How do people live on 160k?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your family lives on $130,000 per year or less, where do you live?

I live in Loudoun, but these responses are loaded. I don’t have a mortgage anymore. All i have to pay is taxes and insurance for my housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

$10K take home after deductions and retirement savings is more like a $250K salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After taxes that’s a take home of almost 10k per month. Someone show us your budget on this salary.

No, you have to put aside $30K pretax for retirement annually so it’s less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

$10K take home after deductions and retirement savings is more like a $250K salary.

Your math is off

[Anonymous]

I honestly do not know.

I mean here inside the beltway I don't know.

Sure if I'm in St Louis or something but I honestly don't know how you even enjoy your life on that esp if 2 kids.

Min 300k with 2 teens. Min. And that's rarely going out and limited vacation joys. Sorry but camping and eating beans and rice for every holiday is not my idea of fun times. Maybe once in awhile but folks who keep saying you can have fun just camping have never done more. I love nature but even getting there and doing stuff that's interesting can sometimes cost more than $10 you know? And forget about eating out more than like 2x/month if you have older kids.

I honestly don't know how people do it. We are $350k and it's not like we're big spenders. We don't have a lawn service. We don't drive new cars. But we do have 2 kids and 1 has learning disabilities so we pay a lot for tutoring and therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

Sure. You can and we actually did it ourselves when we had less income, more expenses and wanted to also save for future. Compounding is magic. Keeping costs down and paying ourselves first was something we always did.

Having a low mortgage, driving reliable mid-price Japanese cars, no student debt, no childcare cost, no private schools, cooking from scratch, only 2 kids and no pets - all of these allowed us the luxury to grow our wealth, so that we are in a position to help our kids and grandkids too.

That seems silly if you are not working. I'd rather do those things to pay for more things for my kids.

I think it is a cultural difference in how you and I think. I am highly educated and being a SAHM was a strategic decision once my DH's salary reached a level where we knew we could do with his earnings.

We had a vision for what lifestyle we wanted and how we wanted to raise our kids. We were successful in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

Sure. You can and we actually did it ourselves when we had less income, more expenses and wanted to also save for future. Compounding is magic. Keeping costs down and paying ourselves first was something we always did.

Having a low mortgage, driving reliable mid-price Japanese cars, no student debt, no childcare cost, no private schools, cooking from scratch, only 2 kids and no pets - all of these allowed us the luxury to grow our wealth, so that we are in a position to help our kids and grandkids too.

That seems silly if you are not working. I'd rather do those things to pay for more things for my kids.

I think it is a cultural difference in how you and I think. I am highly educated and being a SAHM was a strategic decision once my DH's salary reached a level where we knew we could do with his earnings.

We had a vision for what lifestyle we wanted and how we wanted to raise our kids. We were successful in that.

I make $250K ($11K/m take home after retirement/deductions) and wouldn’t describe myself as living richly nor would I want to support a spouse and two kids alone on this salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

Sure. You can and we actually did it ourselves when we had less income, more expenses and wanted to also save for future. Compounding is magic. Keeping costs down and paying ourselves first was something we always did.

Having a low mortgage, driving reliable mid-price Japanese cars, no student debt, no childcare cost, no private schools, cooking from scratch, only 2 kids and no pets - all of these allowed us the luxury to grow our wealth, so that we are in a position to help our kids and grandkids too.

That seems silly if you are not working. I'd rather do those things to pay for more things for my kids.

I think it is a cultural difference in how you and I think. I am highly educated and being a SAHM was a strategic decision once my DH's salary reached a level where we knew we could do with his earnings.

We had a vision for what lifestyle we wanted and how we wanted to raise our kids. We were successful in that.

I make $250K ($11K/m take home after retirement/deductions) and wouldn’t describe myself as living richly nor would I want to support a spouse and two kids alone on this salary.

That's really a "you" problem. If your basic COL is too high (housing, childcare, student debt, schooling) then you are basically running in circles to make more and more to pay for things. The more you earn, the less time you have to do other things, and the more you have to outsource.

