Ideal Budget | Imamother

Peanut2

Sun, May 31 2015, 9:34 pm

I live way out of town in a small city with cheap housing and Jews who make a lot of money. I don't, but others do. And I was trying to figure out how much money I/someone would have to make to live comfortably. Not to be rich, which some people clearly are, but just to live in a nice home, and they are cheap(er) here, and pay full tuition for 4 kids, two cars, and feel like you can breath. I was just curious how much a person needs to make to be able to buy nice things in the grocery store, pay full tuition, and live in a nicer but not fancy home.

And the amount I came up with is insane! It is so high.

I feel a little insane for actually doing this, calculating numbers. Anyone else ever done this or wants to?

boysrus

Sun, May 31 2015, 11:57 pm

Peanut2 wrote:

Interesting thought, peanut2. I dont think I would want to mke such a calculation myself, it sounds potentailly too depressing! I think it is enough for me to know how my own budget works (or doesnt work) withot thinking about what could be, if I had the right income.

amother

Brunette

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 5:06 am

We are considering moving to America now, and we sat down and wrote out every single normal monthly bill/expense that we could think of, in order to see if we could do it financially. Example: gas = x amount per month, health insurance, auto insurance, etc... I think it's a very smart thing to do to first list all your expenses and see how much you have left over. You take some off for emergencies or unexpected expenses (I.e., mechanic, etc) and see how much leeway you have there to be able to live as you'd like.

imalady

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 10:15 am

actually the best way to do this is to find a way to live on what you have since that is all you can spend Smile

figure out how much you have after bills and then divide that amount over the two week pay period. THis way the musts are paid for. You'll find its usually not that much left over but if that's what there is, that's what you got. Spending more leads to CC debt.

The global number is too overwhelming. I have tuitions and all that and I came out with 90k a year. and I don't live in a relatively cheap OOT community

JAWSCIENCE

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 11:15 am

The problem is nobody can really answer you since we don't know what housing and tuition costs in your area. Those are the really big factors. The car and the groceries are not what usually pull people under. It's the tuition/childcare and mortgage that they cannot afford and those really vary from one place to anoth.

mommy3b2c

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 11:40 am

amother wrote:

I'm not at that stage of life yet but one tuition, one car (2 kids in pampers) buying everything I want without thinking twice come out to 36/3800/month

$3800 a month lets you buy whatever you want? are you sure? Where do you live?

I live in Brooklyn.

Rent- $2000
Tuition- $850 (for one) I actually have two bh.
Health insurance- $1600

Thats already $4450.

am I misunderstanding you?

Peanut2

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 11:58 am

I'm not trying to figure out a budget at all here! It's more of an exercise in the cost of living.

And oot is not cheap! Buying a house is cheap. You. An get one for less than $200k or a nice reasonable size one for $350k or so. But kosher food is expensive, and does put people through part of the roof OOT, especially very oot where I am, two cars are a must, and tuition is $6000 for half day preschool, much more with full care to hold down the job you need so you can pay tuition... And about $15,000 a year full tuition for elementary and middle school. Until 3 pm.

So is agree no one can tell me anything, but have to point out that while housing is cheaper, and the proportion of income going to it is cheaper, but the cost of food is higher, at least here.

Totally different question - but who gets paid every two weeks? What kind of jobs? I've only ever been paid monthly and so has dh.

nyer1

Mon, Jun 01 2015, 12:59 pm

budget is one of those things that really no one can figure out but you. it's normal to set a budget. it's normal for the budget to fluctuate.
my budget would look nothing like yours. my budget now also looks nothing like the way it will look next year, as circumstances change. also, what's important to you might not be important to me.

of the top of my head, things that I think about when budgeting:

mortgage / taxes
groceries
household supplies - cleaning materials, paper goods, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, diapers, wipes etc
tuition
babysitting
wiggle room for household repairs - things come up!
commuting costs - driving, train, parking permit, car insurance, gas, tolls
personal hygiene- haircuts, toiletries, nails, waxing, makeup, sheital wash/set, mikvah and mikvah prep
new clothes- not every month - shoes, hosiery etc
dry cleaning
entertainment and luxuries-not a necessity - going out to eat on rare occasion, netflix and hulu accounts, frozen yogurt or ice cream
simcha expenses, when appropriate - gifts for weddings, babies etc

this is just a list of things off the top of my head that someone would need to consider when budgeting, but I think the amount will vary from family to family based on location, income, values and size of family