A decent house/area is going to run you at a minimum $1,200 a month on your first home w/ taxes. Average car insurance is $100. Average bills/utilities are $300. Car Payments on average is $300. That’s $1,900 right there. That’s not including gas, food or anything else.
It’s not a horrible life, but for $1,000 more you can have a lot better stuff. LOL.
My situation is that my fixed expenses is less than 30% of my TAKE HOME. I spend 20% friviously and save 50% of my take home. That’s after taxes/15% 401k/etc.
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It was a joke. If he’s seriously interested, I can give him a Platnium $0 dedutible - Comprehensive Bumper to Bumper Toyota/Scion Certified wrap warranty for $700.[COLOR=“Silver”]
Well that depends on what you consider decent, you can find a solid 3 bedroom cape in tonawanda for 70-90k, with taxes and everything probably pay around 750 a month. Could get it down to 600-650 by putting 20% down.
i’m sitting here doing some mental math and i dont think we’re at $2k a month overhead with a mortgage, 3 cars, 2 kids and a stay and home wife / mother… ya’ll niggiz is crazy
I may be underestimating a bit … I don’t consider gas, food, etc… to be fixed expenses. I can cut back on the amount of food I eat. I can drive less if need be (or use my boat less, that thing SUCKS down gas). So I guess maybe I am underestimating a little bit, BUT, our household is two people.
Look at your situation on your car payment though. How many expensive cars have you gone through in the past 5 years? If you keep a car and pay it off, you would be down at least $300. Probably more in your case since you seem to drive 30k+ cars (I have no idea what you put down though so I won’t pretend).
Owning a house as a single person is a big financial commitment, so you get a free pass on that one. More power to ya. I would be renting a bachelor pad for half that if I were single (or getting a roommate to cut down the payment).
If all of that is 30% of your take home, though, then you’re doing well and free to spend as you feel since $9k/month probably puts you around $150k/year before taxes. Frankly, it’s more important to discuss your expenses in relation to your income, than it is to simply discuss fixed numbers, for exactly that reason.
Believe me, I wouldn’t have purchased a house if I knew the situation I was going to be in a year later. At the time, I was expecting a family.
As for the cars I go through, a majority of them are at 0%. Therefore, I pay them down quicker than they depreciate. Not to mention, I usually buy them and sell them for within a $1,000. Hell, I’ve made money selling cars, months later.
With that being said, I’m sticking with my STi for a couple years, or atleast until I can pay it off.
You’re exactly right, I wouldn’t want $3k in expenses if I brought home $3,500. LOL.
I’d never get a roommate. For one, I’d have to charge $750 for it to make sense. Secondly, I don’t want someone using all my nice stuff that I bought. (TVs, new Couches, etc etc). I don’t know anyone who takes care of anything as nice as I do.
Sadly, plenty of people do this and end up in trouble… I mention it as a warning to folks.
In the spirit of getting back to the topic of the thread, Willybean, if you’re feeling smothered AT ALL about your expenses, you can easily downgrade some things and live more comfortably. How much you need to downgrade and how to get there is easy.
I do miss driving a fun car, but I have to say, I have WAY more fun boating than I did with my cars. I enjoy the MPG of the civic and pilot. I also love tha I never spend money on maintenance (well sometimes, but it’s CHEAP). I got the 10 year 120k mile warranty on the Pilot. The Pilot does 20mpg highway. So that’s relatively low cost of ownership there. It’ll tow 4500-5000 too. The new Pathfinder advertises 20/26. That’s probably about the same as your BMW, except for that you’ll be running 87 rather than 93, which should save you a decent little chunk. You’re insurance should be moderately cheaper as well. If you go used, you can get a 2009+ Pilot, 2005+ Pathfinder, etc… and it will tow well and come in probably around the low 20s.
The stigma of a Prius is ridiculous. If the numbers work out that it decraeses your expenses, then I wouldn’t hesitate. Unless of course you need towing capacity, then just get a midsize SUV.
that makes sense…though if your cash reserves aren’t doing anything else but sitting in a savings account you might as well pay it off…assuming you have a monthly expense problem more than a need for a lump sum of money… do you expect to owe $13k in taxes?
what if $3k doesn’t even cover the mortgage payment…i guess that is why i don’t have car payments…
weird i didnt know it was that different over there.
i was on a 25 year mortgage but they are on 5 years terms after which time you renew your terms (interest, payment cycle, term, etc.) so yeah i guess if you refi every 5 years on schedule then it’s the same thing different words. i switched away from Scotia Bank into TD bank through my cousin who is a broker. it was actually a bit of a pain but he did get us a better rate. we’re on a 20 now but we were conservative with our house buy so it’s almost time to re-up for the lifetime home.
what can you guys get for interest on mortgages down there?
I think (could be very wrong) that they do it as such during their loan period at the end there is a remaining “payoff amount” in which you can seek renewal or simply pay the balance?
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Trade your car in for a x5m with the tow package included. It will do everything for you. With a decent down payment and your car down you could probably see a $600+ payment. I think it would be worth it but that’s just me.
