is 100k enough?

Anyone from the Maryland, Washington, Virginia area...

Is 100k per year enough to have a decent lifestyle with a small family?

I have no idea other than everything and everyone saying the cost of living is high?

I would like a house or townhouse with about 1800 to 2000 sq ft. Rent/Own either

It would be around the ft meade area...

Any advice would help, thanks!

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Comments

VAHokie56

saying 100k in NOVA is below average is probably accurate as the cost of living is so high...but like I mentioned Fredricksburg is right in between Richmond and NOVA and its a really nice place for about the same CoL as Richmond. Ill be a bias Richmond fan , I been here all my life ( minus College) and I love it ...about an hour give or take from the beach and mountains great social scene and killer places to eat. Also just north of Richmond is a nice rural area with great school systems for the kiddies ...cant beat it...ok end Richmond hype

ramrunner800

VAHokie56 wrote: »

saying 100k in NOVA is below average is probably accurate as the cost of living is so high...but like I mentioned Fredricksburg is right in between Richmond and NOVA and its a really nice place for about the same CoL as Richmond. Ill be a bias Richmond fan , I been here all my life ( minus College) and I love it ...about an hour give or take from the beach and mountains great social scene and killer places to eat. Also just north of Richmond is a nice rural area with great school systems for the kiddies ...cant beat it...ok end Richmond hype

It's just REALLY far to Ft. Meade. I lived in Fairfax until recently and it's like a 2 hour commute from there. Fredericksburg is a good hour from there when there's no traffic, Ricmond another hour. I read an article about someone's 7 our daily commute from Richmond to DC. Ft. Meade is further, and it's tough b/c your only options for getting there are going around 495 or going straight through the city. All of those options are terrible in rush hour.

BradleyHU

RomBUS wrote: »

Which is why I question why I live in NY. I guess being born and raised here is just something I can't shake. I really do love NY but I do not think I will last here financially unless I get lucky at landing a great job

You got to know where to live in the NYC metropolitan area. I can easily get by on $100K. I'm almost @ $80K before bonus, and i'm doing ok, student loans are killing me right now tho...wish Korea would have hacked Sallie Mae/Navient instead...but my rent is manageable, especially for the size of my apt.

professionale

salary does not matter

its how much you make vs the average in the area that you live in that counts
making 100k in seattle or manhatten is totally different from making 45k in alabama
your not comparing apples with apples, you could make a million dollars a year but if the average salary in your area is a million dollars its nothing special,
its funny how some people in this site brag and say oh i make 100k and talk about making that much money with only a couple of years in IT and the fact they are so young, when they live in areas where the cost of living is high, which is not immpressive
its good if someone is making alot of money compared to the area that they live in, but please be humble about it.

nice343

If your partner gets a job to supplement the income it should be OK.

dewey hafta

Here is some useful info if you haven't found it already.

Fairfax County demographics:
Economic and Demographic Information - Fairfax County, Virginia

Anne Arundel County demographics.
Anne Arundel County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Howard County demographics:
Howard County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Montgomery County demographics:
Montgomery County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

Just a quick glance through the information it appears that 100k is right around the median for most of the areas you will find. As others have stated, though, traffic will be a bear coming from NOVA to MD - unless you're traveling at 2am.

anhtran35

100k is Balla status in MD/DC/VA. I'm making 90k and live in Centreville, VA. I have debts. And after paying my monthly bills I still have 3k to play with. It's all on how you budget. I know people live in the NYC area making 50k and do OK. Laurel and Columbia are areas you can look for rent. Glen Burnie is another area that's not far from Fort Meade. I'm a bit frugal with my money. I learn to craigslist everything ranging from furniture( ikea ) to dress shirts( $5 to $10 ). I eat at home on weekdays and eat out occasionally on weekends. There should be numerous places you can eat with kids for $10 to $5 a meal. You have Casino Live in MD if you are a good gambler open 24/7.

Cyberscum

@Prof
Huh, thats the whole point of the thread.

