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A Week In Seattle, WA, On A $295,000 Salary


Grim Reaper 6

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Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar. Today: a content design manager who makes $295,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on stackable washer and dryer.

A Week In Seattle, WA, On A $295,000 Salary (msn.com)

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Over a quarter million a year.  Life's rough.  

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39 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Over a quarter million a year.  Life's rough.  

She could be paying off her debt much quicker without a few of the services she is paying for.

Cable/internet - $240 (she must have some premium channels)

Spotify - $16

Hulu - $13

Peloton - $42

Netflix - $10

Barkbox - $25

 

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4 minutes ago, Myles said:

She could be paying off her debt much quicker without a few of the services she is paying for.

Cable/internet - $240 (she must have some premium channels)

Spotify - $16

Hulu - $13

Peloton - $42

Netflix - $10

Barkbox - $25

 

Yeah there's almost $3,000 a year right there.

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25 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Yeah there's almost $3,000 a year right there.

Doesn't seem like much, but it does paint a picture.   If she is spending frivolously on these items, there is a good chance she spends frivolously in other ways too.    

Says she wants to make oreo macaroons but don't have a food processor.   She gets on Amazon and buys one for $230.   I just got on Amazon.  You can get a good one for $100.   The ones over $200 are more like top of the line.   Not something you need for oreo macaroons. 

On Saturday she does her online grocery shopping.  $456 plus $20 tip.  $476 in groceries for her and her kids.   That's more than 2 months groceries for my family.  

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12 minutes ago, Myles said:

Doesn't seem like much, but it does paint a picture.   If she is spending frivolously on these items, there is a good chance she spends frivolously in other ways too.    

Says she wants to make oreo macaroons but don't have a food processor.   She gets on Amazon and buys one for $230.   I just got on Amazon.  You can get a good one for $100.   The ones over $200 are more like top of the line.   Not something you need for oreo macaroons. 

On Saturday she does her online grocery shopping.  $456 plus $20 tip.  $476 in groceries for her and her kids.   That's more than 2 months groceries for my family.  

It may be for you but in Seattle my weekly grocery bill just for myself is around $150.  That's cereal, milk, bread, lunch meat, fruit and veggies.  This is an expensive place to live.

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me and my wife make as much, after all the bills not much left.  2 leased cars, insurance for both properties and 3 cars,  maintenance, mortgage, property taxes,  kids sports, food, clothes. gas... etc coms to about 12k a month, 280k a year after taxes/deductions, comes to about 12-13k a month

 

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2 minutes ago, OverSword said:

It may be for you but in Seattle my weekly grocery bill just for myself is around $150.  That's cereal, milk, bread, lunch meat, fruit and veggies.  This is an expensive place to live.

She says she gets half from Amazon.   You can get allot of food for $238.  Seeing how she spends, she probably buy mostly "upscale" items.  

She says they used to eat out allot (pre pandemic) but have cut it back to once per week.   To me, that means they would go out to eat 3-4 times a week.   She spent $108 going out to eat. She was spending $300-$400 a week going out to eat.  

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I get some of the expenses, like the media- nice to have good TV to help save on going out. I get that groceries are expensive- so can ordering delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon. And other Amazon spending, and falling for Instagram ads... there just could be more savvy shopping/spending going on there. 

I even really get feeling cooped up.. but booking a trip to Kauai and laying down $1,700.00 on a $8,000 dollar Airnib? That's some bucks that could have gone to some extra payments on that student debt. $275,000.00 in loans, and paying what has to be a minimum at $550.00 a month. 

She's not doing too bad though with a net worth of $275,000.00 in various things. If she got a bit more savvy with her spending, and a bit more practical about getting the student loan debt cleared off before tackling the mortgage, she could pull more ahead in the long run. 

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I'm curious about the $490 phone bill.

Edit to add: I am amazed at the price difference between Seattle and Iowa.  I have many of the things she has (minus all the debt) but at much cheaper costs than her.  My HOA for the year is $120 for instance.   We kinda cheat on some of bills and have our respective company's pay our expenses as well.  My phone is through my company and my wife's is through hers for example.

Edited by Gromdor
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Okay I just checked house prices in Seattle and my house in Iowa would be $1,000,000 in Seattle.  (5 bedroom, 3 bathroom)  It's crazy what the difference is for the same product.  You can get one of those for $125,000- $300,000 in Iowa. 