And there is a limit to what you can outsource. A nanny is not better than an educated and loving mother is who is present and involved.

[Anonymous]

I'd love it if we made $160k per year!

We're a two-teacher household squeaking by on $122/year. No kids yet and honestly, not sure if we can afford them.

We only have 1 car because we teach at the same school. It is paid off. DH has no student loans and I only carry ~$10k now.

We rent @ $2400/mo. We can't get approved for a mortgage - that would be lower than our monthly rent - but we've never once missed a rent payment or even made one late (due on 1st of month but you get a grace period until the 5th). We keep saving as much as we can for a higher downpayment but it's frustrating.

We are thinking of taking the hit to our relatively new teaching careers and moving to a cheaper state where we could afford a house. We've both only been teaching for 3 years. I'd rather leave now and only need to restart after 3 years instead of trying to tough it out here to end up with no house, no kids, no life other than paycheck-to-paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

Sure. You can and we actually did it ourselves when we had less income, more expenses and wanted to also save for future. Compounding is magic. Keeping costs down and paying ourselves first was something we always did.

Having a low mortgage, driving reliable mid-price Japanese cars, no student debt, no childcare cost, no private schools, cooking from scratch, only 2 kids and no pets - all of these allowed us the luxury to grow our wealth, so that we are in a position to help our kids and grandkids too.

That seems silly if you are not working. I'd rather do those things to pay for more things for my kids.

I think it is a cultural difference in how you and I think. I am highly educated and being a SAHM was a strategic decision once my DH's salary reached a level where we knew we could do with his earnings.

We had a vision for what lifestyle we wanted and how we wanted to raise our kids. We were successful in that.

I make $250K ($11K/m take home after retirement/deductions) and wouldn’t describe myself as living richly nor would I want to support a spouse and two kids alone on this salary.

That's really a "you" problem. If your basic COL is too high (housing, childcare, student debt, schooling) then you are basically running in circles to make more and more to pay for things. The more you earn, the less time you have to do other things, and the more you have to outsource.

And there is a limit to what you can outsource. A nanny is not better than an educated and loving mother is who is present and involved.

It’s not. I have no mortgage, paid off car, no childcare costs, and one child. My publicly educated child has an highly educated, loving, present mother who WFH. The only things we outsource are math tutor, summer lawnmowing and biweekly house cleaning. Saving for college, retirement and summers are expensive. Everything day to day is expensive. We are okay, but I would not want to support four people on this salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your family lives on $130,000 per year or less, where do you live?

I live in Loudoun, but these responses are loaded. I don’t have a mortgage anymore. All i have to pay is taxes and insurance for my housing.

Same, same.

When we bought our beautiful new SFH, it was in one of the most diverse cities in MoCo. Housing prices were at the lowest, even if interest rates were the highest. We refinanced quickly when interest rates fell and managed to get one of the lowest rates.

If some of the main expenditures are low/paid off, some benefits are free, some stroke of good luck happens then you have a lot of money even if you are at $160K HHI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly do not know.

I mean here inside the beltway I don't know.

Sure if I'm in St Louis or something but I honestly don't know how you even enjoy your life on that esp if 2 kids.

Min 300k with 2 teens. Min. And that's rarely going out and limited vacation joys. Sorry but camping and eating beans and rice for every holiday is not my idea of fun times. Maybe once in awhile but folks who keep saying you can have fun just camping have never done more. I love nature but even getting there and doing stuff that's interesting can sometimes cost more than $10 you know? And forget about eating out more than like 2x/month if you have older kids.

I honestly don't know how people do it. We are $350k and it's not like we're big spenders. We don't have a lawn service. We don't drive new cars. But we do have 2 kids and 1 has learning disabilities so we pay a lot for tutoring and therapy.

