Spinn off of 'do you plan on working or staying at home'

Most people said they will work, or that cost of living is too high not to work, etc.

What combined income do you think is needed to be stable? I think we can all agree that Long Island is very expensive to live so Im curious what everyones oppinion is.

FH says Each child would cost around a million dollars including college. (Just assuming we will support our kids up until 22 and then theyll have to pay for themselves and move out yadda yadda). So up until then will cost $1 millon a kid. Do you think that's about right? More money, less money?

And what about if you don't have kids, how much does the average couple need to make to be finanically stable?

FH and I argue about this all the time.

Right now FH and I are living here and supporting 1 child...we figured we need to make a combined income of ~$80,000 before taxes in order to live in the degree of comfort we would like. I think it all depends on the quality of life you'd like to have. If you want to always be going to to dinner, live in a big house, have cash to burn then your amount is going to go up. Of course FH and I would love all those things but at the moment we don't need them...so we're content to get a subscription to Netflix, cook more and rent an apartment.

Its all relative.

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Posted by peaches42587

Most people said they will work, or that cost of living is too high not to work, etc.

What combined income do you think is needed to be stable? I think we can all agree that Long Island is very expensive to live so Im curious what everyones oppinion is.

FH says Each child would cost around a million dollars including college. (Just assuming we will support our kids up until 22 and then theyll have to pay for themselves and move out yadda yadda). So up until then will cost $1 millon a kid. Do you think that's about right? More money, less money?

And what about if you don't have kids, how much does the average couple need to make to be finanically stable?

FH and I argue about this all the time.

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I dont think LI is more expensive... you might pay more property tax, but you have more property than a house in the boros .... and the houses in the boros are more expensive than LI so it really evens out... (i'd gladly pay more to live on LI with better school districts and all that, than rent an apartment in queens)...

I couldnt even begin to calculate what it would cost....

i agree. Everyone has their own idea of 'finanically stable'. I think for myslef I just want to be able to own my own house and be able to pay the bills and still have a few hundred dollars left a month to save up for whatever.

I agree thought I think about 80-100k a year is ideal for us for a combined salary.

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Posted by AngnShaun

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Posted by peaches42587

Most people said they will work, or that cost of living is too high not to work, etc.

What combined income do you think is needed to be stable? I think we can all agree that Long Island is very expensive to live so Im curious what everyones oppinion is.

FH says Each child would cost around a million dollars including college. (Just assuming we will support our kids up until 22 and then theyll have to pay for themselves and move out yadda yadda). So up until then will cost $1 millon a kid. Do you think that's about right? More money, less money?

And what about if you don't have kids, how much does the average couple need to make to be finanically stable?

FH and I argue about this all the time.

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I dont think LI is more expensive... you might pay more property tax, but you have more property than a house in the boros .... and the houses in the boros are more expensive than LI so it really evens out... (i'd gladly pay more to live on LI with better school districts and all that, than rent an apartment in queens)...

I couldnt even begin to calculate what it would cost....

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thats true. but we always think about moving out of state. WHO'S A FAN OF HGTV!? some places you can get amazing mansions for a fraction of what it cost here. But ur right cause we were thinking about moving to new jersey but the taxes are higher and when we looked there wasnt as much land/yard as LI.

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Posted by peaches42587

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Posted by AngnShaun

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Posted by peaches42587

Most people said they will work, or that cost of living is too high not to work, etc.

What combined income do you think is needed to be stable? I think we can all agree that Long Island is very expensive to live so Im curious what everyones oppinion is.

FH says Each child would cost around a million dollars including college. (Just assuming we will support our kids up until 22 and then theyll have to pay for themselves and move out yadda yadda). So up until then will cost $1 millon a kid. Do you think that's about right? More money, less money?

And what about if you don't have kids, how much does the average couple need to make to be finanically stable?

FH and I argue about this all the time.

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I dont think LI is more expensive... you might pay more property tax, but you have more property than a house in the boros .... and the houses in the boros are more expensive than LI so it really evens out... (i'd gladly pay more to live on LI with better school districts and all that, than rent an apartment in queens)...

I couldnt even begin to calculate what it would cost....

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thats true. but we always think about moving out of state. WHO'S A FAN OF HGTV!? some places you can get amazing mansions for a fraction of what it cost here. But ur right cause we were thinking about moving to new jersey but the taxes are higher and when we looked there wasnt as much land/yard as LI.

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A friend of mine moved to NC and he has a sick house with crazy property for a quarter of what you would pay here...

My sister lives in Vegas, her house would easily be worth 1.5 mill if it were in NY... its crazy!

I would definitely move out of NY just for that reason alone! lol

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Posted by AngnShaun

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Posted by peaches42587

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Posted by AngnShaun

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Posted by peaches42587

Most people said they will work, or that cost of living is too high not to work, etc.

What combined income do you think is needed to be stable? I think we can all agree that Long Island is very expensive to live so Im curious what everyones oppinion is.

FH says Each child would cost around a million dollars including college. (Just assuming we will support our kids up until 22 and then theyll have to pay for themselves and move out yadda yadda). So up until then will cost $1 millon a kid. Do you think that's about right? More money, less money?

And what about if you don't have kids, how much does the average couple need to make to be finanically stable?

FH and I argue about this all the time.

