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.
I had to walk away from everything in the divorce. I just didn't have the stamina of spirit to fight so tooth and nail against someone I once loved so much just for some stuff. So, I've been dealing with rebuilding and replacing in addition to everything else these past couple of years. It's been incredibly hard; every dilemma and setback that inevitably comes up in life feels piled on and insurmountable. But I make progress as I can, where I can, and I know I'm getting somewhere. Anyone can look at how much I've done with nothing and know that I can't stay down much longer.
Did she cheat and still get half your stuff?