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Budget for family of 3
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amother
Mint


 

Post Tue, Jul 17 2018, 3:36 pm
How much does a family of 3 have to earn to realistically "make it" in Brooklyn? Monsey?
(Not counting on parental support or gov programs)

If you can include a budget/breakdown for expenses, that would be great!

*im not talking about the Lowest possible income, which is why I wrote make it. (I'm sure peoples opinions differ on what making it means. I mean to pay the bills without feeling suffocated)

Eta-: young couple with a baby. Either 1 or both parents working
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Tue, Jul 17 2018, 5:20 pm
There are good number of factors here. Does family of three require childcare? Yeshiva? How much does family of three pay for an apartment? Does family of three get medical insurance from job?
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jul 17 2018, 5:30 pm
amother wrote:
There are good number of factors here. Does family of three require childcare? Yeshiva? How much does family of three pay for an apartment? Does family of three get medical insurance from job?


More questions:
Does either job have a pension or do you need to fund your own retirement? If you are renting, do you want to put away savings to be able to buy? Do you own a car or will lease or finance?
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 4:58 am
amother wrote:
There are good number of factors here. Does family of three require childcare? Yeshiva? How much does family of three pay for an apartment? Does family of three get medical insurance from job?


Edited my op.
Thanks!
-Assume they don't get medical insurance from a job
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 5:01 am
nicole81 wrote:
More questions:
Does either job have a pension or do you need to fund your own retirement? If you are renting, do you want to put away savings to be able to buy? Do you own a car or will lease or finance?

Great questions.
No pension (at this point?)
The rest is fluid..
(savings are important but not necessarily to save to buy a house right away.)

I'm looking for what a breakdown on what expenses WOULD be. Thanks
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 8:32 am
Assuming 2 full time working parents, one car, a two bedroom apartment and you are still on your parents health insurance

Rent plus utilites 2200
car payment, insurance gas 600
babysitting 800
food 600
metrocard 115

Total 4315

These are the musts everything else clothing entertainment etc is up to you. I would say you if you had 1000 for everything else you should be fine. You won't be living the high life but definitely not penny pinching either.
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JoyInTheMorning




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 8:51 am
amother wrote:
Assuming 2 full time working parents, one car, a two bedroom apartment and you are still on your parents health insurance

Rent plus utilites 2200
car payment, insurance gas 600
babysitting 800
food 600
metrocard 115

Total 4315

These are the musts everything else clothing entertainment etc is up to you. I would say you if you had 1000 for everything else you should be fine. You won't be living the high life but definitely not penny pinching either.


This doesn't seem realistic to me. Both parents working and babysitting is $800 a month? So less than $200 a week, when the parent has to be away for a minimum of 45 hours a week, assuming a short commute? Where does anyone get babysitting for $4.45 an hour?

An unlimited metrocard is $121 per month, and you need two of them. If one of you drives to work, what about parking costs? They can be prohibitive.

Is a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn really less than $2k? (You need more than $200 for electricity, gas, cell phone, and internet.)

How long are both of them going to be 26 or under, so they can be on their parents' health insurance? What about health insurance for the baby? What about co-pays for doctor visits? Medication? Dental care?

What about car repairs? Shul memberships? Disposable diapers?

You can avoid buying new clothes, but you'll still need underwear, socks or stockings, etc.

This does not seem like a realistic budget.
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:23 pm
amother wrote:
Assuming 2 full time working parents, one car, a two bedroom apartment and you are still on your parents health insurance

Rent plus utilites 2200
car payment, insurance gas 600
babysitting 800
food 600
metrocard 115

Total 4315

These are the musts everything else clothing entertainment etc is up to you. I would say you if you had 1000 for everything else you should be fine. You won't be living the high life but definitely not penny pinching either.


No parental support.. which includes health insurance.. thanks..
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:25 pm
JoyInTheMorning wrote:
This doesn't seem realistic to me. Both parents working and babysitting is $800 a month? So less than $200 a week, when the parent has to be away for a minimum of 45 hours a week, assuming a short commute? Where does anyone get babysitting for $4.45 an hour?

