is $100,000 / year still a good salary?

[Fausto]

..and you're so busy getting mad you can't even see that I'm basically agreeing with you that $100k is a reasonable salary for a household if you have some self-control.

 

[jayzds]

Taxed 40%, but 40% on a much smaller amount.

My friend's parents have owned a business for more than 20 years and they gave me the run down on how it works.
-Their 20 year old minivan is owned by the company. 100% of the cost was tax deductible. Always finance; never pay cash. That way you're deducting smaller amounts per year.
-Gasoline is 100% tax deductible. Even through you're using the van to buy groceries on the weekend, you still say all of it was used for business purposes. It would actually be suspicious if you didn't deduct gasoline, because then you would basically be saying that you were using a company vehicle for personal uses. That's a big no no. All of it was business, deduct all of it.
-Your computers are all company computers and you deduct all of it. Never pirate software. When you pay the retarded $500 for Microsoft fucking Office, that $500 is deductible.
-Clothes used for work at deductible. For me it would be dress shirts and pants because I work in an office. If you are a mechanic, you can deduct your boots, coveralls, t-shirts, jeans, socks, jackets, hats, gloves, and anything else that you could use on the job.
-Vehicle repair is deductible because it's a work vehicle.
-Cellular phones and phone bills for those phones are tax deductible. Go buy a new $500 iPhone and write it off. Make sure you actually use it for business though.

Basically anything you use for work can be deducted. My car by itself would be at least a $4,000 write off every year. My brother's friend has a $60,000 diesel truck with a welding rig on the back, all of it tax-free.

Work clothes are not tax deductible. Only uniforms such as Nurse, Police, etc...
Also, vehicles need to calculate personal use out of them, unless they have two & one is used 100% for business.

 

[child of wonder]

Work clothes are not tax deductible. Only uniforms such as Nurse, Police, etc...
Also, vehicles need to calculate personal use out of them, unless they have two & one is used 100% for business.

Not if you cheat on your taxes and say it's all 100% used for work!

 

[ShawnD1]

Not if you cheat on your taxes and say it's all 100% used for work!

Buy really ugly clothes
"do you think I would ever wear this outside of the work shop? obviously not"

 

[vi edit]

Really to me, what really changes between say....$60,000 and $100,000 is your ability to save long term. Quality of life and material things really don't change that drastically. It's the ability to bump up retirement accounts and have a bit more padding. My wife and I have a household income closer to $200k than $100k and outside of our home (which we did a massive amount of work on ourselves) we really don't live excessively lavish lifestyles.

By the time taxes, insurance, retirement, and daycare costs come out of our paychecks we are clearing about $7500 a month. Now take out of that additional long term savings like college and IRA's. Down to $6500. Take out $2500 mortgate. Down to $4000. Take out student loans. Down to $3500. Car payments and insurance, down to $3000. Food down to $2500. Utilities down to $2000. Gas and entertainment eat up another $250 a month. That's $1750. We put away $400 a month into a cash fund for emergency stuff. $1350.

Now I've got another kid on the way so another $900 month is going to daycare. I'm down to about $450 a month of true "expendible income". And that's with a relatively "normal" lifestyle. No lavish expenses. I've got a mortgage that's less than double my household income. I'm not jetsetting the world on monthly basis. Not wiping my ass with $20 bills. I'm just a normal dude with a working family and kids in daycare with a decent house that's more than safely within my D:I ratio.

What I'm I getting that somebody else isn't? A decent retirement account. I could live a hell of a lot more comfortably with that 20% back in my pocket. And that's how a lot of people get by. That's really the difference between me and somebody else making half what we do. We have the same car payment and house...but I've got a decent nest egg squared away while they don't.

 

[Fausto]

Really to me, what really changes between say....$60,000 and $100,000 is your ability to save long term. Quality of life and material things really don't change that drastically. It's the ability to bump up retirement accounts and have a bit more padding. My wife and I have a household income closer to $200k than $100k and outside of our home (which we did a massive amount of work on ourselves) we really don't live excessively lavish lifestyles.

By the time taxes, insurance, retirement, and daycare costs come out of our paychecks we are clearing about $7500 a month. Now take out of that additional long term savings like college and IRA's. Down to $6500. Take out $2500 mortgate. Down to $4000. Take out student loans. Down to $3500. Car payments and insurance, down to $3000. Food down to $2500. Utilities down to $2000. Gas and entertainment eat up another $250 a month. That's $1750. We put away $400 a month into a cash fund for emergency stuff. $1350.

Now I've got another kid on the way so another $900 month is going to daycare. I'm down to about $450 a month of true "expendible income". And that's with a relatively "normal" lifestyle. No lavish expenses. I've got a mortgage that's less than double my household income. I'm not jetsetting the world on monthly basis. Not wiping my ass with $20 bills. I'm just a normal dude with a working family and kids in daycare with a decent house that's more than safely within my D:I ratio.

