What do you consider to be a "good" salary? - Page 5

[PJJ]

I would say 150K-we live in the Washington-DC metro area.

[Dmitrizmom]

I replied much earlier up-thread... and it is pretty funny that a position opened up that may allow us to make our "good" salary level in short order if I get the job.  :)  and another position opened up that might work if Dh gets the job. at this point it is one or the other as they are in different towns, but Woot! 

[texmati]

for a household, or per person? tbh... I think a 'good' salary would be 80-100k. that would be enough to live, save, spend.

[JamieCatheryn]

Coming from a low COL area here, in a family of 4 living almost frugally but comfortably with one $45k/yr income. To me for a one earner household 35 or 40k is adequate, 50k is good, 70k or more is luxuriously rich. If you have a home paid off already I'd subtract 10k off each of those.

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by CatsCradle 

Season of life certainly plays a big role in our comfort levels.  We are "older" parents.  I'm in my late 40s and DH is in his early 60s, so we have spent considerable time working and have years of experience in our fields.  We live in a super HCOL area and our one-bedroom apartment was $290k when we bought it about 10 years ago.  DH and I make in the $200k range but our comfort level involves being able to put a significant amount into savings and for other costs associated with maintaining a normal, middle class life in the city.  Our biggest yearly expense next to mortgage and maintenance is DD's tuition, but it is well worth it in our opinion.  My brother does fine on about $70k here in the city (with four kids) but they have no savings to speak of and are constantly moving to avoid rent hikes.  For him, that is okay, but for me, I need financial padding to maintain a sense of security.  I don't want to be thinking about month to month survival when I'm in my 60s, which is only 20 years away. 

I think location plays a role but also season of life. I had my first child at 19 and he is now a college freshman. So compared to others my age, what is a reasonable salary for many is not for us as I have one child in college and another who just started kindy. Also combined with the fact that I am nowhere near paying off my own student loans since I only graduated from college 10 years ago and got my masters about 5 years ago. Yet most in my peer group only have 1-2 small kids so their expenses are a lot lower than mine.

[cristina47454]

I've actually run the numbers as recently as yesterday.  If I'm talking "after-taxes", $60k would pay our monthly expenses and fund our basic sinking funds (heating oil, insurance). But if we ever want to replace our cars, go on vacation, rely on more than hand-me-downs, eat out/socialize occasionally, start saving for college (3 kids) or retirement (currently at $0), we'd need a substantial hike to our income. The "problem" is that our current income level we qualify for fuel-assistance, state subsidized healthcare, reduced lunch. And suddenly $60k isn't quite enough. I think that as your income goes up, your expenses tend to go up and I fear that even at a much higher pay scale we'd still feel a pinch. And THAT number...not so sure where it falls. 

[musiclovinglife]

I dream of having an income of at least $90K. We would be able to save faster for our EF, house and retirement.

[tjjazzy]

Originally Posted by nina_yyc 

COL index is 112 here.  Mind you that is the provincial StatsCanada number so in the city it's probably higher, and we also pay Canadian income tax so it's probably a little different.

I'm not sure here if we're talking good salary for one person or good family income.  The cost of two parents working full time could easily be $15,000-$20,000 in childcare.

I would say $45,000 is a reasonable salary for one person who is several years out of school and supporting a family.  $60,000 single income could be comfortable.  On $80,000 you could easily save for retirement or larger purchases.  I think you would need $100,000 single income to live the lifestyle I see seemingly *everyone* living with eating out, shopping, vacations, etc. 

DH and I together make over six figures, but once you take out the cost of working, savings, and common luxuries like owning a car, we are still on a budget.  Not a crazy budget but certainly more disciplined than most of the people I know.  I know it's different because some of them make more and some of them don't have kids, but I suspect a lot of people are heavily in debt.

ETA:  Apparently the median family income here is around $90,000.

where did you find the numbers for COL?

it'll be different all over Canada too. def depends on area here or in U.S. i stay at home with the kids in our 3 bedroom (+1) house and i THINK hubby makes between $50-60 a year but i could be wrong about that. i'm a freelance writer but i tend to shop with my cash ;) it's a small town and houses are fairly low priced in comparison to bigger cities like Toronto or areas near Toronto. we'll be doing really well once my student loans are paid off. darn loans!!

[matey]

Originally Posted by goinggreengirl 

This is very interesting. We survive on less than $20k. I would feel awesome with $30k. When I worked we had about 45k but I didn't feel like it. I think having less makes me more aware of where it's going! We live in a low COL area.

I agree. We used to make more, but I also didn't feel like it. My ds brings in less than $25k a year and we do manage. $30k would be nice. $40 would make me feel really comfortable, I think. Like decent grocery budget and I could have health insurance. That'd be cool.

