Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

You did not read the post. Our HHI is considerably higher than 170K.

Then why are you posting as you can afford private.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

If your PITI is $4K, you have an expensive house. Even if you only put 3% down, that's still a home cost of at least $600K-$700K. When people say they made sacrifices, they mean they did not buy the single-family house or the house in the nicer neighborhood or the house with more than one bathroom or the house with the backyard or the house with the commute under an hour. It's totally reasonable to have opted to pay more to have those things--but there were absolutely options for less money that came with those tradeoffs. For some, it's worthwhile to give those things up to have money to pay for private (or to be able to travel, or to be able to live closer in, or...)

600K is not an expensive house in this area. At all.

It is the median home price right now for DC, meaning that half of the houses out there sell for less than that. Therefore, there are many options that cost less than $600K. And that's the highest median home price in DC's history, so if PP bought before this year, the median was likely more like $300K-$400K, so $600K was "expensive" if the metric is how many available homes cost less than that. Most did before the last couple of years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

If your PITI is $4K, you have an expensive house. Even if you only put 3% down, that's still a home cost of at least $600K-$700K. When people say they made sacrifices, they mean they did not buy the single-family house or the house in the nicer neighborhood or the house with more than one bathroom or the house with the backyard or the house with the commute under an hour. It's totally reasonable to have opted to pay more to have those things--but there were absolutely options for less money that came with those tradeoffs. For some, it's worthwhile to give those things up to have money to pay for private (or to be able to travel, or to be able to live closer in, or...)

600K is not an expensive house in this area. At all.

It is the median home price right now for DC, meaning that half of the houses out there sell for less than that. Therefore, there are many options that cost less than $600K. And that's the highest median home price in DC's history, so if PP bought before this year, the median was likely more like $300K-$400K, so $600K was "expensive" if the metric is how many available homes cost less than that. Most did before the last couple of years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

You did not read the post. Our HHI is considerably higher than 170K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

If your PITI is $4K, you have an expensive house. Even if you only put 3% down, that's still a home cost of at least $600K-$700K. When people say they made sacrifices, they mean they did not buy the single-family house or the house in the nicer neighborhood or the house with more than one bathroom or the house with the backyard or the house with the commute under an hour. It's totally reasonable to have opted to pay more to have those things--but there were absolutely options for less money that came with those tradeoffs. For some, it's worthwhile to give those things up to have money to pay for private (or to be able to travel, or to be able to live closer in, or...)

600K is not an expensive house in this area. At all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

If your PITI is $4K, you have an expensive house. Even if you only put 3% down, that's still a home cost of at least $600K-$700K. When people say they made sacrifices, they mean they did not buy the single-family house or the house in the nicer neighborhood or the house with more than one bathroom or the house with the backyard or the house with the commute under an hour. It's totally reasonable to have opted to pay more to have those things--but there were absolutely options for less money that came with those tradeoffs. For some, it's worthwhile to give those things up to have money to pay for private (or to be able to travel, or to be able to live closer in, or...)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

Where do you live? You can’t buy a $400k house unless it’s in an unsafe neighborhood or far out. With two working parents, it’s not unreasonable to be unwilling to commute 1 hr+ each way. 700-800k is not a lot for a house here, especially if you need to keep the commute short so that you can actually see your kids during the week.

Lower Montgomery County. Very nice and safe neighborhood with small homes. One parent can commute an hour. We have that. That is normal in this area. Sounds like you are full of excuses and refuse to live within your means. Plenty of us do it very comfortably with money left over each month after savings. 700k is a lot of money on $170k and no down payment and kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

Where do you live? You can’t buy a $400k house unless it’s in an unsafe neighborhood or far out. With two working parents, it’s not unreasonable to be unwilling to commute 1 hr+ each way. 700-800k is not a lot for a house here, especially if you need to keep the commute short so that you can actually see your kids during the week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

You should put 20% down and get a cheaper house. $4k mortgage means an 750-800k home. Ours was under $400k with 20% down some we can now pay extra to principal now that income went up. I cannot imagine a $4k mortgage on $170k. That is insane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make in that range. We get some aid - but not a lot. Have friends with a lot more money - bigger houses - nice vacations....but also have friends in the same bracket. Nobody cares. Someone in admissions once told me that 25% are on aid, 25% have grandparents help etc. and 50% write the check without even thinking about it.

Thank you! I guess I never thought we might be eligible for financial aid. Will look into that.

you are well into the top 5% of incomes in America and want aid????

170k is really not that much in this area especially if one is contributing to retirement appropriately, and 40k/year is a large expense.

Meanwhile Amazon gets aid left and right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.

Or maybe we did not make a huge down payment -because we couldn’t. Houses in this area are very expensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We made twice this and had to pull our two kids out of private because it just wasn't doable on that income. We bought our house a long time ago, so also have a low mortgage and no other debt.

If you make twice the income and couldn't do privates, something is wrong and no, you didn't have a low mortgage or something is terrible off.

It just depends on how much of a priority private is. PP clearly could afford private on an HHI of $300-350k if it was a priority. But tuition for two kids could be $80k and that takes a serious bite out of an income, even in that range. You wouldn't have to have a particularly extravagant lifestyle to be tight if you take $80k post-tax right off the top, particularly if you want to make sure you are saving a healthy amount. I assume PP wasn't willing to make major sacrifices on house, savings, vacations, etc to make private work -- and that's ok -- just as it is ok for the people who do make it a priority.

I make those sacrificies and I still struggle!!! PITI is around 4K.

And, that is why. You bought an expensive house. Our mortgage is $2. You are not making the sacrifices you think you are.