We live on $90k.

You are spoiled OP.

After I pay for everything, I have about $150 every 2 weeks. Any time I don't get a low balance threshold email is a good day.

That's amazing, OP, congratulations!!

Anonymous wrote:I had a 165K salary for two years and to be honest I was pulling money out of savings every month to survive. I felt like I was working for free as my savings would fall each month.

My break even is around 220K and I need 300K to enjoy life.

Which is fine if you actually earn 300K. If not, you need to live on what you earn

Most people live on half of that, OP.

We live on 100K, give or take, every year, for our family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teens.

Anonymous wrote:$6500 monthly take home
$2300 rent, phone, internet
$1000 medical insurance for 3 people
$800 food
$400 student loans
$700 car payment, insurance, gas
$1300 for all else
I spent only $500 in all else category in February. I need to lower food to $600 and the car will be paid off in 2025.

And when the car is paid off, keep saving the $300+/month car payment. That way, when the car is 10+ years old and you actually need a new one, you will be able to pay cash (between savings and selling the old car), so you won't need a car payment in the future.
Also, your insurance will drop with a 6-8+ yo car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After all bills are paid and 401k we’re left with 1k a month to play with and we have no debt.

People assume that overseas travel, designer products, upgraded car, HGTV decor etc are necessities. Live simply, within your means. If you can't buy something on cash, don't buy it.

This and most families of 4 (assume 2 parents and 2 kids) are not traveling overseas very often, not without making a concerted effort to save for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s pretty good, actually!
Living within your means is an excellent skill.

But pretty much treading water and not saving much.

You are saving for retirement and have $12K "extra" per year. I'd say that is good. If you want to save more, then you need to find something that is not "essential" to cut back on.

Anonymous wrote:This is a troll, guys.

I sure hope so. This whole thread is delusional.

This is a troll, guys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s pretty good, actually!
Living within your means is an excellent skill.

But pretty much treading water and not saving much.

But you said that you were maxing your 401 K

Anonymous wrote:No idea. Just booked a hotel rooms for spring break that are $13,000.

Sucker

After taxes that’s a take home of almost 10k per month. Someone show us your budget on this salary.

My salary is 130K and my semi-retired spouse together with pension brings another 40K, so about 170K. We don't have any debt, house is paid off. I maximize 401K and Roth each year. We spend about $5000 a year on travelling ( including 3 of us). I also invest about 1-2K in brokerage account. I would love to have more money to spend on restaurants, take outs, clothes, travel, massages- that would be lovely. So what I'm saying is that we can certainly survive and even save some money on our current income, but forget anything fancier in our lives.

You're spending too much if you can't live on that. Probably house and cars. We have lived on less than that before and been fine.