[Milkymommi]

We reside on the border of 2 SUPER high COL states. 40,000 doesn't even come close to being adequet for our family of 6. Before layoffs almost 2 yrs ago DP made 70,000 a yr and that still wasn't enough, although we could squeeze by without the massive struggle we are dealing with now. As soon as that level of income stopped we stopped being able to even heat our home, which we rented to the tune of 1250/mo. Low average for a small 3 br house here. Even apts cost that much!

 Don't mistake me... we are ubber frugal and don't see the need in things like cable tv or other luxuries like eating out so it's not like I'm talking about being able to do anything but live. Some of those things might be cool but not even in my scope. I love to buy second hand, cook from scratch/nothing processed, don't need new cars, can live without entertainment that costs money, we homeschool, use cloth everything but TP and enjoy live very simply but this economy is rediculous when one can't even meet basic needs. Car repairs or replacement w/ even a USED car? Forget it. I could go on... but I fear I'm preaching to the choir

Our entire income goes into healthy HEALTHY food... it *IS* our health insurance since we could never afford it, rent and gas. It gets squeeky 'round these parts and pretty soon our temp rental with everything included will be no more. We are facing a 300+ jump in rent w/ nothing included. Fun fun!

So, from my experience to live comfortably in the Northeast, without ANY burden of financial stress, according to my very low key standards one would need at least 80-100,000 /yr.

Our plan? To get out from underneath this system and head off the grid! In progress slowly but surely. There is no other option. Wish us luck! Sending you all a little bit too.

Edited spelling

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by Milkymommi 

So, from my experience to live comfortably in the Northeast, without ANY burden of financial stress, according to my very low key standards one would need at least 80-100,000 /yr.

Our plan? To get out from underneath this system and head off the grid! In progress slowly but surely. There is no other option. Wish us luck! Sending you all a little bit too.

Agreed.   This is why we left Massachusetts.  I just couldn't take financially treading water all the time.  We were incredibly frugal, were constantly cold, our pipes froze in winter, and we lost weight from not having enough to eat.  We lived in the most awful rental imaginable ( and paid 1500 a month for the privilege).  We were making 65 K a year.  

COL has a dramatic impact on quality of life.  You simply need a LOT more money to survive in some areas of the US.  

[cristina47454]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl 

Agreed.   This is why we left Massachusetts.  I just couldn't take financially treading water all the time.  We were incredibly frugal, were constantly cold, our pipes froze in winter, and we lost weight from not having enough to eat.  We lived in the most awful rental imaginable ( and paid 1500 a month for the privilege).  We were making 65 K a year.  

COL has a dramatic impact on quality of life.  You simply need a LOT more money to survive in some areas of the US.  

Would you mind me asking where in MA you were? And where you moved to? Just curious bcs we are in MA currently.  We will probably be moving to CT bcs of dh's job, but CT is not much better.  We looked at CO awhile back, seemed to be lower COL.  Kind of feel like we're on a hamster wheel and maybe we should think hard about getting off, which it sounds like you did.

[Milkymommi]

CT/RI ... are the exact areas I'm refering to. It's rough here.

[Belia]

I haven't read any responses and I can see that this thread has been kicking around for a while, but I am convinced that for most people, their salary will NEVER be good enough.

I started as a teacher almost 20 years ago making $24,000 / year.  I thought I was a zillionaire after working your typical hourly PT student jobs my whole life, but after signing an apartment lease and paying my own way 100% that money went fast.

After a year I changed districts and made $32,000 / year.  Huge jump!  But after a few months, that sure didn't feel like enough.

A few years after that I got married, more than doubling our income.  Again, after a few months, that wasn't enough.

I quit teaching to work at a NFP and took a huge pay cut.  Ouch.  Not enough money.

I got my master's degree and went back into education.  Huge pay raise.  Still not enough after a few months.

Bascially, DH and I now make ~$140,000, and we still feel poor.  I think part if it is as our income has gone up, so have our responsibilities.  We bought a house, we remodeled that house, then we paid for grad school, then we bought a car, then we bought a bigger house, then we had our son.   But I also think that its human nature to always want more.

[sunnysandiegan]

Thanks for the stats link upthread. I love that stuff!

Our COL is 134.6 and the estimated median house/condo value in 2009 was $479,289 and the estimated median household income in 2009 was $73,956.

