What could you do with this where you live?

[Sum Dum Gai]

I know what our budget looks like with our income in this area, I'm curious what it would look like in other places though. So, here are the rules (yes this thread has it's own rules, deal with it) you can only use the income I'm going to post to create your budget. Housing costs and whatnot should be realistic for your area right now. If you've owned your home for 30 years you can't not have a mortgage payment. Don't forget utilities and whatnot. I'm basically looking for what our budget would look like if we moved to your area, and my pay stayed the same.

Some assumptions you can use. My wife is a SAHM so you don't need to include daycare. As long as the local public schools aren't crappy, we'd use them, so only need to include private school if you use housing costs for a bad area or something. The 401k match caps out at the amount I'm going to include. The taxes are based on putting the amount I currently do into the 401k, so if you change it substantially you can raise or lower the taxes accordingly.

So, here we go with the cash flow part of it:

Wages: (gross - every two weeks)
$3,842.65

Tax:
$241.53 Fed
$51.49 Fed Med/EE
$149.12 Fed OASDI/EE
$74.59 CA Withholding
$42.61 CA SDI FTDI

Pre Tax:
$258 Medical
$22 Dental
$12.03 Vision
$422.49 401k Contribution (11% of gross)

Post Tax:
$4.80 Supplemental Life
$1.62 Spousal Life
$3.26 LTD
$5.54 Supplemental STD

401k Match:
$153.63 (this is the max (formula is 100% of first 3% then 50% of next 2%))

Take Home if you don't change any of this:
$2,551.72 (all insurance covered, putting 15% in 401k)

What would that get you in your area, or feel free to change some of this stuff up and then post a rough budget and description of what kind of lifestyle it would buy?

[Sum Dum Gai]

Oh, if you guys want I'll go make all the numbers monthly instead of bi-weekly. I didn't do so at first mostly because I'm lazy so it was easier to just copy them all from my latest pay stub. You could also double the numbers and use that as your monthly budget, which give you two "extra" paychecks a year to put towards something.

[Waffle]

This game is too much like work.

I'll tell you this much. You could start with a $1500 mortage for a 5 bedroom 3 bath house taxes and insurance included.

Utilities/phone/internet/cable will run you about another $300 to $350 a month.

gas less than $100 a month - (you live close to work)

We'll say $600 a month on food - cause I like food, including eating out.

If I did the math correctly that means I've still got $2550 per month for insurance, vehicle expenses and whatever else I want to spend/invest.

[Waffle]

oops _ I definitely didn't do the match correctly. Too bad.

[gooddecisions]

I am too lazy to multiply by 26 and divide by 12.

[Tiny]

$2,551.72 (all insurance covered, putting 15% in 401k).
Bringing home over 5K in net a month (and then 2 extra checks ) You could easily afford to live in my city (near Chicago). It would be WAY below your means especially if you carefully chose a house (avoided a money pit) in one of the better school districts along a Metra route (if you worked Downtown). If you chose my city to live in you wouldn't have to commute far to get to reliable public transportation (might even be able to walk) if you worked downtown. What you'd save in transportation costs you could spend on enhancements to your kid's public school education (music lessons? art lessons? sports? school stuff like higher math/science/whatever stuff). The school districts are good but if you've truly got a little Madam Curie or Baryshnikov in the making you'll need to suppliment. Odds are you'd need to suppliment no what suburban school district you live in (not just my city) or what private school you use if you've got a kid that shows exceptional skill/talent.

Houses are currently a steal going about 200K for an updated home (1950's and earlier) brick raised ranch, Chicago style Bungalow,Tudor, Georgian style house (3 beds/2 baths with a yard and garage). You could probably get a 100+ year old rebuilt/remodeled Victorian for 300K... as well.

I don't pay much attention to gas prices since I walk to the train and then to work. I budget about $300 a month for utilities (natural gas, water, trash, electricity, phone, internet) for my inefficient 1200 square foot brick 2bed/1 bath house.

Actually at your salary you'd probably want to live further out in one of the newer suburbs...who doesn't want to have to own a house so big you don't ever have to see your family (accept maybe when 2 people meet in the kitchen, own 2 cars (and then get your kid a car as soon as they can drive) and live in a "fort" - suburbs defined by wooden privacy fences and then each house encircled by a privacy fence. Not to mention that you could go right from the house into the garage and car - no need to ever have to actually "go outside".