What I'm I getting that somebody else isn't? A decent retirement account. I could live a hell of a lot more comfortably with that 20% back in my pocket. And that's how a lot of people get by. That's really the difference between me and somebody else making half what we do. We have the same car payment and house...but I've got a decent nest egg squared away while they don't.

I will add that your household costs increase more or less across the board with each kid and continue to do so as they grow. Bigger kids eat more, clothing costs more, there will be more laundry to do, more dishes to do, etc, etc.

 

[GotIssues]

The only person I am mocking here is you. MN is not Atlanta.

http://www.bls.gov/ro4/aepatl.pdf

You don't pay much difference in kwh than I do. Last I checked, I think I was at .087/kwh. You are at .117/kwh. My electric bill was $76 last month. That's 873 kwh. In that "expensive" Atlanta area electricity, it would have been $102. You claim to be spending $800, which is 6837 KWH. You are using nearly 8x the amount of electricity I am. There is a difference between want and need. I could see double or triple my energy usage, but 8x? Really? And you still can't come to grips that you are wasting any energy? Give me a break.

Trust me when I say you cannot get a reasonable house for a family of four in the city for less than $350k if you want decent public schools. Even then, you're really only buying a good elementary program before your kids get thrown in with all the dregs for middle and high school. Your attempt to compare flying first class to having kids in private school is therefore ridiculous. It's just reality down here.

If you want to put your head in the sand and say that it's impossible to make any sacrifices what-so-ever and you can barely live off that kind of money, so be it, I really don't care. However, you are still mixing up what you want with what is needed. You WANT to buy a house in the city, but you don't NEED to buy a house in the city. You WANT your kids to go to the best school possible, you don't NEED your kids to go to those schools. You WANT a house with loads of toys and gadgets (making assumption on "reasonable" based on your other claims), you don't NEED a house with toys and gadgets.

You are missing the fundamental ability to distinguish the difference between wants and needs. You need to take a step back and re-evaluate, not berate people on the internet and claim that you live some difficult life and that they couldn't possibly understand.

 

[child of wonder]

http://www.bls.gov/ro4/aepatl.pdf

You don't pay much difference in kwh than I do. Last I checked, I think I was at .087/kwh. You are at .117/kwh. My electric bill was $76 last month. That's 873 kwh. In that "expensive" Atlanta area electricity, it would have been $102. You claim to be spending $800, which is 6837 KWH. You are using nearly 8x the amount of electricity I am. There is a difference between want and need. I could see double or triple my energy usage, but 8x? Really? And you still can't come to grips that you are wasting any energy? Give me a break.

That was spidey who said his utilities were $800/month.

 

[spidey07]

That was spidey who said his utilities were $800/month.

Gas/Electric = 200
Cable = 190
Phones - 180
Water/Trash - 90
Lawncare - 200
HOA - 50

So over 800 actually.

 

[Fausto]

http://www.bls.gov/ro4/aepatl.pdf

You don't pay much difference in kwh than I do. Last I checked, I think I was at .087/kwh. You are at .117/kwh. My electric bill was $76 last month. That's 873 kwh. In that "expensive" Atlanta area electricity, it would have been $102. You claim to be spending $800, which is 6837 KWH. You are using nearly 8x the amount of electricity I am. There is a difference between want and need. I could see double or triple my energy usage, but 8x? Really? And you still can't come to grips that you are wasting any energy? Give me a break.




If you want to put your head in the sand and say that it's impossible to make any sacrifices what-so-ever and you can barely live off that kind of money, so be it, I really don't care. However, you are still mixing up what you want with what is needed. You WANT to buy a house in the city, but you don't NEED to buy a house in the city. You WANT your kids to go to the best school possible, you don't NEED your kids to go to those schools. You WANT a house with loads of toys and gadgets (making assumption on "reasonable" based on your other claims), you don't NEED a house with toys and gadgets.

You are missing the fundamental ability to distinguish the difference between wants and needs. You need to take a step back and re-evaluate, not berate people on the internet and claim that you live some difficult life and that they couldn't possibly understand.

Are you a colossal gasbag in real life, too?

You need to take a moment, read my posts, and then try again. Take a moment to consult your spreadsheet if needed.

 

[Fausto]

That was spidey who said his utilities were $800/month.

Yeah, my power bill is not horrific. Small house, programmable thermostat, all that.

 

[child of wonder]

Gas/Electric = 200
Cable = 190
Phones - 180
Water/Trash - 90
Lawncare - 200
HOA - 50

So over 800 actually.

In my example, $300 per month was only electricity, water, gas, and garbage. Exactly in line with yours.