@Anht
I like your perspective, one of the reasons we paid off our debt is so we would not be restricted by money. Being good with money is a lesson i learned a long time ago fortunately. Money is the one thing that can cause alot of ass pain if you are living paycheck to paycheck, or have a crap load of debt...

Cyberscum

@Dew
Thx a ton!

Lamini

100K/yr for your TOTAL income from your family is very doable in that area. Ask me how i Know (live there). Be smart though, work where the rich do, live where they dont. I'm not saying live in the ghetto, but income saved is income earned. Dont need them luxurious homes (more lawn to cut = bad imo !). In case you have not done so, hit up city-data.com and study the salary and housing cost charts, I can spend hours there because of all the lil tools, then theres forums, etc

datschmo

Cyberscum wrote: »

Anyone from the Maryland, Washington, Virginia area... It would be around the ft meade area...

Lets be real...there are pockets of 'good' places to live regardless of where you have a residence. If your planning to work near Ft. Meade, do your self a favor and don't live more than ~20 miles away (30 max!!). To far South (towards DC) or to far North (above Baltimore) and you'll have to deal with crazy traffic (95 or 295 are common routes). Just remember rule of thumb on most days, in the AM heavier traffic going south (toward DC) from Baltimore and above, then heavier going north in the PM.

Odenton while not my favorite, has some nice pockets...look in Gambrills though, specifically in Waugh Chappel area (mostly nice). Glen Burnie and Pasadena are both not that far, again they have their pockets of good spots and bad. Severna Park is a bit far/expensive, very nice in spots and you'd miss the mad gridlock. Servern has a couple of good spots, close to Ft Meade, but has some very BAD spots.

Good luck

professionale

anyone can make 100k easily,

follow this formula

job hop,
job hop
and job hop

ArabianKnight

professionale wrote: »

anyone can make 100k easily,

follow this formula

job hop,
job hop
and job hop

May not look good on the resume unless you have been in each position for over a year....10+ positions listed looks bad and employers may think you have some sort of issue.

yeah yeah

ArabianKnight wrote: »

May not look good on the resume unless you have been in each position for over a year....10+ positions listed looks bad and employers may think you have some sort of issue.

Not necessarily. In the DC metro area, that's very common. Some contracts or positions you work may only last 1-3 months, or 1-2 years. HR is very aware of that in this area, so it doesn't look bad. During the interview and they ask you about this, and you say, I jumped around for more money....well, can't help you there.

lsud00d

ArabianKnight wrote: »

May not look good on the resume unless you have been in each position for over a year....10+ positions listed looks bad and employers may think you have some sort of issue.

Devils advocate: does it matter what an employer thinks if you're getting hired, either by them or someone else?

My point is if you have a job, you have a job.

Cyberscum

yeah yeah wrote: »

Not necessarily. In the DC metro area, that's very common. Some contracts or positions you work may only last 1-3 months, or 1-2 years. HR is very aware of that in this area, so it doesn't look bad. During the interview and they ask you about this, and you say, I jumped around for more money....well, can't help you there.

You get this alot in IT and it is very common. Usually people are looking for a wide range of skills (esp in security) and it would be very difficult to get all of that exp in one position.

bhcs2014

Wow I really can't believe this question. How the heck can 100k NOT be enough? Maybe I am just young and ignorant but I am able to get by and even save a little with my 40k a year. Unless your rent is like 5k+ a month I don't know how 100k would not be enough.

joelsfood

100k is easy to go through once you start adding wife and kids, etc. Our ideal school for my daughter starts at 16.5/yr for kindergarten, and is at 27.5 now for grade 12. It'll cost more than I spent on my college. :P

mr.comfortably

I make 16k a year 2 kids, and stay at home wife. You got this bro

Cyberscum

mr.comfortably wrote: »

I make 16k a year 2 kids, and stay at home wife. You got this bro

Ha ha no ****!

Mishra

100k is really great in NOVA. Just don't try to live like everyone else here and drive Mercedes and go half a million dollars in debt. A house is out of the question IMO.

MD is goes even farther from what I can tell. Only lived in this area for 2 years though.

