able to bring in 25-30K a year working about 1/4 time online (totally flexible; can be done anywhere).

I think you guys are doing fine, but it sounds like you'd like a little more financial freedom. For that, you need more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take home $6500 a month on $142k salary after maxing out retirement and doing FSA - 1 income, 1 kid. Age 50.

18 umbrella policy
65 insurance - 2 cars
75 home insurance
667 Fund 529
10 hoa community
53 verizon internet
100 donation
500 groceries
225 classes, therapy (swimming needed as therapy for child etc)
150 meds, vitamins, protein powders etc. for all
100 household (toilet paper, detergent, dish soap, soap, toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, cream etc.)
200 medical including labs/co-pays/procedures/therapy/dental - most likely more, spouse has chronic health problems.
300 lawn exterior/interior repairs maintenance
800-1000 travel, vacation, clothes, haircuts, dining, entertainment, gifts
150 gas
150 2 oil changes per car
80 2 cell phones
8 safe deposit box
5 video cloud storage
2000 Private school
200 electricity - old home
80 water/sewer
25 trash
40 mowing averaged out
500 real estate property tax
65 car property tax

We have nothing left over

You are on one income.which is dumb at that I come level and private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since child is in school full time, why are you waiting until next year for her to get a parting job?

To even say private school isn’t a choice, shows you aren’t easy to cut things. It IS a choice.

Get rid of safe deposit box. They have safes on amazon for about $20. What is in there that you need at a bank?

Stop funding 529.

Stop donating. Your spouse can volunteer if she wants to give back

Shop at Aldi.

The classes and therapy are very high. You can drop some, I’m certain.

Protein powders amount should be reduced or buy a cheaper Brand

100 for household items is a lot for 3 people. A tube of toothpaste, some toilet paper and paper towels, 1-2 bottles of shampoo, one of conditioner, soap, etc doesn’t cost this much for us. Are you buying cheaper brands? Tide pods?
lawn exterior - do it yourself

Cut down on gifts to both your parents

The wife going back to work might not make sense if that also would add child care expenses, work wardrobe, dry cleaning, increased wear/tear on a car, higher gas expense etc to their expenses.

I returned to work with only a 52k income which every drop got ate up by the above you mention. However I also maxed out 401k and got an employer match. This was 12 years ago. I now make 280k, out earn my husband and we have 7 figures in out 401k and 6 figures in a brokerage account.

Your analysis is short sighted.

[Anonymous]

Why isn’t your wife working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since child is in school full time, why are you waiting until next year for her to get a parting job?

To even say private school isn’t a choice, shows you aren’t easy to cut things. It IS a choice.

Get rid of safe deposit box. They have safes on amazon for about $20. What is in there that you need at a bank?

Stop funding 529.

Stop donating. Your spouse can volunteer if she wants to give back

Shop at Aldi.

The classes and therapy are very high. You can drop some, I’m certain.

Protein powders amount should be reduced or buy a cheaper Brand

100 for household items is a lot for 3 people. A tube of toothpaste, some toilet paper and paper towels, 1-2 bottles of shampoo, one of conditioner, soap, etc doesn’t cost this much for us. Are you buying cheaper brands? Tide pods?
lawn exterior - do it yourself

Cut down on gifts to both your parents

The wife going back to work might not make sense if that also would add child care expenses, work wardrobe, dry cleaning, increased wear/tear on a car, higher gas expense etc to their expenses.

He already said she’s going back to work next year part time. I’m asking why they are waiting til next year. I could see waiting til summer ends to starts but not more than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am mostly a SAHM, but I am able to bring in 25-30K a year working about 1/4 time online (totally flexible; can be done anywhere).

What do you do??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, given how little you’ve engaged in this discussion, I question how important this really is to you. We can’t make money appear for you, reality is that if you want to save, you need to cut back on your spending. With $142k in annual income and no mortgage, there’s really no excuse not to be saving. You’re just choosing not to because you prefer a more expensive lifestyle than you can afford.

I barely posted today. And came back to respond to the first page of comments. We already do Costco for gas and bulk. The private school is not by choice as I explained. What helped by posting here was the reiteration to cut back or stop the 529 and donations. Also to save the $2K a year on vacations. I am not at all handy around the house but have looked at you tube videos and done several things. But some, just can’t do. Also I have back issues hence the mower. But can certainly do that at a slow pace. Definitely some takeaways for me.

The private school is not by choice? Indeed it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am mostly a SAHM, but I am able to bring in 25-30K a year working about 1/4 time online (totally flexible; can be done anywhere).

What do you do??

I teach college courses online. $4500 per course, 6 courses a year, 8 weeks each. I also do a little admin work for the program for another 2-3K/year. Each course averages about 10 hours per week while in session. I'm at the top of my pay scale for my school, but presumably OP's wife also had a career pre-kiddo, and if he's 50, I'm guessing she also has quite a bit of experience in her field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op is doing way better than most people! His cars and house are paid off. He appears to have no student loan or consumer debt. He is maxing out his retirement and has FSA. He is setting aside a nice amount of money in his child's 529 every month. He has a SAH wife AND his kid is attending private school.

He and his wife also travel to visit parents and help them out.

Op is doing pretty darned good. Op should be telling DCUM how to do it!

OP inherited his house. If he had a mortgage he would be doing a lot worse and wouldn't be able to send his kid to private (or his spouse would need to work.) Also, given that OP has 401K and 529 contributions, he is saving, so I don't really understand the premise of this query. If he wants to save more, spouse can work or cut the private school. This is not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, given how little you’ve engaged in this discussion, I question how important this really is to you. We can’t make money appear for you, reality is that if you want to save, you need to cut back on your spending. With $142k in annual income and no mortgage, there’s really no excuse not to be saving. You’re just choosing not to because you prefer a more expensive lifestyle than you can afford.

I barely posted today. And came back to respond to the first page of comments. We already do Costco for gas and bulk. The private school is not by choice as I explained. What helped by posting here was the reiteration to cut back or stop the 529 and donations. Also to save the $2K a year on vacations. I am not at all handy around the house but have looked at you tube videos and done several things. But some, just can’t do. Also I have back issues hence the mower. But can certainly do that at a slow pace. Definitely some takeaways for me.

The private school is not by choice? Indeed it is.

+1 Of course it's a choice. You could always sell the house you inherited and buy another house in a good school district, but you choose not to.