Support a family of 4 on $55k/year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with asking a question like this here on DCUM is that this board is heavily skewed toward families with very high incomes. $55k is a perfectly good salary for most people, including in the DC area. However, most of the respondents here have combined salaries of $150, $200, $300k and more. Their expenses have grown to the extent that they think that it's tough to get by on anything less than what they earn. However, you don't have to send your kids to private schools, eat out multimple times a week, spend thousands on vacations, have two brand new SUVs, live in a million dollar home etc. Plenty of people get by on much less.

We'll soon become a family of four. I earn more than $55k but relative to others here, not much. (Sole earner). If we stopped contributing to savings and 401k and cut back on eating out and trips/vacations we could EASILY make do on $55k. It's all relative. If you'r eused to taking home so much more than that it would be tough.

Yes.

Please re-read this post. Read it again. And then decide to comment.

Some of these responses are ridiculous.

"Oh you cannot do it without government assistance!"

Get a clue.

I agree. It is doable. Does it mean you can live in a prime location with a nanny and a housekeeper and a lawn service while owning 2 or more vehicles and going on multiple vacations and buying name brands and organic food? No. But that wasn't the question.

Right, and not a single person who said "it would be very tight" or "no, can't be done" said that iit would be difficult or impossible because then there would be no housekeeper or multiple vacations. No one's arguing that buying name brands is mandatory. Do you disagree that it would be "tight" even with only the absolute basics?

Of course. But its doable.

I was referring to those who were saying "no you can't" and "its impossible we make XXXK a year and barely get by".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to address the PP, across Virginia, cost of living varies widely.

My husband and I are struggling with this as well. We want to save and live a decent life, but it's hard -- we earn about $180,000 combined, have two children in daycare (about $2,000), pay $2950 in rent in NWDC in a good school district. We have very little savings outside our company retirement accounts.

I worry all the time; not saving enough for our chidlren's eduction, what if something happens to one of us.

We've made all the obvious cuts: only one car, no cable, take lunch, no Starbucks. We spend a lot on groceries, which we are working on trimming (easily $1,000 a month for 4), and booze. We go out to dinner or do takeout maybe three times a month, which isn't THE MOST FRUGAL, I know, but I don't think it's exorbitant. Any time we take a holiday it's to visit family on the east coast, we've flown once in the past, what, 6 years?

UGH.

What are you spending on? You make $180K, say about 23% for taxes, 10% for retirement, that's still $120K or about $10K take home a month. Take out your $2950 and $2000 and even your $1K for groceries (I agree with others, how can you pay that much!?!? unless you have two teenage boys eating $200/wk of junk) maybe $400 for utilities, you still have $3600. What do you spend $3600 a month on that you are scraping by with so little savings? At your current incomes, you should be able to save $1000-2000 per month (at least).

You need to get counseling because someone(s) in your household have no concept of basic budgeting. You need to reevaluate what needs vs wants are and learn to live within your means and not try to live up to the Jones who make more money than you do because you should not be straining financially the way you are on what you make.

We make approx $180K and take home $8600 a month - we have enough for our expenses but not much to save. Here's a breakdown.

$2260 - mortgage
$2260 - child care for 2
$1000 - student loans (should go down to $800 next month)
$1000 - food (with coupons)
$ 500 - utilities (power, gas, cable/internet, cell phones)
$ 185 - life insurances
$ 135 - car insurance (2 cars)
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro (driving to/from downtown from SS daily)
$ 300 - housekeeper (my primary splurge but the stress she relives is priceless and marriage counseling would cost more)
$ 300 - charity
$ 100 - gym
$ 50 - dr/prescriptions

So that leaves approx $500 for clothing, weekend activities, car repairs, vacation savings, shopping, etc.

I am NOT complaining. I actually think we have a great life and are very lucky to have the things we have, but money does go pretty quickly.

I know people who make it work on much lower salaries and I think its incredible.