Mishra

bhcs2014 wrote: »

Wow I really can't believe this question. How the heck can 100k NOT be enough? Maybe I am just young and ignorant but I am able to get by and even save a little with my 40k a year. Unless your rent is like 5k+ a month I don't know how 100k would not be enough.

I bought a house in Indiana for 115k. 2200 SQ feet
I moved to NOVA and downgraded to a townhome for 310k. 1843 SQ feet.

My mortgage went from
900/month (15 year loan)
to
2000/month (30 year loan)

In salary terms, that the equivalent of around 30k including the extra interest paid over the last 15 years.

Look at the interest difference between both:

$255,460.81
Total Interest Paid

$54,136.28
Total Interest Paid

Now let's say I wanted to match quality of living: 550k home:

[h=3]$453,236.91[/h] Total Interest Paid

I would have to make around 55k more in NOVA to match real estate quality of living in Indiana. Meaning if I made 35k in Indiana, it would be the same as making 90k in NOVA.

Location makes a huge difference. But not disagreeing that 100k wouldn't cut it.

professionale

i agree,
that if you get a better offer you should leave,
i made a huge mistake in my career, i was in a ****** up abusive company and in the end i lost my job and i being unemployed for close to 3 months, how ever i got a couple of offers not offical yet.
the reason why i sticked it out was cause it was good experience, that i knew i couldnt get no where else and i am not a pussy and i accept challenges and i never back downn and it grew me as a person,
but honestly if i can go back in time i would have changed companies after a year,
what i do not respect is these idiots changing jobs every year its ok if you do it once or maybe twice but if your always doing it, it means you do not know what you are doing and your experiementing so why the heck would i hire you if you gonna hop like a hooker.

nachodba

@professionale, no offense but is it necessary to use vulgar language in your posts?

@mishra, I commuted from Winchester to Fairfax every day for 5 years because an 800 rent in Winchester got me a 3 bedroom home, where as a 1400 rent in Fairfax only got me a 1 bedroom. It worked out great until I lost my carpooling buddy.

Cyberscum

professionale wrote: »

what i do not respect is these idiots changing jobs every year its ok if you do it once or maybe twice but if your always doing it, it means you do not know what you are doing and your experiementing so why the heck would i hire you if you gonna hop like a hooker.

Because hookers need love too man, don’t discriminate.

@Mishra,
Great write up, I was going to respond with a cost comparison but lacked motivation.

bhcs2014

How did you come up with 55k?

You say to keep the same real estate quality you would have to pay an extra 400k in interest, right?

Say that was over a 15 year period you had to pay an extra 400k:

400k/15 = 26.6k . So how did you come up with 55k? Sorry if I am misunderstanding here

Cyberscum

Ok, look at it this way.

If a person made 50k in the Midwest and had a 2000 sq ft home at $200,000 (average for that area) their mortgage payment would be around 24% of their gross monthly income.

If that same person made 100k in DC and had a 2000 sq ft home at $500,000 (average for that area) their mortgage payment would be about 30% of their gross monthly income.

Now if you amortize both payment schedules for these homes the $200,000 home comes out to a total of $364813.42 ($164,813.42 interest only). The $500,000 home comes out to a total of $912033.56 ($412,033.56 interest only).

If you never sell these homes you are out a difference of $547220.14 that you will never recoup on the home in DC. That is not figuring taxes and insurances that would be substantially more on a home in the $500,000 range.

BTW, a 2000 sq ft home for 200k in the midwest is actually kinda high. That figure should prob be more around the 150-175 range. Which brings the debt to income significantly down for that 50k gross.

bhcs2014

Why are you adding $1,520 to $2,533.43 ? You would pay $2,533.43 a month for the DC home not $4,053 correct? Why are you adding the difference to the actual cost?

Cyberscum

Oh snap! I see what you are saying. That cost is already rolled into the payment. So the figure is actually 1520 more. DUH

So realistically it would just be simply the $547220.14 difference interest.

bhcs2014

Ok dude I read your post a few times and didn't get why you added the 1.5k. I guess I'll understand when I take out my first home loan lol