What do you do, where do you live in, and how much is your annual income?

[wasson]

This thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=470389) asked for it, so here it is.

Sounds like an intersting topic for a new thread, if it hasn't already been done.

What do you do, what geographic area do you live in, and how much, roughly, is your annual income?


Actually, what I'd really like to see is a thread where several different people from different areas and of different income levels give a moderately detailed account of their monthly budgets: How much for rent / mortgage, how much for gas, what their utilities are, etc. It would be utterly fascinating.

I'm 28, Male, from Peoria, Illinois. I am a Web Developer for an insurance company and also supervisor of the Graphics Department. We put together all printed and electronic marketing materials for the the company.

My annual income, with bonuses included, is about $50,000/year. I also get a 401K match of 100% up to $1,000 per year and free insurance benefits, including medical, life, and disability. I also do freelance web development on the side which makes me around $8,000-$10,000/year.

I drive a car that I paid $18,500 for. My payments are about $330/month, plus insurance. It's a diesel which gets outstanding gas mileage, which is the main reason I paid a little more upfront for it... cheaper to keep fueled.

My house cost $104,000, and my mortgage with insurance and property taxes included is $735/month. This is the second home I've owned and I was able to afford the down payment due to my savings as well my parents' help. They fronted me some cash that allowed me to put a significant amount of money down and avoid the PMI. My loan was for $82,000. I am single but live with my girlfriend, although until this month she maintained her own apartment and hasn't contributed to monthly bills.

My student loans are paid off, also because my parents saved well for me and I didn't need to borrow much to get through. I have no credit card debt and the only money I owe is on my car and my home. I also owe my father about $4,000 for various things he's given me and various agreements we've come to about various deals (ambiguous but also boring stuff), but he is not charging me interest. $200/month goes directly into his account and I never see it.

My cell phone is about $65/month, cable and internet is about $90, electricity is between $75 - 250, depending on many factors. After taxes and my 401K and various other contributions (charities and parking, etc.) are taken away, I take home about $2,800/month from my full-time job, and the freelancing money obviously varies, anywhere from $1,500/month to $50/month.

[KneadToKnow]

"Where do you live in"?

[wasson]

Oops. I had to do some editing to the proposed title to make it fit in the subject line and I left a stray 2 letters. My fault.

[KneadToKnow]

That's cool. People around here say "where do you live at" all the time, so I was wondering if Peoria had some dialect variant I was unfamiliar with. :)

[Her Royal IMFness]

I am a 20-year-old female from Western Maryland. I'm a university student who makes somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 a year working at whatever job I can (currently it's at a local call center handling insurance). I am in a on again/off again relationship with my (if you want to call him this) boyfriend and we are not living together.

(Now, this is how things worked while I was working. I do foresee a similar set-up being demanded of me once I get into my new job next week....) Even though I am still living at home with Mom and Dad, I am required to pay some form of "rent". Several house bills outside of a vehicle payment ($250/month), car insurance ($125/month), cell phone bill (average $90/month) land in my lap nearly every month. Electric bill (varies from $40/month to $120/month), 25% of the water bill (about $50 every three months), and $75 every paycheck towards groceries. My parents pay the rest of the bills with minor help (once it's been strangled and argued out) from an elder sibling who also still lives here.

My Dad is retired and receives a mere $500 a month from Social Security (though, I am certain that he should be getting some sort of Veteran's pension as well...). Mom works as a dietary cook at the local nursing home. Between the two, after taxes are taken from Mom, they make roughly $19,000 a year. My elder sibling who lives at home makes at least twice of what Mom, Dad, and I do combined. He refuses to contribute more than a $100 a month to the groceries and might pay part of the water bill when it rolls around every three months. (I said that the help was minor, right? lol).

I have a great deal of credit card debt right now due to my lack of a job over the last two months. I needed to pay my "personal" bills and put gas in my Jeep someway. I'm probably up to around $5,000 total right now, unfortunately. I do not have any student loans looming over my head (yet) and I hope not to at all. Mom and Dad do not have any kind of intention or way to contribute to my schooling, so I am right now relying on federal/state grants and university scholarships to get me through. I do have some debt (a little over a thousand bucks) at the local two-year university I recently graduated from due to a miss communication on the school's part regarding my financial aid.

Rent in the area varies greatly. If one were to be down here in Cumberland, where I am, the rent is about $350/month including very few to no utilities. Rent in Frostburg depends greatly on whether or not the place is connected to the university or not. So, rent alone can vary from $250/month all the way up to $700 a month without utilities.

[Dinsdale]

47 years old, attorney, western burbs of Chicago.
annual salary >$100K
no mortgage, car payments or CC debt.
total net worth including savings/investments/401(k) ~ $1 mill - will be decreasing over the next 5 years or so as I put 3 kids thru college!
total utilities ~$700/month
annual RE taxes ~$10K
pack a PBJ for lunch every day and drive a 2000 Toyota minivan.

[CaerieD]

When I'm done with school, I'll (in theory) be making around $50k a year, but that's a slow process, so we shall see.

I'm a 27 year old female, living in rural northwestern Wisconsin. Bachelor's Degree in English, now pursuing speech language pathology and secondary ed.

I'm the pizza cook in a co-op deli, making around $15k a year. (See how well that BA turned out for me and why I'm going back to school?)

For utilities and rent, I pay around $400 a month. This is a bit on the high-end for what I'm renting in this area, but I'm renting from my mother and she needs it.

I have no debt currently, though I'll probably end up breaking down and getting student loans real soon here.

I have a niece whose care I share with my mother, though no children or partner of my own.

[Misnomer]

Age, Sex, Location, Occupation, and Income
I'm a 36-year-old female. I live in Northern Virginia (not far from Washington DC), and I work as a technical writer and editor for a large government contractor. I've been in this field for 10 years, and I make $75,000/year.

Car
My car payment is $600/mo. I spend $200/mo on gas, and $125/mo on car insurance.

Rent and Utilities
I moved in with my boyfriend on Thursday but am still responsible for a lease through August, so my current rent/utilities are complicated, but here's what I lived with until last week:
$1400/mo rent (for a 2BR townhouse)
$100/mo cable & internet
$70/mo (average) power
$60/mo cell phone
$35/quarter water

[3acresandatruck]

I'm 53, single, male, now living in an unincorporated part of Jefferson County (south of St. Louis). I'm retired. I did a variety of jobs, but the last 17 years of work were doing computer stuff.

My annual income totals about $22,000/year, combining distributions from my 401k with about $3K in dividends and interest. I also get access to decent health insurance through my former employer's plan.

My main vehicle is a small pickup, given to me by family, that was worth about $11K when they gave it to me. It gets about 21 mpg, but it doesn't matter, as I only drove it 2500 miles in the most recent 12 months. They gave it to me because they knew I wouldn't buy a new vehicle. I also have four cars, two of which currently run. They're just for fun. All the vehicles are paid for.

I paid $85,000 for my home. I paid for it; there's no mortgage. I had an outbuilding constructed ($18K), got a new roof ($4K, but insurance paid for half, due to damage from a tornado), a new furnace ($2K), new water heater($200), and added central air ($1500); all these expenses were spread across the last seven years. This is the second home I've owned.

Homeowner's insurance is $850/year. Auto insurance on the two running vehicles is $1100/year. Health insurance is $1340/year. Last year's property taxes totalled $950 on the land, house, truck, and cars. Charity giving varies, but this year is about average: $1500 so far this year, with $2500 more planned for a total of $4000.

Monthly landline phone and internet is about $35, electricity is $20-80 (higher in the summer). My propane company forecasts my next 12 month's usage will cost $1700, if I accept their prepay plan. (I will.) I don't really keep track of grocery costs, but the last 2 receipts showed $45 and $50, shopping weekly. So, looks like I'm up to $200/month. But I don't care if strawberries or melons or whatever are pricey, if they're good.