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16 hours ago, Gromdor said:

Okay I just checked house prices in Seattle and my house in Iowa would be $1,000,000 in Seattle.  (5 bedroom, 3 bathroom)  It's crazy what the difference is for the same product.  You can get one of those for $125,000- $300,000 in Iowa. 

I assume mine would be over $1 million as well.   A large 3 bedroom, 2 bath 2 story with basement.   30' X 60' pole barn.   7 acres of land.  

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Sorry. If anyone in the US is struggling making 300K a year than you either made poor financial decisions or had way too many kids.

 

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21 hours ago, OverSword said:

Over a quarter million a year.  Life's rough.  

Yeah! Definitely a severe case of 1st world problems.

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19 hours ago, aztek said:

me and my wife make as much, after all the bills not much left.  2 leased cars, insurance for both properties and 3 cars,  maintenance, mortgage, property taxes,  kids sports, food, clothes. gas... etc coms to about 12k a month, 280k a year after taxes/deductions, comes to about 12-13k a month

 

Just curious, why are you leasing cars over owning?

Edited by spartan max2
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51 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Sorry. If anyone in the US is struggling making 300K a year than you either made poor financial decisions or had way too many kids.

 

Yep.   My wife and I make around $130,000 per year.   We have zero debt.    $175,000 in 401K.   A hefty amount in the checking and savings account at the bank.  We are thrifty but are not without anything.  

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2 minutes ago, Myles said:

Yep.   My wife and I make around $130,000 per year.   We have zero debt.    $175,000 in 401K.   A hefty amount in the checking and savings account at the bank.  We are thrifty but are not without anything.  

Got/had kids?

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42 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Just curious, why are you leasing cars over owning?

i do not want to own them. 

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17 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Got/had kids?

2 daughters.   1 just graduated college without any student debt.  We helped her some, but she applied for every scholarship she could, was an RA for 3 years (free room and meal plan), and worked during the summers.  My second daughter will be graduating high school this year and plans to go to the same university my older daughter went to.  We will also help her, but she will pay the bulk of it through scholarships and money from working.  She's working now and will pick up a second job in the summer.  They spend money, but do it wisely.   

When my older daughter was in college she would find ways to make money.  At the end of the year (when everyone was moving out of the dorms), they had a room where students could put things they no longer wanted but were still in good working condition (vacuums, TV's).   Salvation Army would pick it up and write the university a donation receipt.  My daughter noticed over 100 text books.  She hauled them all to the campus bookstore.  She was able to sell about 1/4 of them back to the bookstore.   She made around $600 for an hour of work.  

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10 minutes ago, Myles said:

2 daughters.   1 just graduated college without any student debt.  We helped her some, but she applied for every scholarship she could, was an RA for 3 years (free room and meal plan), and worked during the summers.  My second daughter will be graduating high school this year and plans to go to the same university my older daughter went to.  We will also help her, but she will pay the bulk of it through scholarships and money from working.  She's working now and will pick up a second job in the summer.  They spend money, but do it wisely.   

When my older daughter was in college she would find ways to make money.  At the end of the year (when everyone was moving out of the dorms), they had a room where students could put things they no longer wanted but were still in good working condition (vacuums, TV's).   Salvation Army would pick it up and write the university a donation receipt.  My daughter noticed over 100 text books.  She hauled them all to the campus bookstore.  She was able to sell about 1/4 of them back to the bookstore.   She made around $600 for an hour of work.  

Sounds like you did a good job with them :tu:. Or just got lucky lol. Who knows.

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14 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Sounds like you did a good job with them :tu:. Or just got lucky lol. Who knows.

A bit of both.  Really, I think just being involved with your childs life makes all the difference.  I see too many people who let their kids do too much without them.   

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Do we criticize poor people for their bad money decisions because they have none and wealthier people because they spend their money frivolously?   Are we like baby bear everything we have is just right? 

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3 minutes ago, Tatetopa said:

Do we criticize poor people for their bad money decisions because they have none and wealthier people because they spend their money frivolously?   Are we like baby bear everything we have is just right? 

I criticized this woman because her tone seemed to have a whoa is me sense to it.  All her student debt.   The newly built townhouse is all she could afford.  Only going out to eat once a week as opposed to 3-4 times.  

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On 5/11/2021 at 2:05 PM, OverSword said:

It may be for you but in Seattle my weekly grocery bill just for myself is around $150.  That's cereal, milk, bread, lunch meat, fruit and veggies.  This is an expensive place to live.

Yeah, but just think about all the quality-of-life bonuses ;) 

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