is 120k enough?

[NYSD1995]

120k should be comfortable for family of 3 if you don't go overboard, figure 3k rent / mo for nice house good schools, you might get lucky and find something lower. 105k for family of 5 with private school tuition would scare the cr@p out of me.

[supac]

Wifey wil need to get a job then

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[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by supac

Wifey wil need to get a job then

Yep. That's the same situation with many here that live in San Diego. Both spouses definitely need to work. At our daughters school they have school events during the day sometimes. At her last school she went to, (which was also in the PUSD) but in a less affluent area, it was interesting as MANY parents came to all of them.

Now she goes to a different school in a more affluent and expensive area. I would have thought there would be more housewives in this area that didn't work. But it's the exact opposite which I found interesting. Almost NO parents come to them as both parents are both too busy working and not many parents can come to them.

Unfortunately to live that upper middle class lifestyle or dream of living in the great school district or send your kids to private schools, it's expensive and often times both parents need to work.

[hedstrong15]

You know it really depends. Me nd my guy only pull in about 24,000 and we are doing just fine. I would suggest renting in an area first before buying a home though. We rent anyway, but depending on your house payment, you'd still be paying the same bills as us. Car payment, car insurance, cell phones, cable and internet, rent (plus you house payment and property tax), food, gas, and for us we also pay for college books and fees. If you aren't worried about living the life of luxury per say, you can get along in San Diego with out very much at all. you just have to be wise about it. There are tons of foreclosures, I'd look at those first. Sometimes it's just the area. Inner city anywhere is stupid high, for a small amount of space as far as homes go. Move out a bit, and you will find larger homes at a better bargain that may be a lot nicer and have a view of the mountains. Before I was going to school I was living comfortably and going on trips and such with on 33,000 a year. 120K, it's cake baby. America's spoiled, you'll be more then fine if you don't buy in to the disposable and waste everything culture we have hear. But if your the I must have the newest iphone and need a maid to clean my house type. 60K would be just fine >.>

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by hedstrong15

You know it really depends. Me nd my guy only pull in about 24,000 and we are doing just fine. I would suggest renting in an area first before buying a home though. We rent anyway, but depending on your house payment, you'd still be paying the same bills as us. Car payment, car insurance, cell phones, cable and internet, rent (plus you house payment and property tax), food, gas, and for us we also pay for college books and fees. If you aren't worried about living the life of luxury per say, you can get along in San Diego with out very much at all. you just have to be wise about it. There are tons of foreclosures, I'd look at those first. Sometimes it's just the area. Inner city anywhere is stupid high, for a small amount of space as far as homes go. Move out a bit, and you will find larger homes at a better bargain that may be a lot nicer and have a view of the mountains. Before I was going to school I was living comfortably and going on trips and such with on 33,000 a year. 120K, it's cake baby. America's spoiled, you'll be more then fine if you don't buy in to the disposable and waste everything culture we have hear. But if your the I must have the newest iphone and need a maid to clean my house type. 60K would be just fine >.>

No way anyone with kid(s) that live in a good school district will make it on anything even close to what you are quoting.

Hedstrong, I'm glad you and your boyfriend are able to live so easily on $24,000. Would you be so kind to provide a breakdown of your monthly expenses? I'm sure people would love to see it. Thanks in advance.

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by chisgarabis

Hi there,
So we are moving in a few months to San Diego from Europe. Never lived in the US before so would really appreciate your insights as we're a bit clueless about costs of living, 'hidden' costs, etc. .

So here's our deal and our ideal situation:

We'll both be working there and will bring a combined annual income of 120k. We'are in our mid-30s, and we have a 3.5 year old kid (so he'll be one year in pre-school, before staring in the public school system).

We've only been in San Diego once, and we really liked South Park, North Park and Encinitas. Our ideal would be to get a 3 bedroom house in one of those places for no more than $2.7k. We don't spend much, aside from eating out every once in a while, and we'd probably need two cars (since we both will be working near La Jolla). Our employer, by the way, will cover health expenses

So our question is: could we afford the kind of house we'd like to have and still have a decent quality of life in SD? Everybody talks about how expensive the US is (health, insurance, etc), and how expensive San Diego is within the US, so we don't really know if 120k (which seems like a pretty good number where we live) is good at all in SD. As said, any info will be much appreciated!

Not sure where in Europe you are relocating from, but in South Park there is a wonderful Charter School, Albert Einstein Academy and it is a German and Spanish Immersion school. There are quite a few European children in the school as well as American youngsters. My grandson attends and loves it. It's wonderful and although part of the San Diego School District, it works in conjunction with some German Education Agencies as well. Your little one would be eligible in a year for Kindergarten.