[Annie-Xmas]

Female, 53, Bergen County, New Jersey (one of the most expenisve areas in the country).

Real estate property manager. Salary is $500 a week, plus commissions.

Rent and utilities are about $660 a month. No car.

[Voyager]

56, engineer/computer scientist, Silicon Valley.

make well over $100K a year. Mortgage is about $1400 a month, but $350 is to my wife's father which we'll get back. No car debt, no credit card debt, about $600K equity in the house (even now.) One more year of college to pay for my second kid. Have an 11 year old Saturn with 125K miles, and take my lunch also, so I'm a lot like Dinsdale. Close to that in retirement savings also, but it will really take off in the next few years after college is paid for.

We don't have a budget, since we are natural savers. A big splurge for me is $60 of used sf books.

[BrknButterfly]

I am 30 year - old Female. I currently live in Southern Maine and I work at a Credit union as the vault teller and have other responsibilites and projects that get handed to me. I also work PT at a local bottle redemption company (it isn't as gross as it sounds, my postion anyways). Between those two jobs I make around 30,000 a year, give or take depending on the hours of the PT job.

My car payment is 200 dollars a month. Spend 25 dollars on gas when ever the "E" light comes on, so generally every three days. (For some reason 25 dollars doesn't seem so painful in a couple hits, vs 70ish dollars in one hit.)

Rent is 650 a month and only includes water.
Power is about 70 a month
Heat averages 700 dollars a year (propane)
Cell phone is 90 dollars a month
Cable and internet is 120.

I have one other loan out for another 200 a month. And only have debt on one credit card that is under 500 dollars..

Single. No kids. Just little ole me.

[gigi]

Female, almost 40 :eek:
Northern New England, but near large towns
Accounting type, 15 years experience, $54,000
Company contributes 10% of salary to retirement and so do I
Bought my car outright--$16K

Rent, 1 BR, not in great shape: $500/mo but that's low for the area, incl water and satellite dish
Oil for heat: ~300-350 gallons a year, but I have to keep the house at 50 degrees to achieve this
Electric water, stove, lights: $60/mo
Landline w/no long distance, plus cell phone: $75/mo
Gas for the car: maybe $40 a week, 3.99/gal today
Car+renter's Insurance: $800 a year

[Litoris]

36, female, live in rural Tennessee and work for a call center.

I make $29K/year plus 100% match on my 401K up to 6% (roughly $1800), plus insurance (life, medical, dental and vision) benefits and annual bonus of roughly 2 weeks' pay ($1100).

No rent/mortgage -- property taxes run about $600/year.
Electric runs about $100/month, we have been using propane heat, which is ridiculously expensive (averages out to approximately $150/month if I average 12 months) but we are switching to wood this year, so that will be an initial cost and then only a matter of chopping wood.
Cell phones are $100/month, internet/tv/phone is approximately $200/month, and car insurance is $65/month.
No car notes -- I drive a 2000 Chevy Cav, he drives a 1991 Geo Tracker & when she's old enough my daughter gets the 1996 Kia Sephia.

[NinetyWt]

Female, 48 yrs old, Central Mississippi.

I'm a self employed consulting civil engineer. My husband is the vehicle maintenance supervisor for a suburban city here.

Together we bring in a less than 100k per year. We have four kids: 23, 21, 19 and 18. Two are in college but are mostly self-funded thru scholarships & student loans. One is in the Marine Corps. We are paying health insurance for two of them, and car insurance for three of them. We have 6 vehicles on our auto insurance. We are paying for cell phones for all of them but 2 are going to roll off of the dole soon (yay graduation!).

It's easier for me to work with percentages, so here's some figures from my Quicken:

Insurance (other than medical, including professional liability insurance) = 17.8 %
Utilities (includes two land-lines and 6 cell phones) (House is all electric) 12.0 %
Medical (includes medical insurance of appx $500 per month) = 10.7 %
Housing = 8.1 %
Groceries (includes household cleaning stuffs) = 7.3 %
Taxes = 6.1 %

There are other categories but they're mundane.

I have a tiny amount in an IRA (due to a divorce a few years ago I had to use a lot of that for a down payment on a home in an area with decent schools for my kids). Hubby has a most excellent State retirement plan which is actually a 'guaranteed benefit' plan rather than a 'pay you back what you put in' plan; it will pay about 3/4 of his current salary.

Our property is presently worth about 5 times what the mortgage balance is, but that can change with the wind. Property taxes are appx $1200/mo on our 5 acres.

We have one very small credit card bill and only one car note (< $300 per month).

[masterofnone]

Male, 37, Lab rat at a academic institution, $44K
They kick in 9% and I kick in 3% toward retirement.
Take home is $1180/2 weeks
Starting a side business that is pretty much guaranteed to bring in $3k/yr, working 3 days a year. :cool:

Own a house that I built, plumbed, + wired myself. (Built to be easily converted to a garage if I ever get out of debt) $750/mo mortgage
Credit card debt $20k + slowly dropping
Car $250/mo
Power $60/mo
Phone, internet, tv $140/mo
Propane hot water $30/mo (est.)
Heat $40/year (Average - I burn wood, but had to buy a new bar + chain this year, so it's up to ~$80)
Gas $60/mo
Groceries $100/week (this will soon drop drastically, as the garden starts producing, the chickens and hogs get ready for slaughter. I bought a big freezer, started baking my own bread, and started farming this year to cut down on the grocery bill.)
Insurance $1600/yr
Property Taxes $2600/yr

Wife takes care of the 2yo, and is due for another one in Sep. She only made $20k/yr before, so it's not worth it for her to work.

A big splurge for me is eating something more expensive than ramen for lunch.

[Lionne]

Female, 27 years old
Live and work in the Tampa, Florida area.
My job is Head Teller at a private bank - make $30,000 a year.
No car payment, drive a 1999 Toyota Corolla
Car insurance is $1100 a year
Rent an apartment for $850 a month, includes water.
Monthly: Cell $62
Electric $40ish
Groceries $100ish
Internet $44.95
Gas $60-80

Around $4,000 in my 401k
Around $11,000 in credit card debt.

[Daithi Lacha]

South Florida. I'm a Team Lead (Supervisor) for the billing department of a publically-traded timeshare company. My workgroup is about 25 people strong (including temps), but I'm directly responsible for the work of 9 people. I'm on an hourly wage, and I make $36,296 a year before taxes.

My wife has just switched jobs, and her new position pays a lesser hourly wage than her old job, but gives quarterly bonuses plus a holiday bonus, so I can't say how much our combined income is, but as it stands, her pay is less than my base rate. Could become equal or higher in the future, depending on how she rises through the ranks.

We drive an '05 Chevy Aveo that last year we paid $6000 cash for (before trade-in). Insurance runs $1200 annually. We rent a 1/1.5 apartment in a safe neighborhood; that runs $785 a month - water, pest control and garbage collection are included.

That is all. :p

PS oh -- we're both 40.

[alice_in_wonderland]

Age 35 - live with my SO in Canada.

Our annual household income is $100,000+

I bought my car before I met him - it's a 2007 Volvo - $36,000 - I bought it outright.

Our household payments total about $2,000/month (mortgage, his car loan, insurance, utilities, etc).

We own our home - a condo ~ $350,000 but we don't owe very much on it.

[Walkabout]

Female, 47, living in West Virginia.

I make about $80,000/year as a database administrator. My husband makes around $45,000/year as the manager of a small business, but he also gets a lot of perks (free lunch, free gas, etc.) He has also managed to acquire for us 44 apartment units that supplement our income and net worth (I'm not sure how much - my husband is the finance guy).

