I think this is a joke.

Just, at least, post you mortgage and any permanent expenses. I am a budget genius-I am! I can help you do this.

Anonymous wrote:Can you post your budget OP?

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have two kids, a mortgage, student loans, and retirement to think about. We might start pulling in another 60 to 70k when I finish my grad degree and go back to work in a few months. However, I don't feel like it will get much better since it will all go to daycare, student loans, and retirement.

How do you cut costs? We don't go on vacation or buy anything extravagant.

It's difficult to tell you where to cut when we don't know where you spend your money. List your budget here with some context (I drive, but could take the metro, etc.) Then we can help.

You're not going be paying 60-70K a year for daycare, so yes, things will get better, even if it is small. You need to focus on clearing out those student loans, stat. How old are you? Because yes, you need to fund retirement, but not necessarily to the fullest extent when kids are young.

Google "You Need a Budget"

It's saved our household finance mess. Frankly, it's saved my marriage because it helped us get on the same page about budgeting priorities and how money is spent.

I really like the "Smart Money" formula, recommended by several personal finance author. You put in your take home income and then budget 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. Doing this will give you targets, and then you can go through your regular monthly expenses and figure out where the money is being spent.

We are at about this level for HHI. I think we make a very nice living, though I wouldn't say it is luxurious. I definitely still consider myself UMC. We've been very very fortunate, even if we can do absolutely everything that would like.

Anonymous wrote:You're going to have to do the math to see where the money is/could be going. Maybe you spend $6k/year eating out, maybe you spend $40k on private schools, maybe your mortgage is sucking up half your take home pay.

Do the math and you will have your answer.

We bring in about $75k and it is a struggle.

Not at $130k they don't.

The biggest problem for us is student loans. But they'll be paid off in 1 and 3 years, and then our income will go much farther. It's basically a second mortgage right now. When that's gone...

Anonymous wrote:We have two kids, a mortgage, student loans, and retirement to think about. We might start pulling in another 60 to 70k when I finish my grad degree and go back to work in a few months. However, I don't feel like it will get much better since it will all go to daycare, student loans, and retirement.

How do you cut costs? We don't go on vacation or buy anything extravagant.

It's difficult to tell you where to cut when we don't know where you spend your money. List your budget here with some context (I drive, but could take the metro, etc.) Then we can help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Divorce. You can effectively have the same income but one less mouth to worry about by dispatching DH to a garden apartment in some God awful place like Crystal City. He has to pay bills until kids reach 18. Your lifestyle will improve.

What is a garden apartment?

....and that, my friends, is how the average American lives. Either in a garden apartment, an ordinary apartment in a city high-rise, or a 1200 square foot rambler with three bedrooms and one bath. Very typical.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Divorce. You can effectively have the same income but one less mouth to worry about by dispatching DH to a garden apartment in some God awful place like Crystal City. He has to pay bills until kids reach 18. Your lifestyle will improve.

What is a garden apartment?

Anonymous wrote:Divorce. You can effectively have the same income but one less mouth to worry about by dispatching DH to a garden apartment in some God awful place like Crystal City. He has to pay bills until kids reach 18. Your lifestyle will improve.

What is a garden apartment?

HHI of 100k. Mortgage is 1400 on a small townhouse further out. That is how we do it.

Use coupons at the grocery store, and sign up for their online card savings programs that are basically e-coupons. The savings really do add up!

Stick to your grocery list as much as possible. Before you go to checkout, make yourself put a few items back on the shelf. They are impulse purchases you don't need.

Learn to cook, pack a work lunch. Don't do takeout more than once a week. If you go out on weekends, try to do it at lunch instead of dinner when you can. Lunch is cheaper.

Put yourself on a budget. Give yourself, say, $50-$100 a month MAX for clothes and makeup. This step, more than anything, keeps me in line with how much I'm spending. If I go over this amount, I deduct the difference from next month's budget.

Refinance your mortgage. Pay off your car. Pay off your credit cards. Pay off your student loans. I've done all four. Freedom!

Find a new bank if the fees and charges seem out of control. Use debit, not credit except for emergencies.

Switch all light bulbs to LED. They save money over the long run. Invest in energy-saving appliances, too.

It's a disciplined mindset, OP.

Divorce. You can effectively have the same income but one less mouth to worry about by dispatching DH to a garden apartment in some God awful place like Crystal City. He has to pay bills until kids reach 18. Your lifestyle will improve.

Move out of DC to an area with a lower cost of living, pay off your student loans, get your kids through daycare/preschool. Then you can consider moving back.