Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > Westchester County
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-25-2014, 03:56 PM
 
263 posts, read 341,946 times
Reputation: 287

Advertisements

There are tons of posts, and i have benefited from many of them, but none really suits my situation, so i am hoping that if you read this you can take a minute or two to let me know your thoughts and experience...

We are a family of 4 and are moving to Lower Westchester in a week. I got a promotion so spouse is leaving his job and will look for another one in the area. My sons are ages 6 and 2.

So, how much do you REALLY need ot make to live "comfortably" in the Town of Greenburgh? By "comfortably" i mean the following:

- We are closing on a home and the mortgage will be $3k/month
- 3,000 Square foot home, so not sure how much utilities will be
- Taxes are ~$32k (ugh!!!)
- We own two cars which we would use to go to the Train station (~$600/month for car payments)
- MNR monthly pass for $250
- Order take out twice per week and eat out on the weekends, nothing fancy, but not fast food either
- Two vacations per year, to local destinations (since we are new to the area) or one to the beach and one to visit Family in Southamerica

So, what do you think? how much do you live on? Is the low $200s too tight? I am in the mid $200s once we factor bonus in. Please let me know your experience. Thanks!!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-25-2014, 06:55 PM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 6,986,956 times
Reputation: 3343
Quote:
Originally Posted by newnewyorkers View Post
There are tons of posts, and i have benefited from many of them, but none really suits my situation, so i am hoping that if you read this you can take a minute or two to let me know your thoughts and experience...

We are a family of 4 and are moving to Lower Westchester in a week. I got a promotion so spouse is leaving his job and will look for another one in the area. My sons are ages 6 and 2.

So, how much do you REALLY need ot make to live "comfortably" in the Town of Greenburgh? By "comfortably" i mean the following:

- We are closing on a home and the mortgage will be $3k/month
- 3,000 Square foot home, so not sure how much utilities will be
- Taxes are ~$32k (ugh!!!)
- We own two cars which we would use to go to the Train station (~$600/month for car payments)
- MNR monthly pass for $250
- Order take out twice per week and eat out on the weekends, nothing fancy, but not fast food either
- Two vacations per year, to local destinations (since we are new to the area) or one to the beach and one to visit Family in Southamerica

So, what do you think? how much do you live on? Is the low $200s too tight? I am in the mid $200s once we factor bonus in. Please let me know your experience. Thanks!!!
Yes, tight and you didn't mention college fund or 401K contributions IRA among other things. Your vacations will become a thing of the past. Maybe all the eating out too. Include that stuff and I'd think you're up to $300k.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-25-2014, 07:12 PM
 
Location: Westchester County, NY
293 posts, read 882,049 times
Reputation: 103
I would think you should be able to do a back of the envelope analysis on this one pretty quickly - what are you living on now and how much are you able to save. Then subtract the major increases from your savings - the most substantial being mortgage and taxes.

And don't discount the keeping up with the Jones mentality that is pretty pervasive in Westchester. That will have a budget impact that is hard to estimate. Even my friends in Mount Vernon feel compelled to hold kids' birthday parties outside of their home to the tune of $400-500 all in (venue rental, food for kids and parents, gift bags). It's hard to escape.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-25-2014, 07:50 PM
 
1,594 posts, read 3,554,629 times
Reputation: 1585
Quote:
Originally Posted by kletter1mann View Post
Yes, tight and you didn't mention college fund or 401K contributions IRA among other things. Your vacations will become a thing of the past. Maybe all the eating out too. Include that stuff and I'd think you're up to $300k.
Way I figure:

Monthly nut is 7k

3000 Mortgage
1000 Utilities (water, elec. heat lawn, etc)
2666.666667 Texes
600 Car
250 Train
7516.666667 Per month
90200 Per Year

20k a year 529
16k a year 401k

Do able but maybe too much house?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-25-2014, 09:51 PM
 
263 posts, read 341,946 times
Reputation: 287
Quote:
Originally Posted by ponytrekker View Post
Way I figure:

Monthly nut is 7k

3000 Mortgage
1000 Utilities (water, elec. heat lawn, etc)
2666.666667 Texes
600 Car
250 Train
7516.666667 Per month
90200 Per Year

20k a year 529
16k a year 401k

Do able but maybe too much house?

