My family makes $100k plus a year, its not enough!!

[Printer Bandit]

do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGCdBsOIKYA

 

[doubledeluxe]

Get a job elsewhere if you can. Don't be afraid to apply to jobs overseas.

 

[Rakehellion]

Boo hoo!

People make much less and survive. Stop loving like a king. Stop buying iPods, coffee, soda, iPads, cake.

I ate popcorn for dinner. Cost me 60 cents.

Ooh, look at the fancy boy who can afford popped corn.

 

[Firetrak]

Get a job elsewhere if you can. Don't be afraid to apply to jobs overseas.

I'm getting the certifications i need so a job overseas would be better, was looking to move back to London, but obviously shit came up like a better paying job here. Funnily enough it wasn't exactly the boon I thought it would be.

 

[1sikbITCH]

OMG why do you want a handout, get a jerb and stop hating Amurricah. Also, have some pride and live below your means while investing in your 401k. Don't be so entitled on shit you don't need like new cars or those fancy VHS and it'll be easy.

...
:hmm:
I think that about covers it.

Yes I gave up VHS and got a jerb and it changed my life :thumbsup:

 

[rednas]

Boo hoo!

People make much less and survive. Stop loving like a king. Stop buying iPods, coffee, soda, iPads, cake.

I ate popcorn for dinner. Cost me 60 cents.

The biggest issue for people in the same situation as the OP is the feeling that a relatively small issue in their lives which could result in unnecessary expenses could snowball and a extremely large negative impact on his families life. People with families look at things much differently than single people as they should.

 

[doubledeluxe]

I'm getting the certifications i need so a job overseas would be better, was looking to move back to London, but obviously shit came up like a better paying job here. Funnily enough it wasn't exactly the boon I thought it would be.

I've moved back and forth between Europe and the USA a few times. Times change. It's not easy though as you get older since it costs quite a bit to move back and forth.

 

[Firetrak]

The biggest issue for people in the same situation as the OP is the feeling that a relatively small issue in their lives which could result in unnecessary expenses could snowball and a extremely large negative impact on his families life. People with families look at things much differently than single people as they should.

Exactly. and honestly if I was reduced to eating popcorn for diner i'd know my life had taken a seriously shitty turn for the worse.

I'm not saying we are broke, not exactly struggling. But had you told me when I first came to America cutting down trees in Florida making only $320 a week than in 10 years time we've be making $100K Plus a year, i'd be like "fuck yeah i'm set".

But whats sad is I dont feel that way at all. For instance, we dont eat out, dont have cable TV, turn the AC off during the day. Have a 2012 car and a 14 year old car. No credit cards pay everything in cash, except for the car.

It just feels like life should be a lot easier than I feel it is.

Maybe its just America...

Funnily enough when I earned $320 a week in 2002 I felt better off than I do now. But I didn't have kids either, so i'm sure that contributes to it.

 

[doubledeluxe]

Watch out. Once you have kids in CA the expenses really sky rocket. Daycare is a giant scam.

 

[MrCassdin]

Hedonistic creep gets you every time. The more accustomed you are to living the good life, the more difficult it is to return to the frugal life.

What the fuck are you talking about "good life". A family home in a decent neighborhood (talking a 3/2 1,300s/f type of job) in the LA area is a million bucks or more. That's not the good life. Put the crack pipe down.

 

[Firetrak]

Watch out. Once you have kids in CA the expenses really sky rocket. Daycare is a giant scam.

We pay for after school car for the week and its $800 a month.

 

[rednas]

Exactly. and honestly if I was reduced to eating popcorn for diner i'd know my life had taken a seriously shitty turn for the worse.

I'm not saying we are broke, not exactly struggling. But had you told me when I first came to America cutting down trees in Florida making only $320 a week than in 10 years time we've be making $100K Plus a year, i'd be like "fuck yeah i'm set".

But whats sad is I dont feel that way at all. For instance, we dont eat out, dont have cable TV, turn the AC off during the day. Have a 2012 car and a 14 year old car. No credit cards pay everything in cash, except for the car.

It just feels like life should be a lot easier than I feel it is.

Maybe its just America...

Funnily enough when I earned $320 a week in 2002 I felt better off than I do now. But I didn't have kids either, so i'm sure that contributes to it.

A few years ago I saw this map

http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

and this calculator

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

and it resulted in me Leaving the SF Bay area. I make good money so I am not able to complain about that I did realize that I would be able to greatly control my expenses and save tons of money in about 95% of the United States and would be able to use the money I had saved for a down payment for a home in the Bay Area to pretty much buy a house outright in most of the Country I concluded that living in California was no longer worth it to me.

I lucked out in not only did I greatly decrease my expenses when I moved to Texas I also got a fairly nice pay bump to go along with lower taxes.

 

[SAWYER]

I want to know how people who work at McDonald's etc are able to make it in Cali and these other places if the cost of living is so high where 100K will not let you live comfortable

 

[doubledeluxe]

Well how much is it in London? That right there is over 10% of your take home.