[Anonymous]

Out of curiosity PP, your expenses all actually seem pretty routine...but 1000 on groceries for 4 people? I'm just curious - not judging - what are you buying? We are a family of 3 (plus dog - but he's about 70.00 between dog food/treats/dog baggies) AND I pretty much shop at whole foods because it's close and I hate every grocery store around here except Wegmans (not close). I buy a lot of wine and typically spend about 100-120 a week at WF plus some other items at Target for my kid.
I know everyone is different but if you have two kids in childcare you don't have two teenage boys on a lacrosse team (known to inhale entire boxes of cereal in one sitting...).
Just curious - it just seems so high to me. Even if you cook all meals at home.

[Anonymous]

Oh and I am with you - if you can swing it, I would NEVER drop my cleaning lady. She has saved my marriage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of curiosity PP, your expenses all actually seem pretty routine...but 1000 on groceries for 4 people? I'm just curious - not judging - what are you buying? We are a family of 3 (plus dog - but he's about 70.00 between dog food/treats/dog baggies) AND I pretty much shop at whole foods because it's close and I hate every grocery store around here except Wegmans (not close). I buy a lot of wine and typically spend about 100-120 a week at WF plus some other items at Target for my kid.
I know everyone is different but if you have two kids in childcare you don't have two teenage boys on a lacrosse team (known to inhale entire boxes of cereal in one sitting...).
Just curious - it just seems so high to me. Even if you cook all meals at home.

10:28 PP here.

$1K on groceries is high and we try to keep it down whenever possible but 1) we keep kosher, which means meat and cheese are much more expensive and 2) we entertain often - usually every week, we have a lunch or dinner for 8-10 adults + kids, so thats an extra $100 per weekend, on top of regular food. We rarely eat dinner out (1-2x per month, although approx $100 of the bill is for lunches).

[Anonymous]

Got it PP. And I am gathering that weekly entertaining may be related to shabbat so understandable.
Bottom line - this is an expensive area but people at all income levels make it work. Some struggle a lot more than others.

[Anonymous]

We're a family of four who spends about $1,000 a month on food (kids are 3 and 5, we both work full-time). We're vegetarians if it matters. Now that $1,000 is EVERYTHING we consume - so eating out (either with friends or as a family), entertaining (we host casual dinners twice a month or so for friends and family), alcohol (usually have a glass of wine with dinner every night), groceries, coffee or breakfast runs before work (maybe once or twice a week?), etc. So ALL consumables. And we eat tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, which gets expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you bought a house before the boom, or if you have subsidized housing, then yes.

+1.

or if you have some chunk of money to put down on a home from an inheritance or some free place to live or something. Otherwise, absolutely no way without public assistance. Rent alone would be $1600 at least for a 2-bedroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And to address the PP, across Virginia, cost of living varies widely.

My husband and I are struggling with this as well. We want to save and live a decent life, but it's hard -- we earn about $180,000 combined, have two children in daycare (about $2,000), pay $2950 in rent in NWDC in a good school district. We have very little savings outside our company retirement accounts.

I worry all the time; not saving enough for our chidlren's eduction, what if something happens to one of us.

We've made all the obvious cuts: only one car, no cable, take lunch, no Starbucks. We spend a lot on groceries, which we are working on trimming (easily $1,000 a month for 4), and booze. We go out to dinner or do takeout maybe three times a month, which isn't THE MOST FRUGAL, I know, but I don't think it's exorbitant. Any time we take a holiday it's to visit family on the east coast, we've flown once in the past, what, 6 years?

UGH.

What are you spending on? You make $180K, say about 23% for taxes, 10% for retirement, that's still $120K or about $10K take home a month. Take out your $2950 and $2000 and even your $1K for groceries (I agree with others, how can you pay that much!?!? unless you have two teenage boys eating $200/wk of junk) maybe $400 for utilities, you still have $3600. What do you spend $3600 a month on that you are scraping by with so little savings? At your current incomes, you should be able to save $1000-2000 per month (at least).

You need to get counseling because someone(s) in your household have no concept of basic budgeting. You need to reevaluate what needs vs wants are and learn to live within your means and not try to live up to the Jones who make more money than you do because you should not be straining financially the way you are on what you make.

Well, I'm not PP but there are a number of expenses you didn't address at all that she could be spending on. Car payment, car maintenance, gas, transportation costs if taking metro, dry cleaning, kids clothes/shoes/diapers/wipes, maybe kids activities, utilities, entertainment, healthcare, dental work, hair appointments, etc. Maybe PP can cut costs in those areas, or eliminate costs, but to say that she has 3600 per month extra without even considering these things isn't realistic.

