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04-02-2011 at 12:14 AM
applecider
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NYT Awesome: It Takes More to Make Ends Meet

 

Link here.  I'm fascinated by the numbers in this article so I thought I would share.  I think its relevant to our ongoing "What is Middle Class" debates and it has a budget to pick apart.  What's not to love?

Interesting that Childcare is the single greatest expense for the Single Parent.

I think the Housing Budget is too low and the Transportation Budget is too high.  And Savings?  $2700 per annum is not going to cover much in the way of financial emergencies or retirement for that family.


 
04-02-2011 at 1:00 AM
twodogsand...
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Interesting.  H makes between the one worker-one infant and one worker-two young children amounts. I pulled up last years budget to compare.  We budget off only his income as I SAH, but have started doing consulting as contracts come up.  We don't pay childcare or healthcare.  Our housing costs are close as well as utilities (includes HOA). Our cars are paid for so transportation is less.  We combine food and personal/household care lines and spend a little less than what they have.  Without my income, which goes straight to savings, we contribute quite a bit more to savings, which makes sense considering we have fewer expenses.  I don't feel like we are ever tight on our budget, if I was working enough to need childcare I think we would be able to maintain our lifestyles no problem, but we do live well below our means. 

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04-02-2011 at 7:27 AM
ariel06
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I wonder if it's based on averages for the whole country.  The child care for two kids is way too low for my area.  For even the cheapest home daycares it's atleast $2600 short. 

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04-02-2011 at 7:44 AM
Quizzle
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Interesting.

 

Housing, were we paying rent right now, is low. Our last apartment was 835/month. Child care is dead on for us, but only because we live in the less expensive burbs and the daycare we use isn't fancy, and is cheap and privately owned.  Transportation would actually be accurate for us if we had two car payments. We only have one, but gas is around 200+/month for just me, I'm not sure what it is for DH since he works irregularly, plus we have a 340/month car payment. Granted, I work at two offices and my closer one is 25 miles away. Our income last year was closer to the one worker one...we were BROKE and after the baby was born we were going into the negative every month when we only had DH's unemployment.




 
04-02-2011 at 8:37 AM
weddingpuf...
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We are making close to double the two workers income right now, and I frequently feel like we are going to be cutting it a little close budget wise with a baby. We however eat out frequently, spend on gifts, and vacations, and generally spoil ourselves as compared people making that little.

We will not be paying for childcare and that will truly be the biggest blessing for us. 

04-02-2011 at 1:00 PM
shouldbwor...
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ariel06:
I wonder if it's based on averages for the whole country.  The child care for two kids is way too low for my area.  For even the cheapest home daycares it's atleast $2600 short. 

Even if it is an average, I have no idea where they got their #'s from.  My daycare rates are the lowest I've ever seen when people do polls (and I live in MCOL) and for 2 kids FT they are $14k.  


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04-02-2011 at 1:59 PM
nital
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surely the childcare line is for stuff like diapers, clothes, formula?  the daycare i interviewed cost more than that....for 2 days a week.


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04-02-2011 at 2:29 PM
NessInNorC...
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While I agree that you can't meet your basic needs at the federal poverty level in most circumstances, I think the amounts they list cover a lot more than "making ends meet." Before getting married I made less than $30k in a HCOL, and I was able to save a decent amount and still afford a few splurges. And no one really NEEDS a car, even if it feels like you do.
 
04-02-2011 at 2:38 PM
casco01
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NessInNorCal:
While I agree that you can't meet your basic needs at the federal poverty level in most circumstances, I think the amounts they list cover a lot more than "making ends meet." Before getting married I made less than $30k in a HCOL, and I was able to save a decent amount and still afford a few splurges. And no one really NEEDS a car, even if it feels like you do.

I would argue that you do NEED a car if you work in a city with no public transportation. I live in the rural midwest where there is not even a public bus system. Unless you find a place to live with a high walkability factor (also harder to find in rural towns) you need reliable transportation of some sort. 

 
04-02-2011 at 4:54 PM
applecider
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casco01:

NessInNorCal:
While I agree that you can't meet your basic needs at the federal poverty level in most circumstances, I think the amounts they list cover a lot more than "making ends meet." Before getting married I made less than $30k in a HCOL, and I was able to save a decent amount and still afford a few splurges. And no one really NEEDS a car, even if it feels like you do.

I would argue that you do NEED a car if you work in a city with no public transportation. I live in the rural midwest where there is not even a public bus system. Unless you find a place to live with a high walkability factor (also harder to find in rural towns) you need reliable transportation of some sort. 

I agree.  Sadly there are some places where you need access to a car, even if its just to run errands.  Even in California there are areas without access to grocery stores.


 
04-02-2011 at 10:04 PM
jilybeans4
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applecider:
casco01:

NessInNorCal:
While I agree that you can't meet your basic needs at the federal poverty level in most circumstances, I think the amounts they list cover a lot more than "making ends meet." Before getting married I made less than $30k in a HCOL, and I was able to save a decent amount and still afford a few splurges. And no one really NEEDS a car, even if it feels like you do.

I would argue that you do NEED a car if you work in a city with no public transportation. I live in the rural midwest where there is not even a public bus system. Unless you find a place to live with a high walkability factor (also harder to find in rural towns) you need reliable transportation of some sort. 

I agree.  Sadly there are some places where you need access to a car, even if its just to run errands.  Even in California there are areas without access to grocery stores.

For real. I assume Ness lives in a city? I've never lived in a place that had extensive public transportation. Right now I live in a small town that has a bus stop at two stops twice a day. The closest stop to my house is several miles away. I really don't need a car to drive my 15 mile commute to work? Am I supposed to get up 2 hours early in 20 below zero weather with snow and walk to the bus stop? 

It sucks. I think we spend about 12k or so a year on transportation between two car payments, insurance, ,and gas. Which is very high but aside from driving extremely old beaters, unavoidable. 


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