An unlimited metrocard is $121 per month, and you need two of them. If one of you drives to work, what about parking costs? They can be prohibitive.

Is a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn really less than $2k? (You need more than $200 for electricity, gas, cell phone, and internet.)

How long are both of them going to be 26 or under, so they can be on their parents' health insurance? What about health insurance for the baby? What about co-pays for doctor visits? Medication? Dental care?

What about car repairs? Shul memberships? Disposable diapers?

You can avoid buying new clothes, but you'll still need underwear, socks or stockings, etc.

This does not seem like a realistic budget.


This is op. I agree with your post.

I thought I would get more responses Sad
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:37 pm
This is very approx
2000 apt
Bills utilities 500
Car 600
Food 1000
Clothes/household stuff 1000
Health insurance 500
Savings 500
Babysitting 750
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amother
Amethyst


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:53 pm
Where do you get health insurance for $500?
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:59 pm
amother wrote:
This is op. I agree with your post.

I thought I would get more responses Sad


Try to post out what you think is a reasonable budget - and let others to review it. You are asking other people to do the heavy lifting for you.

by your definition of "making it" - savings is not required. (IMHO if you aren't saving/investing you aren't "making it" - you're treading water).
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 12:59 pm
I live in Brooklyn, husband works full time and I'm part time. One baby, two bedroom apt

Rent- 1650 (we got lucky)
Utilities - about 100 depends on the year
No car and we're both local so no metrocard
Babysitter - 500
Food - 600
We qualify for Medicaid so no insurance payments
Extras such as diapers, toiletries, clothes - 500
Seasonal expenses - new coat, boots, Yom tov food, lulav and esrog etc aren't a set amount every month but need to be kept in mind
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amother
Blue


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 1:03 pm
amother wrote:
How much does a family of 3 have to earn to realistically "make it" in Brooklyn? Monsey?
(Not counting on parental support or gov programs)

If you can include a budget/breakdown for expenses, that would be great!

*im not talking about the Lowest possible income, which is why I wrote make it. (I'm sure peoples opinions differ on what making it means. I mean to pay the bills without feeling suffocated)

Eta-: young couple with a baby. Either 1 or both parents working


I live in the Far Rockaway/Five Towns area so the cost of living may be a bit higher but my husband and I have one baby, both work full time, no parental support, and have a combined income of a bit more than $300,000.00. We save every penny we can and don’t spend like crazy. We live comfortably but definitely not extravagantly and I’d say our yearly budget is around $75,000.00, all inclusive (mortgage, utilities, child care, food...). This doesn’t include vacations, Yom Tov (we go to our parents), tuition, or anything super expensive, just everyday basic expenses.
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 1:05 pm
amother wrote:
Try to post out what you think is a reasonable budget - and let others to review it. You are asking other people to do the heavy lifting for you.

by your definition of "making it" - savings is not required. (IMHO if you aren't saving/investing you aren't "making it" - you're treading water).


Ok I'll do that and let everyone take it apart Smile

I said saving for a house is not a priority right now. I agree I think savings is very important
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 1:40 pm
amother wrote:
Ok I'll do that and let everyone take it apart Smile

I said saving for a house is not a priority right now. I agree I think savings is very important
,

I didn't say anything about 'saving for a house'. I said just 'save/invest'.

Always Be Saving** - then when there is a need (like a downpayment, or a new XYZ, or a job that disappears, there is soemthing to draw from).

**or investing once there is a nice amount of risk free savings.
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jul 18 2018, 2:15 pm
Minimum for an apartment is 2k. With utilities, I'd budget 3k, with the remainder going to household furnishings, random items, replacements, and then savings.

Car insurance plus gas will be around 400/month. This doesn't include a car payment. If you buy a used car, then you need to add maintenance costs to your budget.

In my Brooklyn neighborhood, babysitting in a legal place for full time hours runs around $1300/month.