Our house is worth about $250,000 and is paid for, and I drive a 2008 BMW 335xi (~$600/mo), my husband drives a 2008 Acura MDX (~$600/mo) and my daughter drives a 2007 Civic (paid for). Tonight we are going to trade in my son's 1996 Saturn for a new Civic. We'll pay cash for it.

We won't be able to save much for the next four years, since my daughter's in college now and my son is starting in the fall. When they're done, though, we're hoping we'll be able to retire soon after based on the income/equity from the apartment rentals.

Now you know more about my finances than my mother does.

[Oredigger77]

Age 25 – living in Durango, Co
My salary is ~90K and I’m looking at about 15K or so in bonuses for this year. I get a 100% match up to 6% on my 401K. I also drive a company truck and gas is free (which is a bigger and bigger bonus every day). I’m a Drilling Engineer.

I own a condo which I rent out for my mortgage payment and association dues and a Town home that I live in. I got the down payment for the condo from a lawsuit coming out of high school and made payments by having roommates. I used my signing bonus for the down payment on my Town home. Total mortgage and association dues are about 2800K/month.

As for my budget; I contribute $1060 in my 401K every month, $100/month for cell phone, $21 for natural gas, $43 for garbage and water, $34 for electricity, $315 for student loans, $55 for broadband, $320 for my motorcycle, and $200 for all my insurances. I spent about $600 on food and $400 for a maid.

I owe about 5K on my credit card, 3K on my line of credit and 17K on my bike. But since I’m still trying to get my house in shape so the excess of my budget is going there for now; fencing, landscaping, furniture.

[MovieMogul]

I'm a film archivist and make roughly $43K/year. We live in the SF Bay Area (NorCal).

We have two mortgages--our house ($5K/month) and my MiL's condo ($2K/month). This doesn't include utilities, etc. for each place.

We own both our cars and pay off our credit card each month, so we have no other outstanding debt (and no kids). We have 401Ks, IRAs, and other modest investments.

Needless to say, we could not afford to live where we do and the way we do on my salary. Good thing my wife owns her own consulting company (I'm not going to say how much she makes, but it's enough to live comfortably).

[lizardling]

Female, late 20s, living in PNW.

90K+ before taxes as a technical writer doing developer documentation for a large software company, not counting bonuses and benefits.

Own a condo in a fast-growing area, $225K that my parents and I went in on to decrease the down payment. Mortgage is slightly over $500/mo.

No CC debt. A big splurge for me is buying books or a console game once in a blue moon -- most everything else gets socked away for the metaphorical rainy day.

Car is a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid, about to be paid off in October :D It gets about 35-38MPG with the current tires -- with the previous set it was getting about 41MPG. I fill up maybe once every three weeks or so since I use it pretty much exclusively for commuting at offpeak hours (Y HAI THAR 520) and combine errands when I can.

[accidentalyuppie]

Female, age 50, living in New York City

Self-employed with a steady sales/consulting gig.

Last year I made $72,000.00 in consulting fees and $103,625.00 in performance bonuses ( the bonuses are based on the profitability of the business that I run and are calculated from a set formula ).

Not bad considering I can work out of my home and set my own hours.

Mortgage and co-op fees (same as condo maintenence) are $1600.00 a month. My car is old because I just don't care much about cars, I will probably buy a "new" used one sometime this year but I will pay in full up front.

No other debt except the mortgage. I like nice vacations and intend to retire at or before 65 so I am saving up for that.

[EmAnJ]

Female, 27, Calgary, Alberta. I live with my fiance.

I am an Environmental Analyst for an Oil and Gas Company. $65K/yr plus bonus of $6500, 10 flex days (extra vacation days), $1000 health spending account, 100% match into savings and RRSP up to 5% of my salary, stock options annually.

He is a Firefighter. His salary is about $46K.

Two vehicles, both owned outright. 2002 Toyota Tundra and 2004 VW Golf TDi.

House - worth about $600K, mortgage of just over $375K, monthly payments of $2400/month. Utilities, including cell phone - about $1200/month. Insurance for vehicles, house, etc. - $400/month.

In all, our monthly expenditures for everything, including food, entertainment and fuel, is about $4600.

Edited to add: We also have investments of about $25K in a just starting up gold mine. This is our golden ticket! Hahaha!

[HeyHomie]

Age, Sex, Location, Occupation, and Income

37-year-old male, Social Worker (not exactly, but it would take too long to explain it, so let's just say "Social Worker"), about $28K give or take a few hundred

Car
1998 Saturn SL2, bought used in 2004, payments $209.15 per month, will be paid off next summer.

Rent and Utilities
I own a mobile home that I dearly wish I hadn't bought. Paid c. $28.5K for it.
$335/month mortgage
$240/month lot rent
$167/month electricity (level payment plan, otherwise I'd pay about $90 in the summer, about $240 in the winter, and about $45 in the spring and fall)
$100/month cable TV + cable internet
Water is included in my lot rent; if I lived in a house that I owned I'd be paying c. $15 per month

[Autolycus]

24 year old recent male college graduate. Living at home in Winter Park, Florida near Orlando. My income is 10$/hr that my parents are paying me to fix up our old house. I'm currently saving up money to go to Japan to teach English. Then I'll be even poorer but at least I'll be out of the house.

[The Great Sun Jester]

40 y/o Male, Denver, CO. Got 3 kids.
I work for an insurance company settling total loss claims. Additional duties include evaluating and streamlining the total loss claims process in 6 states to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction and minimizing controllable costs (storage fees, rental expenses, expediting sale of salvage, etc). In exchange for my services I get $60k/year, 401k match up to $900 annually, pension, medical/dental/life/disability.

I drive a $2,500 car (by choice, it’s the car I want and that’s all it costs!) that looks reasonably sharp, gets about 30 mpg, and costs $40/year to license because it’s old (1986). My total commute is about 5 miles/day and takes 10 minutes each way.

Beginning next month I will be paying $1,500 a month in alimony, $1,200 in rent, about $120/month total for gas/electricity/water. $300/month in unsecured, revolving, toxic debt. Student loan was paid off in exchange for 4 years of military service. Cell phone & DSL comes to about $100/month. Auto/Life/Home insurance is about $120/month.

I will be getting a second job to get rid of the revolving, unsecured, toxic debt.

[psycat90]

37 year old female. Purchasing for a large winery in the Bay Area/wine country, California. I'm also a part-time student at our local JC working towards earning an AS in Enology & Viticulture (and possibly a BS after that.) Mom of two, a 17 year old HS student and a 21 year old also working towards obtaining his AS (computer/software related, I think) at the local JC. Happily married, and for the most part our finances are completely separate, which works very well for us. So all of this refers to me personally, my income and expenses only. I can't really speak for my husband, but he does earn a fair bit more than I do.

My income hovers right around $50,000/year. Usually just under that, but can pop just over it with bonuses. I also have a 401K matching program at work and the last time I checked my balance was just under $30,000. It is currently the only savings I personally have. (My husband has his own savings/retirement savings.) Hopefully I can earn a little more and start saving a bit more aggressively once my kids and I finish school.

I have a very good medical/dental/vision plan through work as well as life insurance and disability, but it seems to cost more and more each year. I am currently paying about $450 per month for all benefits for my entire family. Just a few years ago it was half that or less.

My husband and I own our condo, and as I said, we keep our finances separate. We've split household expenses, so there are some that I do not have, such as our homeowners and car insurance, property taxes, cable internet, HOA fees, and a couple of other things that I am sure I am forgetting because I never have to think about them.

My personal household expenses are -

Mortgage (3BR/ 2.5 bath townhouse not far from downtown Santa Rosa) - We split it down the middle. My payment is $700/month. A portion of my paycheck is directly deposited into my husband's checking account since he is the one that actually makes that payment.
Electric/Gas - It varies but averages around $120/month
Garbage - About $20/month
Water/Sewer - $75/month or so

I pay about $80/month for cell phone service for 2 lines. The second line is for my 21 year old son.