---

I dont think LI is more expensive... you might pay more property tax, but you have more property than a house in the boros .... and the houses in the boros are more expensive than LI so it really evens out... (i'd gladly pay more to live on LI with better school districts and all that, than rent an apartment in queens)...

I couldnt even begin to calculate what it would cost....

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thats true. but we always think about moving out of state. WHO'S A FAN OF HGTV!? some places you can get amazing mansions for a fraction of what it cost here. But ur right cause we were thinking about moving to new jersey but the taxes are higher and when we looked there wasnt as much land/yard as LI.

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A friend of mine moved to NC and he has a sick house with crazy property for a quarter of what you would pay here...

My sister lives in Vegas, her house would easily be worth 1.5 mill if it were in NY... its crazy!

I would definitely move out of NY just for that reason alone! lol

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haha i know right! It's not fair. FH's family mostly live in Arizona and houses are very in expensive. FH's mom is real estate agent and its crazy the houses she shows us. Our house now is 2 bedroom, 1 bath and only one floor, we can get a house triple the size of our house now for the same price. It's so tempting to move lol I think theres more job oppertunity for FH in new york though so i dont think we'll move.,

Well this is certainly a loaded question!!!

I think it all depends on your current situation and what you and FH does for a living.

Can someone make it work on a really low salary??? YES... it's just a matter of not living too lavishly. I think people do what they can to survive when they have to. I don't think it necessarily costs 1 million a child but it certainly can. it all depends on HOW you want to live. Different people will always have different takes on this. But bottom line... where there's a will there's a way. And I think it's VERY possible to do it without spending 1 million a child! As it is done on a daily basis.

Knowing myself... I'm a spender and I have expensive taste. It's really a hinder on my wallet sometimes... I have problems where I don't look at prices but yet tend to ALWAYS seem to pick out the most expensive things!! Haha good luck to FH!! But also at the same time.. if I didn't have it I wouldn't spend it.

I would 10000000000000000% move out of NY!! BUT we are stuck stuck stuck. FH job is in NY and he has to stay put!! So in about 4 years we plan to move to Rockland County. I'd rather go upstate then to Long Island. Sorry guys... I mean no offense. But I'd prefer to just go upwards instead of out east. I hate living in the city (I live in Queens and commute to Manhattan for work). I'm SICK AND TIRED OF THIS!!! ANd I can't wait to have our own house and have LAND... and a YARD... and to be able to stretch out and not touch some focker!!! I just want space!!!!

And the price contrast between other places and NY make me BUT also remember their cost of living may be lower, however they may not necessarily be making what you can make in the city. It still seems they are living a much nicer lifestyle though!! I would sooo love to leave NY but since it's not an option for us... we will make the best with what we have. And I also think that's an overall answer to your general question.... MAKE THE BEST WITH WHAT YOU HAVE... rather than trying to price out what everything is going to cost you from the get go. By the time those kids of yours are in college... you don't know how much college is going to cost.. or what kind of college they want to go to.. or if they will get scholarships or if they will just not go to college. It's something to think about... but I wouldn't go nuts thinking about it extensively right now either.

im def working. fh and i both LOVE going to work. we truly enjoy it. we have the best schedules. if anythign happened and i couldnt work wher eiw ork.. i dont think i would have the discipline to work for any1 else... so who knows?


i must say, we live better than any1 we know that hasnt received help from anyone. and i like it that way. we refused to accept any hand outs from our parents.

as far as kids go, thank god im not president. thats all i gotta say. show me your pay stubs.. u dont work?? sorry, cant keep ur kid.

Fh and I have a very good income and own a home. However, even with our good income, we are living paycheck to paycheck. We love to go out to dinner and do all sorts of different activities, which cost money. I'm not willing to give that up yet to have children. We have a good chunk in savings which is great. But like someone else said, it all depends on you and what you consider comfortable. I want to move into a bigger house and be making over $100k (just me, combined at least over $200k) before I have children. But that's me and what I feel comfortable with. Right now, we worry about money and I don't want to bring a child into our family until I feel like I don't have to worry if I can buy diapers or food at the grocery.

And again, this is just what I'm comfortable with, I know people will be lower and higher then my comfort zone.

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thats true. but we always think about moving out of state. WHO'S A FAN OF HGTV!? some places you can get amazing mansions for a fraction of what it cost here. But ur right cause we were thinking about moving to new jersey but the taxes are higher and when we looked there wasnt as much land/yard as LI.

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I watch that channel all the time. House hunters is depressing. The huge beautiful houses you can get down south for half the price of up here is depressing. This is why me and FH will def move out of NY or upstate once we are finished having kids. I def don't think it takes a million to raise a child. For me though, my kids will be going to catholic school which is another few thousand a year and FH knows this already so whatever we have to do to make that happen, we will.

Living on Long Island is ridiculous and impossible.
My sister and her husband make well over $100K combined and are living paycheck to paycheck.

LI is insane.

FH and I just bought a home upstate for a ridiculously cheap price, on a small lake, with a giant yard. The house itself needs a facelift (just really outdated) but structurally it is is sturdy and perfect!

And I'm only working part-time at the moment.

Although, I will admit I miss the North Fork SOOO bad and I wish we could move down there, but all we could afford would probably be setting up a tent in my parents backyard