I don't get where your money goes. We make half and have a SN child as well and pay for tons of tutoring (as in 10-15 hours a week or more) plus therapies, plus at one point caring for a family member. We spend what we want now as house is paid off (we paid it off in 16 years) and have college funds for a state college and grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 20+ year old cars we drive until they fall apart. Also, don't eat out at all and don't have pets.

I am a SAHW. I have been running the house on 10K monthly for past 20 years (post tax). He pays all the taxes, Social security, IRA, pension plan, investments and medical coverage. Of course, earlier I had kids living with us too but now we are mostly empty nesters. We are living quite lavishly

-Mortgage - 2300
-Food - 1500
-Utilities, internet, subscriptions, insurance, gas, office parking, cleaner, lawn person, co-pay, office lunch, - 2500
-Socializing and entertaining (including catering help) - 1000
-My kid needs room and board in college so that is usually - 1500
I still have around 1-2K left with me each month.

When kids were younger, I paid for tutors and other needs of the kids too. I always had money left. So, I saved for college, weddings, travel, gifts etc.

Catering help? Lawn, cleaner…do it yourself.

Our big expense is tutoring and sports-music lessons and activities. We make slightly less, paid off the house, no debt and will pay cash for our next car.

Sure. You can and we actually did it ourselves when we had less income, more expenses and wanted to also save for future. Compounding is magic. Keeping costs down and paying ourselves first was something we always did.

Having a low mortgage, driving reliable mid-price Japanese cars, no student debt, no childcare cost, no private schools, cooking from scratch, only 2 kids and no pets - all of these allowed us the luxury to grow our wealth, so that we are in a position to help our kids and grandkids too.

That seems silly if you are not working. I'd rather do those things to pay for more things for my kids.

I think it is a cultural difference in how you and I think. I am highly educated and being a SAHM was a strategic decision once my DH's salary reached a level where we knew we could do with his earnings.

We had a vision for what lifestyle we wanted and how we wanted to raise our kids. We were successful in that.

I make $250K ($11K/m take home after retirement/deductions) and wouldn’t describe myself as living richly nor would I want to support a spouse and two kids alone on this salary.

That's really a "you" problem. If your basic COL is too high (housing, childcare, student debt, schooling) then you are basically running in circles to make more and more to pay for things. The more you earn, the less time you have to do other things, and the more you have to outsource.

And there is a limit to what you can outsource. A nanny is not better than an educated and loving mother is who is present and involved.

It’s not. I have no mortgage, paid off car, no childcare costs, and one child. My publicly educated child has an highly educated, loving, present mother who WFH. The only things we outsource are math tutor, summer lawnmowing and biweekly house cleaning. Saving for college, retirement and summers are expensive. Everything day to day is expensive. We are okay, but I would not want to support four people on this salary.

It is hard to do an apples to apples comparison, really. I mean you can say anything and say that it is hard and expensive, but just the amount you alone earn is enough for my household to become wealthy.

It really depends on your age, your kid's age, culture, obligations, financial management etc. Did you ever pay for childcare for your kid? How much do you spend on going to work?

How much are you saving for college? How much are you saving for retirement? How much on EC activities? How much on socializing? How much on therapy, dental work, beauty treatments, eating out, groceries etc? Are you looking after pets, grandparents? How come you have no mortgage? Did you buy the house you live in?

I have friends who live a luxurious lifestyle but are absolutely torn apart of they have to replace their AC. Haven't saved for their kids but are happy to send them to low ranked party schools with zero merit aid. I love them but their financial choices makes my heart palpitate.

I am sorry but if you are making $200K and above - you are wealthy even in DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After taxes that’s a take home of almost 10k per month. Someone show us your budget on this salary.

No, you have to put aside $30K pretax for retirement annually so it’s less.

You math weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After taxes that’s a take home of almost 10k per month. Someone show us your budget on this salary.

No, you have to put aside $30K pretax for retirement annually so it’s less.

IRS limits are 23,500.

250000-23500*.75 (because let’s get real that’s the high side of what i pay when taxes are complete) = $169875 Net Income/12= $14,156/mo