Gas is currently costing me close to $200/month. I drive a 2002 Ford Escape that I paid off a few years ago.

I started orthodontic treatment a few months ago and those payments are $160/month for the next 2 years.

I have no credit card debt, no student loans, etc.

I am paying my son's JC tuition as well as my own, but the fees are ridiculously cheap. Costs have been between $400 - $1000 per semester including unit fees, class fees, books, etc. for both of us.

[Lanzy]

I'm an engineer, my wife is an Engineer and together we gross 250K per year.
Live in Orlando, with 7 Jack Russells in a 3000+ sq ft home with a nice pool, bought a house for my two kids in virginia 3 years ago and a condo for my youngest in orlando last year.
Got enough to retire on but haven't decided what to do yet. we're mid-50's. Moved to orlando after our office in Virgnia got struck by a plane.
Other than a mortage (1900), don't have any bills.

[DaveLister]

I said I would contribute:

Male, early 50's, IT Infosec Project Manager/Financial Industry. Salary + bonus around $103k last year. Live in Texas. Married. Mortgage ~ $900 mo. Cars paid.

[KlondikeGeoff]

Male. General Contractor (Hitman).

Earn in six figures, but can't mention it due to IRS concerns.

In addition to my fee, all expenses are added, so it is pure profit.

Travel a lot by various means. My current car is a Bentley Continental, but never use it for work.

My only problem is not being able to get life insurance.

[Quasimodal]

Male, 25 years old, Lloydminster Saskatchewan, Canada

I'm a teacher and make about 47,000 a year plus another 3 - 5k on music gigs and private lessons.

My car is paid for, rent is 700

I'm paying off a computer at about rough 100$ a month

Trying to save 400$ a month

Cel phone is 60 a month, power is 80 - 120 a month

[Thorium Indium Potassium]

I'm an engineer, my wife is an Engineer and together we gross 250K per year.
Live in Orlando, with 7 Jack Russells in a 3000+ sq ft home with a nice pool, bought a house for my two kids in virginia 3 years ago and a condo for my youngest in orlando last year.
Got enough to retire on but haven't decided what to do yet. we're mid-50's. Moved to orlando after our office in Virgnia got struck by a plane.
Other than a mortage (1900), don't have any bills.

No phone, cellphone, electricity, or internet bills? How does one get this kind of deal?

[RedSwinglineOne]

39 year old male. I live with Tigger the cat. (http://photobucket.com/image/94%20lowrider/SPORTYBUELL/P5280289-2.jpg?o=2)

I live in Silicon valley.

I'm in sales, 95k+/year.

400k small house. $2500 mortgage.

91 chev pickup. looks bad, runs good. paid off.

Harley Lowrider (http://photobucket.com/image/94%20lowrider/SPORTYBUELL/100_0114.jpg?o=4) almost paid off

Buell 99 M2 (http://photobucket.com/image/buell%2099%20m2/SPORTYBUELL/Picture028.jpg?o=2) paid off

Yamaha Vino. 80 mpg. paid off

[Jammer]

43 year old male, married, 3 kids living in (surprise) suburban North Carolina.

Occupation: Technology company (wife is SAHM)

Annual Comp: Between $125k and $150k depending on bonus/profit sharing. Expect to be closer to the upper end this year.

Monthly Budget

House is 3000sf brick home we bought in 1998

Mortgage: $1,400ish (includes property tax and insurance)
Cars: Both paid for. Probably will pick up a hybrid in the fall to help with gas expense
Gas: $750 a month (company pays more than half for business use)
Cell: $150 (company pays $125 of this, too)
Utilities (elec/gas/water): $260ish
Sat TV/Internet: $150

I also give my wife $400 a week for her own spending money. She pays groceries out of this, but I pay all other bills.

Everything else we save.

[mcott]

OK, I'll play.

Male, just hit 34, single, Corporate Travel Agent working for a company that has a long term contract which affords job security.

43K with bonuses and overtime.

Rent 650 per month, includes electricity and water (heat is electric so that's covered).

No cell phone.

Bills are: Landline $33/mo; Cable, $80/mo; Internet $31/mo; food $125/mo

The rest goes on travel and books (and gifts for my nephew, the "little dude"). My sister and brother in-law own the house that I rent an apartment in, so not anticipating any rent increases for a few years - I do shovel in the winter, though.

Like a friend said the other day, you make choices. I have one friend who has a "suburban mansion" who would like to travel more. I travel a lot (4-5 times per year), but have no house of my own. It seems to work for me.

[Nunavut Boy]

28 year old lab tech in Iqaluit, Nunavut
I make a little over $100k a year. Rent is $1000/mo (my gf pays for half)
Phone/internet is $110/mo
cable is 80/mo
power is $100/mo
Groceries are probably $600/mo
I bought a 98 Toyota RAV4 for cash
I owe $40,000 in student loans. It's a race to see how fast I can pay them back. Currently paying ~$2000 a month on it.

[fervour]

Well since y'all are being so candid:

42, M, LA (lower Alabama)

I'm living off of savings (by choice) for a while but live frugally.

Budget $1000/month broken down as follows:

$150 - utilities (water/elec/garbage)
$105 - cell phones (4 cells - I pay for my Mom's and bro's, and SO's)
$40 - internet (share a sat connection with a sis)
$300 - food (make our own bread, buy on sale and freeze other stuff)
$110 - gasoline (boy is this one hard to hit with current gas prices, but we don't have anywhere we have to be ---so we aren't going out as much, i.e. combining our errands before we run to town)
$165 - auto insurance
$20 - dvd rentals
$110 ( the rest for incidentals, but if it's not spent that's great --however with current inflation this mostly gets spent)

Situation:
Live in a barn (actually a duplex, a metal building the shell of which my sis and I had constructed for about $50K. She and her hubby completed their half, and my SO and I completed our half (demising wall, interior walls, plumbing, electric, electric svc, etc.) Costs for materials for interior of barn were ~ $12K. So the total cost of the dwelling for me was ~ $37K. Total Square footage for our half is ~ 1900 with 2BR/2 BA. We have no debt nor children, and three old cars ('96 Neon, '97 Civic, '03 Corolla). It's hard to estimate the value of the barn being an unconventional living structure. I would guess less than the cost of construction actually.

We have no health insurance but would use up our savings if something catastrophic should happen (You probably think we're crazy). We have about $255K in savings.

I am vested in a retirement plan but intend to look for work in a few months. Mainly I am looking for work to stay employable because I don't want to be out of the market too long. I have taken the past year off to finish the interior of our domicile. (Boy this thread reminds me of a past thread asking something like, "Could someone tell who you are from your posts?" Well if they couldn't before, they sure can now!

[Quasimodal]

How does everyone have such low grocery bills? I swear I spend 300$ a month everytime!

[ZipperJJ]

Wow, so far I think we have a really wide array of incomes and situations and we're not even to 50 posts yet!

I'm a 29yo single female living in a suburban town between Cleveland and Akron, OH.
I have a $150,000 house that I bought in 2005. $15,000 down.
My mortgage is about $945/mo (including insurance, tax, etc) but I pay $1000/mo.
I pay about $300/mo for utilities. Maybe less (I budget that much)

I make $47,000/year running my own Web design company.
The company pays all my medical bills (not much per year)
I do not have any perks or retirement funds or investments.

I am in $2600 of credit card debt (to be paid off in the next 2 months)
I owe $5k to my grandpa yet for my home downpayment (to be paid off in the next 6 months)
I have no student loans.

I own outright a 2004 Ford Escape that I paid about $21k for.

[chaoticbear]

I make about $13,500 per year before taxes. I'm a pharmacy technician, and live in Southwest Arkansas.

My bills each month are about $80 for cell phone, $110 for rent, and about 70-80 per month for utilities. (I live in a big house with 4 other people.)

[NinetyWt]

How does everyone have such low grocery bills? I swear I spend 300$ a month everytime!
Are things more expensive in Hell? ;)

Wow, so far I think we have a really wide array of incomes and situations and we're not even to 50 posts yet!
No kiddin'. I noticed that a lot of folks seem to have one big money sucking thing in their budget, but it's different for different ones.

Like a friend said the other day, you make choices. I have one friend who has a "suburban mansion" who would like to travel more. I travel a lot (4-5 times per year), but have no house of my own. Noticed this too.

[fruitbat]

I am a 35 year old man, married to a 33 year old woman. I am a non commission based financial planner, my wife is an economist who works for the Federal Government. I make $95,000 with an annual bonus of 20-100% of my salary. She makes $98,000. I love my job and work a lot of hours, but it is hard to find a non-sales oriented financial planning job and I don't plan to leave unless I am escorted out the door by security.

We live in the Virginia suburbs outside of DC and own our house, which is worth around $500,000. Our mortgage is $3,000 with taxes and insurance.

We have no debt outside of our home and honestly I have very little idea as to how much I spend for utilities and the like. We are doing well on savings and are building some retirement savings early. We still spend way too much on eating out, but there is a baby on the way which should change that substantially.

My employer puts 15% of my salary into a retirement account for me each year. That goes up to 18% shortly and caps out at 20%. Her's matches the first 5% she contributes and she gets a pension at retirement equal to 1% of her pay for every year she works.

[DrDeth]

I hate to say this, but too many times some Doper has taken it upon themselves to play detective with all personal info submitted, then "out" someone after they guess who it "really" is. :(

[matt_mcl]

I really think posting this kind of information online is unwise.

[psycat90]

I really think posting this kind of information online is unwise.
Well, then it's a good thing you didn't.
I'd like to think the folks that did at least contemplated this before posting.

As for me, well, I just fell off the turnip truck, and if I had a nickel for every unwise thing I did, I might have a little more savings. Guess I'll go take my SSN off of my MySpace page.

Thanks! ;-)

[janis_and_c0]

29 yr old female, here, Married & living in Columbus OH. I live with my husband & 2 roomates. I work outsource for an ISP & support their phone, high speed internet & security software. I would rather not reveal my income level, suffice it to say we're not rich..

[groo]

Wow. This is an amazing amount of candor; I assumed the subject matter would be touchy enough that it might quickly degenerate or fizzle out.

Me: Male, mid-40s, single. I live in the 'South Bay' of Los Angeles, which is quiet, cramped, beautiful and safe. I work in the defense industry: "gray-beard guy with physics degree helping the software people make useful things."

Salary: I can't bring myself to say the number. I earn far more than I'd ever dreamed, but I grew up on welfare and AFDC, so my dreams were embarrassingly humble. My company matches 50% of the first 6% I put into my 401K. Add my savings, and my net worth is a little less than $400K, which I think is low, given my age. I also qualify for a small, defined-benefit pension, but the numbers are slightly lower than what I'll get from SS, should SS still exist when I retire.

I rent a small, inexpensive apartment very close to the beach, drive an 11-year-old Acura Integra, commute 6.5 miles to work, never cook and lead a fairly boring life, except that since I'm scared of so many, many things, I interpret my life as very stressful and often terrifying.

Monthly expenses:
$3000 into 401K & other savings (Suze Orman told me to pay myself first, and on this point I agree with her)
$1000 rent
$600 medical/psychological/psychiatric/meds
$250 food
$250-$400 for DVDs & shiny things
$110 for DirecTV
$70 cell phone
$70 internet
$120 car/motorcycle/renter's insurance
$60 laundry (I drop it off)
$50 electricity; pocket change for natural gas
$40 gasoline

[WormTheRed]

Age, Sex, Location, Occupation, and Income
28-yo male, live in Iceland, work as a purchaser and make a bit over 60k a year w 3 years experience. They match my retirement savings (4% of gross earnings paid by me - 4% by them) and lots of social services is "free" here that I guess cost money in the States.

Taxes on income are close to 30%

Car
1998 Opel Astra - paid in cash.

Rent and Utilities
Renting a 1 br apartment - $850 (which is kinda cheap). All utilities and internet included.
Insurance: $150/month
Food - no idea but several hundred a month (I eat out a lot)

[Walkabout]

I really think posting this kind of information online is unwise.

I'm not sure what someone could do with the information even if they did figure out exactly who I am and where I live. If they know me, they could already make some pretty reasonable guesses about my finances anyway.

[fruitbat]

I'm not sure what someone could do with the information even if they did figure out exactly who I am and where I live. If they know me, they could already make some pretty reasonable guesses about my finances anyway.

Exactly. I am sure that one day someone will explain why it is unwise, but I have thought about it and I am pretty sure you take more risk with your identity when buying something from a small business on the internet with a credit card. I will never be the type of poster that inspires controversy so the odds I get a stalker are miniscule.

Anyway this is a cool thread and given my job I am fascinated. For anyone who cares to, I would love to know retirement savings, so I can get an idea across a broad cross section of a population.

[Dinsdale]

I'm not sure what someone could do with the information even if they did figure out exactly who I am and where I live. If they know me, they could already make some pretty reasonable guesses about my finances anyway.

I agree - and I'm usually pretty uptight about my privacy.

Anyone who knows my profession and the town I live in could make a pretty good guess at my income/house value - tho they would not know the amount of debt I carry or my savings. Hell, my salary is a matter of public record, and if you have my address you can look up a comp for my house any number of places.

[Some Whelks]

This is a really interesting thread, so I thought I'd join in.

43 year old female living in the UK; married with 2 children under 12. I'm a middle manager (I don't want to be any more specific than that) and my husband is an IT Consultant.

In the last financial year I earned £40, 000 gross ($78,720 US) and £29,000 ($57,072) after tax. My husband earned around £35,000 after tax. I have a generous pension plan in that my employer pays all contributions. My tax payments cover welfare/NHS contributions as well as income tax, so there are no further deductions from my salary. Like Worm the Red mentioned, taxes are high but cover stuff I would otherwise have to pay out for (such as healthcare). In addition the government gives me approx £130 per month because I have 2 kids. Everyone with children gets this, regardless of income. In fact it's the only welfare payment I have ever qualified for (!) It's our holiday fund :D I get 6 weeks of that per year and go abroad (usually) for 2 of those.

Cars- one Ford Focus 2002 vintage and one Mazda somethingorother slightly older.

We own a large (by UK standards) 4 bed house and have an outstanding mortgage of around £115,000. We pay around £1100 per month off the mortgage. This is a bit higher than we need to because we want to pay it off a bit quicker. We've lived here for 12 years.

The cost of living is pretty high - we spend around £100 per week on groceries, sometimes more. Petrol is ridiculously expensive too mainly due to the vast tax on it. It costs me £50 every time I fill up my fairly modest sized car.

We pay off our credit card each month and have no debts to speak of (other than out mortgage). We are not rich by any means but neither are we poor.

[groo]

People dance around the subject, but there are clues.... When someone remarks, "Hmm. They didn't take any money out for Social Security in my last check," you know their base salary. A guy I work with made the mistake of calculating out loud the monthly cost of his property taxes. Almost without pause, another guy said, "So, you have $2.1 million in assessed real estate, huh?" And anyone mentioning that they didn't get a stimulus check has told you, at least in broad terms, whether or not they'll be up against the wall when the revolution comes.

But why jealously guard one's salary? Over the years, I've found out the salaries of some of my cow-orkers. My reactions have been:
Well, good! You deserve it; I'm glad they see that.
Um, I've been meaning to tell you. You're suffering from a PR issue. There seems to be an impression in management that you're a little unreliable.
Dude, take English as a Second Language. It's holding you back so much.
Motherf***er! What is he doing? (Much later: What can I learn from this?)
Okay; now I'm pissed. (This caused me to, for the one and only time, to write a number on a piece of paper, hand it to my department manager and say, "If I'm not earning that by the end of next year, I'm going to have to look seriously at my options. I do NOT have another job offer and would never do anything until Project XXX is delivered. But the way I am, if I go through the process, by the time I give my two weeks' notice, it will be an irrevocable decision." -- Kids, don't try this at home! It was kinda stupid, and there were some special circumstances that made this a little less than criminally stupid. I think an important factor was that I gave the impression that I was feeling guilty about making a stir.)

I think the people who most benefit from the silence is the employers. They strive to figure out, for each employee, the minimum $$ they need to pay to keep you from quitting.

[divemaster]

I'm 39 and married. I work as a biologist / environmental project manager for the Federal Government. My salary is just under $100,000 and the government picks up most of the health insurance premium. My wife does not work.

We're just about to close on a house. 30-yr fixed, 10% down will put the monthly prinicipal/interest/taxes at about $2,600.

Car payment for my wife's car is $350. This will be paid off in 5 months, but I'll probably take on another similar payment to replace the old junker I drive.

We'll be putting her son through college, but we have a 529 college fund to take care of that.

Absolutely no credit card or other revolving debt.

Other monthly outgo:

Tithe/other charities: $600
Insurance (house/car/life): $250
Groceries/eating out/misc shopping (Target, mall, etc.): $600
Gas/public transportation: $300
Cable/Internet: $100
Other utilities: $400

The above comes out several hundred more than my take-home, but I cover it from the profit I made on selling my previous house. I've got quite a bit of additional promotion potential and the price we're paying for the house is such a steal I almost feel sorry for the bank who is selling it to me. (Almost.)

Retirement? I've got the typical pension plan and the government matches my 5% contribution to the Thrift Savings Plan (like a 401-k). It's building nicely. I expect the house will be a very good investment. After I retire from the gov, I will be quite marketable in private consulting. I've also got some stocks and a rare book collection that (I hope) will be worth more as time goes on.

[gigi]

I do jealously guard my salary at work, and I don't want to know what other people make either. We have a published range chart by position level, but personally I don't want to know others' position levels either. If someone comes into a position that's been posted, yes, I will know but I don't know where in the range it falls.

But you're right--it does indirectly come out. I was thinking of moving to NH and my friend said I need to factor in the drop in state taxes when considering rent. She thought it should be $300 and in fact it's $175. I had inadvertantly seen her approximate salary (through no fault of my own) and I see why the difference!!

But here? No big deal to share generic info.

For anyone who cares to, I would love to know retirement savings, so I can get an idea across a broad cross section of a population.As mentioned, I'm 40 and I have about $70K in retirement, from ten years of employer and employee contributions (ranging from 6% to 20% of salary). It's in a growth thingie right now but of course it fell screamingly last quarter. It will just be me retiring so maybe I will have some chance of supporting myself modestly.

[Malthus]

Very interesting thread. I'll play.

I'm a 40 year old lawyer working at a firm in downtown Toronto. I have a wife of the same age who is a financial editor and a 2 and a half year old son.

I expect to earn, in salary and bonus, between $230,000 and $276,000 (depending on bonus) and my wife earns around $70,000 - so a before-tax family income of between $300,000 - $346,000.

Three years ago we bought a house for $660,000, taking a $325,000 mortgage and paying the rest down. My mortgage payments are $1,250 every two weeks, plus I have been making extra payments - I hope to have it paid off in 4 years or so (I'm down to $190,000).

We drive a used Ford Taurus we bought second hand.

My yearly budget is something like this, off the top of my head:

- mortgage payments: $32,500
- extra payments to principal: $24,000
- savings in RRSP: $25,000
- Nanny salary: aprox. $16,000
- House improvements: $10,000
- Property tax: $6,000
- Insurance (house, life, car): $2,000
- Utilities: say around $2,000
- Gym membership, trainer: $3,000
- Groceries, toddler toys, gas, transit: $13,000
- Clothes, books, entertainment etc: $10,000
- Vacations: $4,000
- Education savings fund for kid: $2,000
- Savings for new car, house addition, etc.: everything else

No doubt there are a bunch of things I'm forgetting and many numbers are extremely approximate.

[Chefguy]

61-year old male, Alaska, presently working as a quality control manager for about $100K/year. My spouse is a property manager, underpaid at about $60K/year.

We live in a 2000 sq.ft. condo, drive a 2-year old car, own a 4-year old RV and have zero debt (as in nada). I have no idea what our annual expenses are, as my wife does the finances and I do the investments. I know that our monthly credit card estimate is about $3-4K, and we put most everything on that card (food, gas, whatever). We pay a couple hundred a month for condo fees and annual property taxes are about $3,000 (but there's no state income tax and we both get a check every year from oil royalties, net taxes = zero).

Net assets from retirement accounts and investments, including the condo, is about $1.4 million. I'm working at what I hope is my last full-time job. The condo and the car will be up for sale next summer.

[interface2x]

Okay, I'll go.

I'm a 30 year old male, living in the suburbs of Chicago. I've been in the business world for 8 years and currently am an analyst with a major retailer. I currently make in the mid-$50's and live alone in a one bedroom apartment. I contribute 8% to my 401K, of which my employer matches 3%, for a total of 11%. My major monthly expenses:

Rent: $900
Student Loan: $135
Cable/Internet: $120
Electric: $50
Gas (heating): $25
Cell Phone: $40

As for groceries, gas (car), and the like, I'm not sure off-hand. My car insurance premiums are paid every six months and are neglible.

[eleanorigby]

I'm an RN in Same Day Surgery, very part time (I work maybe 16 hours/week). I am a per diem employee, so the only benny I have now is my 401k (and SDS does not make the salary scale that a specialty unit does). I contribute about 7%, down from 10%. My employer kicks in 3%.

I used to make about $41,000/year as a PT (24 hrs/week) staff nurse in ICU/stepdown (specialty areas usually pay better) + bennys. Not bad, except that I worked 12 hour shifts (often with no break), every other weekend (with 3 kids and their games/recitals/parties etc), and every other holiday. It got old.

Now, I only make about $29,000, but I'm home more with the kids. Thing is, we went on my husband's insurance (since I lost ours when I changed status) and it's more expensive. Really, financially, it was a stupid move to make, but I was almost at nervous breakdown headed for complete mental/emotional entropy, so I had to change.

I live in a southern suburb of Chicago, a nice, stable and diverse community.

I will also say that my car is a 1998 Volvo station wagon with 90,000 miles on it.
We have some considerable credit card debt due to my husband foray into self-employment a few years ago (he only made $3K that year and I wasn't working--had had a baby), but we are almost done with paying it off.

We have a daughter headed to BU this fall--she got a merit scholarship and she has a trust fund (long story--all the kids do. The funds make it possible for her to have a car and have options like BU. Otherwise, we are very, very middle class with all its worries and coupon cutting etc).

[Rachael Rage]

As mentioned, I'm 40 and I have about $70K in retirement Crap. This thread is very depressing.

I am approaching 40 and don't have anywhere near that kind of savings. Choosing to build a career in the performing arts field (on the administrative side) does not seem like such a good idea, but I'm kind of stuck with it now.

I just aspire one day to be able to afford an apartment with two rooms that isn't located in crack-whore central.

[Atrael]

Meh, don't let it bother you. I'm even worse at saving than just about everyone here. I'll figure something out when I'm older, or drive off a cliff...one of the two.

For me:

36 year old government SME in Modeling and Simulation. I live in the Tidewater Area of Virginia.

Salary is somewhere around $90K. Wife makes around $40K. I'm not sure exactly what her new salary is, and I don't really know what I got for my last raise, so that's an approximation.