Our personal situation is a bit different, though. Our home value is significantly lower ($100K+ lower) and our household income is slightly higher. We're fairly frugal (very frugal by comparison of others in our zip code; less frugal than some MDCers), so we're good. We have savings (short-term, mid-term, and long-term). Our mortgage is our only debt and is on track to be paid by the time our DD goes to college. If we had purchased the median house/condo in our zip code, though, we'd never be this far along. We've made many decisions that are lower cost than our peers, so we are better off than they are now.

What I consider a "good" salary in my area is lower than what others would say (I've had many conversations of this nature IRL), but that's because I live it and they don't. I feel $70-80K is "good" for my area, actually better than "good", but terms like "good" are so subjective.

[moonfirefaery]

All sources combined, I'm at about $30K for a family of three. I think if we were at about $40K, we could live quite comfortably; where we are now is not quite enough to cover everything. I can't imagine making upwards of $100K and feeling poor, especially after living off this for so long.

[mnnice]

Originally Posted by Belia 

I haven't read any responses and I can see that this thread has been kicking around for a while, but I am convinced that for most people, their salary will NEVER be good enough.

I started as a teacher almost 20 years ago making $24,000 / year.  I thought I was a zillionaire after working your typical hourly PT student jobs my whole life, but after signing an apartment lease and paying my own way 100% that money went fast.

After a year I changed districts and made $32,000 / year.  Huge jump!  But after a few months, that sure didn't feel like enough.

A few years after that I got married, more than doubling our income.  Again, after a few months, that wasn't enough.

I quit teaching to work at a NFP and took a huge pay cut.  Ouch.  Not enough money.

I got my master's degree and went back into education.  Huge pay raise.  Still not enough after a few months.

Bascially, DH and I now make ~$140,000, and we still feel poor.  I think part if it is as our income has gone up, so have our responsibilities.  We bought a house, we remodeled that house, then we paid for grad school, then we bought a car, then we bought a bigger house, then we had our son.   But I also think that its human nature to always want more.

Yea I found a lot of people put in 10K more than their current income. 

I am going to say that for my low COL are that a about $35,000 plus employer sponsored health coverage (but with a substanital portion paid by the employee) would be enough to have healthy food, a place to live (small house with small mortgage or the nicest 2 bedroom apartment in town), a single used compact or mid size car, utilites, a bit of life insurance, and unfancy clothes.  At this rate you would not be able to travel other than an occasional semi local camping trip, save more than a pittance for retirement or college and you would be hoping your health care needs were limited so that you could spend some of that money on fun stuff not paying your deductible.  This senario also assumes that you have not consumer debt at all.

We currently make substanitally more than that, but live pretty modestly/deliberately simple life and definitely enjoy being able to save and travel both for fun and to see my family that is at least 300 miles away and not worry about the expense. DH and I could both make more money living elsewhere, but we enjoy walking to work,having the family time gained by our easy commutes, and most of the parts of small town living.

[moonfirefaery]

It is human nature to always want more, but I'd be satisfied just with the ability to provide the basics without having to be a frazzled mess every paycheck :/ Another $10K and I could have my own health insurance and thus could afford a divorce, have enough to spend on groceries, afford emergencies and to start making headway on debt, etc. There's just hardly any corners left for me to cut financially :/

[MiniMum]

In some research they found that everyone, no matter if they made 10K or 200K a year thought they'd be satisfied with just a little more :)

Our household income is about 60K for the three of us. COL here is about 110. I feel content at what we have. But we like to live very small. We do spend on good food -about 600 $ a month for the three of us. 

ETA: The COL is for the whole country. I live in the capital city currently, so I guess much more expensive than the average COL.

Edited by MiniMum - 4/8/11 at 12:44pm

[bec428]

We live in what I think is a relatively high cost of living city in Canada (though I am not sure, as I don't know of col calculators for Canada). Rent in my eyes is low, but I think that is because I grew up in NYC - anything is low compared to that. However, other costs of living are comparatively much higher than NYC even. Food for example is SUPER expensive here.

DH and I have a combined HHI of $70K, but we don't use my salary ($30K) - it goes into savings. This way, when we do have a baby, we can use my salary so it will be as if we have a dual income household regardless of whether or not I stay home with the baby. We have to be frugal in our budgeting - we eat cheaply (difficult here, but I cook everything from scratch and we eat mostly fruits and veggies), always eat at home, can't really buy organic, and have a strict monthly/yearly budget on every possible aspect of our lives. We seem to be "cheaper" than most of our peers, but I think some of them MUST have serious debt as I can't imagine how they live like they do with the salaries they likely have. 

To be genuinely comfortable here - and I mean not going into debt, saving for retirement/education, going on small vacations, driving one used car, and potentially owning a home, one would probably need well over $100K, otherwise something would have to give. In addition, public schools in our city are awful, so one may have to factor in the cost of a private school as well.