how much $ do you need to make to live comfortable with just 1 parent working? (Charlottesville: apartment, to rent)

[alcidesvigo99]

I am married and have 3 kids. I've heard that NOVA is very expensive, but if I want to stay home with the kids, how much money does my hubby need to make?

[shellytc]

I suggest going to salary.com and do a comparison of salaries from where you are to where you are going. Assume how much you would need where you are to live on one salary and then it will tell you what the cost of living is where you are going and how much you would need to assume the same level of lifestyle.

Shelly

[jb124]

Wild guess is 75-85k for far suburbs, 100k for near suburbs. The main cost is housing. If you can figure out a way to live in a 500k+ house without having to pay the 2.5-3.5k a month in PITI/rent, you could survive on less.

[lrose4]

$120,000 just to get by in TH leaving and not too hot area

[jmarkd]

I've heard that NOVA is very expensive, but if I want to stay home with the kids, how much money does my hubby need to make?

Depends on housing. In Fairfax or Loudoun, you can rent for 66-75% of what it costs to buy, even in this down market. Assuming you rent and don't waste money, $55-65k/yr. will be enough for you to live in a decent townhome/ neighborhood if you rent.
The key is controlling your expenses. You don't have to pinch pennies to do it, you have to pinch dollars: from highest to lowest we're talking rent/ mortgage, then car payment(s), then groceries. These are the things you can control best. My family goes without cable and a house phone (we use cells exclusively), so that saves $50-60 a month. There are plenty of things like that you don't really NEED, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to rent and car payments.
I am taking a big pay cut and moving to Charlottesville. The lower cost of housing does not make up for the pay cut, so we are going to have to control the car and grocery bills a little better. Might mean selling a newer car for an older one, less steak on the grill, etc. I'm not too worried though.
Good luck![/quote]

[kmflan]

Either hubby needs to make at least 6 figures, or he will have a long commute and not see much of his children. You will not have any room in your budget for any debt or a high car payment, much less 2 car payments.
Housing is the greatest cost factor in NOVA, but gas and groceries also cost more, as do taxes, little league, ballet classes, etc... It can be done, but you will need some financial savvy. If your desire to be home with your children is a priority, you might consider relocating somewhere else if possible.

Good Luck!

[vankerck]

A lot of money. I'd recommend at least $80k/year, but it depends on where exactly you live and what your mortgage is like. Also, daycare (if your kids are not school-aged) is extremely expensive. Count on $10k/year at least (that's the minimum it would cost for full-time daycare for our 2-year-old, but hubby stays home), so I'd take that into account when deciding whether or not to work.

[worldwidebridgette]

I think these people are wrong, I've heard that the cost of living in V.A. is very cheap.

[SmerkyGrl]

Originally Posted by worldwidebridgette

I think these people are wrong, I've heard that the cost of living in V.A. is very cheap.

Only in the non-NOVa parts of VA. It is true, when I lived in Blacksburg, you could get a very decent 1 bedroom apartment for about 400 dollars. You'd be luck if you found anything of equal amenities/location/quality for under 1000 here in NOVa. As many said in your other post, the cost of living really varies depending on where in the state you move to

[5stones]

to the OP...

I am a stay at home mom of 3 kids. We live out in Leesburg, hubby commutes to Tysons. We have a nice 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath house with a small yard in a great kid friendly neighborhood. MY kids play soccer, tennis and swim on our local swim team. My hubby makes just over 100k we put 7%away in a retirement fund so we never see that. We are living fine on a TIGHT budget. we don't eat ut alot and the kids don't get weekly trips to mall or movies etc... I budget 1600/month for all household bills (minus mortage) and that seems ok...groceries etc are more expensive here. Kids activites are more expensive here...but all types are available. Gas is our biggest budget buster (we have no company car here).

We moved here with NO debt. 2 older cars no car payments and NO credit card DEBT. That is my biggest advice... we only have 1 credit card that we rarely use. Set you budget and live by it. We have been able to take 3 really nice beach vacations since moving here and paid for them in cash before we left.

hope this helps.