Reply to I Live Comfortably on Less than $70K After-Tax in DC Area

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "I Live Comfortably on Less than $70K After-Tax in DC Area"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]After reading some of this hread, I've come to realize that OP is a younger women(but not too young either) who spends way too much money monthly and has mortgage for a townhome, in Fairfax?, right?, that is more than my two story single family mortgage in MoCo  in a good school district, because I had a huge down payment. Spends too much on nonsense and vacations, and must be the one of the last unmarried people in her social circle, hence resentful that her former friends with kids aren't having enough money to spend on frivolous vacations to keep her company and even if they have  they tell her they don't because they would rather not spend it going out with her. She is also not that bright either, first her vacation fund is $250 monthly, then she spends $1250 monthly on vacations also, then $600 monthly on vacation and other fun expenses. And with all that fun fund can't even fund her ski trip. Can't even keep her own story straight from one post to the other. I suppose she is what one OP wrote about, young people who just have to have that fancy expensive "knife set" because they saw in on Food network and buy anything shown on HGTV.[/quote]
I'm not so sure. Lots of assumptions in here. I think she's doing well, putting 20% of her salary toward retirement and building equity in a townhouse or condo. I know a lot of young people who save nothing for retirement, lease a new sports car every other year, spend every last dime on designer clothing and that fancy knife set, and whatnot. She actually seems fairly responsible.

She also didn't say she spends $1250 a month on vacations. I believe it was $250 a month, so $3,000. [/quote]

She wrote in her original post that her discretionary expenses are $1250. Later on she clarified that it is $600 per month for fun and vacation, another post said $250 per month saving for vacation. I am having a hard time taking her word for granted. While she might not be in heavy debt like so many other younger people and compared to many is doing well, I am having a hard time understanding why does a single person need $1250 per month for discretionary expenses. I don't even know what these discretionary expenses are, food, drinks, movies, going out?[/quote]
OP here. People are misconstruing what I originally wrote.

First, I've read everything from someone saying how sad it is that I spend only $250 a year (a year!) on vacations, and another person saying how ridiculous it is for me to spend $1250 a month (a month!) on vacations. [b]My original post was a monthly budget, so the $250 a month is $3,000 on vacations a year. (Some years it's only $2,000; it varies, of course.)
[/b]
Second, people are somehow interpreting my "discretionary expenses" of $1250 as what I spend on going out and entertainment. Not true. That amount includes the sub-categories of vacations, new clothes, charitable donations, gifts to friends, etc. (I consider "discretionary" the amount I could drop if I lost my job.) [b]The $600 I listed for going out/entertainment is contained within the $1250 overall discretionary.
[/b]
Third, what exactly is included in the $600 month that you say is so high? In there, I have daily work lunches - like the cheap buffets they have downtown - which adds up to about $50 a week, or $200 a month. [b]Subtract that, and I'm actually spending $400 - or 100 bucks a week - on fun stuff[/b]. Doesn't seem extravagant to me at all, especially considering I am saving $8400 a month toward retirement.

If all people were like me - spending a modest amount on "fun" stuff, paying a mortgage every month (never late once), not going into debt to buy stuff like many of my friends, and starting a retirement fund at the age of 22 (when I graduated from college), we would all be in better shape. (And whoever guessed upthread that I am the only single one of my group and resent my married friends for not going island-hopping with me, you are so wrong. About half my friends are single, half married.)[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics