Anonymous wrote:200k
2 kids - 3 and 6mo
Daycare $3700/mo
No mortgage (house paid off)

You can hire a nanny for less than that. Why schlep your kids back and forth, deal with sick days, etc when you can have someone come to you, take the kids out, clean their room, do their laundry, get then ready for bed, even cook em dinner??

not quite $100,000 here. Two kids, 6 and 2. 6 y.o. is in public school. 2 y.o. home with me. I WAH p/t.

This area blows.

200k
2 kids - 3 and 6mo
Daycare $3700/mo
No mortgage (house paid off)

Anonymous wrote:350k. 2 kids. Daycare (4yo), after school, and summer camps run about $25-30k/yr. When we had our first, HHI was $190k and we spent about $35k the first year, first for a nanny (before we got an infant spot) and then for infant daycare.

I am so looking forward to being there....Right now we are at about $280. Next promotion should bump us to $320 or $330. Once that happens and kids are in school, I'm going to be so much better off!

350k. 2 kids. Daycare (4yo), after school, and summer camps run about $25-30k/yr. When we had our first, HHI was $190k and we spent about $35k the first year, first for a nanny (before we got an infant spot) and then for infant daycare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only assume that people who are eager to respond to this thread are the ones who have high HHIs to being with. Otherwise, how is it possible that everyone in DC is so wealthy? Is everyone who posts on DCUM a lawyer, surgeon, lobbyist, or executive (or wife of same)?

No don't worry. Here's mine:
HHI $106,000
Two kids, 8 and 4
No daycare / babysitting costs bc I stay at home but our rent is extremely high at $2500

Your rent is not high.

That is high. It's all relative, of course, but it's VERY high nationwide and not cheap even by DC standards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can only assume that people who are eager to respond to this thread are the ones who have high HHIs to being with. Otherwise, how is it possible that everyone in DC is so wealthy? Is everyone who posts on DCUM a lawyer, surgeon, lobbyist, or executive (or wife of same)?

No don't worry. Here's mine:
HHI $106,000
Two kids, 8 and 4
No daycare / babysitting costs bc I stay at home but our rent is extremely high at $2500

Your rent is not high.

HHI of 150k, 2 kids - 2.5 & a baby

Annual childcare costs - $23k

Anonymous wrote:I can only assume that people who are eager to respond to this thread are the ones who have high HHIs to being with. Otherwise, how is it possible that everyone in DC is so wealthy? Is everyone who posts on DCUM a lawyer, surgeon, lobbyist, or executive (or wife of same)?

No don't worry. Here's mine:
HHI $106,000
Two kids, 8 and 4
No daycare / babysitting costs bc I stay at home but our rent is extremely high at $2500

I can only assume that people who are eager to respond to this thread are the ones who have high HHIs to being with. Otherwise, how is it possible that everyone in DC is so wealthy? Is everyone who posts on DCUM a lawyer, surgeon, lobbyist, or executive (or wife of same)?

3 kids, 6,3 and 3.

HHI: $380
Childcare: For twins, $2500/mo. For 6yo, $320/mo. aftercare.
Mortgage: $5800 15 yr. that will be paid when oldest is a junior in high school.

$240K. 2 kids, 9 and 10. $600/mo for extended day and about $6k for summer camps

As PP noted, buying our house a long time ago is a huge factor in our feeling very affluent in this area -- 4bed/3bath 2 blocks from metro in Arlington because we bought an unimproved 1940s house in 1998. We lived with it with few improvements until last year after I'd gone back to work and my income let us finally do a modest renovation. As a SAHM on DH's 130k salary we were also comfortable but more conservative with travel and put off college savings.

Anonymous wrote:HHI $500K
2 living kids (5 & 2), 1 baby on the way, 1 deceased kid
SAHM

huh

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:220k I never felt poor until I started reading this forum. Kids are 7 and 10. We spend 12k per year pt babysitter, 12k parochial, 5k on summer camps so approximately 29k total.

200k with 2 kids here and feel the same. we feel very well off. i don't understand this forum.

When you say well off where do you live and what is your home like? The home and location is a budget buster in this area. You need at least a million to have anything comfortable by typical middle class standards outside of the DC area.

Not PP, but this is just nonsense. We make less than $90k, in fact our actual taxable income this year was less than $20k and we are very comfortable. We live in a row house in DC that I bought 10 years ago, have a new car (2 years old) and go on several vacations a year including overseas. We are careful with our money but we live well. I just don't understand this mentality that you need a million dollars to live "comfortably". Let me give you an example, my 4 year old just went to a spring break camp run by DC parks and rec. It cost FORTY dollars for the ENTIRE WEEK. He had great fun. We'd do it again. There is no reason to spend hundreds or thousands on camps, the kids won't love you more if you do. Likewise, daycare, vacations, clothes, private schools etc.

You freaking bought a house 10 years ago!!!!!!!!! How do you not understand that people who are 10 years younger than you are facing prices that are most cases 2 to 4 times higher (if not even more)?

This comes up time and time again on this site. People who bought 10 or 15 years ago saying, "why do you need to spend a million on a house? Just buy 15 years ago!"

No, you don't need to buy 15 years ago to spend less than a million. But, you may need to be willing to buy a house that is less than 2000 square feet. You may need to be willing to buy a house with an older kitchen. The kitchen may have ~gasp!~ laminate counters. There might even be--brace yourself--only one bathroom. The floor plan may have little "flow."

It's true that I'm likely much older than you are, and I was lucky enough to buy my first house during a fairly down period in the mid-90s. And we made a killing when we sold it (even though we also sold during a down period--2008.) But we bought an old small home with few updates in a great school district for much, much less than a million dollars. And if you want to buy it today, it will still cost you much less than a million dollars, despite the updates we've made.

HHI $500K
2 living kids (5 & 2), 1 baby on the way, 1 deceased kid
SAHM