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January 2011 Moms
lizzie_1_7
member
Tell me about your finances...
lizzie_1_7
member
So this is a follow up to a post from yesterday. The poll included the question: Are you lower, middle, or upper class? Almost everyone thinks they are middle class, which makes me curious to dig deeper.
By the way, I am a financial planner, so this kind of discussion just feeds my inner nerd. 
So here are the the two questions I would love to ask:
What is your household income? What in your budget greatly affects your lifestyle? (For example, you may make $250k a year, but pay $45k in student loans or $50k in medical bills)
Sept '15 Siggy Challenge - Happy Dance
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Tell me about your finances...
What is your household income? What in your budget greatly affects your lifestyle? (For example, you may make $250k a year, but pay $45k in student loans or $50k in medical bills)
Our household income is around $115k.
We have mounds of debt from student loans and pay somewhere around $25k a year for debt and another $25k for mortgage/taxes/etc.
I missed the post from yesterday- but I would bet that we would be considered lower class compared to the rest of the country (middle class for our area though)...total we make just under 50k a year. But we only have a small amt of student loans and our mortgage that we have for debt, so I feel good about that. We also raise/grow most of our own food so we don't have much for grocery bills....so that makes a big difference.
We live fairly frugally so we always have plenty of money to save every month, so while our income may shock some people, I'm completely comfortable with it. (would be nice to make more, but Vermont isn't a state where people make a lot of money)
I literally keep a budget on a month by month basis, thats now non-rich we are right now. We live on $45,000 a year.
Broken down that is like, $2,400 a month, with $900 going to rent, $250 to student loans, and $260 for car payment. Our electric bill has been another significant bill lately at over $200 a month. The rest is odd bills like gas, internet, water, insurance ($160), etc. Once the first of the year starts, we will go from having a $70 a month insurance payment to $300 a month...yikes. Sometimes I feel like I work magic...
I have no idea what we have in savings because I round up in expenditures and down in deposits to save that change, and certain things like that. I am going to start keeping track of it though now that LO is coming to make a proper savings account for her. But right now that is literally all we get to save
The internet is never really annonymous in my book so I won't answer those questions very specifically. We live a very comfortable lifestyle with our only debt being our mortgage.
Haha, Dh's salary is public knowledge (he's a teacher). I thought about this at first then realized it didn't matter for me :-D
This. Although I will add that we have one car payment as well as our mortgage and utility bills.
This...that is a bit personal IMO
We are currently living on one income at about 40,000.
Our mortgage is $630 a month, no student loans to pay off yet (I will have loans to pay off in a couple of years and DH had his college paid for), and no car payments.
This- and I didn't answer yesterday's poll because by the time I got to it there were 50+ responses, so I thought it would be pointless. However, we both make comfortable salaries. We both contribute to our 401k and I have other investment opportunities with my company. We don't carry any cc debt, but we do have some student loans- the total remaining is under $15k though. We have a small emergency savings and are working towards our baby fund currently. We have one car payment (the other is paid off). We have a budget for everything, but there is enough flexibility where we can splurge on an item here and there and still be ok. I still peg us as middle class- but I think to some we'd be considered middle upper..but then again- to others we'd be middle lower. It's a really hard classification to make.
My Happy House
What is your household income? Before taxes? Roughly $38K a year. Doesn't sound like much, but I'm military and do enjoy free medical, which helps a lot- especially with medications.
What in your budget greatly affects your lifestyle? DH and I collectively have almost no debt. Our car is paid off in the next 2 months (although we will trade in our other car, the POS, for a new Jeep by December), we have about $1500 in loans, but other than rent and other monthly bills, that's it. We live modestly but we're comfortable.
Oh- and that's my paycheck. He stays at home and helps keep my sanity and the house clean- and be a SAHD when LO arrives, so that means no childcare expenses.
I wear the pants in this family.
It's very personal! I don't think my own sister knows what DH and I make a year, I certainly wouldn't tell an internet stranger!
OP seeing as how you work in finance you shouldn't be suprised that most consider themselves middle class. The gap between middle and upper class is astronomical. I think it's safe to assume we don't have any celebs, athletes wives or fortune 500 CEOs posting on TB message boards!!
Well, I certainly didn't mean to pry...and to each his own. Obviously I am very comfortable discussing money and have no qualms, but I understand that not everyone is in the same boat.
I just find it fascinating that most everyone in this country assumes they are in the "middle class" when there are so many variables that play into that category.
For those that aren't comfortable discussing the topic...this is just an interesting tool to look at for comparison.
https://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/20050515_CLASS_GRAPHIC/index_01.html
This as well. We did an anonymous clicky poll on my local nest board awhile ago on what people make- combined household income. We had options from $0 all the way up to somewhere around $400k. I don't think anyone passed the $200k mark. Most of the people on the nest/bump/knot are middle class. Although, I will say it was interesting to see the breakdown. And some girls that had the higher incomes were even willing to share how they got the jobs (or H's job) to give advice.
I don't mind sharing budget advice, some details, etc. but when it comes to our salary- that is pretty much kept between H and me.