Yes big if i do the nimbers this way it seems i have a lot to play with but in reality money goes away quick! In fCt i have never been able to fully account tomwhat happens to about half my paycheck because i have so many small expernses... Groceries, phamacy, babysitter, thyis and that....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-26-2014, 08:20 AM
 
2,187 posts, read 2,101,912 times
Reputation: 3844
Quote:
Originally Posted by ponytrekker View Post
Way I figure:

Monthly nut is 7k

3000 Mortgage
1000 Utilities (water, elec. heat lawn, etc)
2666.666667 Texes
600 Car
250 Train
7516.666667 Per month
90200 Per Year

20k a year 529
16k a year 401k

Do able but maybe too much house?

That also does not include things for the car like insurance, fuel , parking fees, upkeep/repairs. On the house there are similar costs like insurance, upkeep/repairs. Then personal items like food, clothing, everyday items for bathing and such, plus medical costs (two kids might be a lot of co-pays for doctor visits and dentists ...) I also think you went a bit low on utilities. Overall I think this is a bit difficult in the 200k - 225k range per year given how much of that is gone in federal and state taxes at that level of income.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-26-2014, 11:23 AM
 
1,252 posts, read 1,711,360 times
Reputation: 510
it really is disgusting and depressing when you look into it like this.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-26-2014, 12:28 PM
 
307 posts, read 632,223 times
Reputation: 405
Quote:
Originally Posted by newnewyorkers View Post
There are tons of posts, and i have benefited from many of them, but none really suits my situation, so i am hoping that if you read this you can take a minute or two to let me know your thoughts and experience...

We are a family of 4 and are moving to Lower Westchester in a week. I got a promotion so spouse is leaving his job and will look for another one in the area. My sons are ages 6 and 2.

So, how much do you REALLY need ot make to live "comfortably" in the Town of Greenburgh? By "comfortably" i mean the following:

- We are closing on a home and the mortgage will be $3k/month
- 3,000 Square foot home, so not sure how much utilities will be
- Taxes are ~$32k (ugh!!!)
- We own two cars which we would use to go to the Train station (~$600/month for car payments)
- MNR monthly pass for $250
- Order take out twice per week and eat out on the weekends, nothing fancy, but not fast food either
- Two vacations per year, to local destinations (since we are new to the area) or one to the beach and one to visit Family in Southamerica

So, what do you think? how much do you live on? Is the low $200s too tight? I am in the mid $200s once we factor bonus in. Please let me know your experience. Thanks!!!

Sure its doable, but you really need to lock down a budget. Pay off one of the cars if you can (to cut the interest and car payments), cut out half the takeout meals, and eat out once a week instead of twice. Big family vacations will be tough in the beginning I imagine. Those house taxes are brutal though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-28-2014, 08:57 PM
 
4 posts, read 5,602 times
Reputation: 10
You will be fine, im not sure why everyone is freaking out but i live on a lot less than that and im good, we have 2 nice cars, have a place in white plains, travel a lot during the year, go to a nice show in the city... BUT, i usually never eat out because it adds up so fast, and im pretty cheap when it comes to shopping(basically i never buy anything new,(except for cloths, and other home goods), and when i need a service done i look on craigslist or if i am looking to buy something as well. You will be fine, make sure you make a budget and stick to it
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-28-2014, 11:08 PM
 
Location: Connectucut shore but on a hill
2,617 posts, read 6,986,956 times
Reputation: 3343
Consider also the services that everybody seems to pay somebody else to do:
house cleaning, lawn service, snowplow guy, etc. If you're industrious you can save a fortune by doing this yourself. Otherwise bring your checkbook.

There's also home repair stuff. I've come to figure anything that takes 2 guys a half day to do is going to cost at least $750 + materials. Almost doesn't matter what it is. If you're helpless &/or used to calling the super to fix stuff figure on a sizeable budget for repairs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > Westchester County

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top