Reply to Support a family of 4 on $55k/year

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not without some type of govt assistance - [b]reduced fee daycare[/b], food stamps, housing assistance, disability income,etc[/quote]

OP said a family of 4 with one breadwinner.  Hence, one spouse is staying home with the children and no need for daycare.

It's very tight, but doable.  With $55K, you are taking home about $3500/month net (I used the payroll calculator at [url]http://www.surepayroll.com/calculator/calc_paycheck_netpay.asp[/url], taking home $55K, 2 deductions for the children and monthly pay--it said $3484.79 for net pay).  I looked at apartments and you can rent 3 BR apartments for $2000-2200 in the Fairfax area.  That leaves $1300-1500 for everything else.  Utilities would probably be about $200-250 (including phone).  Several people on another thread said that they feed a family of 4 on about $600-800 per month.  That leaves about $300 per month for everything else.  If you are willing to have a 2-BR apartment, it's more like $1800-2000 and you end up with about $500 per month for everything else.

Yes, it's very tight, but doable.  
[/quote]

car?  insurance? life insurance? health insurance? dental work?  All has to come out of that $300 - $500.

Very tight ... unless you are paying less in rent (maybe by living with relatives).[/quote]

There are many people, yes, even suburbanites, who don't have a car.  They use public transportation and live within walking distance of a store.  And some people at the lower end of the salary range forgo health insurance.

Seeing as I know a handful of people who survive on $9-11/hr jobs and only make about $25K, I bet that a family of four can make it on $55K.  Not as comfortably off as many, but they can make ends meet.[/quote]

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