But those are not necessities, but luxuries of having over median income. If you have median or below median income, i.e. the original $55K annual income for a family, you can't afford dry cleaning. You buy your clothes and the kids clothes at consignment and thrift stores. You do free activities for the kids. You probably don't have a car, or if you do, you have an old car with no car payment (buy used). You don't pay for hair appointments.

The point is that someone with all of those things, living on $180K annually is an upper middle class family that has enough extra for luxuries. And what luxuries you choose to spend your money on comes out of your disposable income. For $3600 extra per month, not including food and shelter, you should be able to live on about $2000 per month of extras and still save $1600 a month. Or even spend $2600 and save $1000. To be living paycheck to paycheck at that income level (which is essentially what the PP said when she said that they have virtually no savings) is ridiculous. They are trying to live beyond their means with many luxuries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We make approx $180K and take home $8600 a month - we have enough for our expenses but not much to save. Here's a breakdown.

$2260 - mortgage
$2260 - child care for 2
$1000 - student loans (should go down to $800 next month)
$1000 - food (with coupons)
$ 500 - utilities (power, gas, cable/internet, cell phones)
$ 185 - life insurances
$ 135 - car insurance (2 cars)
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro (driving to/from downtown from SS daily)
$ 300 - housekeeper (my primary splurge but the stress she relives is priceless and marriage counseling would cost more)
$ 300 - charity
$ 100 - gym
$ 50 - dr/prescriptions

So that leaves approx $500 for clothing, weekend activities, car repairs, vacation savings, shopping, etc.

I am NOT complaining. I actually think we have a great life and are very lucky to have the things we have, but money does go pretty quickly.

I know people who make it work on much lower salaries and I think its incredible.

So, all of the bolded things are splurges. While I understand that keeping Kosher is more expensive, entertaining more than once per month is not a necessity. It's a splurge. By my estimate, you could probably save $500-1000 more per month if you chose to. That you think those are necessities that are must haves to avoid saving anything for emergencies, life happens or college funds is a choice you make that many of us would not. You have the disposable income to spend how you want it, but you should not be counting yourself as struggling to get by on $180K. As you note, you are living pretty well.

The original PP said she was struggling to get by on $180K and essentially living paycheck to paycheck. That's just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We make approx $180K and take home $8600 a month - we have enough for our expenses but not much to save. Here's a breakdown.

$2260 - mortgage
$2260 - child care for 2
$1000 - student loans (should go down to $800 next month)
$1000 - food (with coupons)
$ 500 - utilities (power, gas, cable/internet, cell phones)
$ 185 - life insurances
$ 135 - car insurance (2 cars)
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro (driving to/from downtown from SS daily)
$ 300 - housekeeper (my primary splurge but the stress she relives is priceless and marriage counseling would cost more)
$ 300 - charity
$ 100 - gym
$ 50 - dr/prescriptions

So that leaves approx $500 for clothing, weekend activities, car repairs, vacation savings, shopping, etc.

I am NOT complaining. I actually think we have a great life and are very lucky to have the things we have, but money does go pretty quickly.

I know people who make it work on much lower salaries and I think its incredible.

So, all of the bolded things are splurges. While I understand that keeping Kosher is more expensive, entertaining more than once per month is not a necessity. It's a splurge. By my estimate, you could probably save $500-1000 more per month if you chose to. That you think those are necessities that are must haves to avoid saving anything for emergencies, life happens or college funds is a choice you make that many of us would not. You have the disposable income to spend how you want it, but you should not be counting yourself as struggling to get by on $180K. As you note, you are living pretty well.

The original PP said she was struggling to get by on $180K and essentially living paycheck to paycheck. That's just ridiculous.

I dont count ourselves as struggling. We have everything we need and most things we want and I wasnt the original $180K PP.

I dont consider charity to be a splurge. Also, hosting meals 2-4x per month means that we get invited out 2-4x per month, so thats 2-4 less meals that we need to make - although we could save by not hosting, its not that much of a savings and would significantly impact our social life and our quality of life.

