How much do you need to make in order to live comfortably?

amother

Forestgreen

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 6:15 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Except for the post that said they need 20k dollars, the incomes are not so high. Lets say both spouses are working, 20k is not that much. Lets say one makes 15 and the other 5. Thats about average, I believe.
Average full time salary is about 12k, so if 2 adults/parents are making roughly that, or in that area, the combined income will be between 20 - 30 k shek a month.

But isn't that before taxes?
When we say what we need to live off of, we're talking net.
I wrote above that our combined income is 38K shekel, but that is no where near what we bring home, and therefore I wouldn't say we live comfortably and worry-free. We'd need to earn much more than 38K shekel to bring home the comfortable number.
A couple earning the average of 12K each is coming home with much less.

amother

PlumPink

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 6:25 am

There have been studies that most people will say they need 30% more to be satisfied, including wealthy people. Very few millionaires say ok that’s enough I don’t need anymore! Virtually everyone “needs” more.

amother

Lightcoral

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 6:27 am

Rappel wrote:

Israelis - from where do you get such a high income?

I know right.

We make 8k in shekels a month. One baby. No car. Don't own an apartment.

Were pretty okay right now but I'd love to be a little more comfortable.

amother

Sunflower

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 6:51 am

We live in israel. We make 20,000 a month.
7 kids. All in school. Plus tutors lots of medical stuff.
We could definitely use a few extra shekels but I can’t complain.

amother

Ghostwhite

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 7:06 am

Right now to get by we need about 5k per month bare minimum. To be comfortable I would say 7k would be nice. I'm not working right now so things are very tight, but this is short term.
Family of 4 OOT community.

amother

Melon

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 7:30 am

Rappel wrote:

Israelis - from where do you get such a high income?

We both work in hi tech and we are in our upper 40s and very established in our careers.

amother

Olive

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 7:32 am

Right now were making 10k post tax living oot 5 kids pretty frugally I would say. Some months in the red which we cover with 'extra' money. Making 4-5k more we would be able to save and renovate our home much more easily.

amother

Khaki

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 7:37 am

I live in brooklyn. Bring in about 14,000 dollars a month net.
8 children Bh, 2 married, 2 in yeshiva, 4 living at home.
Not enough unfortunately.
Mortgage 3600
Bills w/o credit cards 5800
Food is a fortune - minimum $600 a week
Plus all other basics - things for kids, cleaning help…

amother

Hydrangea

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 8:02 am

I live in Lakewood with 5 kids kah. To live comfortably I'd need about 12k a month. That's without any luxuries. At all.

amother

Moonstone

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 8:35 am

Theee kids . Three tuitions about $3500 a month. We spend between 25,000 and 30,000 a month. We are comfortable. Far from rich and still have many money worries . Live in Brooklyn.

amother

Dandelion

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 8:38 am

We make $150k pre tax and we are not covering basics we are a family of 8 plus a married couple. Expenses have gone insane.

amother

Lightpink

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 8:46 am

We live in Monsey. We make 12K a month bh bh but with all expenses, no government programs, we're "poor middle class." We cannot afford a home or put much in savings. I don't really shop local. We have 3 kids in school. Rent, food is through the roof, bills, gas, car, dentist, co pays, insurance......
Bh, I think we make nice accordingly, hashem should help further.

amother

Lightpink

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 8:47 am

amother Moonstone wrote:

Theee kids . Three tuitions about $3500 a month. We spend between 25,000 and 30,000 a month. We are comfortable. Far from rich and still have many money worries . Live in Brooklyn.

May I ask what you spend 30K a month on? I think that someone that has 30K a month to spend, is rich.

amother

Wandflower

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 9:06 am

amother PlumPink wrote:

Those studies weren’t done in a Frum community where rich and poor live together.
Ofcourse if you’re living in a wealthy area your expenses will be a lot higher so you’ll “need” more.
Bh we have more than what we need.

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 9:11 am

amother Forestgreen wrote:

Very true. And thats why so many israelis answered that they need more to live comfortably.

amother

Moonstone

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 9:18 am

amother Lightpink wrote:

May I ask what you spend 30K a month on? I think that someone that has 30K a month to spend, is rich.

Tuition - $3500
Mortgage- $5000
Food- $2000
Tutors- $1680
Cleaning help- $1600
Heat- $1000
Insurance - $2000
Car insurance- $500
That’s already about $17,000

amother

Pear

Mon, Jan 02 2023, 9:22 am

In Lakewood, family of 4, no tuition, just daycare
We’d need about $6k/mo to be comfortable. Right now we make closer to $4k after taxes so every penny spent is a conscious decision.
That’s with everyone on Jersey Care, WIC, we outright own both of our cars, and we rent (our rent just doubled because previous landlord didn’t want to renew so we had to move and prices went out of control)