 

[Nebor]

Gas/Electric = 200
Cable = 190
Phones - 180
Water/Trash - 90
Lawncare - 200
HOA - 50

So over 800 actually.

$190 for cable and $180 for phones.... Also lawn care is way cheaper if you're in the southern US for some reason.

 

[GotIssues]

That was spidey who said his utilities were $800/month.

Whoops, my mistake. In and out of meetings, none of the poster names stuck out until one decided to say that I was "assuming" cost of living was the same everywhere (particularly since I said earlier that location matters).

Like I said, I wouldn't be overly shocked if someone paid 3x what I do, I would be shocked at 8x, well, unless they ran an amusement park.

 

[GotIssues]

Are you a colossal gasbag in real life, too?

You need to take a moment, read my posts, and then try again. Take a moment to consult your spreadsheet if needed.

You reap what you sow. If you didn't start being a asshole to me, I wouldn't have returned the favor.

 

[PrinceofWands]

$190 for cable and $180 for phones.... Also lawn care is way cheaper if you're in the southern US for some reason.

WTF is lawn care anyway? Paying someone to do what every homeowner is supposed to do themselves? I probably spend about $15-20/mo on gas and chemicals. Problem solved.

 

[ShawnD1]

Gas/Electric = 200
Cable = 190
Phones - 180
Water/Trash - 90
Lawncare - 200
HOA - 50

So over 800 actually.

wtf? $190 for cable? $180 for phones? How many phones do you have? 30?

My phone is $45/mo and it includes damn near everything. If I had a wife, we could bundle the shit for about $60.

 

[kY]

Gas/Electric = 200
Cable = 190
Phones - 180
Water/Trash - 90
Lawncare - 200
HOA - 50

So over 800 actually.

The 200 on electric obviously includes folding.

 

[Nebor]

WTF is lawn care anyway? Paying someone to do what every homeowner is supposed to do themselves? I probably spend about $15-20/mo on gas and chemicals. Problem solved.

I've never mowed a lawn in my life. And aside from college, I've always lived in homes with lawns.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I just think it's crazy that there are places in the US where $100k/yr for a single earner is considered 'ok'.

This reminds me of the time when during an NBA lockout Patrick Ewing said something along the lines of "We make a lot of money but we spend a lot too!"

 

[PrinceofWands]

I've never mowed a lawn in my life. And aside from college, I've always lived in homes with lawns.

That's just strange to me. It must be a regional thing somehow, though I've lived all over the US and homeowners almost always do their own stuff where I've been. On a whim I checked the phone book, and in a town of almost 40,000 people (100,000 metro area) there are only 6 lawn care/mowing businesses (probably all pretty small, since none even sprang for an add, just a listing). It just isn't done here (except at rentals or other business properties).

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

That's just strange to me. It must be a regional thing somehow, though I've lived all over the US and homeowners almost always do their own stuff where I've been. On a whim I checked the phone book, and in a town of almost 40,000 people (100,000 metro area) there are only 6 lawn care/mowing businesses (probably all pretty small, since none even sprang for an add, just a listing). It just isn't done here (except at rentals or other business properties).

I do my own lawn, and am one of the few in my neighborhood that do... I have been stopped 4 times while mowing with people asking how much do I charge to mow lol. They seem embarrased when I explain I live there.

 

[PrinceofWands]

I do my own lawn, and am one of the few in my neighborhood that do... I have been stopped 4 times while mowing with people asking how much do I charge to mow lol. They seem embarrased when I explain I live there.

Where do you live (roughly)? I've lived all over the pacific nw, sherman oaks, orlando, meridian ms, all over in virginia, dc, marlton nj, etc, etc. I've almost never seen people paying for it. It's just a ridiculous expense, given how cheap, fast and easy it is to do it all yourself.

 

[spidey07]

That's just strange to me. It must be a regional thing somehow, though I've lived all over the US and homeowners almost always do their own stuff where I've been. On a whim I checked the phone book, and in a town of almost 40,000 people (100,000 metro area) there are only 6 lawn care/mowing businesses (probably all pretty small, since none even sprang for an add, just a listing). It just isn't done here (except at rentals or other business properties).

When it comes to home/lawn care I make a value decision - Is my time worth it to do it myself? Time=money.

If not, then I pay somebody else. My weekends are precious time for living.

 

[Nebor]

I do my own lawn, and am one of the few in my neighborhood that do... I have been stopped 4 times while mowing with people asking how much do I charge to mow lol. They seem embarrased when I explain I live there.

I always washed\waxed\detailed my own cars and I've had neighbors stop and ask me how much I charge.

As far as the lawn stuff, the same crew of non-english speaking latinos mow most lawns in the neighborhood. Costs ~$40 a week, and they come every week during spring\summer. Since I'm stationed far away from my home, I just wrote my neighbor a check for a year's worth and he pays them cash when they come.