HAHAHAHAHAHA.....

I am laughing (out loud) at the keeping up with the Joneses that buy into this sh*t. If you are good with money, then you are good with money. If not, then the joke is on you, my friend.

Although there are exceptions, most who are amazed that folks find it frustrating to not be living more comfortably on roughly $200K seem to have bought pre-run up in prices (so have a house in a good school district even if they dont have an astronomical mortgage) or else have a SAHP so the 2nd salary isn't taxed at such a high level and they don't have the child care expenses. If 1 person can earn X it goes much further than 2 people earning that amount or even a little more.

I imagine people "get by" by doing a variety of things such as

--Don't save or don't save as much for retirement
--Rely on family for babysitting if both parents work
--Don't save or don't save as much for college
--Buy really old cars, like cars from the mid 2000s or earlier
--Have one car, instead of two
--Don't buy organic fruits and vegetables, or buy more frozen vegetables than fresh
--Rent rather than buy, and live in spaces smaller than 2000 square feet, like 2 BR condos and other arrangements that people on this board find not "family friendly" with their kids sharing rooms
--Don't go on vacations except maybe to visit family
--Don't live in the most desirable school zone
--Shop at thrift stores
--Possibly don't have health insurance if not provided by their job
--Constantly have a credit card balance
--Don't go out to eat
--Take advantage of sales for groceries and coupon

Op, we are a $260k hhi family with a nanny and a daycare. The nanny is 1800/month and daycare is $1300. Our mortgage is $2700 and student loans are around $1500. Utilities, car payment, food is another 2k. Basically there is nothing left at the end of the month. Looking forward to 2023 when student loans will be payed off and child care expenses will be done!

OP, i feel ya. We make a combined $185k and barely make ends meet. We are both 42 have only $8k in savings (besides 401ks, which we don't max out because we cannot afford to). 2 kids in public school. Once a year vacation at a family beach house for which we pay $2k, and can't even do our share this year. We drive 2 old cars, and have a $450k mortgage on an 1800 sq ft home and some student loans. Each kid has a whopping $1500 in their college fund. We rarely eat out, havent hired a babysitter for about a year. i never buy anything that is not on sale, etc. Something's gotta give, just not sure what it will be.

We make less than $150k. I work PT but we pay for a nanny 3 days a week and our childcare costs almost as much as our mortgage. We both have some student loan debt but not much.

We take modest vacations, we share a car, and we have no debt aside from mortgage and student loans. I feel like we live very comfortably, by my standards. It's hard to answer your question without knowing your specifics, OP. There are areas where we scrimp, and areas where we splurge (ie child care) but on the whole I feel like we have it really good.

OP - i honestly have no idea. Same situation. Childcare costs are ridiculous.

I worked from home and didn't use daycare. I lived in a studio and paid under $1000 in rent per month. I don't have a car. THAT is how I survived being a single parent. Now that DD is in elementary school I earn a lot more than before, but still under six figures.

OP, with a household income of $200,000, you are rich. Yes, you are. What's more, you are rich even though there are people who have more money than you do. You are rich even though the cost of living in DC is high. You are rich even though you spend almost everything you earn. You are rich even though you live in a medium-sized house and drive used cars and only take two vacations a year.

You want to know how people survive making under $200,000 household income? Start reading here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/nyregion/older-workers-are-increasingly-entering-fast-food-industry.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/among-american-workers-poll-finds-unprecedented-anxiety-about-jobs-economy/2013/11/25/fb6a5ac8-5145-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/19/how-she-lives-on-minimum-wage-one-mcdonalds-workers-budget/

Spend a little money on a fee for service financial planner

I find these posts so hilarious. We are a family of four "surviving" in DC quite happily on less than $100,000. I should point out that I stay home so we don't pay for daycare, which I know is very expensive.

We don't eat out hardly ever, and our vacations are usually to visit grandparents. That said, we don't make a lot less, tho under 200.

What's your mortgage/other debt?

We are at 125k, SAHM, 2.1k mortgage, no car payments, no student loans etc...

Here we go again...

I've been tracking our household expenses for a few months and just dont kniw how other families with 2 dc in daycare survive making under 200k. I don't feel we spend extravagantly at all. We have two used toyotas the newest is 4 years old. We have a modest 2000sqft house, still furnishing the house slowly, go on 2 vacations a year somewhere on the east coast, eat out maybe 1-2x a week, buy whats necessary for clothing... I do try to buy a lot of organic foods to cook. For the year, we easily spend 130k, which is 200k+ a year gross. How do families in this area survive on less?