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Nifheim
allo
Member since 1/09 5476 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
lindenhurst village: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths but its a fixer but really not bad. Plenty of homes by me are 230K because they need work. I understand most people don't want to buy what i have but you can certainly get a better house in our area for 300K and i mean really nice. And if you don't like lindenhurst there are other areas that we looked in with similar taxes/prices. But if you purchased during the boom certainly things are much more and I feel for ya.
I don't know Nassau so i can't comment on that.
Now my cousin who's wife is now pregnant is looking for a house in lindenhurst/west islip and base it off her husband's income and not hers. This way they could afford the kid. They can certainly afford to live in a very good area (in my mind plainview i will use as example) but since they plan on having more then one kid and she has student loans they are going for a house they can really afford with paying back loans and having kids and paying daycare. So under 300K.
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Posted 11/30/10 3:30 PM  |
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MrsFlatbread
Skinny jeans are in my future
Member since 6/06 10258 total posts
Name:
Baby Momma
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by ave1024
Posted by annoyedTTCer
Homes on LI cost more
Property Taxes on LI are more
Income taxes in NY are more
Day care in the NY DMA costs more
Car insurance is more
Gas taxes are above average
Commute to NYC for work isn't cheap
Sales tax is close to 9%
I don't know a single person paying $2700 a month for a home.
1bed room condo - yes, home nope
And to comment on this:
I already factored in Mortgage + Taxes in my previous statement. Sales tax is 9%. Big deal. How much are you actually spending where the increased sales tax makes a difference? If you spend 10k a year in tangible goods, that's an extra $300 a year in sales tax, or an extra POINT .15 percent in your DTI.
If you are spending that much for it to make a difference, you are probably financially foolish in the first place like I said.
Ok so again... add up how much more all these other items are... your DTI using REAL WORLD examples may increase what... 2-3%?
Big deal. I won't even get into the fact that you are also probably MAKING MORE in Long Island than you would living in the sticks.
If you live in the sticks, i'd probably consider 150k well-off. Maybe even 125k.
Increased costs to commute to NYC again is relative because you would be MAKING MORE to work in the city.
In regards to daycare... a portion of daycare is tax deductable. Don't forget to add on your child tax credits/deducations which you can apply towards daycare. Day care for a family making 200k SHOULDN'T be an issue, at least a financially savvy one.
 Let me go so i can go calculate my monthly expenses to see what i am doing wrong...bc apparently my husband and I are not financially savvy...
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:32 PM |
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computergirl
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 3118 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by ave1024
If you are spending that much for it to make a difference, you are probably financially foolish in the first place like I said.
Increased costs to commute to NYC again is relative because you would be MAKING MORE to work in the city.
In regards to daycare... a portion of daycare is tax deductable. Don't forget to add on your child tax credits/deducations which you can apply towards daycare. Day care for a family making 200k SHOULDN'T be an issue, at least a financially savvy one.
ITA with all of this.
With regards to commuting to the city-- in my experience, the pay differential between equivalent jobs in NYC vs. LI makes the increased commuting cost WELL worth it (except maybe for public school teachers, where the reverse is true, lol)
Additionally, working on LI is not necessarily cheaper. We are a one-car family-- DH can walk to the train station, and when I worked in the city, I did that too. When DH considered a job opportunity on LI, we did the math and the cost of buying a new car, insuring and maintaining it, plus gas ended up just as expensive as his monthly LIRR ticket, if not more so.
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:34 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by MrsFlatbread
Let me go so i can go calculate my monthly expenses to see what i am doing wrong...bc apparently my husband and I are not financially savvy...
Hey they have professionals out there that can do this for you. If you are making over 200k a year and feel this way, it might be time to change up a few things. 
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:36 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by annoyedTTCer
or well educated with degrees from top under grad and grad schools and under the age of 40
Which district are you in?
Maybe that's why you don't feel well-off then. When you say top grad schools... I would imagine you have a ton of student loans? Lots of bills from school?
I am under 40 too... I chose not to pay a fortune for a "top" college because I felt the cost of the education wouldn't be worth taking on a massive amount of debt.
