<p>^^ This is the beauty of every family deciding what is important and adds value to their lives…where to spend their money. The problem starts when others try to judge those choices. If a family decides that travel is important, and private college education is not their top priority, that’s for them to judge.</p>
<p>Gas - At least $200 per month
Cell phone - At least @100 per month
Internet & other communications - $120 per month
Electricity & gas - $100 per month (?)
Garbage & water - $100 per month (?)</p>
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<p>Not **all **docs. No big house, big car, or big vacation here.</p>
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<p>Well said. We have benefited from living in the suburbs (although I have a kind of lengthy commute that is not very environmentally responsible) so we can send our kids to good public schools for K-12. And we’ll be able to swing the college educations. But our house is not the grand showplace that most around us own. I bought the house as a first year associate. At one time we thought we’d move to a bigger place when the kids got older…but then we were just a few years from the nest starting to empty, so why bother? I tell myself that if we lived in Manhattan, our place would be considered HUGE.</p>
<p>When we moved here, we chose our house with the school district in mind. We wanted our kids on public schools. Then in DD’s ninth grade year, our appointed school board made some really poor decisions and we decided private high school was the way to go for both kids. By the end of high school, we will have spent quite a lot that we had not originally planned in the grand scheme.</p>
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<p>I am a very strong believer in a public school education. With that said, during every legislative session (thankfully, they meet only every other year), the Texas legislature does something else to screw up the public schools. If my kids were starting school now, I might check out the private schools.</p>
<p>private school from K-8 for 4 kids</p>
<p>taxes, insurance, fairly modest house payment, +repairs/maintenance. 2 cars that we always drive into the ground.</p>
<p>No big trips, 2nd home, or a boat here! </p>
<p>Saved some for college, but the way the 401K and other investments tanked, it’s just as well that we can swing a decent amount on cash flow, cause the savings accounts just didn’t do it. We would have been better off putting it under the mattress!</p>
<p>Re kids realizing what things cost–they don’t even know what a cell phone would cost if they had to pay for the plan themselves! Or car insurance for an under-25 year old. They are lucky they have us. ;)</p>
<p>I just remembered–I have always been grateful we had good health and never had big bills in that way. I feel so sorry for some friends who are left with massive bills after (thankfully) a child recovered from a serious health issue.</p>
<p>1980’s in grad school
1990’s in Happydad’s country
2000’s playing catch-up with retirement funds</p>
<p>Still renting, no boat, one car.</p>
<p>I did the math, and told Happydad and Happykid that it was 2 years at the CC or scholarships from somewhere. Happykid chose the CC (“Why should I apply anywhere else? It has my major!!!”), and landed a scholarship. Completely unexpected, and absolutely blessed! The tuition money for the first semester is going to a graduation trip instead.</p>
<p>I cannot believe I forget to include health insurance bills and medical bills, self-employed means paying for a high deductible plan. $5500 deductible, $11k out of pocket sounds like a safety net in case something happen. You simply become accustomed to staying healthy 
Or travel to Canada for cheaper Rx and minor care.</p>
<p>Then something happens and you literally think twice before going to the ER knowing it will cost you at least $5k cash for some pain meds and if you have follow up treatment, you have to come up with that $11k 
Friends & family members with health benefits don’t think about that when they think you have $</p>
<p>On top of $400 or more a month for that benefit</p>
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<p>So true.</p>
<p>You can make a lot less in salary if you have true “benefits.”</p>
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So true</p>
<p> . and more likely to over use and abuse the system when you have true benefits I see it EVERY day.</p>
<p>TTaxi- absolutely, when one is not paying out of pocket, one is more likely to overuse the system. My Dad was sure that way.</p>
<p>My solve for the health care reform would be to have every one have a $5k deductible and then we would have some competition amongst providers and people would be paying more up front so the physicians could get paid right away instead of waiting for ages.</p>
<p>I must admit, though, that I have met our deductible for the first time since my youngest DD was born and the insurance processing has been efficient and not at all problematic. Thus far, with dozens of bills from all different providers, there have been only two items to be resubmitted and each of those had already been addressed when i called to check.</p>
<p>i was also quite impressed with the rapidity of approval for referrals, maybe they are more efficient when it involves an oncologist, but they approved the guru surgeon instantly and his preferred hospital quite quickly.</p>
<p>I have paid cash for the past 20 years, but the system did seem to work well for me now that I’ve tried it.</p>
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<p>Thank goodness!</p>
<p>autism and other LD’s…</p>
<p>Along with taxes /utilities etc, we spend alot on not only our own health care ( despite ins- my glasses for example were $1000, more than my first car!), but for our dog who recently passed away, we spent thousands over the last five years. Not only for medication, but for dental care and surgery.</p>
<p>( however- she was a member of our family- one that was much easier to get along with too 
)</p>
<p>My D wants a wallaby for some reason- I am tempted to borrow one ( there is a ranch about 20 miles away) and tell her that is what her college money is going to go to!</p>
<p>Our kids know that things cost money, they just don’t necessarily know how much or how it all adds up. If they are just seeing items one at a time (a $25 present for a friend’s birthday, $40 for gas, $100 for groceries), they’re just not aware of how just those few items end up being $7-8k a year right there in aftertax income. We will probably sit down with D1 at some point and give her a tour of our income and outgo so she can see the sorts of things she’ll be facing in a few short years.</p>
<p>Other things people haven’t already mentioned: newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Synagogue membership. Plumber/electrician/etc, especially when something goes haywire on a weekend.</p>
<p>Costco?
Yeah, they know each thing costs $8-10, but when they see us come home with, basically, nothing new or nothing special, they don’t realise we just spent $400 :D</p>
<p>Costco is bad- I don’t think you can even get out the door without spending $100, even if a pair of Lucky cropped jeans are only $14.95, a pack of tuna is $9, but 10 pair of socks, a memory card and maybe some vitamins and you are over $80.</p>
<p>– Medical out-of-pocket expenses running ~$13-14k/year
– Stayed home with kids three years when they were young
– worked FT/PT until I went out on unpaid medical leave for five years
– day care expenses as much as $15,000/yr. when I went back to work
– $700/mo. for $54k in student loans
– DH moved from private firm to gov’t in 1997, which was a pay cut for him, but the medical benefits have made up the difference
– saving for a down payment (we didn’t buy our first house until the kids were in elem school; no help from parents)
– saving $$ for retirement
– insurance (medical, dental, vision, long-term care, auto, life, umbrella, homeowner’s)</p>
<p>We took S2 with us when we got a car and had him read the loan paperwork. Was eye-opening for him to see how much monthly payments run on a $24k car!</p>