My Happy House
Just a side note...
I can't help but giggle at the fact that we discuss leaky bladders and boobs, sex drives, and lots of other intimate details...
but money seems too personal. I get it, but it's still a little funny.
That's a neat tool! I've never tried to classify us before, but I guess we're middle in some places and upper middle in others. Wow, I feel so poor, though!
We do not have a mortgage, but we have 2 car payments ($480 total per month) and student loan debt ($130 per month) and our rent is $780. We do not currently have any credit card debt, but I'm sure with the baby that will change as emergencies happen! We also save at least $500 per month. I, too, budget everything to the last dollar and we live pretty frugally. We have some money in mutual funds that we plan to use toward a down payment on a house as soon as all of our other debt is paid off.
It's good to see that there are so many others out there who are having a baby who are pretty much in line with us. I was worried we were completely out of our minds for having a child right now!
Very cool! Apparently we are upper middle on everything but wealth...which doesn't surprise me since our house pretty much is worth now what we still owe and we are in our mid-20's so our retirement accts aren't huge yet.
My Happy House
combined annual income: $72k & $100k give or take depending on how much overtime we each work that year & 3 rental properties - $2750 month x 12 additional $33k
Around 200k total
Majority of monthly bills consist of mortgage payments & insurance (DH like his toys; 3rd "fun" vehicle, 2 snowmobiles, waverunner, jetski, etc. it seems to add up quick! We will be adding a car payment this Spring for my new car... not sure what I will be getting yet.
I agree that it's a bit personal so I won't give specifics. DH's salary is public knowledge as long as you know what government pay scale is is clasified under - and I don't even like sharing that with my parents.
What I will say is that we are incredibly comfortable between both of our salaries. The only debt that we have is less than $5,000 in my student loans (we just recently paid the rest off), 2 car payments (1 car is almost paid off), and our mortgage. We never carry any credit card debt and have enough in our savings account that we try as much as possible to continue building, especially since we are considering me being a SAHM.
I agree
I think it's hilarious that people are comfortable telling internet strangers about their vaginal discharge (not too personal), but not roughly what they make and spend (way too personal). I'm the other way around IRL and mostly online.
I think that most people in the US consider themselves to be middle income, regardless of what others make. It shocks everytime to think about the poverty level in the US:
Compared to that we're really rich. We live in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath rowhome in Baltimore, nothing fancy. In fact, we just barely installed a dryer.
Here's our general breakdown:
we put about 10% to retirement, 10% to savings, 4% to HSA, 2% to commuting costs, 23% to mortgage, 4% to student loan debt, roughly 30% to taxes, leaving about 17% that we spend on utilities, food, and stuff.
Everyone assumes that we are upper class because DH is an attorney and I make decent $ at my job (almost as much as he does), well, he still has 120,000+ in school loans at about 1k a month, that drastically brings down our $$. We have a $1,500 mortgage, 2 car payments along with utility bills, Cable, cell phones and a lot of extras (sirius,netflix etc).
We don't really deprive ourselves of much but we don't have a great savings either. That is something that will change when we have a baby.
I know I personally feel that way because that is what this forum is for...Now would I go to a Wall Street Journal or NY Times message board and talk about discharge? No.
I talk about my discharge or whatever with people IRL but I still don't talk about my personal finances.
What is your household income? Hmmm, well I'll ty to be vague here. DH's salary is highly flexible, as it is very commission dependent (medical sales). So he can have good years or bad years, but generally his salary grows every year. He usually makes somewhere between 100-150k, and my salary when working is about a third of his on a good year. I'm on unemployment after getting laid off, so I'm making about half my salary for the rest of this year. Catching my drift, mathematicians?
What in your budget greatly affects your lifestyle? Our monthly mortgage payment!! We are upside down on our house, so we recently lowered our interest rate and switched to a shorter term, so we can get the hell out of here! So we pay about $3,100/mo = 37,200 a year. DH's parents paid for his college tuition, while I received a full academic scholarship, so I only have 40% of my cost of living loans (parents paid other 60%). So about 10,000 in student loan debt. Our car payments are $850 a month combined.
I understand both sides of the money discussion debate. I am an accountant so like OP I am interested in talking money. DH is just inherently comfortable talking about salary lol. But its true, the vast majority of America, when asked, do consider themselves middle class.
My husband makes a ton of money, but with that said, we own two homes in CA. Two SUVS and Two cars (but no payment) My husband believes if you cannot pay cash and in full for something you shouldn't have it. My car insurence is is almost $300.00 for my one car because of speeding tickets, wile he pays like $300.00 for the other cars! We are renting in Florida and that is $1,000 a month. I spend about $400.00 a month of food, $200.00 a month on power, cable&internet is another $120.00 and water is around $50.00. My medicine that I am on can run between $200.0 a month to $500.00 a month. My Medical insurence is $450.00 and another $250.00 because of pre-condition. Long story short...my hubands PA screwed up and I went without insurence and spent two years trying to get it again. I pay about $50,000+ in medical bills for myself. Much better than last year or the year before when we were paying $100,000+ out of pocket. I SAHM and watch my friends daughter for some money each week but I consider that my fun money as it isn't much and am using that to pay for Disney Passes, and other stuff. My huband's two homes that he owns in CA I believe he pays about $5,000 a month for both included all the running of it. His PA makes about $102,000 a year! My step-son already has a college fund, as my preemie has one also, and the new baby will have one. Since he is out of the country often for work, he gives me an amount to live off of and I pay the bills for the FL apartment. I don't want to ask for more money, so I usually make it all work so I end up with money to spend on going out etc. I consider us middle class, but my husband says w are uppper class. I am not sure I agree since we do rent instead of own in FL? But everyon is different.
