This would be really interesting with some sort of selector to see how the costs and relative balance would change by region/state. For instance, in the DC are

This would be really interesting with some sort of selector to see how the costs and relative balance would change by region/state. For instance, in the DC area it would be far more - probably nearly double for housing, utilities and education/childcare. Median home price here is $400k, electricity is $0.13+ kWh, daycare is $500-1000/mo, private school is $11-30k+/yr. Personally, I spend far more than listed in each category above plus taxes and far less on nearly every 'extra' and several 'essentials'. Also, since a surprising number of people commenting here don't seem to be familiar with the phrase: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream