It sounds like a lot, but $200 per month per person is easily attainable. I don't have that kinda dough, but going shopping from once in a while....it's pretty crazy what you can spend on one piece of clothing. People spend tons on clothes.
I still can't fathom it. I get 7 dollar colored T-shirts. My kids hand clothes down and we go garage sale shopping in the summer. My work polos cost like $14 a piece. I have 4 pairs of jeans and haven't bought new in 3 years. Seriously. $9,600? Nope.
Is it worth it just to live in NYC or, would it make more sense to live somewhere with a smaller salary and much lower childcare/cost of living?
Including discretionary spending in your "costs" and then having it lowering your overall "what's left" is wildly disingenuous.
Was that for me? If so i wasn't saying that i couldn't afford it. I was merely suggesting that making the move to the burbs while keeping my same job wouldn't necessarily save me anything out of pocket. I'd aim to have a similar or lower mortgage while adding on car cost and commuting cost. Neither of which i currently have to pay for.
Is it worth it just to live in NYC or, would it make more sense to live somewhere with a smaller salary and much lower childcare/cost of living?