We're here to talk about having babies. In my opinion, talking about finances isn't off the mark there. Babies are expensive and I'm more interested in how to afford it than in vaginal discharge.
Well for the record-yes, I think this is too personal, too. And I tried that tool, but it really doesn't work for us because DH is not done with grad school and there isn't a good category for me either, so it's not very accurate.
At any rate, I guess maybe my posts about spotting two weeks ago could be considered 'personal' but when I ended up being told that t I had a clot that put me at risk for an abruption or bedrest, I needed to vent somewhere. Luckily everything turned out fine, but I also ended up telling family about it, which I never would do that normally-but some things about pregnancy simply become more public knowledge when it's about your kid, even when it's not something you'd normally share with people. I still don't see that as the same thing as discussing your income.
I also have never seen an income based post here on the nest/bump that didn't end badly, because people end up judging what other can/can't afford or what they 'should' be doing.
I would agree with that in general, except this thread is asking specifically about personal information-not about how to afford a baby.
Are you secretly my MIL?
Agreed. OP's post yesterday also had a question about how this will all change when baby arrives. After doing my little breakdown for this question though, I realized there's no way I can afford to send my child to daycare. Suddenly I'm terrified. Where am I going to find an additional 14% of our income?!!! ack! Our plan is actually to get a nanny for the three days that neither DH or I are home, but in my estimation the costs won't be that far off from what the full-time daycare would cost.
income: $116
debt: mortgage ($23k), student loans (10k). Luckily, we don't have credit cards or a car payment. However, we want to buy a used 2nd car in the fall/winter for our pending arrival.
First I'm going to say that I'm VERY jealous of those who have mortgage payments under $1000. DH and I live in NJ were absolutely everything is more expensive then anywhere else.....from taxes to health insurance it's almost more then what others pay.
I won't post what we make but we are middle class. We own a business that will hopefully bump us up in the near future and I work part time in the school district. We have less then $4000 in debt, no student loans and only 1 car payment. We do pay almost $5000 a year in taxes alone on our not very big house....and we currently have about $60,000 in retierment and 3 months of living expenses saved so far but we've been building that up.
According to the poverty guidelines, my DH and I are below poverty level. We make less than $2000 a month altogether...both of us work only part time and are in graduate school (seminary...so there is not much hope of one day making a great salary!). The only debt we have is about $10,000 in student loans from undergraduate, which is in deferment right now. Obviously, we live frugally, but we do live! Medicaid is paying for my pregnancy bills completely (so thank you to all you middle and upper-class people paying taxes!!).
But at the same time I feel so blessed because we have so much compared to the majority of the world's population--I just heard today that most people in a middle eastern country earn less than $1.25 a day. We never have gone hungry, we live in comfortable on-campus housing and are able to pay our bills, we own a car, and there are places I can go to get maternity clothes really cheap or free. There are times when I get upset and jealous of others because I can't have everything I want...but honestly, the Lord has blessed us so much, I have no right to get upset at all. (-: He always provides everything we need.
Our of curiousity and if you don't mind me asking.....was your pregnancy planned? Just curious b/c you'd ge amazed at how many people in your situation try and get PG and let the state cover the cost of their health care and raising their child. I know people get stuck in situations but that stuff ticks me off. My sister who I love dearly and her FI thought they would try and get PG and she didn't have insurance at the time and now she gets everything covered and all the babies food and what not paid for and all I keep thinking is that I'm pretty much raising my niece b/c they pay NOTHING for her with all the state aid
Geez! Where in NJ do you live that your taxes are $5,000 a year? I thought we were lucky to be paying $8,000!
I will agree that NJ is very expensive, and working in the city is quite expensive as well. My husband works on Wall Street, and I feel that many underestimate the expenses that come along with working in and commuting to the city, not to mention living anywhere close to it.
Haha, yeah I forgot to add that we are on the low end of taxes here. We live in an old town so the taxes are pretty stable here. They have gone up from $3800 to $5000 in the 2 years we've lived here. My parents and in laws pay well over $8000 and I know a lot of people paying over $10,000.....and yet the state is still in debt
Yeah, we pay about $8000 in property taxes and we own less than 7 hundredths of an acre (2 bedroom row home). Not in NJ, but not far from you. That's on top of state and federal income taxes of course. My folks in NH have no state income tax and pay half our property taxes for a 4 bedroom with several acres. We want to move to NH sometime soon!