A Friday Chat About That Budget Tweet
The $500K family isn’t even real!
NICOLE: Happy Friday! I am so ready for it to be Friday.
MEGAN: HAPPY FREAKING FRIDAY. This week has been so long. I am ready for it to end.
NICOLE: I keep tabbing over to the Washington Post to be like, “do we have healthcare or not.” They’ve got a livestream going with numbers for/against and it is so stressful. [UPDATE: We had this chat before the announcement that the AHCA bill got pulled.]
MEGAN: I will let you be the one to tell me whether or not we do, because I realized last night that my stress levels re: the current state of affairs need to be managed appropriately. Right now, that means staring at the wall and drinking water.
NICOLE: I just started doing that “can you drink 64 oz of water per day” challenge this week and wow, I am using the toilet VERY OFTEN! Also I love that I automatically labeled it as a “challenge,” as per this app-based and social-media-based world in which we live.
On the subject of social media: we have to discuss this tweet, right?
Here’s why a couple earning $500k a year in New York City ends up with nothing besides 401(k) $$ https://t.co/8OMOZU8ZSz @pointsnfigures
MEGAN: Water is good. Using the restroom frequently is also good. This tweet………is something else. We should probably talk about this “viral” budget. There’s a lot in there, man!
NICOLE: I want to start with the “what’s left” line item. Because you could absolutely read this as “after this family takes care of all their needs and desires, they still have $7,300 left.” Why is that bad? That’s great!
MEGAN: If I’m being honest, $7,300 is roughly what I make in a month. And if that’s what this hearty family of four has AFTER blowing through the rest of their money in a variety of ways, then they should be THRILLED. Save that money! You’ve spent SO much money otherwise.
NICOLE: That’s what’s left over after 401(k) contributions, $9,500 in clothes (for four people), date nights every two weeks, childcare, three vacations (!!!), also $18K towards charity and $10K towards miscellaneous.
They have $10K to put towards miscellaneous!
MEGAN: LOL all of the things you just said….the date nights!!! Good for them for keeping the spark going, I guess. I have two very important questions, however. First, what is the miscellaneous? And second, three vacations is a LOT of vacations. Wouldn’t you think that if you were inclined to take this many vacations in a year, you’d find a way to not spend the near-equivalent of tuition at an in-state college??
NICOLE: One vacation could be holiday travel, so they might only be taking two non-holiday vacations. Which… I guess I kind of take that many, if you count a long weekend as a vacation. And if they’re taking longer vacations, like two weeks abroad, it might make sense. I don’t know. It’s hard to know whether they’re spending “too much” without knowing exactly what they’re purchasing.
MEGAN: Yeah, ok, that’s true. It’s way easier to snip at the numbers without seeing a list of what the money’s being spent on, but I still think that $18,000 for three vacations is a lot of money. Like…as a single family of one, I do go away fairly often on long weekends here and there, but I don’t ever do a BIG VACATION for more than a week. To this point, though, here’s what the “Financial Samurai” said about their vacation figure.
Scraping By On $500,000 A Year | Financial Samurai
Let’s say each vacation is one week long and costs $6,000. Is that so unreasonable for four people? Seven nights at a 3–4 start hotel costs $300 a night ($2,300 including tax). Roundtrip airfare for four to debt-laden Puerto Rico costs another $2,400. The family is left with $1,300 to spend on food and activities.
“Seven nights at a 3–4 star hotel.” Buddy. Guys. You can stay at an Airbnb??
NICOLE: To be fair, Airbnbs are not always the quality you might want or expect (my most recent Airbnb experience included dirty sheets, a dirty toilet, just general grossness). And if you do the Airbee, you also have to do the grocery shopping and the cooking and so on. As per The Onion:
Mom Spends Beach Vacation Assuming All Household Duties In Closer Proximity To Ocean
MEGAN: Yeah, an Airbnb can be a real crapshoot. And I guess it’s not a vacation if you’re still doing the same shit you do at home, just somewhere warmer. A 3–4 star hotel seems a bit excessive, though.
NICOLE: BREAKING NEWS, MEGAN: I don’t think these people are real.
The below chart is an annual spending example of a couple who each make $250,000 a year as lawyers. They have two children ages three and five. They are both 35 years old and live in New York City, the most expensive city in America!
The Financial Samurai just made them up as an example! Right???
MEGAN: LOL EXCUSE ME. WHAT. Jesus christ, you’re right. It’s fake! He made them up to prove his shitty point about…something? To rile us up? To set up his LARGER financial-guru hogwash about how with HIS help you can break the cycle of, I don’t know, living beyond your means by cutting lattes.
NICOLE: Plus the government, of course:
The government doesn’t believe in two high-earning working spouses. They want one spouse to stay at home and take care of the kids. If they didn’t, why did President Obama campaign aggressively for $200,000 + $200,000 = $250,000 before taxes go up for the top? Equality would dictate that $200,000 + $200,000 = $400,000, which is the compromise our politicians made.
MEGAN: Oh my god, Nicole, I am angrier than I was before.
NICOLE: The internet is spending its morning arguing about the personal finances of a couple who isn’t even real and is being used as an example to prove some guy’s point!
MEGAN: I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to throw my computer into the ocean and enact my backup plan: farming goats and knitting sweaters.
NICOLE: I love it. I, meanwhile, will go check the Washington Post again.
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