I know, we live pretty near there... a lot of my friends are anti-Walmart but I'm sort of excited about some decent shopping nearby. Not to derail into a Walmart pro/con thread, but it will be very convenient.

Anonymous wrote:OP, in NE there are a lot of undiscovered neighborhoods with smaller homes. If you end up at Shining Stars or MMB, one of those little brick homes (Avondale, Woodridge, Chillum, Lasalle-riggs neighborhoods, etc.) would be close to $200,000. THey don't have the amenities and you would be on a bus line, but not that far from Brookland or Fort Totten. Those are areas that are still affordable. If you go to one of the less popular charters like you have the option for, and one of the less popular neighborhoods, you will be "buying low" and that will allow you to generate wealth over time. You could go to the charter this fall, save money to pay off debt and see how the charter goes, and then if it looks like it's working out, buy one of the little houses in NE. We did something like this 15 years ago and our house is now in a highly desirable neighborhood and our little start-up charter is all the rage. We can afford private school if need be and are saving for college for DC. Just another way to think about it.

OP here: thanks so much for the advice. I know that there is a Walmart coming to Fort Totten so I think that will be great in terms of being closer to a grocery store.

OP, in NE there are a lot of undiscovered neighborhoods with smaller homes. If you end up at Shining Stars or MMB, one of those little brick homes (Avondale, Woodridge, Chillum, Lasalle-riggs neighborhoods, etc.) would be close to $200,000. THey don't have the amenities and you would be on a bus line, but not that far from Brookland or Fort Totten. Those are areas that are still affordable. If you go to one of the less popular charters like you have the option for, and one of the less popular neighborhoods, you will be "buying low" and that will allow you to generate wealth over time. You could go to the charter this fall, save money to pay off debt and see how the charter goes, and then if it looks like it's working out, buy one of the little houses in NE. We did something like this 15 years ago and our house is now in a highly desirable neighborhood and our little start-up charter is all the rage. We can afford private school if need be and are saving for college for DC. Just another way to think about it.

Anonymous wrote:Portable lunches that cannot be refigerated:

It's not a complete meal, but I keep almonds in my bag. Mix with other nuts and dried fruit as you wish. Trader Joes, Costco have have the best deals. I then supplement with someething else later (yogurt or a meal, whatever). I am a snacker and pregnant so eating smaller meals frequently works for me.

If you have time to eat something more, get a Built lunch bag on Amazon, keep an ice pack, and pack a grain salad like tabouleh, quinoa with veggies, etc--anything that can be eaten without re-heating. My built bag comes with a strap so I can carry it like a purse and it doesn't scream square lunch box

Great tips- thanks so much! I've tried hummus sandwiches a couple of times, but they haven't held up so well. Will definitely remember the ice pack next time.

"To the person who says not to buy in DC because of schools - we've owned three times in DC and made a nice return on each investment. Why NOT invest if you can? Also renting a house in DC is not that hard, unlike in markets like, say, Phoenix or Atlanta. I don't see it as sound financial advice to recommend families RENT indefinitely."

PP you're replying to here--if the OP is ok with renting out a house if they buy and don't like the school situation once their kid(s) are older, that could make sense. It might be hard to cover the mortgage and expenses with rental income unless they had a decent downpayment and/or time for rents to increase. If they don't like the schools in DC in a couple years, it will be easier for them to buy elsewhere if they save instead of sinking money into a house in DC now. We bought in DC ETOP a while ago when we weren't sure if we were going to have kids, and wouldn't be able to sell it for enough to cover closing costs and a downpayment on a new place. And it seems like it would be harder to qualify for a new mortgage on a new house while maintaining our current house as a rental property.

That said, if a family gets into a school that they love and will be happy with through the end of elementary, it would probably make sense to buy in DC.

Portable lunches that cannot be refigerated:

It's not a complete meal, but I keep almonds in my bag. Mix with other nuts and dried fruit as you wish. Trader Joes, Costco have have the best deals. I then supplement with someething else later (yogurt or a meal, whatever). I am a snacker and pregnant so eating smaller meals frequently works for me.

If you have time to eat something more, get a Built lunch bag on Amazon, keep an ice pack, and pack a grain salad like tabouleh, quinoa with veggies, etc--anything that can be eaten without re-heating. My built bag comes with a strap so I can carry it like a purse and it doesn't scream square lunch box

OP here: I really appreciate that everyone is sharing their experiences. It can be so stressful sometimes to be so in debt.

So, we just got offered a space at Shining Stars Montessori Charter which would be closer our current neighborhood. My only worry is that they are adding 50 new kids this year and then moving facilities next year. It feels like a lot of change and upheaval in a short time.

Buying: NACA will check out. I know we need to not have any consumer debt before we try to buy anything. School loans will be around awhile though.

Eating out: I work late a lot so default to grabbing meals on the run unfortunately. What strategies do people use in that situation? I often can't bring lunch either because I will have to go from a morning meeting in DC to a 1 pm meeting in Bethesda. Besides PBJs, what other lunches would hold up in a purse and not have to be refrigerated?

Thanks again.

OP, are you on any other charter waitlists? The waitlists move a lot in the summer and so you may get into another charter that is closer to your current home, or in a nicer area/closer to Metro so that you wouldn't need another car. My child went to PS3 at a charter (in fact, he's still at the school) and it was a great free education. Much better than the fancy $2k a month part-time preschool he went to when he was two.

Also, it seems that you could cut your spending quite a lot (no cable, fewer meals out, cut the classes etc) and put this towards paying off your debts. Once you've cleared your debts and have an emergency fund then you can think about buying.

I disagree...we have a similar income, own a home with comfortable mortgage payments, have one car and kids in a charter. We take Metro. It works!

Op needs to save money so I think she should take advantahe of public preschool and use the savings to pay off debt and start saving more. She should live where she can keep it to one car.