I am in Plainview / Old Bethpage SD. Like I said I have a mortgage under $2700 a month and in what many (at least what I read on here) would be considered one of the top districts. I don't even get all caught up in the SD keeping up with the jones' hoopla as I said above you can get a perfectly good education without paying a ton. I mainly bought in this area for investment/resale purposes.
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:41 PM |
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mommy2Alex
3 babies for me :)
Member since 5/05 6683 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Homes on LI cost more
Property Taxes on LI are more
Income taxes in NY are more
Day care in the NY DMA costs more
Car insurance is more
Gas taxes are above average
Commute to NYC for work isn't cheap
Sales tax is close to 9%
LIPA - absolutely ridiculous. A lot of States have Nuclear Power and their energy costs are far cheaper than ours.
Oil - most homes in the North East are heated with oil.
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:44 PM |
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computergirl
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 3118 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by annoyedTTCer
or well educated with degrees from top under grad and grad schools and under the age of 40
Which district are you in?
This is JMO, but I think a lot of people's financial struggles begin right here, with massive loans from "top" undergrad and grad schools. I understand that education is an "investment in yourself", but at the end of the day it is exactly that-- an investment, and a cost-benefit analysis should be performed before the investment is made. What kind of income will I need to handle these student loan bills and still lead a somewhat comfortable lifestyle? Will my student loan bills hinder me from saving for retirement? I think sometimes people have the best of intentions.... wanting the very best in education, and it turns out to cause a lot more financial grief for them than the degrees were worth.
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:50 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by computergirl
I understand that education is an "investment in yourself", but at the end of the day it is exactly that-- an investment, and a cost-benefit analysis should be performed before the investment is made.
Totally agree. And this is exactly why I will NOT be paying a fortune for my children's college education. They are going to get tough-love financial reality right when they turn 18. I'll pay for them to go to a city/state school (and a LOCAL one - i'm not paying for board). Hopefully they will take my offer and not wind up with a crazy amount of student loan debt right from the start and put themselves in a hole.
If they choose to go elsewhere and pay a crazy amount in tuition (themselves), they better not do anything stupid to get their names taken off the will. 
Message edited 11/30/2010 3:59:53 PM.
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| Posted 11/30/10 3:58 PM |
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Nifheim
allo
Member since 1/09 5476 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
i wonder how much does it cost to visit someone savvy in financial stuff like budgets, etc?. I really am interested in learning really how to take control of our finances since i want to pay down our cc.
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| Posted 11/30/10 4:21 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by Nifheim
i wonder how much does it cost to visit someone savvy in financial stuff like budgets, etc?. I really am interested in learning really how to take control of our finances since i want to pay down our cc.
Free if you just do the research yourself online.
I am not even a fan of paying somebody for this. You can learn a ton by going to different financial websites/blogs/forums/etc. If you are paying down debt, start at creditboards.com
I love reading up on things like this. One of my favorite hobbies.
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| Posted 11/30/10 4:47 PM |
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Nifheim
allo
Member since 1/09 5476 total posts
Name:
Jennifer
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Thanks! Yea its not much but i don't like having it.
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| Posted 11/30/10 4:53 PM |
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mamasita27
OHANA
Member since 8/07 5974 total posts
Name:
MB
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by speakthetruth
you can be making 100k in my book and be well-off, as long as you have no debt.
you can make 250k a year and have tons in debt, and then you wouldn't be well-off, KWIM?
to me, well-off = little to no debt, living comfy, money saved up for retirement.
this is a very good point!
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| Posted 11/30/10 4:58 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by Nifheim
Thanks! Yea its not much but i don't like having it.
I would just start by documenting EVERY single penny that gets spent. That's the #1 advice I can give.
I find that if you see (in writing) where your money is really going to... you can probably trim off a good portion of the FAT in your budget.
Write down every penny spent on a list and see where the money is really going. If you spend .99 cents on gum, write it down under daily spending.
Sometimes you just don't make enough to get by. But other times people that do make enough feel like they don't because their spending habits are piss poor.
Write it all down for a month. Examine your findings after a month... then make adjustments and see how quickly your spending habits improve the next month.
I am definitely not poor and I'm doing alright in life. But I still write down my expenses every month. I know where EVERY penny is going. I can tell you how much I spent in Starbucks year to date. I can tell you how much I spent on my water bill. I can tell you how much I spent on dining out.