It's recommended to save about 10-15% of your income for retirement. Especially if you can't rely on parental help, this is so important. Whatever the monthly figure is that you come up with, add this on top.
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amother
Mint


 

Post Thu, Jul 19 2018, 10:55 am
[quote="amother"]Assuming 2 full time working parents, one car, a two bedroom apartment and you are still on your parents health insurance

Rent $2000
Utilities (water and electricity/gas) $200
Phone $50
Food $350
Misc household items(foil, detergent, toiletries etc) $100
Health Insurance $1000
401K $200
Car Insurance $50
Gas & Tolls
Metrocard
Grooming (haircut for him, wigs for her) $60
Date night $100


Baby
Diapers Wipes
Childcare

I purposely did not put in savings because that's discretionary. I'm a big believer in saving, even if you can only put away $100/month.

I'm trying to make a realistic budget of what u have to earn to live in these areas.
The above (and I'm missing certain fields..) comes out to 49,320 a year (post tax expenses)
I don't know how much baby costs are and what other expenses to out there.
Does a couple (even without a baby) need to earn <60k to make it?
That's my real question Smile
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amother
Bronze


 

Post Thu, Jul 19 2018, 11:24 am
Op, I'm in the same situation as you (Family of 3, no government programs, no parental assistance, both spouse and myself working) and I'm really struggling to figure this out.

I thought we have a nice income but we are still not managing to save.

Our actual expenses last month for your review! Smile hope it helps. Here goes;

Rent $1500 - Tiny one bedroom apartment
Utilities and cellphone $330 -
Cleaning lady $100
Food $1,500 embarrassed I know we spend a lot! Both my husband and I enjoy when there's enough food! And we buy lunch every day! embarrassed
Car expense including insurance $625
Car Service $225 - My transportation to work
IRS Tax Bill $500 - this is not a monthly expense but plug in anything else for a different month!
Babysitting $800
Charity $360
Insurance partly work subsidized $1,000
Term life insurance $300

Total of $7,240

Thank you Hashem that we cover ourselves every month! But its quite insane to spend this much for a family of three!!!

I am not saying we live tight. We actually live quite comfortably, aside from out tiny apartment.... But I would've thought a family of three can live comfortably on a lot less!

This is mostly the basic! Does not include regular household purchases like detergent etc. Clothing, or Yom Tov, vacation etc.

Ok now all of you frugal, figured this out, budgeted imas.... Throw the tomatoes.... I'm ducking!
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Kiwi13




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jul 19 2018, 11:30 am
amother wrote:
Op, I'm in the same situation as you (Family of 3, no government programs, no parental assistance, both spouse and myself working) and I'm really struggling to figure this out.

I thought we have a nice income but we are still not managing to save.

Our actual expenses last month for your review! Smile hope it helps. Here goes;

Rent $1500 - Tiny one bedroom apartment
Utilities and cellphone $330 -
Cleaning lady $100
Food $1,500 embarrassed I know we spend a lot! Both my husband and I enjoy when there's enough food! And we buy lunch every day! embarrassed
Car expense including insurance $625
Car Service $225 - My transportation to work
IRS Tax Bill $500 - this is not a monthly expense but plug in anything else for a different month!
Babysitting $800
Charity $360
Insurance partly work subsidized $1,000
Term life insurance $300

Total of $7,240

Thank you Hashem that we cover ourselves every month! But its quite insane to spend this much for a family of three!!!

I am not saying we live tight. We actually live quite comfortably, aside from out tiny apartment.... But I would've thought a family of three can live comfortably on a lot less!

This is mostly the basic! Does not include regular household purchases like detergent etc. Clothing, or Yom Tov, vacation etc.

Ok now all of you frugal, figured this out, budgeted imas.... Throw the tomatoes.... I'm ducking!


Personally I think this is a great example of how proper budgeting is different for everyone! Some people would prefer a bigger living space and more frugal spending elsewhere. We each allocate what we have to cover the expenses most important to us. No need to apologize for living within your means and spending more on the things most important to you.
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