Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:America is a place where it's awesome to be rich and awesome to be poor thanks to all the free government goodies. 7k per month is the zone where life really sucks. Too wealthy to get college tuition support, refundable tax credits and free breakfast and lunch and subsidized daycare for your kids, and too poor to eat decent food, live in a semi respectable house, and take decent vacations

You don’t have to earn $7k dude. It is a free country. Be poor if you think it is so awesome. Also take a logic class.

I've seen a lot of people complain that the poor get too much stuff and it's too cushy, but I never see them quit their jobs. Being poor in this country SUCKS.

+1 it's like those people who claim illegal immigrants get free everything, and how great that must be. Uh.. yea, ok, try going over the border, lose your passport, and make the dangerous trek across the border.

I grew up lower income. It sucked. Never again. I also have lived through two recessions and a layoff. I make sure we have at least one years worth of living expenses in liquid assets.

And, we try to live on one income for basic needs. If you want to live a very basic life, with not quality food, used clothing, junky cars, go ahead and be low income. I've done all of that. Never ever again.

Anonymous wrote:We have about the same take home after taxes and after 401k contributions. We have 2 kids. Public school, drive old cars, live in a small house w modest furniture/decor/nothing fancy, no maid service or lawn service, strict budget for groceries, kids activities thru rec center or parks dept not $$ activities, cheap vacations like road trips/camping/bring your own food, hope and pray you never have a medical emergency that insurance doesn’t cover.

+1 to this, always in the back of my mind and a bit stressful. And an emergency fund for car repairs because you'll need it eventually.

Also my kids will go to community college first (or maybe commute to UMD if they get in) to save on costs there.

We have about the same take home after taxes and after 401k contributions. We have 2 kids. Public school, drive old cars, live in a small house w modest furniture/decor/nothing fancy, no maid service or lawn service, strict budget for groceries, kids activities thru rec center or parks dept not $$ activities, cheap vacations like road trips/camping/bring your own food, hope and pray you never have a medical emergency that insurance doesn’t cover.

Sure. I'm 60 and have never had HHI of $7,000 monthly after taxes.

It's doable but you definitely need to keep the big ticket expenses (housing, childcare) in check. In this area it's easy to spend that amount in just a mortgage payment and daycare for a couple kids alone!

We had around that amount take home pay when our youngest was born. We bought a modest house 9 years ago when interest rates were low, so our PITI is only $2k per month, so there was some luck there too with timing. That would be much harder to achieve today. We chose an in-home daycare over a center for the infant years so daycare was only $1300 per month. By the time we had our second, our salaries had both increased slightly and now our monthly take home pay is closer to $9k per month, which provides a lot more breathing room. $7k per month would have been harder with two kids in daycare, we might have had to space them out more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our take home is 6k after maxing retirement savings. We have 2 kids but don’t need to pay for daycare. We have a tiny old house that we purchased 20 years ago and our mortgage is only $1300/month. We drive old cars and don’t have a car payment. I honestly don’t feel poor. We have all our needs and some of our wants met. There are so many people with so much less than us. People on these boards truly lack perspective.

100% agree. People here are seriously something else, but I guess that is DC crown. We live on combined $7000 after maxing retirement savings. We live comfortably, have 1 child. No debt. Drive older cars, no fancy restaurants, no too expensive vacations.

Tell me that you have an <3% mortgage on a house you bought >10 years ago without telling me.

Or they live in a condo, TH or less trendy area. Don’t be house poor.

Correct. I’m not the PP but I bought my house for $398,000 in 2020. You just have to not be in DC proper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our take home is 6k after maxing retirement savings. We have 2 kids but don’t need to pay for daycare. We have a tiny old house that we purchased 20 years ago and our mortgage is only $1300/month. We drive old cars and don’t have a car payment. I honestly don’t feel poor. We have all our needs and some of our wants met. There are so many people with so much less than us. People on these boards truly lack perspective.

100% agree. People here are seriously something else, but I guess that is DC crown. We live on combined $7000 after maxing retirement savings. We live comfortably, have 1 child. No debt. Drive older cars, no fancy restaurants, no too expensive vacations.

Tell me that you have an <3% mortgage on a house you bought >10 years ago without telling me.

Or they live in a condo, TH or less trendy area. Don’t be house poor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m doing it on $9K. It’s tight and I live paycheck to paycheck. I am getting a second job. Housing/food/insurance are currently the most expensive. Next year education will be too. Thank goodness I’m done paying for childcare.

Emotional damage!!

If PP is a single parent that is absolutely tight.

I am.

We did that for a long time. That was with a SAHM so we didn't have to pay for daycare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our take home is 6k after maxing retirement savings. We have 2 kids but don’t need to pay for daycare. We have a tiny old house that we purchased 20 years ago and our mortgage is only $1300/month. We drive old cars and don’t have a car payment. I honestly don’t feel poor. We have all our needs and some of our wants met. There are so many people with so much less than us. People on these boards truly lack perspective.

100% agree. People here are seriously something else, but I guess that is DC crown. We live on combined $7000 after maxing retirement savings. We live comfortably, have 1 child. No debt. Drive older cars, no fancy restaurants, no too expensive vacations.

Tell me that you have an <3% mortgage on a house you bought >10 years ago without telling me.

I could if we didn't have to pay someone to shuttle our tweens around (and we probably wouldn't have that cost if our take home was at $7K).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are just over $20k per month after taxes and live in a townhouse. Can't imagine 1/3 of that I assume I would live in a porta potty

You’re terrible with money.

I'm saving $160k per year my friend

You’re the one who said you’d have to live in a porta potty if your income went down.

Correct

Not if you’re saving $160k/year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are just over $20k per month after taxes and live in a townhouse. Can't imagine 1/3 of that I assume I would live in a porta potty

You’re terrible with money.

I'm saving $160k per year my friend

You’re the one who said you’d have to live in a porta potty if your income went down.

Correct

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are just over $20k per month after taxes and live in a townhouse. Can't imagine 1/3 of that I assume I would live in a porta potty

You’re terrible with money.

I'm saving $160k per year my friend

You’re the one who said you’d have to live in a porta potty if your income went down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are just over $20k per month after taxes and live in a townhouse. Can't imagine 1/3 of that I assume I would live in a porta potty

You’re terrible with money.

I'm saving $160k per year my friend