< Return to Talk
05.27.08, 17:13 PM General Topics
17 replies
Our HHI is a little over 100k, in Western NY state (where that's a decent living). Our house is 200k, however, and we have about $20k in debt plus $15k to pay down on one of our cars. We're feeling stretched, mostly due to our town taxes and an inability to budget. Should we stick through this, learn to budget better, and live frugally? Or downgrade our large house to something more modest, in a town with cheaper taxes? I stay at home and my husband would prefer that I return to work so we can maintain our lifestyle, but I'd rather spend less and keep staying at home. We're in a bit of a pickle; luckily it isn't causing any issues between us, but we'd like to get it resolved one way or the other. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:13 PM Flag
 

Dear UrbanBaby community,

Thank you so much for being a valued member of the UrbanBaby community. We wanted to inform you that we are shutting down the site on July 6th. We are grateful for your participation and support that has helped make UrbanBaby such an important resource to parents for many years.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at urbanbaby-support@cbsinteractive.com.

Thanks so much,

UrbanBaby Support

»
[ Removed by moderator ] [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:14 PM Flag
»
What is your monthly mortgage + escrow amount? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:17 PM Flag
»
you seriously need to learn how to budget, because you should be able to own 2 200K houses on your salary. What is your "lifestyle"? Expensive clothes, vacations, etc? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:19 PM Flag
»
I love that you can't manage your finances, but the problem is "town taxes." [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:21 PM Flag
»
lol, ITA. These are the true keeping up with the Joneses. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:22 PM Flag
»
Not at all. I drive a five year old Sienna, DH drives a fifteen year old Saturn, I get our clothes from Marshalls, shoes from Payless. We have no fancy toys. The reason we even bought a 200k house to begin with is because the previous owners made a lot of aesthetic mistakes (old wallpaper in every room) and we were able to talk them down to 70k below the original list. Too good of a deal to pass up. We are not keeping up with the Joneses. Our friends are poor, cheap, and unimpressed by our large home. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:21 PM Flag
»
you need to learn to budget. moving will be a short term solution. it might help with your expenses but if you can't learn to budget and spend wisely you'll end up running into trouble again. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:40 PM Flag
»
We can't afford vacations and we definitely don't buy expensive clothes/shoes/electronics/etc. Our mortgage and town taxes come to around $2000 month, plus another $600 or so for cars/insurance/fuel, another $600 for utils/phones/lawn, another $500 into the 401k, and $800 to credit card bills. We probably spend too much on food, but aside from that I'm not sure where our money is going. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:52 PM Flag
»
The credit card bills sound like the problem -- the source of the $20K debt? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 05:53 PM Flag
»
Yeah. When we bought this house it had no appliances except an old dishwasher, so we had to buy washer/dryer, range, fridge. DH wanted prosumer quality products, so that's probably at least half the debt. Then we bought some furniture to fill the house, nothing extravagant, but that was all on credit. We spent all our cash on the down payment for this place last year. We've stopped charging for the most part. I get this feeling that we're missing some part of the equation and should have more loose cash, but we don't.. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:03 PM Flag
»
np: how much do you net per month? any fixed expenses/debt other than mortgage? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:07 PM Flag
»
I think around $5k. See above for fixed expenses... [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:23 PM Flag
»
i think you need budgeting help. you can probably cut back in a lot of areas. $2k a month for housing is very workable on your income. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:35 PM Flag
»
Who can we talk to about this? An accountant? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:54 PM Flag
»
Oh, those evil town taxes. The problem isn't your buying a large house (and heating a large house, etc). The problem isn't your spending. It's all about the taxes. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:06 PM Flag
»
np: it can be a few hundred dollars a month. if you weren't planning on it, it can throw your budget into disarray. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:12 PM Flag
»
Our town taxes are $600 a month because the school system is good. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 06:22 PM Flag
Refresh » New Post »
Select Category
close [X]

close [X]

Select a Category (only 1)

category
Stages
Regions