So the most we could save is approx $300 a month (gym and maybe a couple hundred on groceries) and thankfully we dont have to do that at this point. We are not saving for college, as we are paying childcare now and will continue paying for private school as our kids get older and when they go to college, we will hopefully have the same monthly amount to contribute towards college tuition, and maybe more, assuming our salaries increase.

[Anonymous]

This thread caught my eye as I'm leaving my job soon so we'll be down to one income, which is about 63K. We're a family of four, with kids being 1 and 3.

We live in PG County, which has a lower cost of living than NoVa. We've done some expense tracking and budgeting and see that things will be pretty tight. Thankfully we have some savings going into this, so although we're not going to be spending that as part of our our regular budget, its so great that its there for when we need a new roof or sewer line or whatever. Also, having a chunk of savings is a huge improvement over living paycheck to paycheck, as you can buy in bulk and just not get stuck paying the poor person's premium (like check cashing services, convenience stores, etc.)

Our main stroke of financial brilliance was to get a house with a rental space. We bought in 2009, so not pre-bubble, but our rental income covers half the mortgage.

We happen to be the kind of people who have always shopped at Value Village and don't see that as some kind of compromise. We buy new things sometimes too.

We are into eating home-made organic foods and prefer meat and diary to be from grass fed animals. But we still keep our total monthly food costs to around $600.

The kids are going to attend a great public Montessori magnet school from pre-K through 8th grade.

I agree with some other posters who have pointed out that time can be more valuable than money. At least that's what we're going with for the next few years. Wish us luck on making it all work!

[Anonymous]

There is only 2 of us but I make just under 36k. Here is our breakdown.

$920-rent (we live in a one bedroom. a two bedroom will cost 1050 in our apartment)
$1035 - preschool/child care for 1 (I could go cheaper here)
$300 - food
$100 - utilities
$ 98- car insurance and rental
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro

we have about 275 a month to spend on whatever comes up.

my childs dad pays his health insurance and I dont have any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We make approx $180K and take home $8600 a month - we have enough for our expenses but not much to save. Here's a breakdown.

$2260 - mortgage
$2260 - child care for 2
$1000 - student loans (should go down to $800 next month)
$1000 - food (with coupons)
$ 500 - utilities (power, gas, cable/internet, cell phones)
$ 185 - life insurances
$ 135 - car insurance (2 cars)
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro (driving to/from downtown from SS daily)
$ 300 - housekeeper (my primary splurge but the stress she relives is priceless and marriage counseling would cost more)
$ 300 - charity
$ 100 - gym
$ 50 - dr/prescriptions

So that leaves approx $500 for clothing, weekend activities, car repairs, vacation savings, shopping, etc.

I am NOT complaining. I actually think we have a great life and are very lucky to have the things we have, but money does go pretty quickly.

I know people who make it work on much lower salaries and I think its incredible.

So, all of the bolded things are splurges. While I understand that keeping Kosher is more expensive, entertaining more than once per month is not a necessity. It's a splurge. By my estimate, you could probably save $500-1000 more per month if you chose to. That you think those are necessities that are must haves to avoid saving anything for emergencies, life happens or college funds is a choice you make that many of us would not. You have the disposable income to spend how you want it, but you should not be counting yourself as struggling to get by on $180K. As you note, you are living pretty well.

The original PP said she was struggling to get by on $180K and essentially living paycheck to paycheck. That's just ridiculous.

Cable is also a splurge. If someone is really struggling, cell phones are a splurge and can be exchanged for something with smaller plans or a pay as you go plan. Another option (not sure if PP has a landline) is to drop the landline and just use cell phones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is only 2 of us but I make just under 36k. Here is our breakdown.

$920-rent (we live in a one bedroom. a two bedroom will cost 1050 in our apartment)
$1035 - preschool/child care for 1 (I could go cheaper here)
$300 - food
$100 - utilities
$ 98- car insurance and rental
$ 200 - gas/parking/metro

we have about 275 a month to spend on whatever comes up.

my childs dad pays his health insurance and I dont have any.

Sounds like you're doing a great job with what you have. Kudos to you!