Bills that I know of off the top of my head:

Mortgage: We just bought and renovated an older house in a great neighborhood that I spent time in when I was a child. So for our 3000 sq. ft. house we owe around$400K. We pay twice monthly to get that extra payment in each year. I think it's around $2400 each month.

Cars: I have a 06 Tiburon that we pay about $370 each month. Wife has 07 Elantra that's $311 or so.

Electric: Since the whole house is electric, this is a larger bill. I think it averages around $250 a month.

Water: Community Well, so only $75 every 6 months.

Daycare: $850 per month. This is actually paid to my mother-in-law who lives with us. This will be increasing to cover her health insurance in a couple of months.

Insurance: No idea. I know we pay about $400 every 3 months for my wife's supplemental life insurance. But I have no idea about car insurance.

Same with food. No clue how much we spend each month. Although probably a lot.

Credit card: a lot. I think we're at around $20K or so. Of course well over half of that is debt we took from my mom when she was having financial difficulties. Very slowly going down.

Savings: We put $100 per child per month aside for education. But that's it. Everything else gets spent.

Forgot to add that I think it's fascinating to see the range of career's we have here. Some really cool jobs. Which makes me have hope that my kids will be able to do what they want to do in life, and not just what they have to do in order to make ends meet. .mil

[BlackKnight]

27 year old factory worker in southern Minnesota. I make about $28k a year. Last year I got just barely over 30k, due to a whole heap of overtime. I am single and live alone. (I may eventually get a cat - if I do, there will of course be pics in MPSIMS.)

I bought a 1360 sq ft house last October for $63,000. Monthly payment (tax / insurance included) is $450, but I've been paying $500. It's on a 15-year mortgage.

Other costs:
Cell phone: $10 (on a plan with others in family, and I rarely use it except as an alarm clock)
Water / sewer: $35 or so
Garbage: $18
Internet: $60 (no cable or other TV service)
Gas: $50, sometimes less
Electric and (gas) heat: Varies greatly. The past couple months these combined have been in the $70 - $80 range. When winter rolls around, heating costs push this total upwards of $150.
Food: Around $250. I could easily cut it down, but I have a habit, at the end of the month, of thinking, "Hey, there's money left over in the food budget - pizza party!!!"

Entertainment costs:
Netflix: About $20 a month
Audible.com: About $15 a month
Occassionally, a movie at the theatre or a new book.

I drive a 1994 Nissan Sentra that has been begging for death for some time now. My next major purchase will be a car. I have been saving up for this, and plan to use my economic stimulus check as well as the "extra" third paycheck I get in August towards this goal. Sadly, it seems the used vehicle market around here is currently glutted with bargain-priced gas-guzzling SUVs. Finding a small, reliable, fuel efficient car that I can afford will be an interesting challenge.

Other than my mortgage, I have no debt. My savings took a beating for the downpayment on my house, but are starting back up slowly. I have $100 from each check automatically put into my savings account; the rest goes into checking. I have about $3000 in a Health Savings Account that I have never used. *knock wood* My 401(K) has about $14,000 in it.

[AuntiePam]

Age, Sex, Location, Occupation, and Income

63, female, rural Iowa, semi-retired, 26K in Social Security, pensions, and part-time jobs -- husband $15K in Social Security and part-time job

Car
1999 Camry, bought new, paid for

Rent and Utilities
$375 for home equity loan used to pay off credit cards and put a new roof on the garage
$150 month for propane for heat & hot water
$90 month for electricity, sewer, garbage
$60 for phone and internet
$70 for satellite TV
$160 year for life/accident insurance
$120 month for homeowners and car insurance
$800 year for property taxes

My kids want me to move back to Seattle if my husband dies before me. I just laugh. Seattle on $26K?

[DirkGntly]

39-yr-old male, Kansas City, Missouri. I am a consulting wireless design engineer for a medical information systems company, so I travel. I make $104k/yr, and will be getting a $8k raise this September. Take home is $2600.00 every two weeks.

I have a 2000 Dodge Ram Quad-cab pickup, with 67k miles on it, and it's paid for.
2100 sq. ft., 4 BR/2.5BA home, 30yr mortgage, paid $156k (built in 1977, bought by me in 2005), payments are $1100/mo.
Woodworking shop with cabinet saw, drill press, router station, band saw, radial-arm saw, and too many routers, hand saws, chisels, clamps, etc. to number (total value of building and equipment/tools - approx. $30k)
$4k in savings account, $48k in a 401(k)
3 kids under college age
Groceries - $750/mo
Utilities - $300-350/mo
Non-employer life insurance - $90/mo.
Auto insurance (collision) - $65/mo.
Revolving (credit card) debt - $28k (left over from closing a business 3 years ago).

[Maastricht]

This is all Dutch, so it doesn't really compare to USA-standards. My WAG is that overall, Dutch incomes are lower, but the standard of living is comparable to USA, because more bills are taken care of by the government, like (medical) insurances.

(European currency, the euro, is worth about a dollar, only the exchange rate is now more favourable to the euro.)

Age, Sex, Location, Occupation, and Income
40 year old female, married, local government policy maker in the Netherlands. Income 30.000 euro's a year for a 32 hour workweek, so 1800 a month.
My husband makes about the same, also for a 32 hour workweek.

Car
2005 Toyota Prius, lease car from my husbands company. Costs us 200 euro's a month including gas. I don't need a car: my job, stores etc are all within a ten-minutes range on my bike.

Rent and Utilities
Mortgage for our 180 K (2006) 3 bedroom, 120 square meter city apartment with garden: 750 euro's a month, from which we get 300 back in taxes.
Utilities (heating, electricity, tv & internet, water, city taxes etc) about 600 a month.

Food - we rarely eat out, so it's all grocery bills. Every time we go grocery shopping and buy food for two days, I guess we spend about 25 euro's.

[JackofHearts]

Early 30s male, military officer currently living in Anchorage, AK...take home about $70k...
Mortgage of $2000, but collect total rent of $1900 from roommate and from the other half of the duplex, my split of utilities is around $200, another $300 or so in gas and food, with an additional $70 for cell phone. $200 car payment on a Toyota pickup, $300/mo in student loans, and currently spending lotsof free cash continuing my pilot training...no other debt currently...

[Moriarty]

30, attorney, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I make $65K (I'm due for a raise in 2 months, probably to the low to mid $70's - depressing when you consider I heard that our 3 partners each take home $100K/month).

I rent a studio in a nice neighborhood for $985.00. I lease a Honda Civic for $250.00/month (I'm getting ready to turn it in, and I'll be buying my next car).

Most of my other bills are automatic deductions, and I am horrible about paying attention to them. So, truth be told, I don't know how much electric, cable, internet, phone, etc. cost. I also automatically send about $4K/year (divided monthly) into a Roth IRA, and I automatically put a couple hundred bucks a month into a savings account.

The good news, though, is that I don't carry any credit card debt. My only debt, basically, is my student loans (about $30K), which I pay off slowly each month (I think I pay $150 per month).

[Savannah]

43, female, married. Greater Victoria, BC. I am a secretary for a real estate/property management firm.

My annual income is $29,000 or so Canadian dollars annually from that job, and I pick up anywhere from $50-250 a year from writing erotica. I don't write full-time, and produce stories slowly, so it's about fun, not money. I pay zero for health insurance (company covered) and there is partial dental coverage. I will have to look into vision. Prescription drugs are very inexpensive under the medical coverage, and my husband is on my medical as he's self-employed.

I drive a 2007 or 2006 (I don't know, it's a car) Chevrolet... Um, Cobalt. It's not paid for, and my car payment is $348 or so a month.

Gas is about $80-100 per month (I use my car for work and get reimbursed for mileage, which makes it hurt a little less.)

Insurance for the car is about $600 a year.

House insurance was $666 this year. (I remembered that figure!)