 

[rednas]

I want to know how people who work at McDonald's etc are able to make it in Cali and these other places if the cost of living is so high where 100K will not let you live comfortable

they supplement their income with welfare/section 8/ and other gov't programs.

 

[doubledeluxe]

I want to know how people who work at McDonald's etc are able to make it in Cali and these other places if the cost of living is so high where 100K will not let you live comfortable

They live with their families or a bunch of roomates. They walk to work.

 

[Firetrak]

A few years ago I saw this map

http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

and this calculator

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

and it resulted in me Leaving the SF Bay area. I make good money so I am not able to complain about that I did realize that I would be able to greatly control my expenses and save tons of money in about 95% of the United States and would be able to use the money I had saved for a down payment for a home in the Bay Area to pretty much buy a house outright in most of the Country I concluded that living in California was no longer worth it to me.

I lucked out in not only did I greatly decrease my expenses when I moved to Texas I also got a fairly nice pay bump to go along with lower taxes.

I'll take a look at that thanks.

I want to know how people who work at McDonald's etc are able to make it in Cali and these other places if the cost of living is so high where 100K will not let you live comfortable

Sawyer I dont have a fucking clue. When we first moved to Los Angeles 5 years ago i was making $55k a year and that was it, my wife home schooled our kids. And it was tough. We lived in Reseda and I know for a fact I make more than almost everyone in my building. Most were cleaners of labourers. How they got by I simply dont know.

If both parents work at Mc'd's full time, thats only about $2400 a month after taxes. The average two bed apartment in The valley (part of Los angeles) is $1500, hows does that leave enough for anything.

I guess my original gripe is this area is just fucking crazy expensive and really doesn't offer a damn thing. I mean who likes 110c weather for 3 months of the year?

 

[sactoking]

We pay for after school car for the week and its $800 a month.

Yeah, care in California is terrible. I pay ~$600 per month for full-time care. And in California there are so many ridiculous regulations resulting from stupid lawsuits, like care providers are not allowed to fill or mix bottles for infants, that you really have to question what you're paying for.

 

[Firetrak]

Well how much is it in London? That right there is over 10% of your take home.

I paid $950 for a two bedroom townhouse, bills totally amounted to about $300 a month, we had about $2000 left over each month.

And we lived in a nice area.

Thing with london is that wages dont even come close to Los Angeles.

As an example someone with a CCNA might make $70k min in LA, but in London they make $50k. But cousin makes this with his CCNA working for a global bank in central London.

So its always a little good a little bad anywhere I guess.

 

[doubledeluxe]

If you don't like the weather or aren't overly attached to your family there then there are plenty of other places to live. Yeah it's beautiful but so is Montana. Granted that might be too sparsely populated for your taste. London to LA to Montana would be crazy.

Apply for jobs and see what happens.

 

[Firetrak]

Yeah, care in California is terrible. I pay ~$600 per month for full-time care. And in California there are so many ridiculous regulations resulting from stupid lawsuits, like care providers are not allowed to fill or mix bottles for infants, that you really have to question what you're paying for.

yeap they are supposed to check homework and they dont, their idea of a snack is goldfish.

 

[Firetrak]

If you don't like the weather or aren't overly attached to your family there then there are plenty of other places to live. Yeah it's beautiful but so is Montana. Granted that might be too sparsely populated for your taste. London to LA to Montana would be crazy.

Apply for jobs and see what happens.

Actually it was

London > Manchester > Florida > Los Angeles > Valencia >.... in the space of 10 years.

Tired of moving, but its just miserable here.

 

[SAWYER]

I know a couple people who have went into the drilling work that is happening all over. One guy I know bought a little camper and goes to a job for a few weeks etc then on to the next place. He is working a ton of hours but the actual work isnt hard at all, he is making pretty good. Well good for where we are from in the south. If you do a job like that for a few years you can easily pay off all your stuff and have a nice bank account, that is what he is doing

 

[rednas]

If you don't like the weather or aren't overly attached to your family there then there are plenty of other places to live. Yeah it's beautiful but so is Montana. Granted that might be too sparsely populated for your taste. London to LA to Montana would be crazy.

Apply for jobs and see what happens.

The main issue with moving to a place that is that sparsely populated is that employment opportunities are also limited. Unless the OP has a job that only requires an internet connection but I did not see that in this post.

 

[Firetrak]

I know a couple people who have went into the drilling work that is happening all over. One guy I know bought a little camper and goes to a job for a few weeks etc then on to the next place. He is working a ton of hours but the actual work isnt hard at all, he is making pretty good. Well good for where we are from in the south. if you do a job like that for a few years you can easily pay off all your stuff and have a nice bank account, that is what he is doing

Actually thought about this, but i'm actually trying to get back into full time IT. I think once I finish my certifications even if the job I get pays less we can move someplace else.

I work in an industry that's based in Los Angeles, so getting out of that is a first priority.