S/O Our income of 300k is barely enough AMA

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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

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amother

OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:22 am

After being told on a different thread that I need to seriously reevaluate my finances if we are making 300k and have no savings, I decided to open an AMA so that you can see that 300k may be less than 150k. I do log all my expenses in QB so I should be able to answer accurately.

We are NOT destitute or poverty stricken. We live on the very simplest end of the normal range. But we make just barely enough to cover our bills. We stopped worrying about not having savings, as the same way Hashem provides now, He will continue to provide.

This is an AMA; not a query for financial guidance. Please don't get on here with judgmental posts of where I can cut back. TIA

ETA: SEE PG 5 for a breakdown of our expenses, as requested. This is based off of my QB entries, so the expenses are not exact and can vary from year to year.

amother

Ginger

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:23 am

I have no questions 😂
We make $450k and I thought we would have lots of extra money at this point but nope.

amother

Maple

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:26 am

How much do you make post tax and health insurance?

How old is your oldest and how many do you have?

amother

Teal

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:33 am

If you are in Tristate areas , w/ multiple kids & multiple tuitions , I believe it . Especially if you have High school tuitions
We are somewhere in the 250-300 range , and just just making it

tichellady

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:35 am

Not surprising to me at all

amother

Blueberry

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:37 am

Tell me about it. We make $200k and can’t cover basic expenses in this economy.

amother

Seablue

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:40 am

Do you buy your kids 40$ 70$ or 130$ shoes?

amother

Wine

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:42 am

Can you post your budget? Would be so interesting to see and more organized than posting it gradually throughout a long thread as we ask about each specific expense.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:43 am

amother Maple wrote:

How much do you make post tax and health insurance?

How old is your oldest and how many do you have?

After withheld taxes and insurance it's about $7600/pay period.
My oldest is 19. 7 kids kaH

amother

Cantaloupe ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:43 am

I totally get it. We make $225k and it’s enough for a very simple lifestyle no more.

Molly Weasley

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:45 am

I think an idea would be to answer all your questions and also edit your original comment as you respond. For example, adding how many children, ages, you have, etc.

amother

Sage ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:45 am

Do either of you have jobs where you can contribute toward retirement? If you do then you will have savings.

amother

Slategray

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:46 am

My question is why stay in the area you live in?
For people who can't make it on 300 You've got to realise where you live is crippling (and yes I get there may be perks or non negotiable reasons, but not for everyone)

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:51 am

amother Seablue wrote:

Do you buy your kids 40$ 70$ or 130$ shoes?

This is a great question. My kids are VERY hard to fit. For girls school/shabbos shoes I usually have to pay whatever price the one pair in the store that fits. We start with the sale shoes and try on literally every pair in the store... sometimes we are lucky and find a good deal, often I cringe and pay $130 because it's the only thing that fits.
Once they are teens we order online as adult shoes tend to run narrower. Then it's usually $40-$70.
For the boys I order sneakers and for the girls summer as well. Also about $40-$70.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:53 am

amother Sage wrote:

Do either of you have jobs where you can contribute toward retirement? If you do then you will have savings.

Our employers don't offer matching, so it's a matter of the taxes we save on the money we contribute. After speaking it over with our accountant it would be a good idea if we had extra money, but since we don't, it doesn't make sense.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:57 am

amother Wine wrote:

Can you post your budget? Would be so interesting to see and more organized than posting it gradually throughout a long thread as we ask about each specific expense.

I don't actually have a budget - we buy what we need and Hashem takes care that we have enough. But I can try to look through the numbers of what we actually spent on and post that in a little while.

amother

Dandelion

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:58 am

amother Slategray wrote:

They wouldn't be making 300k in another area most likely

amother

Eggshell ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 11:58 am

amother OP wrote:

After withheld taxes and insurance it's about $7600/pay period.
My oldest is 19. 7 kids kaH

Wow that's a lot of taxes & insurance.
Do you get a tax refund at the end of the year?
How much is insurance?

I say this because our pre-tax income is about 70k, post Is abt 52k per month. We don't take off insurance, but yours still seems a lot.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 12:03 pm

amother Slategray wrote:

We are very happy where we live. I didn't say we don't have enough, but that we have just enough.
I don't believe that we would necessarily have more in a different place, this is the lifestyle/income bracket Hashem wants us to be in. Over and over I saw that when I penny-pinched to save we would have an unusual expense and end up with no savings. And on the flip side if we felt something was a need for our family or a specific child, even if we weren't sure how we would pay for it, it somehow always worked out.
Besides our jobs are here!!

amother

Caramel

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 12:04 pm

I totally hear you.
We are bringing in about 300k before taxes working a few jobs.
Between tuitions, mortgage, insurance, food, bh 8 children - making 2 chasunah already bh we we are still tight and living paycheck to paycheck most months.

Bh we are grateful for what we have but we are not saving or swimming in money. Life is expensive!

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