We live in a double-wide and don't have a conventional mortgage, but a straight up loan to complete the purchase and do improvements. Pad fee is $509 per month, and the house loan is either $200 or $300 monthly. I pay the pad fee; my husband pays the loan and rent on his business premises.

I don't think we have a hope in hell of buying a house here in Victoria; in the last ten years the average price went from $250,000 to something like $600-700,000. We bought our place for $53,000 four years ago. I didn't want to keep renting and we couldn't afford to buy a house. (We're still kinda renters, though...)

Cel phone bill is $96 per month (phone has web access), Hydro (electricity) varies from $70-150 per month depending on the season.

Home heating oil (actually stove oil) kills us in the winter. It's probably $1500 total, purchased September through to May. Ouch.

Cable/internet is $100.06 or something per month. It just went up to $100 and change.

Property taxes are $319 this year.

Water, sewer, garbage/recycling are in the pad fee.

Credit card debit: $11,000. This is NOT making me happy and my goal is to eliminate it.

Savings: a little less than $10,000 (in ING where I have my RRSP too).

I really, really, really wished I started saving money much, much, much earlier in life, but I didn't.

[SanVito]

I'm translating GBP into USD here, so whilst the income numbers might look big, remember that London is Really Bloody Expensive.

Female (gay, if it's relevant), London, freelance graphic designer (i.e. self-employed), 38, earn roughly $130,000 p.a. (minus about 25% tax).

Monthly outgoings:
- rent $2200 for a tiny one bed flat in a smart-ish area.
- bills roughly $400 per month
- debts c. $800 per month (long story - never buy an expensive house ($850k), do it up ($50k), buy a house in Italy ($180k) then break-up with your partner)
- car c.$400 per month inc. tax and fuel.
- holidays (about 4-5 per year), no idea, a lot.

Partner (non-cohabiting) earns c. $250,000 p.a. as a Marketing Director, which helps soften the blow.

[Walkabout]

...
(European currency, the euro, is worth about a dollar, only the exchange rate is now more favourable to the euro.)
...

Actually, one Euro is worth about $1.50 these days.

[black rabbit]

IT Manager/PM, Cincinnati, OH, Married, Male, 29.9167 years old.

My wife's on disability.

Last year, we were pretty firmly in the 25% bracket. 3/4 of it was my income, and the rest was from her disability payments.

House: Currently living with my MIL to clear debt and save up for a down payment.

Vehicles: '01 Corolla, paid cash a few years ago. My wife tools around on a new scooter she paid cash for a couple of months ago.

Monthly expenses:
CC Debt: ~ $800 minimum, + whatever
Rent + utilities for my MIL: $500
Student loans: $370
Gas: ~ $250
Lunches: ~ $100
Car + Bike insurance: $75
Phone + DSL: $90
Netflix: $10

My situation may be changing very shortly, depending on how things go. Let's just say none of that CC debt is mine.

[Maastricht]

Actually, one Euro is worth about $1.50 these days.Correct, but that is the exchange rate, which changes constantly, and more importantly is most relevant in international trade and travel. If you look at both euro's and dollars in the everyday lives of people who get paid and spend their money in their own countries, I'd say they are still roughly equal. A loaf of bread costing 2 USD in the USA will cost 2 euro's in Europe, is what I'm saying.

[Walkabout]

Correct, but that is the exchange rate, which changes constantly, and more importantly is most relevant in international trade and travel. If you look at both euro's and dollars in the everyday lives of people who get paid and spend their money in their own countries, I'd say they are still roughly equal. A loaf of bread costing 2 USD in the USA will cost 2 euro's in Europe, is what I'm saying.

OK, that's probably true, but it seems to me that to compare your income and expenses to someone's in the US, you'd have to multiply everything by 1.5. After all, not everything is equal, since your stronger euro would benefit you when it comes to imports.

[brujaja]

Heh. I live in Oakland, California. I have a babysitting job which pays ostensibly $300 a month but in reality works out to more like $200 a month. That's for 120 hours.

Then I have a side job which pays $20 an hour for three hours a week. So I make more in 3 hours cleaning a house than in 30 hours caring for a 3-year-old. Weird.

However, the little girl's grandfather is a longtime friend and has an extra room, so I don't have rent.

I have many skills and sometimes it feels strange to be doing simple tasks; then again, the little girl is like family & her nurturing and enrichment is very important to me. If I weren't doing this, I don't know what her mother would do -- she can't afford conventional childcare.

So, $5520 annually. Bills probably exceed that considerably, but I manage.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Im 22 and live in maisonette in the town centre of a major city in Scotland. I share with my best friend so split the cost of all the bills.

My share for the rent is about £200 a month.
The parking spare is about £10 a month.
Electricity is about £100 every 3 months.
Sky, Internet and Phone - £25 per month.
Mobile is about £20 a month.
Car payments inc petrol and insurance is £270 per month. I drive a Renault Clio (2004)
Contents insurance - £13.56 per month.

My income last year was £9,100. Im currently a full time law student and have a part time job as a car rental operator. I have credit card debit (around £500) and student debts over £10,000. *sigh* I cant waiting til I'm earning big bucks!

[Lust4Life]

I'm twenty one,male,a string of mansions worldwide including London,Monaco and St.Moritz,
international rock star and multi billionaire.


Er some of my details may carry factual innacuracies.....................

[Antonia]

Female, single, 50-ish.

Live on: the streets.

Occupation: self employed magazine salesperson. When I run out of The Big Issue I’ll sell anything I can find, most customers don’t bother to look anyway. They just take the piece of paper I offer them, give me some change and get away from me as fast as they can.

Income: depends – people tend to ignore me on rainy days or when local footy team lost. In nice weather it’s different – sometimes they even look me in the face and say something.

Real estate: cardboard box underneath a bridge (I’m not telling you which bridge – you’re after my box aren’t you!) I also have a winter residence which has a bed and a roof. I meet a lot of my colleagues there. The rent is 3 euros a night including a meal.

Mode of transport (besides feet): supermarket trolley – paid for in cash (bl**dy thing cost me 50 eurocents, can’t get the freakin’ coin out of the slot).

Like KlondikeGeoff on here, I also can’t seem to get life insurance. Or any insurance whatsoever.

This is not meant to mock the homeless. Far from it.

[gigi]

This is not meant to mock the homeless. Far from it.Is it meant to be a truthful first-person account? Or a representation of something?

[Lust4Life]

Female, single, 50-ish.

Live on: the streets.

Occupation: self employed magazine salesperson. When I run out of The Big Issue I’ll sell anything I can find, most customers don’t bother to look anyway. They just take the piece of paper I offer them, give me some change and get away from me as fast as they can.

Income: depends – people tend to ignore me on rainy days or when local footy team lost. In nice weather it’s different – sometimes they even look me in the face and say something.

Real estate: cardboard box underneath a bridge (I’m not telling you which bridge – you’re after my box aren’t you!) I also have a winter residence which has a bed and a roof. I meet a lot of my colleagues there. The rent is 3 euros a night including a meal.

Mode of transport (besides feet): supermarket trolley – paid for in cash (bl**dy thing cost me 50 eurocents, can’t get the freakin’ coin out of the slot).

Like KlondikeGeoff on here, I also can’t seem to get life insurance. Or any insurance whatsoever.

This is not meant to mock the homeless. Far from it.



The homeless in the U.K. sell The Big Issue but though a part of the E.C. Britain uses Pounds Sterling and pence not Euros and Euro Cents and I've never heard a Brit ever use the word Freakin,not once not ever.

Your post puzzles me,if you are choosing to publicise the plight of the poor why are you(presumably an American going by your choice of the word Freakin)portraying your character as being British?

[Desert Nomad]

Actually, one Euro is worth about $1.50 these days.


I think it means what costs $1 in the US costs about €1 in Europe.