I examine my spending every few days. I trend and project my spending. I set budgets and limits for things like dining out, entertainment, etc. There are no surprises. I am super diligent with this.
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| Posted 11/30/10 5:01 PM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
You can also budget your utility use and trim some of the fat from your oil bill and electric (things people say is expensive in Long Island).
I know how many gallons of oil I typically use in the summer (between 1-2 gallons a day). Also know how many gallons I use in the winter (around 4-4.5 gallons a day).
So I know that if I get an oil delivery in January... the next delivery I will get in Feb when they show up in four weeks will probably be for around 120-130 gallons (or about $415 in today's market). If the bill shows up for over $500... I know I did something wrong. Time to start being a little more of a miser with the heat. Maybe I left some windows open. Maybe I forgot to program the termostat. You can save money this way.
Same goes with the electric. I know exactly how much electric I use in the winter (around 25 KWH per day) vs. the summer (40-50 KWH per day). Electric in Long Island is about 20 cents per KWH total. So most likely if I get a bill in January, my next bill in March will probably be somewhere around $300. If I get a bill for $450 in March in the winter, I know I did something wrong. And with electric you get the added bonus of just looking at your meter to monitor. With that same situation, if you look at the meter on Feb 1st and see you used over 1000 KWH since the Jan 1st bill, I know I am using too much electric... time to see what the deal is.
This is why I never do balanced billing. It gets people away from getting involved with their consumption. I want to know what I used, when I used it.
Of course sometimes you can't control things (like the crazy hot summer we had). But knowledge is power.
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| Posted 11/30/10 5:12 PM |
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MegZee
My bunny
Member since 5/06 8777 total posts
Name:
Meaghan
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by ave1024
Posted by annoyedTTCer
I don't know a single person paying $2700 a month for a home.
1bed room condo - yes, home nope
This is a ridiculous statement. Then I guess by your logic I don't have a home then.
I just bought a home in one of the top SDs in Nassau County. My Mortgage + taxes is under $2500. I am sure there are others on here who will say the same.
Like I said, if you make this much and you dont have any serious medical or family emergencies, you are probably financially foolish.
my mortgage is $2700/mo; 4bd 2 bath high ranch in Three Village SD. I bought it when I was 24, DH was 28. We both paid for Hofstra (both undergrad and grad) ourselves. He is a NYC teacher. we put 10% down and bought in 2006.
so now you know two people!
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| Posted 11/30/10 6:26 PM |
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Chatham-Chick
*********************
Member since 5/05 10311 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by ave1024
Posted by Nifheim
Thanks! Yea its not much but i don't like having it.
I would just start by documenting EVERY single penny that gets spent. That's the #1 advice I can give.
I find that if you see (in writing) where your money is really going to... you can probably trim off a good portion of the FAT in your budget.
Write down every penny spent on a list and see where the money is really going. If you spend .99 cents on gum, write it down under daily spending.
Sometimes you just don't make enough to get by. But other times people that do make enough feel like they don't because their spending habits are piss poor.
Write it all down for a month. Examine your findings after a month... then make adjustments and see how quickly your spending habits improve the next month.
I am definitely not poor and I'm doing alright in life. But I still write down my expenses every month. I know where EVERY penny is going. I can tell you how much I spent in Starbucks year to date. I can tell you how much I spent on my water bill. I can tell you how much I spent on dining out.
I examine my spending every few days. I trend and project my spending. I set budgets and limits for things like dining out, entertainment, etc. There are no surprises. I am super diligent with this.
IMO, you're very wise with your money, but don't fit the definition of "Well Off." If you were "Well Off," you wouldn't have to stress over "trimming the fat." But again, that's going by my idea of "well off."
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| Posted 11/30/10 6:31 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
I don't think 250K is enough to be well off and I define well off to buy whatever you want.
So I would be closer to the $500K number.
on a side note. We moved to San Diego from manhattan and thought ti was so cheap. We moved back to LI from SD and we thought LI was so cheap!
I know SOCal is very similar - but it's all perspective.
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| Posted 11/30/10 6:33 PM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by annoyedTTCer
I don't know a single person paying $2700 a month for a home.
1bed room condo - yes, home nope
I own a 3 bedroom house and pay less than that. In a decent school district. And in that mortgage is all my taxes, insurance and mortgage payment.
