Reply to We make $260k combined….why do I feel like we have no money?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As someone with a very similar household income, but with two kids who have aged out of childcare, my advice is to just hold on tight! Your expenses, even your mortgage, look reasonable to me. But childcare is a killer. You say you have no savings, but you are contributing a decent amount to your retirement savings. That’s all we did when we were in your stage of life. I know it feels tight, but your income is good. Things will be so much easier once your kids are in school. [/quote]

This. All your numbers are VERY close to mine -- 250k HHI, out PITI is 3700, our childcare is 3500 (three kids) -- Once we had the third we cut back our 401k to just enough to match and stopped putting away in 529s .... we are in pure survival mode. We have 1.5 years left till we are only paying aftercare and then we will reroute the funds back to retirement and 529s. I also keep an eye on real estate -- if a unicorn of a house popped up that could keep our same quality of life but reduce our mortgage --- we will be moving. [/quote]

This is insane. You bought way too much house. [/quote]

Really? That’s well below what all the mortgage/HHI calculators say you can afford (e.g., 28% of gross income rule)[/quote]

With 3 kids? Pp (and op, in a similar situation) aren't saving for college and are barely saving for retirement. Because they overspent on their houses.[/quote]

With rising interest rates and home prices, a lot of people are spending a greater percentage of their income on housing.  And it's not like rents have gone down either.

We bought 9 years ago and have a very comfortable PITI of around $2k per month.  A younger couple just bought the house next door to us- it's essentially the exact same house- but the sale price was 30% more than ours and with higher interest, their mortgage is $1k more!   And this isn't Bethesda or anything like that.  I feel for families trying to buy a house these days.[/quote]

Life is about choices.  Either they could afford it and made the choice or they would have picked a cheaper house.  Its time to live within your means and plan for things like inflation or unexpected expenses.[/quote]

+1.  And look, I get it.  We've had tons of friends who made the choice to leave the DMV altogether the last couple years because the "cheaper" houses they could afford come with soul-sucking commutes or low-performing schools (and if you had a remote job, WTF would you live somewhere like Montgomery Village? you wouldn't).  Times have changed and you need more money to make it here.  [/quote]

Do you mean in a neighborhood like we picked because it was affordable to us... right.  I do live somewhere like you are describing.  We have a very small 1000 square foot house and make it work just fine.   Who do you think lives in these places?  You think some of us don't?  I don't worry about test scores or parental income as I'm not a snob about it.  We supplement outside of school like good parents do and our kids do well academically.  And, we aren't stress over money because we didn't overspend on housing and other things.[/quote]

Sorry if you misunderstood- the friends I was referencing could afford very little in this area and it made no sense to stay.  Remote or easily transportable jobs like teachers/nurses.  It sound like you could afford to buy in this area, so you made a different choice!  Life is all about choices!

(FWIW, our house is smaller than yours and ES has a Great Schools rating of a 5, I'm not sure why you're offended by my post?)

Anyway this is totally off track to the thread so signing off.  Best of luck OP.[/quote]

There are still close in houses that are under $500K but people want to pretend their schools are so much better.  OP has a spending issue and not willing to reduce their expenses.  They made a very bad house choice for starters and their other bills are high too.  That is the point of this thread.  OP isn't willing to make any changes so they are broke. [/quote]

OP made a very bad house choice? Are you nuts? OP made the best financial move of her life with that house. We all wish we could time it as perfectly as OP and create 400k in equity with a zero down payment in just 3 years. She can sell and go back to renting if she wants with 400k in her pocket. She can also enjoy it. She obviously can afford it.  She just can’t afford a dog or a second car or a vacation in addition[/quote]

yes, OP timed it perfectly with that house.  I timed a house almost perfectly a decade ago and it is worth 2.5x now.  One of the best and luckiest financial events for me.  Life changingin terms of retirement potential.  Free money.  OP should be grateful about the house gains and chill.  Sorry, no new luxury cars or big vacations for the next 5 years.[/quote]

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