Scraping by on $500k

[Anonymous]

I make $5,000,000 a year, but I find that by the time I pay my butler's salary and feed my pet tigers (gotta have two, with just one they get lonely), I barely have anything left over. I don't know how I'll survive. May have to sell one of the Bentleys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make $5,000,000 a year, but I find that by the time I pay my butler's salary and feed my pet tigers (gotta have two, with just one they get lonely), I barely have anything left over. I don't know how I'll survive. May have to sell one of the Bentleys.

LOL, good luck! Bentleys aren't nearly as expensive as people think, except for the very recent ones. We gave our 16 year old our old Arnage because I don't care if he dings it up trying to park at Tysons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18K for three vacations a year? Cry me a river.
No one is "scraping by" with that budget.

That is fairly modest with 500 K HHI, most people in that range who I know spend more (we spend more with ~300 K HHI).
Their problem is not vacation - they reportedly spend same on charity (hard to believe, for lawyers especially).
Their main problem is a 1.5 M house with corresponding mortgage and prop. taxes, apparently bought with little down.

We grossed $532,000 in 2016. We spent $5,000 on vacations. And we have no mortgage.

Then you are not very smart. I wouldn't want a sad life like that.
I LOVE vacations.
$5000 won't even cover one nice vacation, well barely.

I'm not very smart because I don't force my family to travel? I spend my time hosting friends, volunteering and attending my kids' sports events. Feel free to call me dumb over personal preferences.

[Anonymous]

others have pointed this out, but how does the fact that someone doesn't care much about taking expensive vacations reflect on their intelligence or whether they have a fulfilling (as opposed to "sad") life?

it appears that the PP is the one who is "not very smart."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We feel stretched on 750k. Three kids in daycare, two SUVs, a couple vacations a year, housecleaner, $8k mortgage, home maintenance and landscaping, and a modest vacation home...it adds up a lot faster than it seems.

Lol,

[Anonymous]

$500k and feeling v. comfortable.
4 kids in private, 529s fully funded.
No nanny, no lawn service, no house cleaner.
No vacation home. Nice vacations, usually domestic.
House bought for $1.2 15 years ago. Could pay off but prefer not to.
2 suvs '09,'11
Retirement pretty much set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$500k and feeling v. comfortable.
4 kids in private, 529s fully funded.
No nanny, no lawn service, no house cleaner.
No vacation home. Nice vacations, usually domestic.
House bought for $1.2 15 years ago. Could pay off but prefer not to.
2 suvs '09,'11
Retirement pretty much set.

Curious, how much does it cost per year to have 4 kids in private? 120k?

[Anonymous]

I used to love travel but in recent years we've put a lot of money into our house.

We have a really expensive cappucino maker (like at a coffee house), we have our own pool, we have really nice furniture, really good mattresses on our beds, we have really nice landscaping in our backyard and great screen porches to eat on and hang out in. We have nice big TV's.

I've noticed that lately whenever I go anywhere else I feel like we're camping out. I'm in my early 50's and I feel like a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but honestly why would I pay money to go and stay at someplace that isn't as nice as my own home?

My husband is starting to talk about how maybe we should buy a beach house -- and I think it's because he feels the same way. We could buy someplace nice and fix it up exactly like we like it -- or we could go somewhere else and not be sure what we're going to get and have to deal with neighbors and waiting for service at restaurants, etc.

Also, my husband is an awesome cook and he cooks all the time. THe food and the surroundings are better at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$500k and feeling v. comfortable.
4 kids in private, 529s fully funded.
No nanny, no lawn service, no house cleaner.
No vacation home. Nice vacations, usually domestic.
House bought for $1.2 15 years ago. Could pay off but prefer not to.
2 suvs '09,'11
Retirement pretty much set.

Curious, how much does it cost per year to have 4 kids in private? 120k?

We did Catholic all the way. K-8 less that $10k/yr. High school $20-30k/yr. Obviously it varies by year depending on ages.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

2 kids in daycare would be rough. I am the poster above on $275k who feels like he has plenty, but as I noted we only have 1 in daycare (the other is in free public preK). That said, I know we could absorb another $20k in daycare costs and still be ok (we could just cut it out of our savings and still max out 401k accounts). Not sure where else your money is going -- although the $300k student loans is a likely candidate. Why are the payments going up every year? Have you chipped away at the balance at all? I graduated in 09 with $175k in student loans so I do understand that it can be an enormous burden. Feel free to post your budget if you want feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

This sounds horrible. Sorry pp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $300K and we are stretched to the max.

Old sedans, one paid off.
2 kids in daycare
Small house with mortgage that is as low as possible while getting down to an hour commute, still outside beltway (did over 2 years with a 2 hr commute that wasn't sustainable with our jobs)
No vacations in 5 years
$300K in student loans with monthly payments that increase every year
Not maxing out retirement
Insufficient contributions to 529
Cut lawn service
Practically no savings

No fancy cars, house, private school, or nannies (unlike my colleagues). It is really, really stressful in this area.

Dear God. Why on earth did you do that?

Law school for both of us. I had a full ride for undergrad, his parents paid his undergrad. My parents paid for law school, his did not. Everyone we knew who didn't live at home (we couldn't, no family in the area) took out $200K, as did DH. Came out during the recession so no jobs and also had to take self-funded bar study loans. Lived with his parents for a stretch while doing temp work to avoid taking more loans. But, I went for a LL.M. to be more marketable ($100K for me). So, now we make a good amount but pay $3500/month in student loans.

They go up each year because we are on IBR.

The mistake here was buying a home and having 2 kids before paying down loans. If you want to get ahead you have to live in a crappy rental and spend 2-4 years paying down the loans and saving for a downpayment.