I am well off compared to many of people's standards but with 250K btw DH & I for law school loans we are anything but well off. We pay more per month for loans than we do on our house.
So well off cannot be determined by just a number.
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| Posted 11/30/10 8:05 PM |
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LL514
LIF Adult
Member since 4/10 1901 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by ave1024
Posted by annoyedTTCer
Homes on LI cost more
Property Taxes on LI are more
Income taxes in NY are more
Day care in the NY DMA costs more
Car insurance is more
Gas taxes are above average
Commute to NYC for work isn't cheap
Sales tax is close to 9%
I don't know a single person paying $2700 a month for a home.
1bed room condo - yes, home nope
And to comment on this:
I already factored in Mortgage + Taxes in my previous statement. Sales tax is 9%. Big deal. How much are you actually spending where the increased sales tax makes a difference? If you spend 10k a year in tangible goods, that's an extra $300 a year in sales tax, or an extra POINT .15 percent in your DTI.
Isn't 9% of 10k $900 not $300?
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| Posted 11/30/10 8:14 PM |
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LL514
LIF Adult
Member since 4/10 1901 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by Chatham-Chick
Posted by ave1024
Posted by Nifheim
Thanks! Yea its not much but i don't like having it.
I would just start by documenting EVERY single penny that gets spent. That's the #1 advice I can give.
I find that if you see (in writing) where your money is really going to... you can probably trim off a good portion of the FAT in your budget.
Write down every penny spent on a list and see where the money is really going. If you spend .99 cents on gum, write it down under daily spending.
Sometimes you just don't make enough to get by. But other times people that do make enough feel like they don't because their spending habits are piss poor.
Write it all down for a month. Examine your findings after a month... then make adjustments and see how quickly your spending habits improve the next month.
I am definitely not poor and I'm doing alright in life. But I still write down my expenses every month. I know where EVERY penny is going. I can tell you how much I spent in Starbucks year to date. I can tell you how much I spent on my water bill. I can tell you how much I spent on dining out.
I examine my spending every few days. I trend and project my spending. I set budgets and limits for things like dining out, entertainment, etc. There are no surprises. I am super diligent with this.
IMO, you're very wise with your money, but don't fit the definition of "Well Off." If you were "Well Off," you wouldn't have to stress over "trimming the fat." But again, that's going by my idea of "well off."
I totally agree with this!!
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| Posted 11/30/10 8:17 PM |
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dawnygirl25
Growing up soo fast..
Member since 1/06 14917 total posts
Name:
Dawn
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by MrsFlatbread
Posted by Chatham-Chick
Too many subjective variables. My idea of "well off" or "expensive" might be different than others.
exactly....
well said.
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| Posted 11/30/10 8:27 PM |
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justmefornow
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/08 859 total posts
Name:
n
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by dawnygirl25
Posted by MrsFlatbread
Posted by Chatham-Chick
Too many subjective variables. My idea of "well off" or "expensive" might be different than others.
exactly....
well said.
Thank you! My initial thought was $250K as many others said, but then I thought "well-off" is actually a level up from upper middle class. The quote above is exactly what I was thinking while reading through this whole thread. Compared to other countries or parts of our own country we're ALL "well-off".
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| Posted 11/30/10 8:53 PM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
Posted by annoyedTTCer
I don't know a single person paying $2700 a month for a home.
1bed room condo - yes, home nope
we own several properties including our primary residence on LI in Suffolk county that were all purchased since 2004 & NONE of them have a mortgage over $2700. Long Island offers MANY affordable places to live.
To answer the original question I think family income over $275,000 would afford most families a level of comfort & security that could be considered well off.
I do believe that lifestyle plays a huge roll, I currently have a client that earned over $300,000 per year for almost 10 years and he is BROKE and trying to declare bankruptcy.
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| Posted 11/30/10 9:07 PM |
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Torts
LIF Toddler
Member since 9/10 494 total posts
Name:
me
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
2700$ mortgage
That's 3 people 
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| Posted 11/30/10 9:15 PM |
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Teach723
Have faith. Believe. Dream.
Member since 8/10 2356 total posts
Name:
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Re: What family income would you consider "well off" for Long Island?
I agree with 250+
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| Posted 11/30/10 9:28 PM |
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