How much do you spend...

amother

Brown

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 12:50 pm

monthly expenses are $2800 and income is about the same

I live in lakewood and have two babies. I feel as if I am about the low middle class because we can afford what we need to live basically comfortably. it does get a little tight every y"t but somehow we make it. my husband is learning so if it gets too hard he will get a job and then income will be a little more. I also work on the side and can decrease my office hours and work at home more (I make like 4 times as much that way but enjoy the office) Being that I still have these leeways I feel middle..

amother

Scarlet

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 1:17 pm

We earned 7,200 combined after taxes and try to stay within our budget of 7k a month.
We have two kids and live in LA
I think we're lower middle class but have an advantage of having a really nice nest egg bli ayan hara and can usually deal with unexpected expenses.
For what I think is considered middle class and wealthy -depends on how many kids and the expenses but for my current state to be middle class I would say probably earning 150-200k a year and to be wealthy would be 500k - 1 million a year

amother

Violet

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 2:13 pm

amother wrote:

we live in NY
Combined income: around 140K
5 kids bH
monthly expenses around $10,000.
Consider ourselves low middle class. BH we have everything we need!
I am wondering how the poster above lives, making only $60,000 with the same number of children. She didn't write where she lives but with that amount of income in NY she can get benefits.

I'm the amother above that you refer to, I didn't write where I live, as we're in the process of moving out of NY, our expenses though will be similar. We don't qualify for programs as our income is complicated, we get a certain amount every month that is showing as income but goes directly to pay for something, so I deducted from our actual income as it's not ours to spend. It's a complicated situation.

As the move progresses, It seems some expenses will go down and others up, so we will still be spending around the same amount monthly initially. It'll change soon and iyh we will be able to cover our bills in a few months.

amother

Khaki

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 2:22 pm

We make around $40,000
We live in Israel in a rented apt
We have two kids minimal tuition
We spend around $2500 a month (I think)
I consider myself middle class, cuz we can afford more than the neighbors because I work, most people in my neighborhood don't work.

amother

Chocolate

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 2:59 pm

We are earning about $90,00 this year, pre-tax.
We spend, I guess, around $5,500 monthly (guessing here--tuition and health care are taken from pre-tax income, so I'm getting to this number in an indirect way)--after taxes we will save around $15,000.

We consider ourselves middle class. We spend more frugally than many, but we are also able to save and give tzedakah as much or more than our targets.

One child, one on the way.

amother

Hotpink

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 4:13 pm

We spend about $5,500 a month, on average, for everything - all food, childcare, cars, mortgage, etc. Our income that actually gets deposited into our accounts is about $6,000 a month. BUT, that is AFTER paying for healthcare, dental, vision, taxes, and nice contributions to our 401ks, so there is some savings built in. Our pre-tax (before all the deductions listed above) income is around $130k annually (we pay a LOT for healthcare), and thank G-d, there is nice room for growth of my salary. Next year, our kids will be in real school and our tuition payments will be going up by a lot.

I consider us middle class. We live OOT, but not in a place that's SUPER affordable. We do own our home, and have savings and make out ok. We are pretty thrifty - don't take vacations or have anything super fancy (just not our style).

amother

Seagreen

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 8:51 pm

We bring in around 4000 a month post tax. We live in brooklyn with two kids. 1775 rent gas electric. 1300 tuition/childcare. That leaves 900 a month for food diapers clothing an occassional car service etc. If were lucky we put 100-200 away a month. I consider us lower middle class. Were making it right now but we clearly will need more as the family grows. Dh is in a kollel that does not pay at all but he tutors at night. When we need more he will go to work.

amother

Coffee

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:06 pm

Funny how everyone pretty much considers themselves low middle class. It seems we all make it just work no matter how much were earning. Interesting,

amother

Olive

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:16 pm

amother wrote:

Funny how everyone pretty much considers themselves low middle class. It seems we all make it just work no matter how much were earning. Interesting,

Op here. It is really interesting! We have people on here saying they are lower middle class that make $150,00 and there are people on here that make $40,000 and say the same thing. I don't work and my husband probably makes about $200,000. I don't consider us lower middle class, but I don't know if I should consider us upper yet?
It's also interesting that in the us, the median house hold income is $51,000, and pretty much everybody on here makes more than that.

amother

Indigo

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:22 pm

frum expenses are a lot more then secular expenses. A cashier rang up a bag of cheese for me at the supermarket and asked me what kind of incredible cheese was this that it cost soooo much! I told her it was just plain cheese, the only difference was that it was kosher LOL -only not so funny when trying to pay your bills. My husband once said to his co-workers there's a reason why he brings lunch from home and we don't have steak for dinner...

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:30 pm

amother wrote:

Well... alot depends on how many kids u have and where you live. 40,000 with 5 kids is not middle class but one or 2 with a SAHM could be. There are many people who say they are very poor on here. They for some reason didnt respond.
I am curious for people to add what they and dh do to make their salaries.

amother

Purple

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:41 pm

consider myself lucky and doing well

Spend about $5500 a month 3 kids, 950 of that goes to tuition, 1500 to rent, on Medicaid, the rest goes to assorted life needs.

Don't spend that much every month, but that includes yom tov and all that

but honestly I think we are doing really well. would love to go on private insurance but it doesn't look like that is happening for the time being.

ROFL

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:50 pm

Would, love to know what people, do to earn a salary of over 100,000 per year if only one of you works. I am curious if a person is working in a job for example OT PT Doctor lawyers or are people self employed with business?

amother

Natural

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 10:10 pm

We make 150k a yr after taxes and spend approx 10,000 a month. We have 6 kids and don't have to pay tuition. We save approximately 2k a month. I would consider us upper class because I have a lot of cleaning help.( 4 days a week) But we don't go out to eat or go on vacations.

staten islander

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 10:33 pm

We make between 300K to 500K a year, 4 kids. We spend about 13 to 15 k a month,including tuition. Obviously,live in SI.Consider ourselves very blessed,BH

amother

Sapphire

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 10:42 pm

ROFL wrote:

My husband makes about 95k a year . (I make 5k a year- I only work 3 hours a week).
He is a manager in a business in the food industry. He gets paid nicely but works very hard and long hours during the busy season.

amother

Olive

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 10:50 pm

ROFL wrote:

Op here. My husband is self employed.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 11:16 pm

amother wrote:

Op here. My husband is self employed.

Husband is self employed. We make 180k before taxes in Lakewood. Spend about 6k per month. I guess we are middle class? 4 kids.

amother

Lilac

Tue, Mar 15 2016, 11:19 pm

ROFL wrote:

I work for the federal government, I have a Masters degree in engineering from a top college, and 16 years full time work experience. I live in an expensive town so my pay is adjusted for locality, plus my job requires knowledge of foreign languages and I get paid extra for maintaining my proficiency. I take language tests yearlu in two languages and get a max score, my langiage pay depends on the score. I earn about $120K before taxes. after all taxes and deductions and healthcare premiims I take home about 6K. I spend every penny. our expenses are high for many reasons (high debt, legal fights, high healthcare expenses)...