[kdamron]

Okay, we live in a MCOL so:

Monthly take home: 5,103.44 (oops, just noticed CA taxes, we have no state taxes so add in additional $234.44 ((boat payment!!!)) for 5,337.84

Mortgage: 1,375 (this is about the same for DF's two story 2,500 sq feet with four bedroom and 2.5 baths in a suburb and my 1,900 sq feet three bedroom two bath in a central urban area). Both are good areas and have good school districts. I am going to assume that you work where I work, downtown, so either you live 20 minutes from work (my house) or 50 minutes (DF's home).

We have two kids 50% of the time, both girls aged 9 and 12.5. DF works in foodservice so we get a lot of free food. Still, we routinely spend $400/mo groceries, I'll double that for you, so 800

Electric (levelized billing):200

Water: 50

Gas: 90

Vehicle gas/insurance: 170 (this is assuming in my paid off Envoy), DF has a truck and I also have a Corvette, should I assume a car payment? Two cars? Let's just double that in case to $340

Cell phone: 120

Cable/internet: 90

So far you have $2,272.84 left.

girls - school lunches/uniforms/clothes etc: 150

dry cleaning: 50

entertainment/fun/friends: 200

EF: 250

Vacation fund: 100

Leaves you with a 1,522.84 surplus if my math is correct. Do we have any cc debt in this exercise?

We live in Texas and frankly the standard of living over here is pretty good...

[mandyms]

I live on less than this, basically one of your bi-weekly take homes, since you're not including daycare. I rent and live in a great school district in NW Ohio.

Rent (includes heating, 1200 sq ft apt quadraplex): 695
Car/Renters Ins (I pay for more coverage) 75
Internet: 25
Groceries (myself and 3 yo) 300, been working to decrease w/grocery challenge on WIR
Car (gas/oil change/misc) 140, this is a number usually overbudgeted due to my shortened commute (about 15 miles total daily)
Electric 40
Life Ins (500,000 term) 31
Cell: 50
Debt 365
Laundry (coin operated machines) 40
Misc exp/savings 150
"Fun" 100



So if you don't have any debt, you would be living high on the hog and could probably comfortably afford a house in my school district (in the "fufu" area houses are less than 140k). Man, I can't wait to pay off debt and have DD start school.

[kdamron]

Forgot to account for the two extra paychecks...d'uh!!!

[steph08]

Since your take home pay for two weeks is more than I take home in a month, I would be living high on the hog in my area of the US if I made that!

[justwhoever]

You could have one of the nicest homes here. Rarely is there a house for sale that is over $150k. Newly built house on my street last year was put on market for $100k. 3 bed/2 bath home. Nice size lot for the area. And yes it was really built last year.
Utilities: We have a 1200 sq ft. home and we are under $400 a month for all. Electric, water, sewage, trash and heat(gas). Cable/net could run you $100 up to $250 just depends on who you pick and what you pick.

The public schools are good. Meaning there isn't gangs or anything bad like that. The schools are also free. We have a casino so the money from that pays for all books. Meals for kids would run maybe $30/wk per kid. That's full price. The school offers a lot of everything. Except for maybe golf. There is no other option on schools. Unless you home school. Which people only do here if they are lazy and just don't want to bother with getting their kids up and ready for school by 8 am. OR they are part of the the-teacher-picked-on-my-kid-because-they-won't-do their-work group.

Food: Well in town you can shop at Walmart or Save a lot. Have to leave town for anything else. LOL

Things to do as a family: To get to the movies....travel to a town that is 10 miles. 1 movie place. No clue if it's nice or not...never been. A town 40 min. away will give you 2 places to go to watch movies. Eating out...4 fast food, there is a Pizza Hut here...but I wouldn't go there if I were you. And maybe 3 or 4 other places that are sit down type places. We are about an hour from a city that does offer a lot of things.

With that income you would be seen as well to do here. Rich! lol

[8 Bit WWBG]

Your household income is just a hair below mine. So if you lived in my area, you could live my life. I know you have kids though, so that changes the game.

[Sum Dum Gai]

This game is too much like work.

I am too lazy to multiply by 26 and divide by 12.

Fine, fine. I'll do the heavy lifting... slackers.

Monthly numbers:

Wages: (gross)
$8,325.74

Tax:
$523.31 Fed
$111.56 Fed Med/EE
$323.09 Fed OASDI/EE
$161.61 CA Withholding
$92.32 CA SDI FTDI

Pre Tax:
$559 Medical
$47.67 Dental
$26.06 Vision
$915.36 401k Contribution (11% of gross)

Post Tax:
$10.40 Supplemental Life
$3.51 Spousal Life
$7.06 LTD
$12.00 Supplemental STD

401k Match:
$332.86 (this is the max (formula is 100% of first 3% then 50% of next 2%))

Take Home if you don't change any of this:
$5,528.73 (all insurance covered, putting 15% in 401k)

[giramomma]

I live in a medium COLA, in fly-over land.

