There’s been much ballyhoo lately about cost of living and affordability in media lately (deservedly so, imo) but I’m curious how hard it is for those of us who are a little more capable than normies (we like to think).
Feel free to be somewhat vague. Not asking anyone to doxx themselves. I’ll start.
In my mid-thirties. Married, two kids. Combined income is just under 100k. We live in a low cost of living area which has helped us a lot. We were able to buy a house in ‘21 with a 15 year mortgage and it feels like we got on the last lifeboat off the Titanic. We’ve been able to build about a 200k net worth, about half of which is home equity.
Day to day expenses are getting tougher, however. We’ve never had a car payment but our older kid has started school and that has put a strain on us since he goes to a private Christian school. I’ve worked in education and I consider sending a kid to public school to be akin to child abuse.
It feels harder and harder to save and invest. Just making ends meet with two kids in this red state feels like a Herculean task. Wondering if anyone else feels the same way.
Buying a shitty condo in 2017 saved my ass from the current struggles.
Used all my savings and went pay check to pay check for quite a while but it's what's keeping me afloat.
My mortgage+HOA+Water is like 850 a month. Current rent prices are double or more.
I recently married overseas to a long time family friend and we're trying to get things going.
I will admit life doesn't feel as "luxurious" as it did back in 2018 when things were CHEAP.
Thankfully paid off my student debt and just have a car loan after the car I paid cash for got totaled. Did have to get surgery and such which drained the finances a bit...
Ultimately it sounds like 1-2 smart financial decisions is keeping most of the people here in an maintainable position, but it's not ideal.