Income needed for 3 kids

[morgannicole555]

Hi! We are contemplating a third child. With inflation and some debt we are paying off we aren’t sure we can afford a third AND have the lifestyle we want (1-2 vacations per year, skiing etc). How much do you all make (roughly) if you don’t mind sharing to live comfortably as a family of five? We live in denver which is now a high cost of living area. We can make do in our house with three kids for 1-2 years max but then would need to upgrade. For reference husband and I make about $400k with occasional upside. Than you in advance!

 

[bigmike424]

@morgannicole555 I don't know what your cost of living is but I'm a single mom of 4 only making 37 to 44k a year and make it work so I don't see how u can't

House mortgage 340
Car insurance 244
Cell phone 60
Private school 388 every 2 weeks
Electric 190
Gas 75
Water 180 every 3 months
Swear and trash 230 every other 3 months
Food 150 to 200 a week
Gas for car about 50 a week
Netflix 21.95
Hulu 19.99
Disney plus 6.95
Amazon Prime 7.85
Credit card 1 86
Credit card 2 43
Credit card 3 120
Childcare 45 a wk I get help with it
Birthday party/gift 150 x 4 a year
3 summer hotel trips with in 3 hr drive usually spend between 600 to 800 for room food and activities
Go out to each 120 - 140 x 2 a month

And if me or the kids want to do something else or need something I just pick up a extra shift and I see my kids alot I work when they are at school or their dads house and take weeks off work during holidays to spend woth them and we live a good life with a small struggle sometimes but not often

 

[morgannicole555]

@bigmike424 You’re a badass

 

[savedinbrooklyn]

@morgannicole555 came here to say the same thing. SuperMom in real life!

 

[saida]

@morgannicole555 I'd quit while ahead. It sounds like an interesting idea, but for every child, that's easily another hundreds of thousands to million based on what you wantbl to provide them.

 

[newhistoricalprotestant]

@morgannicole555 Man what kind of world are we living in when a family earning 400k a year are questioning whether they can have 3 kids!? That’s madness!!

 

[chosen2015]

@morgannicole555 My husband makes just over $100k, and we have 3 with one on the way. We manage fine. We are very frugal, but that’s just who we are. He golfs a bit in the summer and we take a cheaper vacation every year (usually hiking in national parks). We have paid off our debt and vehicles and even manage to save a lot. I will say we’re not in a HCOL area, but I think you’d be totally fine on one income.

 

[morgannicole555]

@chosen2015 Omg ! Tell me your secrets! Where do you shop? How much for groceries?

 

[chosen2015]

@morgannicole555 I get most groceries from Aldi or Walmart, but I’ll get produce from Kroger occasionally because I’m picky about produce and I think theirs is better. Kroger also has some really great weekly deals. Like they’ll do 89 cent pineapples about once a year, and I’ll stock up and freeze, dehydrate, and can some. We have a large deep freeze, so that allows us to really stock up if there is a good deal. I garden and can a lot, so that saves a lot of money. I just like doing it as a hobby; it’s not my primary reason for doing it. I don’t but a lot of expensive meat, I usually try to stick to the cheaper stuff. I try to space out my grocery trips to every other week to spend less. We don’t buy many snacks or prepackaged foods.

All that being said, I think we spend $200-250 every other week?

 

[morgannicole555]

@chosen2015 Omg!!! That’s so good!!! Wow- that’s really commendable. We need to curb it. Maybe eat whay we have before buying

 

[lovejoypeaceetc]

@morgannicole555 My husband makes 250k, we have 4 children in the home, we go on vacation twice a year, we have family outings and trips. We don't go without anything we would want/need.
I think you can definitely live comfortably with 3 on your income.

 

[morgannicole555]

@lovejoypeaceetc Wow! Where do you live? May I ask how much your vacations are? Flights are so expensive!

 

[denice4jesus]

@morgannicole555 You have a higher income than most, you can afford a third child easily.
My husband and I went from one child to three due to having twins, so we had 3 kids that were only two years apart in age. We got through it on $45k-$55k a year, my husband has supported us on one income. We could not afford childcare so I stayed home with our kids, and I'm finally returning to work now that our twins are older. We made it in a one bedroom apartment and upgraded to a 2 bedroom townhouse. We have plenty of room. Scale back your lifestyle if you need to pay off debt sooner. You do not need to upgrade a car or home when adding a 3rd child. With your income you can easily afford childcare costs and still live very comfortably.

 

[morgannicole555]

@denice4jesus Love this!

 

[sabstame]

@morgannicole555 I live in VHCOL area - my husband is a SAHP. Salary is roughy 120-250k (being very nonspecific sorry). We (my husband and I) have 3 little kids (5 and under) and I (although my husband still consider him his child which I love) have a child in college with my ex-husband. We also have some very high medical expenses due to ourselves and children (and while I work in healthcare my insurance is sh*t, so pretty much every year at this current company I pay $13K plus bimonthly healthcare payments for our healthcare - yes I am looking for another job). We can’t afford expensive vacations - my parents are amazing and do help with some vacations and we deliberately make time for ourselves. But we also have at least one-two neurodivergent kids, including one who may never live on his own, and it’s hard. Honestly, and I say this with as much grace as possible, we have debt and 400k sounds like an amazing amount. If you’re concerned at this point, maybe you should consider some budgeting/financial classes. Because I live (again) in a VHCOL area, with multiple young kids, large medical expenses, mortgage, etc, and somehow still make it on mh salary that is at least HALF of what you guys make. The only thing I can say is that my husband is a SAHP, so basically he doesn’t earn income (although he definitely SHOULD) and does a shit ton of work. But he also isn’t great a cooking/cleaning (again 3 kids 5 and under including one who’s severely ND) so we have to hire some stuff out and/eat our. If you can’t make 3 kids work on 400k (and I’m truly not trying to be mean here), then I have serious concerns about your budgeting/financial sense.

 

[wxgenx]

@sabstame I definitely agree with your sentiment here so just wanted to suggest for OP, hire a financial advisor if you need guidance dealing with debt & budgeting. My husband has a company mange his money (he makes more than 400k annual) and spending a few thousand with a really good financial advisor a year can seriously help your savings & debt management. Hope this helps!

 

[precariouspiccolo]

@morgannicole555 I've been raising 4 kids on under $30,000. It aint always pretty, fun or fair, but it is workable. We even took a vacation last year!

 

[morgannicole555]

@precariouspiccolo You’re the real hero girl! Amazing

 

[precariouspiccolo]

@morgannicole555 Not a hero, kinda dumb actually. Live and learn and live with what you done wrong the best ya can!

 

[smithclaire]

@precariouspiccolo Omg I was about to lay into you for being rude to TastyTurkeySandRich and then I realized you ARE TastyTurkeySandRich.