We pay our bills with my day job. My monthly income is a bit less than one of your paychecks.

To get a decent house in a decent (ie, no open drug deals on the street) neighborhood you are looking at somewhere between 210-250K. We bought a bit in that range, and put down 55% so we could afford the mortgage. Houses in the better school areas run you 300-400K.

[Angel!]

Ok, I'll play. I'm going to assume the same takehome because I don't feel like messing with that & 15% towards retirement is pretty good. I would buy this house:
www.zillow.com/homedetails/3465-Muirfield-Dr-Colorado-Springs-CO-80907/13593798_zpid/

It is an area of town I would love to live in because it is right next to a massive park (the type with hills & hiking trails, not the kind with swingsets & ball parks) & is just a cool part of town. Ok, maybe not that specific house & I would probably go for something more in the 300K range that can be found in the same area. But, with pretend budget I am getting a pretend expensive house & I wasn't planning to spend all day looking for the perfect pretend house.

PITI - $3,000
Utilies - $450
Food - $650
Cell Phone - $150
Internet - $50
Gas - $150
Misc - $300
Savings (for new cars, home repairs, vacations, etc) - $750

It is a great school district, but this specific area doesn't have one of the better schools in the disctrict, but they have open enrollment & charter schools, so I think you could make it work. FYI - this is the school district I am trying to get my kids into when they are school-aged even if we don't live in that district at the time.

ETA - I just realized that house has a rockwall built into their garage, a built in grill out back & a projection theater setup. Maybe I would buy this house. I love it!

[jkapp]

NE Wisconsin:

Monthly expenses -
Mortgage $700 (in decent area, ~2000 sq ft, 30 yrs old, 20% down)
Prop taxes $285
Hazard Ins $40
Utilities $200 (gas and elec - if you have a good furnace & keep therm at 68...$225 is the highest I've paid)
Water $45 (single person)
Phone $60 (just threw out a # - my cell phone is limited but only costs $43)
Food $120 (for single person)
non-food items $40 (for single person)
Basic cable and internet: $60

Total expenses: $1550.00

Excess income after expenses: $3563.44

[Deleted]

In CT, great town great public school system:

$2200 PITI
$400 Utilities
$500 vehicle expense
$400 Groceries
$100 other household expenses
$500 home maintenance
$400 Misc
$1000 Fun!

[Sum Dum Gai]

A half million dollar house right on Palmer Park up near the Academy... on my salary... are you crazy??? I mean, the house and location are pretty sweet, but damn that's a big mortgage.

Besides, if we'd stayed in the springs my wife probably would have insisted on Manitou or Widefield. She liked both of those areas.

[Angel!]

Mar 1, 2011 16:44:05 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

A half million dollar house right on Palmer Park up near the Academy... on my salary... are you crazy???

Besides, if we'd stayed in the springs my wife probably would have insisted on Manitou or Widefield. She liked both of those areas.

My pretend budget, so my pretend house & I think Palmer Park is awesome. I also figure since right now after my mortgage & daycare I have a entire $750 left for all my other bills (utilities, food, gas, diapers, savings), then you could make it with $2500 left over after the mortgage.

I forgot you're military so you have been in the area before.

Manitou would be a good choice too though, or something out on the northwest side of town. So many options, now I just need your salary & no more daycare bill.

[Sum Dum Gai]

A good chunk of the years we lived there I was enlisted with more dependents than stripes, so it seemed like the whole damn city was too expensive. I'm realizing now that several of our friends with really nice houses were making about what I do now. I guess you could buy a pretty decent spread in the springs with my salary.

[Angel!]

Yeah, you could do pretty well here. I could easily find a 300K house that I would love. Also consider the prices in this area are probably lower than when you were last here. I bought my house for 140K & now two houses down the street have been for sale for 105K for several months & still no takers.

[kristi28]

Outside of St. Louis, MO:

$1600 PITI (would get you a nice 4/3 about 3000 sq ft on a half acre with good schools, assuming 20% down)
$300 utilities
$200 cable/internet/phone
$500 food
$100 toiletries, cleaning supplies, ...
$300 home maintenance fund
$100 kid stuff
$250 cars (insurance, maintenance, gas)
$200 misc

Total $3550

To savings/fun: ~$2000

This is basically the life that we live, other than cheaper housing (paid down more) and we earn less (~$300/month). Of course, you could cut a lot of corners or avoid expenses, but we're happy with it.

[dancinmama]

Mar 1, 2011 16:08:03 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

This game is too much like work.

I am too lazy to multiply by 26 and divide by 12.

Fine, fine. I'll do the heavy lifting... slackers.

Monthly numbers:

Wages: (gross)
$8,325.74

Tax:
$523.31 Fed
$111.56 Fed Med/EE
$323.09 Fed OASDI/EE
$161.61 CA Withholding
$92.32 CA SDI FTDI

Pre Tax:
$559 Medical
$47.67 Dental
$26.06 Vision
$915.36 401k Contribution (11% of gross)

Post Tax:
$10.40 Supplemental Life
$3.51 Spousal Life
$7.06 LTD
$12.00 Supplemental STD

401k Match:
$332.86 (this is the max (formula is 100% of first 3% then 50% of next 2%))

Take Home if you don't change any of this:
$5,528.73 (all insurance covered, putting 15% in 401k)

Hey, I'm not a slacker!! BTW, we live in the same area.

[Cookies Galore]

Well, my take home pay is a little over $2,200 and I think I have an okay life, so with the extra Gs I'd be doing blow off hookers and other cliche ways to waste money.

[ty]

I would save it under my mattress and continue to be frugal with my spending.

[Deleted]

$5500 take home.......... would go a long way if I didn't move. Although I probably would if I had that salary. I'm lazy so I'll just focus on housing costs since that's the biggie for most people.

If I didn't move from my 1200 sq/ft brick 3br/1 1/2ba home in a quiet neighborhood:

Mortgage PITI $750
Electric, gas, water, sewer, trash, and other misc fees average over a year ~$200/month

I seriously doubt you'd want to live in my neighborhood though. So.... in '05 someone I know had a 3600 sq/ft 5br/3 1/2 ba house (with upgrades) built in a quiet suburb with really good schools for $250k. Utilities ran $400 to $600/month. After foreclosure last year, the house sold for $150k.

Back when I paid attention to housing prices here (before the crash), $250k could buy a lot of house with a lot of land or on the river or a lake, or a lot of house in an *in* neighborhood where you could reach out the window and touch the house next door or a zillion things in-between. And apparently now you can do all that for a lot less.

And since I'm also too lazy to figure out approximate PITI on these houses, I probably haven't been much help, have I? LOL Let's just say you would have a lot of options in my area with that salary. How 'bout that?

[Deleted]

Well, I'm such a slacker I'm not even converting from Euros! (You can multiply everything by 1.30%).

DH's net pay after sending $3,000 per month "home" and making the minimum contribution to 401k to get the match is about E6,500/mth. This includes a small housing stipend, COLA, car allowance, & gas. DH's employer "grosses up" income tax on DH's salary so his net should be about the same as was it was in the States. If you had school aged children the company would pay for their tuition at the International School. Your housing allowance would also be larger. Ours is only E650. With 2 kids you would probably be at E1950. (Yes, it's one of DH's favorite rants...)

Since we're on a 3-5 year assignment we are renting here and keeping our properties in the US. Assume you would do the same. Here are our bigger budget items;

E2,200 Rent
1,000 Vacation & fun money (have to take advantage of being
in Europe!)
300 Gas, electric & water
625 Food (including dining out and on vacation)
150 Household stuff
70 Tel & internet (includes international calling)
84 my cell phone (I-phone and data roaming outside
Germany is expensive!)

E4,429 Total or $5,758

[daisylu]

Your bi-weekly take home is slightly more than I bring home in a month, but I live in a very LCOL area. without a car payment, I am easily able to save half of my take home with monthly bills that look like this:

$450.00 mortgage
$125.00 electricity
$100.00 gas
$200.00 cell, direct tv, internet, landline
$300.00 groceries

[telephus44]

Your take home is pretty close to our take home. You could live my life here in central MA, right now we only have 1 kid, although we also don't have daycare costs. You could probably afford a 3500sq leftover McMansion that didn't sell during the boom. Those are going between $250K and $300K out here.

[Deleted]

Your takehome is similar to ours, Dark. I'm still paying daycare, so you actually have a higher standard of living than we do around here.
For $300K you can get a 4/2.5 new McMansion on .40 acre in one of the top school districts. Or, a 4/2.5 McMansion on a full acre that was built in 1988 (both are in the same school district, property taxes on both are about $5300).