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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

[b]Congratulations, OP - I did the same a long time ago.[/b]
Now I live with DH and 2 kids in a tiny but cute little dollhouse that still cost a fortune because it's in one of the better school districts. We could afford it on our middle class salary because we had lived frugally like you and had economized and invested successfully in the stock market.

[b]Now we still live very frugally.[/b]

Our main expenses are the mortgage and food.
Our disposable income goes to extra-curricular activities for the kids and traveling to see our families overseas.

Keep saving, OP, and make what you can of your career, because kids are expensive.
[/quote]

The voice of experience.  It is quite doable![/quote]

I'm the PP who lived like you. When DH and I got married and had DC1, we earned 60K total gross income, and all our money went to daycare. One bedroom apartment, which we kept until DC2 was a year old.
Now our gross HHI is 120K, I stay home, and we max out retirement and college savings plus have a little left over for travel to Europe and Asia every few years. But daily, we live a frugal lifestyle which my friends cannot probably imagine. The trick is to never spend spontaneously. Everything is budgeted and planned for, and with that comes a sense of control and satisfaction. Instead of feeling submerged by expenses and jealous of what others earn, I feel empowered by the good financial choices we make and how most of our money is invested.

[/quote]

Whet do you live and where does DH work? And what happens if he is laid off?[/quote]

We live in Bethesda. DH was laid off during the recession, and thanks to our savings we kept going frugally until he found another job. [/quote]

So you are raising a family in a one bedroom apartment?  B/c on 120k buying even a two bedroom condo in Bethesda is hard unless you have family money. [/quote]

Um it is called saving for 10 plus years before buying.  If you live like the OP,you will amass a good amount of money by the time you're ready to buy.  [/quote]

Show me the math. Homes in Bethesda cost 800k minimum. Saving 1400/month for ten years will net you 200k. But guess what if that 800k appreciates at just 3%, it's cost is increasing at $2000/month, more than you are saving.

So with a lower middle income salary you can't save your way to the expensive and appreciating housing in this region. OP will end up either having an upper middle class income but live in run down housing like many of us or she will keep current job and commute forever. Or just not have kids and keep rockin the group home.

But the title of her post suggested she was surprised role complained about living on lower middle class incomes, but she never realized it's because of the constraints imposed on families. We have all lived like students and its fine for that phase of life. Though I bet her boyfriend lives alone b/c if both members of a couple life in group housing they never get to be alone and make Romantic dinners or the like. That would suck big esp after married. [/quote]

Your flaw is that over time she will be a able to save a lot more than 1400.  She is also maxing out retirement.  Her bf is saving as well.   They absolutely will have a good amount in savings over time.

[/quote]

I don't think she is maxing out the 401k. She is saving only around 15k a year and apparently putting it all in a low yeild savings account. Hardly the path to riches if kids come along.

Also OP should not feel that smug about student loan debt. Maybe she would be earning more now if she went to a better law school.[/quote]

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