Middle Class Family earns $125k while still losing sleep about money

Parent Cafe
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<p><a href=“http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post--doing-well-at-dollar125k-but-still-losing-sleep-about-money”>http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post--doing-well-at-dollar125k-but-still-losing-sleep-about-money&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is the Brada family monthly budget:</p>

<p>Mortgage – $2,700.
Electricity – $300.
Wife’s cellphone – $70.
Internet – $70.
Energy company – $40.
Water/sewer – $100.
Vehicle gas – $100.
Tollways – $40.
Student loans – $700.
Groceries – $150.
Credit cards – $3,000.
Other home costs – $700.
Total – $7,970.</p>

<p>Interesting article - important reminders about health insurance and student loan debt.</p>

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<p>Credit cards – $3,000.</p>

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<p>Some of those look off. $150 a month for groceries, but $3000 a month on credit cards? Do they go out to eat a lot?</p>

<p>Okay, read the article and it says they never go out to eat. How do you only spend $150 a month on groceries for a family of 4?</p>

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<p>Where is the health insurance premium per month? Ours is $1,300+. And energy cost of $40?? Wow, that would be wonderful.</p>

<p>Oh, I see, they’re budgeting $30 a month for a health savings account. That’s humorous.</p>

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<p>^^^Energy cost is probably for gas. They budget 300/month for electricity.</p>

<p>It seems that after taxes, they are spending every cent. No savings at all? What about health insurance as ML notes above? </p>

<p>This just doesn’t look right. Obviously they are in too much house. They cannot afford a $2700/month mortgage.</p>

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<p>The mortgage is kind of high for Texas.</p>

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<p>The $3,000 on the credit cards probably obscures a lot of spending that they may be able to reduce if they looked at it more closely. Unless, of course, most of it is interest from past spending.</p>

<p>The internet and cell phone costs seem high. The electricity seems really high ($300, not included in the $40 energy cost listed separately). The grocery budget seems much more frugal than the rest of their budget, although if they are eating from restaurants a lot, that may indicate non-frugality.</p>

<p>They apparently did not have medical insurance previously, when one of the kids had an expensive medical condition that they had to pay for. Perhaps they are still skimping on it, despite the ACA making it possible to buy (previously, they were probably unable to buy at any price due to pre-existing conditions).</p>

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<p>The $3000 credit card, I think, includes the groceries, clothes, and other stuff. I charge everything I can to my Costco Amex, including my phone bills and auto insurance, and I pay the Amex bill in full. So technically I do not pay $200/month insurance, because that is paid for with my Amex bill. </p>

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<p>No, not in Texas for a 3500 sq. foot house with a pool.</p>

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<p>They claim they don’t go out to eat.</p>

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<p>My friend in Texas has 4000 sq foot house, he pays about $600 a month.</p>

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<p>^^^^For what? Electricity?</p>

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<p>“Energy company” could be street light etc. assessment. We paid $7/month or something like that back in our old house. </p>

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<p>I have a feeling that this family is really going to regret participating in this article.</p>

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<p>Going out to eat has nothing to do with “grocery” - it would be a different line item IMO. I bet the grocery bill is hidden in “credit card”. :)</p>

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<p>Well, it all evens out since they are spending way too little on health insurance. Credit card must be everything else, clothes come to mind immediately… </p>

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<p>Yes electricity.</p>

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<h1>12 - Nrdsb, I was thinking that, too!</h1>

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<p>Who knows about credit card. No way are they only spending $150 month on groceries. Probably credit card costs include plenty of food costs, and many other things. Perhaps they have a lot of medical debt on the cards, income tax, property tax, it could be anything. I see how this could happen to people. They need to go full Dave Ramsey method if they really are staying awake at night worrying. Give up the house and some other things, as hard as it can be.</p>

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<p>They have a 3500 sq. foot house with a pool in Plano valued at $350K. That is not extravagant relative to other houses in Plano, but nevertheless it is more than they can comfortably afford.</p>

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<p>$350K is three times of their annual income. Is that supposed to be too much of a house for the income?</p>