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Many of the trades covered by Germany's robust trade school /internship system require college degrees here in the US (or at least one would have difficulty being hired without a college degree).
Germany also has robust labor protection laws (workers council) to complement its robust trade school system. Few people will spend years mastering a trade if they know they can lose their jobs on a whim.
We aren't "making it" here. We are looking to move to FL. We have one parent on SSD and one working P/T....don't have big debt, and don't do anything extra ( can't afford to)... but it is just too tight here for us.
Monthly take home is similar. Big difference is the mortgage, and groceries. I bought a fixer-upper, and have invested too much time and money on it. I had 20% down, and refinanced after 8 years to another 30 year.
We spend more on groceries which prevents from eating out. Eating out is a wallet vacuum, especially on Long Island.
Here's my ~5k/mo. on avg. expenses with two children:
Mortgage w/taxes - $1850
Life insurance - $60
Auto insurance - $115 (2 cars)
Gas for cars - $170
Electric bill - $60
Gas/Oil bill - $110 (rough average
Water bill - $30 (avg'd from year total)
Internet/Sling/Amazon Prime - $40/$25/$15
Eating out - $300
Groceries - $650
Kids' extra curriculars - $200 (2 kids, multiple activities)
Car payment - paid off
Clothing/Haircuts - 50 (not even)
Savings - $0
401K - $600
College accounts - $0
Your mortgage is really low. Your house is probably in the low 300s? right?
Auto insurance $115? I'm paying $250 for 1 subaru impreza (insane!). What company and car do you have?
Electric bill $60? Your house has to be tiny to spend that amount. Or you use the bare minimum: 1 light bulb.
Kids: I have to pay over $1000 in daycare a month for 1! I can't even think of having a 2nd child.
Don't bother paying bills anymore. The world as we know it is coming to an end soon and nothing will matter anymore so live it up while you still can. It's going to get real ugly.
Auto insurance $115? I'm paying $250 for 1 subaru impreza (insane!). What company and car do you have?
Our auto is $143/mo. total for 2 cars. Liberty Mutual with home also (multi policy discount)... we don't even pay more than $3k/yr for home+auto and you're paying that on 1 car.
Do you have a ticket or accident on record or something?
I understand both parents need to work and you need to pull in an average household income of $150+ but I see so many threads on here about people (in their 30's) saying they need help finding a house but don't want anything too expensive and then say their ceiling is $750K! I'm baffled! What do these people do for a living!? How do these people afford these houses and these lifestyles!? What's their secret? I guess I'm more interested in knowing what everyone does for a living (spouses too) and what they make a year. I know it's a bit of a personal question and please don't answer if you think so but I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. I'm an insurance broker and make just above $100, own a $225K condo, drive a Chevy. Nothing extravagant. But I see people younger than me driving Mercedes and BMW, living in expensive towns with expensive homes. I'm not at all jealous and I respect people that earn a great living. I just want some insight into the secret of their success.
It's called debt. Lots of it! If you stay within your means you can do just fine. Just because people have an expensive car doesn't mean a thing! (Loans, debt, could be used cars etc.)
Our auto is $143/mo. total for 2 cars. Liberty Mutual with home also (multi policy discount)... we don't even pay more than $3k/yr for home+auto and you're paying that on 1 car.
Do you have a ticket or accident on record or something?
You must be away from the water. Being within 200 ft on the North Shore limits carrier options forcing $3K a year for homeowner's. $100/month per car with clean records. It adds up.
You must be away from the water. Being within 200 ft on the North Shore limits carrier options forcing $3K a year for homeowner's. $100/month per car with clean records. It adds up.
I am 9 miles inland so it's possible, but State Farm once quoted me $2600/year for homeowners while I'm getting it for $1400 now. I think people aren't shopping around? Everyone is paying $3k/year for homeowners on the north & south shores?
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