Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:37     Subject: If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
You are not upper middle class. Be real. I spend very little most months but this month a lot as I splurged on something that was a few thousand. But our income is 1/3 yours.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:35     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was just interested in what someone else did with their $500k if they didn't spend more than $150k a year on themselves.


They 1) pay far more % in tax than you 2) save aggressively for retirement 3) save for college.


I guess they do spend about $100k more in taxes. We both save for college although my savings only covers in state. While you think you are so smart for thinking that someone saving $4000 per year by not doing sports or scouts, or math tutoring or vacations or whatever per kid somehow would be so much better off saving a grand total of about $75k over the course of a child's 20 year upbringing, the reality is that we just think you get paid too much for your "job" but this is the capitalistic society we live in so we accept living at the median income which is higher than other countries. The electrician in my home is doing as much as you are likely in this world. The average expenditure per person in DC is $80k and 50% of people in the US have debt and I have no debt so I'm not going to lose sleep over $4000 per year I could maybe not spend on my kids if they just stayed home and played video games every day. Didn't even include gas before or show how a lot of the cost is over the summer when there is no school. Anyway, the average family in the US spends $80k with a average income of $70k, and the average person in the DC area spends $80k with an average income of $52k, so it's very likely that most people in order to raise their children in this area are going to be spending $100k a year for a family of four. Could they save $10k more per year? Sure, but really the middle class and lower class people in this world also get the right to enjoy their lives without pinching every penny and clipping every coupon and just think you get paid more than you should as a human and not a superhero.


Nothing in that whole lengthy screed justifies living so much above your means. I have to assume you plan to inherit your retirement fund. Otherwise I think any sane person would find living hand to mouth like this very stressful.


I don't live above my means. I don't SAVE. People that make the median income don't have ways to save. It's that simple. Costs are associated with what people can pay which is always the max. and you all are the ones that are always driving up costs. The US is in debt. I'm not. If you make over the median income, great for you that you can save, but don't expect us at and below it to be able to have savings funds.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:33     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was just interested in what someone else did with their $500k if they didn't spend more than $150k a year on themselves.


They 1) pay far more % in tax than you 2) save aggressively for retirement 3) save for college.


I guess they do spend about $100k more in taxes. We both save for college although my savings only covers in state. While you think you are so smart for thinking that someone saving $4000 per year by not doing sports or scouts, or math tutoring or vacations or whatever per kid somehow would be so much better off saving a grand total of about $75k over the course of a child's 20 year upbringing, the reality is that we just think you get paid too much for your "job" but this is the capitalistic society we live in so we accept living at the median income which is higher than other countries. The electrician in my home is doing as much as you are likely in this world. The average expenditure per person in DC is $80k and 50% of people in the US have debt and I have no debt so I'm not going to lose sleep over $4000 per year I could maybe not spend on my kids if they just stayed home and played video games every day. Didn't even include gas before or show how a lot of the cost is over the summer when there is no school. Anyway, the average family in the US spends $80k with a average income of $70k, and the average person in the DC area spends $80k with an average income of $52k, so it's very likely that most people in order to raise their children in this area are going to be spending $100k a year for a family of four. Could they save $10k more per year? Sure, but really the middle class and lower class people in this world also get the right to enjoy their lives without pinching every penny and clipping every coupon and just think you get paid more than you should as a human and not a superhero.


Nothing in that whole lengthy screed justifies living so much above your means. I have to assume you plan to inherit your retirement fund. Otherwise I think any sane person would find living hand to mouth like this very stressful.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:27     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
this has been interesting to see.

Appears that most spend between 12-17k/mo regardless if they make 300k or 600k.

Seems to answer the questions -- 12k/mo in the DC area can give you a pretty good life -- let's assume that is $250k HHI which allows for $12k net to spend. Anything over a HHI of $250 - 300k is gravy (savings/education) for most people.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:26     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was just interested in what someone else did with their $500k if they didn't spend more than $150k a year on themselves.


They 1) pay far more % in tax than you 2) save aggressively for retirement 3) save for college.


