It's a matter of perspective. Our HHI is $150k. We do not own yet, because there were other things we wanted to spend our money on before we became homeowners. We "make ends meet" and then some. We don't have a lot, but we're so very grateful for what we have.

I DO understand that some people feel like they need more. More space, more cars, etc. This area breeds competition and I don't judge anyone for one second for getting caught up in it. But at some point we should all recognize that the key for being comfortable with what we have has to be a conscious decision. There will always be someone with more. You don't have to participate in the race.

Anonymous wrote:18:24 I'm tethered to unemployment I hate.

Are your children in private school?
Did you take a nice vacation last summer?
Do you own or lease two cars?
Do you use a cleaning service?

Thanks.

To answer:

No.
No.
No.
No.

Last year what little money we have that's not paying the debt went to a 20,000 IRS bill.

We do also support both DH's andd my parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am stunned by the number of posters who've come out of the woodwork to lament that they make $250,000 but are not rich. No one here said you were rich. But you are very comfortable. The bellyaching about not being more comfortable is just plain bizarre. Do you expect folks who make much less than you to empathize?

No but we don't except to hear you bitch about us. What is comfortable? I work 50-60 hours weeks, my wife works 40-50 hour weeks, and its not like we are RICH or comfortable we do what we need to make that amount of money and it doesnt buy you much in this area.

Words fail. Hug your family and please start feeling grateful for all that you have.

You are right, $250 is not rich in this area, but it beats the hell out of my current scenario. I've posted before and I'll do it again. Two educated parents (expensive grad degrees to boot) from educated families. We have three kids. Bought a house we could afford when we had a HHI of $160+. Two older cars (paid for), one week at the beach a year for our vacation, the occasional dinner out. No shopping as a recreation, just clothes and household items as we needed them. Had a bi-weekly cleaning person, a monthly lawn guy, piano lessons for the kids. Nothing extravagant, but all the normal trappings of a middle class life. Fast forward three years and DH is unemployed and I am working part time in retail. Savings gone. Poof. We currently bring in $1,600 per month. That's it. Our credit is shot, we are on food stamps, have no health insurance, and are desperately trying to keep our house. Is this our fault? Bad luck? We thought we were being prudent, thoughtful, and tried to make sound fiscal decisions. We have been knocked down to a level we couldn't fathom before.

Did I ever in a million years think this would be my life? NEVER. I would love for my DH or myself to be able to work a 50 hour work week again so that we could get back on our feet. We are the 99%. And for those of you who think you aren't - you could be. So you may not be able to buy as much as you would like with your current salary of $250 per year, but trust me, things are much much worse for many people.

The person with the multiple homes/mortgages and insists that in order to have a good home you must spend $750K is an idiot. I'm sorry.

You know how it was mentioned that those who can't make ends meet on ~200K+ are doing it wrong? That applies to this person. Big time.

Anonymous wrote:I am stunned by the number of posters who've come out of the woodwork to lament that they make $250,000 but are not rich. No one here said you were rich. But you are very comfortable. The bellyaching about not being more comfortable is just plain bizarre. Do you expect folks who make much less than you to empathize?

No but we don't except to hear you bitch about us. What is comfortable? I work 50-60 hours weeks, my wife works 40-50 hour weeks, and its not like we are RICH or comfortable we do what we need to make that amount of money and it doesnt buy you much in this area.

I am stunned by the number of posters who've come out of the woodwork to lament that they make $250,000 but are not rich. No one here said you were rich. But you are very comfortable. The bellyaching about not being more comfortable is just plain bizarre. Do you expect folks who make much less than you to empathize?

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the last two posters. If you are making 250 K and drowning in debt, you need to buck up and change your lifestyle completely and many people are very very slow to make those changes. Putting the kids in public school, moving to a lesser home, selling your car(s), no vacations, no outsourcing.....these things bite but the first three are the ones we all avoid. But sometimes they are the ones that need adjusting to get things back on track.
Still no comparison to someone living below the poverty line. NONE. I had a family member who was estranged from us for a long while and then when they finally reached out they were below the poverty line. It effected every aspect of who they are - we almost didnt recognize them emotionally or physically. It was very sad and suddenly all of our complaining at a family dinner the week prior about the economy sucking and us not being able to do certain things was pretty embarrassing to say the least. People really need to put things in perspective.

Who says these people are living in poverty? (And I do know the difference as I came from a lower middle class home in the midwest that did not have a lot of money . . . it was stressful.) All some posters are saying is that they are not rich. But you seem hell bent on demonizing people.

I make close to what you're claiming is rich. I have a mortgage and one car payment. No other debt. Child to be in public school for kindergarten. Our house is relatively modest compared to the huge homes in this area. And, after everything, yes there is some left over. But I cannot go out and spend whatever I want on whatever I feel like. I have to budget. I have to consider costs. "Rich" people do not have to do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stfu live within your means people, you probably all bought houses before 2005 , for others that dont haves fake equity down payments 250k a year ain't shit considering a decent house is 750k

There are plenty of decent houses below 750K. In fact, there are plenty of decent houses below 500K or even 300K or less.

And I don't know why someone would buy a house and incur another mortgage that they can't afford if they hadn't sold their first house yet. Downsizing and renting are not dirty words.

Because you are supposed to trade up your house every 5 years. A decent house is a house in a good area like bethesda or mclean, 2800sqrft and less than 10 years old. I don't get what the problem is, this is the norm every where else in america. Actually houses are much bigger elsewhere.

I really hope that your post was meant to be sarcastic. In case it wasn't, there are so many things wrong with it that I don't even know where you start...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If someone can't make ends meet on 200K+ (or close to that) - they're doing something wrong.

I agree, but it is a common refrain in this forum.

No, the common refrain is that $250K is not "rich" in this area. We are very comfortable but it is not as if we have loads of disposable income, fancy cars, yachts, etc. If one of us had a catastrophic illness or lost a job, we would have a hard time.

We are def not poor. But we are not rich. That is what you hear on here. And whether you like it or not, it's the truth.

Anyone who has the "problems" that come with owning two homes at one time, and has a $250K income has no idea what it means to live on $11K. Totally different worlds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stfu live within your means people, you probably all bought houses before 2005 , for others that dont haves fake equity down payments 250k a year ain't shit considering a decent house is 750k

There are plenty of decent houses below 750K. In fact, there are plenty of decent houses below 500K or even 300K or less.

And I don't know why someone would buy a house and incur another mortgage that they can't afford if they hadn't sold their first house yet. Downsizing and renting are not dirty words.

EXACTLY. A decent house is 750k? Since when? People are too spoiled about where they want to live. And they make risky purchases and then want to call themselves poor. Why not downsize, go down to one car, and yes consider public school - and who said to do it just for a year? It is crazy to think that people cant be happy in a smaller home with a used car and kids in a good public school - at the very least they wouldnt be swimming in debt, right? And that seems to be the complaint. Some people just arent willing to take their lumps. And sorry but they truly dont know what poor is. There should be a wake up people kind of reality show on this. Or maybe there already is? It would be very informative on the difference between living in poverty and living beyond your means.

You know why? I live in America I am not in a 3rd world country. If I wanted to live in a tiny hut, with a moped and like some poor ass fool I would move to 3rd world asia or just go on welfare and stop working.

Let me guess you lived with in your means and magically got a bunch of equity from your prior to 2005 home purchase. BE honest what is your mortgage, income, value of your house and downpayment.

Here is mine salary of 240k a year, bought 1br 1974 condo in 2005 a condo for 270k that i can't sell and rent at a loss, bought a 1500sqrft 1959 signle family house in 2007 for 560k, and its probably worth 500k. Granted I purchased in Tyson's Falls Church so I am not too bad but people like me got SCREWED. Basically all the money and appreciation older buyers experienced was due to first time home buyers bascially giving you our money. The day I can unload my condo and house I will be buying something for about 750k maybe more but right now I am stuck. So you can spare me the lecture and yes I am doing fine but the biggest issue is the cost of housing for young families in this area makes people who are 250K bleed out all their money. The whole save and scrimp bull shit usually comes from people that already made their equity by buying before 2005. Do you honestly believe that between 2000 and 2005 that the DOUBLING actually 2.5x of your home value was because you scrimped and saved? Thats bull shit and everyone knows it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stfu live within your means people, you probably all bought houses before 2005 , for others that dont haves fake equity down payments 250k a year ain't shit considering a decent house is 750k

There are plenty of decent houses below 750K. In fact, there are plenty of decent houses below 500K or even 300K or less.

And I don't know why someone would buy a house and incur another mortgage that they can't afford if they hadn't sold their first house yet. Downsizing and renting are not dirty words.

Because you are supposed to trade up your house every 5 years. A decent house is a house in a good area like bethesda or mclean, 2800sqrft and less than 10 years old. I don't get what the problem is, this is the norm every where else in america. Actually houses are much bigger elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stfu live within your means people, you probably all bought houses before 2005 , for others that dont haves fake equity down payments 250k a year ain't shit considering a decent house is 750k

There are plenty of decent houses below 750K. In fact, there are plenty of decent houses below 500K or even 300K or less.

And I don't know why someone would buy a house and incur another mortgage that they can't afford if they hadn't sold their first house yet. Downsizing and renting are not dirty words.

EXACTLY. A decent house is 750k? Since when? People are too spoiled about where they want to live. And they make risky purchases and then want to call themselves poor. Why not downsize, go down to one car, and yes consider public school - and who said to do it just for a year? It is crazy to think that people cant be happy in a smaller home with a used car and kids in a good public school - at the very least they wouldnt be swimming in debt, right? And that seems to be the complaint. Some people just arent willing to take their lumps. And sorry but they truly dont know what poor is. There should be a wake up people kind of reality show on this. Or maybe there already is? It would be very informative on the difference between living in poverty and living beyond your means.

Anonymous wrote:Stfu live within your means people, you probably all bought houses before 2005 , for others that dont haves fake equity down payments 250k a year ain't shit considering a decent house is 750k

There are plenty of decent houses below 750K. In fact, there are plenty of decent houses below 500K or even 300K or less.

And I don't know why someone would buy a house and incur another mortgage that they can't afford if they hadn't sold their first house yet. Downsizing and renting are not dirty words.

This person makes $250 (so about $125 after taxes) and unexpectedly incurred $100K in debt and you want it to disappear through a year of "living frugally." that doesn't seem possible if she wants to maintain her job and live somewhere safe. I totally agree that some people live crazy lifestyles on $250K that they can't afford and then cry poor but the PP doesn't seem like one of those people.