Struggling to get by on a $300k household income

Your mortgage is way too high. Should be less than 25-30% of take home pay. Sell and buy a cheaper home

This seems reasonable:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Newark-NJ/38709478_zpid/12970_rid/100000-_price/369-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.828748,-74.026909,40.633626,-74.33693_rect/11_zm/

You've definitely mismanaged your life and family (obviously you know this as you are asking for help on a running forum.

I know people with half your income and likely less stressful and more flexible jobs that are thriving.

Guessing your job might have components of academic smarts but you guys are street dumb.

$300k is more than enough money to live where you are. You are just wasting it. $1400 a month on groceries. What are you eating? That is $350 a week for two adults and two kids. I live in SoCal where it is not cheap and a family of four can eat healthy and great for $200 a week easily (food prices are comparable). I grew up in north Jersey so I know what the expenses are. You can save $600 a month on groceries easily. How much of a mortgage did you get, $700,000? I pay $1400 a month for a $280,000 mortgage. Double it to $2800 a month for $560,000. Lets say you pay $4,200 a month, so you would have roughly a mortgage of $840,000 (plus $1300 a month for property taxes which is $15,600 a year, but could be higher). Did you put any money down on your house or finance nearly 100%? Car payments are reasonable. You could easily live in a great area and have a house for $750,000, and save more. You really need to sit down with a financial/tax planner. A $25,000 tax refund is way too much. Lower how much is being taken out of your pay.

moose wrote:

This seems reasonable:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Newark-NJ/38709478_zpid/12970_rid/100000-_price/369-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.828748,-74.026909,40.633626,-74.33693_rect/11_zm/

Schools in Newark are failing - among the worst in the country. Of course we could live there but once the kids are old enough they'd have to go to private school. For 2 kids, that's around $50k per year.

Also, Newark is nice if you don't mind burning trash cans, gangs, hit and runs etc.... ;)

East_Coaster wrote:

moose wrote:

This seems reasonable:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Newark-NJ/38709478_zpid/12970_rid/100000-_price/369-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.828748,-74.026909,40.633626,-74.33693_rect/11_zm/

Schools in Newark are failing - among the worst in the country. Of course we could live there but once the kids are old enough they'd have to go to private school. For 2 kids, that's around $50k per year.

Also, Newark is nice if you don't mind burning trash cans, gangs, hit and runs etc.... ;)

Sounds like a lot of excuses. How about this:

You sound like a little wiener/ snob who makes terrible financial decisions and too little income to be a snob.

"it leaves no cushion"

You save a lot. (about $100k a year)

That's your cushion.

uppity wrote:

You sound like a little wiener/ snob who makes terrible financial decisions and too little income to be a snob.

the guys goes grocery shopping at whole foods and then complains he is poor. CLASSIC.

moose wrote:

Sounds like a lot of excuses. How about this:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/32988500_zpid/3-_beds/300000-450000_price/1106-1660_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.999464,-73.703327,40.804844,-74.013348_rect/11_zm/

Again, Yonkers schools are awful. Of course we could save 50% on our mortgage there and pay $2500 instead of what we're paying now. But in a couple of years we would have to send our kids to private school.

I don't think you folks from the flyover states understand what it means to live on the east coast, financially.

This dude is either a troll or horrible with money.

What do you and your wife do for a living?

The nature of your spending habits leads me to believe it would likely be more financially beneficial (and a far better lifestyle) for one of you to be a stay at home parent.

Cook meals for the kids (healthier and save a ton on your ridiculous grocery bill)

Get rid of that huge childcare bill

Spend more time with your kids

etc etc.

I get the 5k house payment, you live in NYC. I don't get the $1000 car payments. There's no reason your car payments should be any more than the rest of ours. Maybe you should have bought a 10 year old Honda Accord like the rest of us

You sound like the dumbest guy making 300k out there.

98% of americans want to punch you in your face for the statement "struggling to make ends meet on 300k"

You know you sound like a huge tool right?

An example of OP's dumb spending habits. family income of 300k and has to buy a car on credit!!?? You are fiscally disabled my friend.

Jimmy21 wrote:

I get the 5k house payment, you live in NYC. I don't get the $1000 car payments. There's no reason your car payments should be any more than the rest of ours. Maybe you should have bought a 10 year old Honda Accord like the rest of us

East_Coaster wrote:

$25,000 monthly combined gross salary

15% each in our 401ks, leaves $17,500 adjusted gross income

Besides the fact that this is a troll topic that has been beaten to death, by better trolls than you, it's worth noting that you busted your hustle here.

the critique wrote:

You are overpaying and under earning

Here is my assessment:

- You didn't buy your car outright?? Were you in financial strife at the time? This seems silly.

AMEN!

Don't tell me you got a "good deal" on the car or some crap. You're proof that borrowing money to buy a car is just stupid.

family man wrote:

The nature of your spending habits leads me to believe it would likely be more financially beneficial (and a far better lifestyle) for one of you to be a stay at home parent.

Doesn't really work in our favor here. Incomes are roughly similar so that would only leave $150k if one stayed home.

Also, long term, good luck finding a well paying job after you stayed home for 5-10 years.

Seriously, I think most of you live somewhere in Kentucky or South Dakota with no kids and you don't realize how expensive it is over here.

Cheese War wrote:

oh please wrote:

15% on 300k gross income for a 401k is 45k a year. Max per year from 2015-2017 is 18,000 per year per person (traditional and Roth), so right off this post sounds at least partially made up.

I think that part actually makes sense.

Govt limits are $18K (401K) + $5500 (Roth or traditional) total per person per year. So thats $23500 * 2 = 47,000. We have been maxing out both for a few years now.

"The government won't raise the limit on how much you can contribute to your retirement accounts next year. You'll be allowed to defer up to $18,000 of your salary to your 401(k) and contribute as much as $5,500 to your IRA or Roth IRA in 2017, the same as this year.Oct 27, 2016"

401(k), IRA contribution limits won't go up in 2017 - Oct. 27, 2016

money.cnn.com/2016/10/27/retirement/401k-ira-contribution-2017/index.html

However, I have a different question.

What are leaves? And why do they cost this much each month? (If this is your lawn service, just cut down the hand trimmed topiaries)

Leaves: $800