Hellobee Boards

I think we will get to where I think we need to be in a few more years.

Doubling our current income would be amazing. I think it's possible.

Not sure. We make fairly decent amount but my infertility treatments are costing quite a big chunk of our savings. I am a bit concerned that we might be spending too much now and when we do have a child in our hands, we will be unprepared with the cost of having an actual child.

ETA: This might sound weird but I think the money I make is enough. I would rather win the lottery (small) or come into money. This might be because I'm the breadwinner in the relationship and I would be the one pressured to make more money and therefore more work and less time with the family. So money unexpected coming our way, would be more ideal for me.

We make what I feel is enough...if only we could get a lump sum check to pay off my student loan debt!

But this is with one kid. I voted a little higher than our current income to support #2 that we want in the future.

Darn, I already voted, so now I can't go back and add my second option.

But I think we're pretty close to where we'd like to be, income-wise. We're both engineers, so we're doing well. A second baby will make things more tight than we're used to, but I think in a few years, we'll be back to what feels more comfortable and "enough."

We are living comfortably now, but that is only with 1 child. As we have more kids, income "Requirements" (to maintain our current lifestyle and be able to afford the things we want in the future) go up as well. But for now, we are very happy! I think if we made significantly more money, our lifestyle would not change, we would just have more money in savings/investments.

@Mrs. Taco: That's how I voted as well.

I would say, very honestly, that another ~$20,000/year would enable us to move, have baby #2 and continue to live the way we are currently living.

I also think, with both of our jobs, if we changed a few things (I am currently in school to get further education) my goal is doable.

We will be where we want to be within the next few months. Finally!

We live in NYC where the cost of living is higher, and we enjoy nice things and traveling. We'd be fine with less money than we make now, but I like living the way we do. I want to make more money, and we definitely will be there in the future. I def want to save up enough to buy a house or apartment and down payments are extremely high here.

DH has tons of potential for growth but we are definitely good now.

I think people can always think of more things they want. Not necessarily in the way of "stuff" like a new car or bigger home, but in the way of conveniences or services.

As @lawbee11 mentions, a cleaning service is a nice to have. We would love that, plus a chef, lawn service, etc. We have a great life without those things, but having them would make it even better. Or if we made more, we could afford to fund our LO's 529 more.

I used to joke with my husband that if we made more, I would stop shopping the sale rack and just pay full price. But truth be told, I probably wouldn't because I'm sure I would allocate that extra money to something practical like savings/retirement or a service.

@lawbee11: agree

All depends on what you want out of life. We are fine now. But more would mean we would could have another and pay for day care comfortably, go out to eat still, shopping, and vacations. We are on track to be there within 5 years but then cost of living will have increased so it won't be enough.

@sunny: I'd die for a chef!!! Or a hair stylist/makeup artist. I love getting my hair and makeup done.

@littlek: I once met a woman who was some sort of executive and she had an amazing live-in nanny/chef who took care of her 3 kids and cooked dinner every night for the family. Omg I would love to be able to afford that kind of setup!!!

I think its hard to define "enough".

Goal 1 would be "enough" that I could stay home without worrying about finances (aka bare minimum finances like live debt free and save for college and retirement).

Goal 2 would be that we could comfortably do goal 1 plus some vacation time, have a nice house, do lots of extras with the kids, maybe even a third kid, etc.

Goal 3 would be a big step from all that meaning, as many kids as we want, as much support as we want, retire early, etc etc etc.

We honestly don't need a TON more money. What we need is less debt! Our incomes would be perfectly fine for our lifestyle now if we had no debt. So a temporary increase in income would help to squash the debt!

It's hard to say; i think the amount we have now is "enough," but I have a husband with some seriously expensive hobbies and wants.

I just got a new job and a 32% raise starting next month, but we're also expecting kid #2 in February, so I think we'll be in about the same place, if not slightly better in just a bit.

@septca: totally-- geography makes such a difference! What we make now is not sustainable for the long run-- we're in NYC which means everything is expensive and you don't get much for your $, and I'm on a phd stipend rather than a salary so things are tight. If we lived almost anywhere else we'd be in much better shape! That said, I don't know what we "need" bc I don't know where we'll end up livig. But I hope (fingers crossed!) to end up with a job after I defend that would be at least 2x my stipend

@dagret: nice raise!