What do you consider a "decent" income?

[antkim]

Dh has applied for a position at another hospital. He's and RN. He has worked on this unit before but as a counselor. He has been told that as long as nobody "in house" applies for the position it's his which is great. Odds are that no one will want this position! It's on a psych unti and it's the 11-7 shift. Not too appealing to most! LOL Anyways, they called him today to tell him what is pay rate would be and it is GREAT to us! About 15.00 an hour more than what he gets now! It got me wondering about what people think a good income is now adays! I know it greatly depends on where you live but just curious! Unfortunately the cost of living around here is pretty high! Hope this isn't too personal. We are still just "middle class" around here!

Kim

 

[LindaR]

Well, I live in an area (actually the whole state) that is mostly below poverty level.

I live in a town with a military installation and many employers used to tell their employees that if they didn't like their job, there were plenty of military spouses who would love to work there for minimum wage.

(I once let my displeasure be known over my 2 combined raises (they hadn't given any for 2 years) which totaled .11 cents an hour)

Now I work for a man who pays me VERY well. For this area, I make what most 2 income families make. I am a single mom and can fully support my daughter off of what I make.

 

[poohkie]

A good income is one that keeps the bills paid food on the table and some money in the bank to fall on in case you need it.

 

[crazelion]

That's anything over 6.00 hour is pretty good here. But at the baseball in the summer it 10.00 hour. HomeGoods 5.50 hour suppose get a whopping .25 cent raise. I am at the point if the ecomoncy will get it's act together. I will quit that job.


I say a good income is anything that pays for a roof over your head, food to eat and something to drive, to save is doing good.

 

[tc]

Here's a link from the census bureau regarding incomes:

Census Bureau


It's for a family of four. With both of us working, we are still below the median income for a family of four for Colorado. People make a ton of money here. But, we live well, are frugal, and want for nothing, so I am not complaining.

 

[Melora]

I suppose you are asking how much in dollars?

I think where we live (So Cal) you really should be making between $30-$40 per hour to live well. (50-75,000 per year)

I realize that is REALLY a lot for most people, but to be comfortable and afford a house and vacations and raise kids (importance not in that order... ) you need that kind of money.

If you make $20 per hour thats only $3200 per month (BEFORE taxes). After our mortgage and car payment we wouldn't have anything left. If our mortgage were half of what it is, we could buy food and pay bills but then we wouldn't have ANYTHING extra. We carry no debt either except for the house and car. No monthly balance on a credit card.

Living here is expensive. The median cost for a house out this way is over $200,000.

 

[Dan Murphy]

TC's link is about as good as you can do, Kim, with a general question like this. A good income is driven so much by geography and personal standards. A good income to one, even in the same town, could be an existence income to another. I would say the increase, 15 an hour, which translates to about 30K a year (based on 2000 hours normal) seems like a good increase, but, it is always comparative.

 

[frndshpcptn]

I was just having this conversation with seevral of my girlfriends. I think it depends where you live and what your expectations are for your material possesions. Most of my friends working at NYC investment banking houses were making low six figures in their first few years out of college, so I guess that also kind of clouds my judgement as to how much a decent living is.

 

[Beauty]

DH makes over the Median in our state but we still want for things...notice I said want and not need. When I am able to go back to work we will be doing okay.

 

[preshi]

Housing costs here are insane. In the town I live in the lowest Single Family Home is currently going for $539,000.

I'd say to live comfortably here you'd have to make about $70-$100K

We bought our home last year when prices weren't as bad!

We are still thinking of moving to Texas next year. DH's salary wouldn't change much and we'd be able to live in a huge house with a pool for what we paid for our 1300 sq ft 3 br home here.

Ahhh gotta love the Bay Area!

 

[grinningghost]

Our income would probably be considered good if we could just squeeze in a WDW trip at least once a year.

 

[Crankyshank]

A 2 BR Ranch or Cape at about 1100 sq ft will cost you at least $225,000 here so suffice to say the closer to 6 figures or more you make, the more comfy you live. But even then you have to think about lifestyle choices and accrued debt.

For me, as long as there's food on the table , a roof over my head, and enough money to pay the bills and to afford the occasional facial and night out I am a happy girl.

 

[antkim]

Well NO WONDER why we are "middle income"! The median salary for Ma. for a family of 4 is over 80,000!!! OUTRAGEOUS! Boy it is expensive just to "live"!!! We don't need much all we want is to be "comfortable"! Like Dan said a 30,000 dollar raise should seem like a lot but around here some people would laugh at that! I have many friends that make the 6 figure income and live large but you know what? They don't really "live" if you know what I mean. They have the HUGE houses, most expensive cars etc. but all that means to me is more to clean and more expensive car insurance! LOL I'll keep my "average" house and try to go to WDW yearly! LOL We'll never be able to keep up with the Jones aound here!

 

[barbeml]

Here in NJ, you need to add another $10,000 a year for property taxes to whatever you would consider a good income.

We have no kids, both work very hard, DH is a licensed professional, have paid off our modest cars, live in a 1400 SF townhome in what has become a very affluent neighborhood (my house was just appraised at $248,000, singles in the development now go for over half a million). Our combined income is over six figures, but we are not considered well to do in NJ at all. The cost of living here is outrageous and if family was not a consideration, I would be out of here in a heartbeat.

However, I feel fortunate to be able to make the money we have. We live below our means so that we can invest for an early "semi-retirement," pay off our home and our rental in 10 years, deal with emergencies, survive a job loss, and go to WDW (we stay at the moderates and love them) once a year. We eat out once a week (nothing fancy), wear casual clothes for work and have pretty simple tastes.

If we had kids, there is no way we could afford the WDW trips annually.

I know people who make twice what we do and are up to their eyeballs in debt and never satisfied, and others who seem to do just fine on less.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Apparently, we're doing pretty good. Could have fooled me. Must be the 3rd kid and the dog.

 

[Kitty 34]

Wow! I'm surprised at Michigan's amount! That amount certainly isn't the "norm" for our area at all!! But then when I think about it, I think our county is suppose to be one of the poorest in Michigan!

As far as I'm concerned with our income.....we're doing fine if we can pay the bills, take a "big" trip yearly plus save a little bit here and there.

 

[lodgelady]

Another Massachusetts resident here! Our housing costs are not as bad as farther east but they are rising fast. The weird thing is that we don't have the jobs that pay like the Boston area, but people who can telecommute fom the city are buying here and driving up the prices. I would say that now you have to earn at least $70,000 here to live here with a family of 4- and probably at least $100,000 to live in a larger home with newer cars and vacations every year......

 

[antkim]

Hey Lodgelady- I went to Umass Amherst for awhile! Love it up there! Same thing is going on where I live. People can't afford to live in Boston anymore so they are moving our way and driving the living cost up!
Kim

 

[goofy4tink]

Hi Kim. Man, do I know what you mean. In our town the published average home is about $350,000!!! I figure that if I don't have to work, we have a nice home (comfortable but certainly no McMansion!!), drive nice cars (less than $25,000) and we can get to WDW once a year, then my dh is providing quite nicely!!

 

[CamColt]

Another MA Diser here, in Woburn. Housing costs here are going through the roof(no pun intended ). We bought our house new, 5 years ago and it has gone up in value about 150,000.! Even with DH currently making "decent" money, we couldnt afford to buy it now.
But we live a comfortable life and dont want for much. We dont spend wildly, and we do watch prices on stuff, but by doing that theres not much we do without.