Reply to 150k/yr is bad now

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]anything under 200k for family of  4 is lower middle class.  [/quote]

Poster from McLean or Potomac chiming in.

200k depends.  We are at just over 200k and we are fine.  That said we have a small house (by today’s standard) with an even smaller mortgage.  This helps a ton.  If we were in the market today, without equity, or family help, buying a home would be tough.

With our salary, we have our home, take one nice vacation per year, with other local trips too, have two newer cars, college savings and retirement that’s in decent shape- probably should have invested more earlier, but we made almost nothing in our 20s.  Lesson learned is that even if you make nothing, something invested into an IRA or 401k is better than nothing.

Long post, but to OP, 150k only feels paltry because of lifestyle creep.  We are guilty of it too.  Cable TV, four iPhones, couple trips overseas, Netflix, Spotify, iCloud…crap adds up.  At our salary, we realize we can’t have it all.  Where we cut/save is shopping at Aldi, going to thrift stores for clothes- daughter turned me onto this, and not eating out a lot.  Not eating out is the easiest to give up- it’s so expensive and usually not that great.[/quote]

Everyone who thinks 150-200k is “good” or “acceptable” either already bought a house a while ago or is single or DINK, or they don’t live anywhere near DC.

Do the math trying to buy a house NOW, buying a car NOW, having kids NOW. Add student loans, add having zero help from family, add needing a second car, etc. 150k/yr doesn’t get you jack sh*t.

I have a relative who owns a home in moco and only makes 60k and they can get by just fine, to them 150k is rich. OH… but let’s not leave out that they bought their house 25 years ago, no kids to support (or spouse), and they save nothing every month. [/quote]

150k is average household income around here. But what are you talking about? One person supporting a spouse and 2 kids? In that case, you can get by on 150 but you will definitely be making compromises. But if you are single, 150k is pretty damn good.

A couple of tips:
-Student loans are your fault, as you could have served in the military.
-You can buy a house further out, just like pretty much everyone else 
- Don't have kids NOW
-Drive a beater

It sounds like you are trying to compete against people who are making way more money than you, which is a losers game.

[/quote]

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