I guess they do spend about $100k more in taxes. We both save for college although my savings only covers in state. While you think you are so smart for thinking that someone saving $4000 per year by not doing sports or scouts, or math tutoring or vacations or whatever per kid somehow would be so much better off saving a grand total of about $75k over the course of a child's 20 year upbringing, the reality is that we just think you get paid too much for your "job" but this is the capitalistic society we live in so we accept living at the median income which is higher than other countries. The electrician in my home is doing as much as you are likely in this world. The average expenditure per person in DC is $80k and 50% of people in the US have debt and I have no debt so I'm not going to lose sleep over $4000 per year I could maybe not spend on my kids if they just stayed home and played video games every day. Didn't even include gas before or show how a lot of the cost is over the summer when there is no school. Anyway, the average family in the US spends $80k with a average income of $70k, and the average person in the DC area spends $80k with an average income of $52k, so it's very likely that most people in order to raise their children in this area are going to be spending $100k a year for a family of four. Could they save $10k more per year? Sure, but really the middle class and lower class people in this world also get the right to enjoy their lives without pinching every penny and clipping every coupon and just think you get paid more than you should as a human and not a superhero.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:22     Subject: If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
$350-$400k (bonus dependent) - $12k/month. 4 people.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 13:19     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was just interested in what someone else did with their $500k if they didn't spend more than $150k a year on themselves.


They 1) pay far more % in tax than you 2) save aggressively for retirement 3) save for college.


This exactly.

We are in our 40s, and our HHI is around $550K. We don't budget, but this thread got me to sit down and do the math. Last year, we paid around $140K in taxes. We spent a little over $15K/month, including mortgage ($3K/month, bought a modest house >10 years ago), travel (spent $30K last year, primarily on one big trip), classes/camps for the kids ($16K/year), food, entertainment, utilities, charity, etc. We don't have car payments, significant medical expenses or child care expenses. We paid off my student loans, so our only debt is our mortgage (rate is around 2.25% after refinancing a few years ago). It looks like we put $200K+ toward 529s, retirement and after-tax savings last year.

We're not fancy people (2 non-luxury cars, no high-end designer duds). We have tried to be intentional about keeping lifestyle creep to a manageable level and banking our increase in HHI over the years. We spend on kids' activities, travel (although this is very recent, as our HHI has grown), and takeout (we're busy, and I'm not a great planner). We are primarily saving for retirement, college and other expenses down the road.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:37     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
HHI $280K

Mortgage: $4000
Private school tuition/summer camp in summer months: $3900
Travel (when budgeted across every month): $1200
All other monthly expenses go on credit card: $5000

Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:33     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Your class has nothing to do with how much you spend per month. People really have a difficult time with this concept.


It definitely does, it just doesn’t dictate whether you spend within your means.


No, it doesn’t, and many people claiming to be UMC on this thread are anything but.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:32     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
$280k HHI DINKs
$4k mortgage
$450 utilities and subscriptions
$450 groceries
$300 pet expenses
$300 cleaning service
~$1k everything else (restaurants, clothing, Amazon, etc.)

So $6500 total. But that doesn't include travel, home projects/maintenance, and medical and car expenses. We budget for those things annually, which adds another about $25k+.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:27     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
HHI 575k

Mortgage $5750
Daycare $2,500
No car payments
life, auto, umbrella Insurance (if monthly) $250
Utilities $350
Country Club $600
Roughly $5k on credit card which is every discretionary expense

All in about 15k
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:17     Subject: If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
$300K HHI

$4,000 - typical monthy credit card bill (includes utilities)
$3,900 - mortgage
$2,200 - nanny share
$3,500 - savings (401K and other)
$500 - 529
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:09     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Our HHI is around $600K

We spend around $14,000-$15,000 per month and that includes:

Mortgage: $3000
Daycare: $1400
Student Loans: $2600
Car payments: $1500
Utilities: $300
Credit card payment (food, travel, eating out, etc): $5500

This does not include our retirement or college savings for kids. Take home per month is around $30,000
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:06     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I was just interested in what someone else did with their $500k if they didn't spend more than $150k a year on themselves.


They 1) pay far more % in tax than you 2) save aggressively for retirement 3) save for college.
Anonymous
Post 04/18/2023 12:06     Subject: Re:If you classify yourself as UMC, how much do you spend in total each month?
Our HHI is $200k. Our burn rate is about $10k a month.

I do not consider $500-600k a year to UMC. It is lower rich.