Reply to relocating to DC - budget for family of 4

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Currently living abroad and interviewing for a position in DC. Never lived there and have no family ties. About to discuss salary. I would be most interested in feedback as to what is a reasonable budget for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 young kids) in DC metro area. Assume reasonably good sized home (2000-3000 sqf) in a nice area west of Rock Creek Park. [b]Would prefer not to have a car if thats possible/realistic. [/b]Understand from other posts on this forum we should be expect to fork out about 60k in rent (possibly more?) but struggle to put a figure on childcare/afterschool, utilities and food and understand some expenses have been going up sharply so figures dated 2/3 years ago may no longer be accurate. Thanks in advance to all who will contribute.[/quote]

That is not realistic in the US generally.  If you want your kids to have activities, you are going to need a car.  The US is not like other parts of the world where you can get by without a car.

My DH's cousin recently did a post-doc year in the US, after growing up in a European country.  The cousin was sure he'd be fine without a car, but he ended up borrowing one of our cars frequently because it was so limiting to be in the US (and in the DC area) without a car.  He was able to enjoy his US experience much more, once he had a car.

And ideally, buy a car that's large enough to do a carpool (if your kids want to do activities).  If you get a small car (where no friends will fit), that will be a limitation.[/quote]

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