Forum Replies Created
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AuthorPosts
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JES
ParticipantRunning the numbers is always a good idea, and I recommend Quicken’s budget feature to give you an idea of what you are budgeting and how your spending compares. I was shocked to see that I am spending $60,000/year in expenses, not including anything that I save like a 401k etc., and I live in Iowa.
JES
ParticipantAllow me to speak from experience. Before departing San Diego, I was making exactly 90k and owned a home with exactly a 400k mortgage. Here’s how we lived:
Yearly Costs
-$37,200 – 7yr., IO Loan, Mello Roos, HOA, Taxes, (3,100/Mo)
-$25,000 – 28% deducted for taxes, soc.sec., Medicare etc.
-$9,000 – Groceries/Dining, Family of four
-$4,000 – Gas
-$4,500 – 5% 401k investment
-$500 – Auto repair, oil change etc.
-$2,000 – Home/Auto/Life insurance
-$1,000 – Yearly vacation, travel costs
-$500 – Gifts
-$4,000 – Utilities
-$750 – Clothing
-$1,500 – Household stuff (yard, plants, trash bags etc.)
——–
$89,950Savings = 25 cents/Month
Note: I had no debt other than the home, no ccard balances, no student loans, no car pmts.
JES
ParticipantAllow me to speak from experience. Before departing San Diego, I was making exactly 90k and owned a home with exactly a 400k mortgage. Here’s how we lived:
Yearly Costs
-$37,200 – 7yr., IO Loan, Mello Roos, HOA, Taxes, (3,100/Mo)
-$25,000 – 28% deducted for taxes, soc.sec., Medicare etc.
-$9,000 – Groceries/Dining, Family of four
-$4,000 – Gas
-$4,500 – 5% 401k investment
-$500 – Auto repair, oil change etc.
-$2,000 – Home/Auto/Life insurance
-$1,000 – Yearly vacation, travel costs
-$500 – Gifts
-$4,000 – Utilities
-$750 – Clothing
-$1,500 – Household stuff (yard, plants, trash bags etc.)
——–
$89,950Savings = 25 cents/Month
Note: I had no debt other than the home, no ccard balances, no student loans, no car pmts.
JES
ParticipantAllow me to speak from experience. Before departing San Diego, I was making exactly 90k and owned a home with exactly a 400k mortgage. Here’s how we lived:
Yearly Costs
-$37,200 – 7yr., IO Loan, Mello Roos, HOA, Taxes, (3,100/Mo)
-$25,000 – 28% deducted for taxes, soc.sec., Medicare etc.
-$9,000 – Groceries/Dining, Family of four
-$4,000 – Gas
-$4,500 – 5% 401k investment
-$500 – Auto repair, oil change etc.
-$2,000 – Home/Auto/Life insurance
-$1,000 – Yearly vacation, travel costs
-$500 – Gifts
-$4,000 – Utilities
-$750 – Clothing
-$1,500 – Household stuff (yard, plants, trash bags etc.)
——–
$89,950Savings = 25 cents/Month
Note: I had no debt other than the home, no ccard balances, no student loans, no car pmts.
JES
ParticipantIs there a reason to go with a money market fund when you can just put the cash in an interest earning checking account and earn 5-5.5% right now? EG: Wamu, more than 25k, earns 5+%
JES
ParticipantIs there a reason to go with a money market fund when you can just put the cash in an interest earning checking account and earn 5-5.5% right now? EG: Wamu, more than 25k, earns 5+%
JES
ParticipantIs there a reason to go with a money market fund when you can just put the cash in an interest earning checking account and earn 5-5.5% right now? EG: Wamu, more than 25k, earns 5+%
JES
ParticipantWent to Murietta in 2000 to look for a house and ended up west of the interstate in the older area of town. Walked up to a home for sale, but turned around when I saw the owner sitting on a lawn chair with a handgun aimed towards the street. Decided to live in San Marcos instead…
JES
ParticipantWent to Murietta in 2000 to look for a house and ended up west of the interstate in the older area of town. Walked up to a home for sale, but turned around when I saw the owner sitting on a lawn chair with a handgun aimed towards the street. Decided to live in San Marcos instead…
JES
ParticipantWent to Murietta in 2000 to look for a house and ended up west of the interstate in the older area of town. Walked up to a home for sale, but turned around when I saw the owner sitting on a lawn chair with a handgun aimed towards the street. Decided to live in San Marcos instead…
JES
ParticipantThe good doctor should move to my part of the country, Iowa. I went to a neighborhood party last month and discovered that we have no less than 7 doctors living on our street. Nicest neighborhood in the city, and homes are priced in the mid 200s. And the doctors are likely making nearly the same salary that they would in San Diego, perhaps 10% less. The irony is that there seems to be some real pressure for new doctors to move into our ‘high end neighborhood’ and ‘stretch’ their finances. I actually heard someone tell me this a few weeks ago! Yes, they are making 120k starting salary and they consider buying a 250k home stretching it.
JES
ParticipantThe good doctor should move to my part of the country, Iowa. I went to a neighborhood party last month and discovered that we have no less than 7 doctors living on our street. Nicest neighborhood in the city, and homes are priced in the mid 200s. And the doctors are likely making nearly the same salary that they would in San Diego, perhaps 10% less. The irony is that there seems to be some real pressure for new doctors to move into our ‘high end neighborhood’ and ‘stretch’ their finances. I actually heard someone tell me this a few weeks ago! Yes, they are making 120k starting salary and they consider buying a 250k home stretching it.
JES
ParticipantThe good doctor should move to my part of the country, Iowa. I went to a neighborhood party last month and discovered that we have no less than 7 doctors living on our street. Nicest neighborhood in the city, and homes are priced in the mid 200s. And the doctors are likely making nearly the same salary that they would in San Diego, perhaps 10% less. The irony is that there seems to be some real pressure for new doctors to move into our ‘high end neighborhood’ and ‘stretch’ their finances. I actually heard someone tell me this a few weeks ago! Yes, they are making 120k starting salary and they consider buying a 250k home stretching it.
JES
ParticipantThe lesson I have learned is to keep track of every organization that has my address or personal info for any reason whatsoever via an excel spreadsheet that I update every time we move. I now have over 110 organizations that for one reason or another have my address, email address, phone number etc! I even update magazines that I no longer receive so that I don’t get renew notices at that old address. Even after updating them online, at least 15% needed to be re-updated because the change didn’t take affect. We are talking major companies like banks etc.
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