3 ms·

Depends on what you're including in "living expenses, yes"? The figure you used for a home is way off, for example--it only factors in the P+I payment--not prop

Depends on what you're including in "living expenses, yes"? The figure you used for a home is way off, for example--it only factors in the P+I payment--not property taxes and homeowners insurance; when those are factored in, that $16,000/yr mortgage payment suddenly becomes about $20,000 (or more). Add another $8,000 for a single car (payment, insurance, gas, and maintenance), $6,000 for student loan debt (easily achievable for a $60,000--2x the average, one for each earner--load) and that leaves $6,000 for food, childcare, and utilities (and anything else I'm forgetting) before that $40k is gone. I don't know what area of the country you think $500/mo is enough to spread over childcare, phone, water, electricity, and food (no internet allowed; just the "necessities"), but I'd be interested to find out.

runako 13y ago
The housing figure I used was for PITI (all-in). Obviously the T and I will vary by jurisdiction. But feel free to call realtors in e.g. Atlanta, Cincinnati (median price: $110k) or Jacksonville, FL (median price: $120k) to confirm that an all-in number of $1400 or substantially below is reasonable for a single-family house. (I know a number of people who pay < $1000/mo to own 3+BR houses in the city limits of Atlanta. Again, that's all-in, counting all the non-utilities expenses you think I'm leaving out.) Student loan payments will largely be made during years in which most people will not have two kids and a brand-new car. While I wouldn't begrudge anyone the choice to do both at the same time, they're obviously going to hurt a bit or push out hitting the seven-figure mark a few years. Plus, you doubled the student loan debt but didn't allow any increase in living expenses for having a second wage-earner in the HH or account for the second wage-earner's savings. Point I'm making is the math isn't that far off, if one chooses to live anywhere outside the most expensive real estate hotspots in the country.

runako 13y ago

The housing figure I used was for PITI (all-in). Obviously the T and I will vary by jurisdiction. But feel free to call realtors in e.g. Atlanta, Cincinnati (median price: $110k) or Jacksonville, FL (median price: $120k) to confirm that an all-in number of $1400 or substantially below is reasonable for a single-family house. (I know a number of people who pay < $1000/mo to own 3+BR houses in the city limits of Atlanta. Again, that's all-in, counting all the non-utilities expenses you think I'm leaving out.) Student loan payments will largely be made during years in which most people will not have two kids and a brand-new car. While I wouldn't begrudge anyone the choice to do both at the same time, they're obviously going to hurt a bit or push out hitting the seven-figure mark a few years. Plus, you doubled the student loan debt but didn't allow any increase in living expenses for having a second wage-earner in the HH or account for the second wage-earner's savings. Point I'm making is the math isn't that far off, if one chooses to live anywhere outside the most expensive real estate hotspots in the country.