Reply to Shocked: Our bare-bones monthly cost of living is 5K after taxes! What's yours?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We moved here a year ago from the Midwest, and we are shocked by how much everything costs here. Our lifestyle has definitely taken a downward turn, and DH got a big raise when we moved here! Our food expenses are more than 1K per month, probably closer to 1500 per month when you add in meals out. We are foodies, shop at farmers markets and whole foods, trader joe's, etc. Not gourmet food, but basic, wholesome, mostly organic, and it costs A LOT. Restaurants that are mostly organic are expensive.

We have no mortgage, which is the only way we can survive here. All our savings are in our house, which means we can't spend them, luckily.

But we live paycheck to paycheck, something we never did before. We have two school-aged children, and are extremely frugal (except for food!). But the COL here in the DC area is astronomical, even for the basics, like electricity, water, gas, not to mention gasoline, dry cleaning, plumbing, you name it. We used to save money every month, and now we barely manage to get by each month.

I'm thinking life in the cold, cold midwest wasn't so bad, after all.... It was certainly cheaper. [/quote]

There is no one who thinks good food is more important than I do (literally no one - ask anyone who knows me) - but spending $1500 on food and restaurants each month when you're living paycheck to paycheck is nuts.  [/quote]

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