Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

Also always funny when the majority cry about rates, but their list of stuff they won’t do is 10 miles long, won’t unload, won’t go here, there, anywhere, no multiple stops, won’t haul over 35k etc

 

If you live any near major metropolitan with a good school district your rent or mortgage/property taxes gonna be $1500-$3000 per month. Health insurance $1000 per month plus other medical expenses during the year.
If your kids get braces and visit dentist few times a year, then it's another few thousand. After school activities like gymnastics are few hundred per month. Just cheap summer camp alone costs $200 per week per kid.
Gym membership for yourself and your wife another $150 per month. Going out to eat once a month another $150.
Cellphone bill for your whole family another few hundred.
I did not even get to groceries with lots of fruit, veggies and good meat that you wanna take with you in the truck and school lunches for the kids.

Then car expenses, insurance, vacation once a year, all other stuff, it adds up.

To live on $5k, you must be living in a country side in a paid off inherited house, have Medicare, paid off cars, cheap food and never get outside of your county, because I can't even imagine how much it would cost to have even a basic vacation for a family of 7

 

The wife and I could get by pretty well on 5k a month, but our kids are grown and everything is paid for. That's also subjective to where you live. Cost of living across the country is very different.

Doesn't matter what we can get by on, point is to make as much as possible while we can, and spend as little as possible.

 

The sniveling is to the m00n.

 

I didn't know cats would eat olives...

 

You just described a really good life and it's amazing that you've been able to provide that. Having the financial freedom to really tailor everything to your vision is a giant accomplishment.

I would describe that as straddling the line between upper middle class or lower upper class.

From my background, there's a lot of alternatives that provide almost the same results for a fraction of the price.

Gym membership? An old barbell in the backyard and a tree for pull ups.

Summer camp? Send the kids to their uncle and aunts for half the summer and the other half the whole gang is here.

Mint mobile for the kids if somehow you are forced to get them cellphones, to each his own.

On each category there are alternatives. 120k a year is up there for non-coastal folks.

 

Imagine getting by on that $5k while having 5 kids and not having everything paid off.
Even living in the cheap part of the country

 

Black olives no less. Loves 'em.

 

Imagine having a brain, and having stuff you could afford, and managing your family correctly if that's what you have going on.

I believe that's starting pay at Schneider.