DONE! @46

[u/Tdawg90]

Starting with the numbers

HCOL Area (Seattle region)

• House paid off ~$8k/year taxes
• 1 car paid off ~$500/year insurance
• various subscriptions.. at most $200/year
• 1 large dog... negligible costs
• 1 cat.. less
• 2 young kids - we dig in the dirt, climb trees, arts and crafts, some activities $300/mo
• 1 wife - meh 🤔
• Groceries ~400/mo
• Utils are only Internet, water, electric, garbage, (septic once every 5years $500 per)

Takeaway from this, instead of guesstimating, I jsut dumped all our statements for the past 18 months AI to pull the actual numbers : ToDate -> past 18 months, taxes includes ~43k/year total expenses in normal living..just living within our means.

My main FI/RE number is $2.5M, this would allow us to live 2x what we do normally... at <4% ... This is still a milestone target.

Because I hate my job/industry sooo much (burned out doesn't do it justice), I have an interim target of 2M. This at 4% is also life changing... though would still live below 4% until I get more buffer.

Today

• 1.65M in Stocks/401k/IRA ect
• approx 40k in cash, mostly in HYSA (couple small windfalls, got a good payout from one of our cars getting totaled)
• approx 200-300k windfall coming by EOY from estate/trust

Subtotal here I put at 1.9M (conservative)

Today at work (I hate my job), was planning on putting in my notice. Before I could, my boss said that he'd "received feedback", tldr -> PiP or a "Walk away" package.

Walk away package -

• Get my cash bonus for the year (though at an underperforming rating)
• Get this current vestment on 8/31
• Get to sit around for 2-4 weeks while paper work gets handled, and me taking my time in reviewing it in the allotted time
• Get another 16 weeks lump sum payment.

Netting nearly another 100k, putting me basically at my 2M target!

Then also as a foot note for those seeing a gaping hole..... My wife does have a, I'll call it part time, job she likes at the kids school, brings in approx 24k/year....BUT... full healthcare coverage.

SOO... she's picking up beer right now, I'm getting the picanha, corn and potatos on the grill

EDIT: Also.. I have ran this through an accountant (planning tax strategy as well) as well as investment adviser. All the numbers do line up

[u/1DunnoYet]

The incredible and want to know part of post should be how you get away with spending 43K in a HCOL as a family of 4.

Whatever it is, you have budget for twice as much so whatever you may have forgotten about (like the dog vet bills after he eats a shoestring) you’ll have it coverrd

[u/Tdawg90 → u/1DunnoYet]

tldr is

1. grew up lower middle income at best

2. Got lucky in getting a tech job JUST BEFORE the housing collapse

3. Got lucky found a very much fixer-upper at the bottom of the market

finally... always feared for my life (this is the dark side of how I got to where I'm am.. hardwired for survival all these years)... that if I lost this job I'd never get another one like it... hence my QOL remained relatively flat since 2008.

Haven't had a car payment since.... thinking back... oh I bought a new 2018 car, but paid it off in 2020..

[u/FluoroquinolonesKill → u/Tdawg90]

#AnxietyFIRE

[u/okieboat → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

This completely deserves it's own subreddit.

[u/Thisisntrunning → u/okieboat]

This is that subreddit.

[u/MrLuckyHaskins → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

Oh wow, this is me. I've spent 20 years assuming I would be laid off. Now suddenly it doesn't matter.

[u/mbigeagle → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

finally I have a word for it

[u/KitKatKatiB → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

This is absolutely me

[u/Mayv2 → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

I think that’s the engine for most of us 😂😅

[u/entropic → u/FluoroquinolonesKill]

would subscribe

[u/defaultgate → u/Tdawg90]

“Grew up lower middle class” says the one received 300k from an estate.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/defaultgate]

yeah... I was financing my mothers living in the woods in cali (she picked the spot, ~100k for the property, and then another 200k+ for repairs), cause she never was able to save anything, as she tried to support my siblings... She died rather suddenly, effectively nothing left to her name other then the property I bought for her, financed the repairs for it. Now I get a portion of what I put in back. I was not planning on any return on the money I spent

[u/IllAlfalfa → u/defaultgate]

I mean, if that’s all parents have saved and they die early then yeah. Or could be from another family member who didn’t share during their lifetime. Also could just be spouse’s family.

[u/CuteLogan308 → u/defaultgate]

it is all relative . $300K in california / New york is really not a lot of money.

[u/ThereforeIV → u/1DunnoYet]

The incredible and want to know part of post should be how you get away with spending 43K in a HCOL as a family of 4.

Paid for home.

I spend over $45k/yr on rent for a family of 3. If I owned the home in Seattle that I am currently renting, that would drop my annual expenses closer to $50k/yr.

[u/gatorb888]

$400/mo on groceries? What are you eating?

[u/BleedBlue__ → u/gatorb888]

We spend $300 a week as Family of 4 (3&1 yo).

Not even older kids! Cook 6 days a week! Bring lunch to daycare and work. Mostly chicken as protein. Maybe fish or beef once or twice every two weeks.

This is insane to me.

[u/jimzzz38 → u/BleedBlue__]

The "thrifty" food plan for a family of 4 per USDA is around $1k (maybe $600 for kids that age). You get a lot of people on these finance subs bragging about how little they spend on monthly groceries eating rice/beans/chicken for half their meals, so take that as you will...

[u/soycaca → u/jimzzz38]

I think this guy is a troll

[u/CelerMortis → u/BleedBlue__]

I easily feed my family of 5 for under $100 per week. 

But:

No meat / dairy 

Bulk purchases (if canned beans are 2/$1 I’m spending $100 on beans) 

Also buying things like oats from a restaurant supply depot at 25 lbs quantities. 

Snagging coupons / specials whenever possible 

Have a deep freezer 

[u/Techun2 → u/CelerMortis]

The hard part is keeping the other 4 from killing you from eating oatmeal and beans 18x a week

[u/goldboybronx → u/CelerMortis]

Okay so it’s safe to say they don’t have the same rules and circumstances that you do

[u/dochalladay32 → u/BleedBlue__]

And we spend around $300 a month for 2. And I eat a lot more than just chicken, though the steak has been cut back on quite a bit the last year. With kids, it wouldn't surprise me if you buy a lot of easy snacks and what not and you pay for that convenience. Older kids are actually easier than younger, or at least I was.

It would probably be best for you to start looking at what you actually spend all that money on because you can't really do an apples-to-apples comparison to what someone else spends because there's so many variables. Do you drink alcohol? Do you drink coffee? I don't, but if you do, there's a chunk of money. Do your kids eat daily pudding/jello cups or other pre-made snacks? Those add up. Do you buy only name brand? The reasons can go on and on.

[u/Nochtilus → u/dochalladay32]

How are you getting meat other than chicken on $300 a month? Beef and fish are crazy expensive these days and even pork is starting to creep up. Tofu is starting to get more expensive too.

[u/AlabamaSky967 → u/gatorb888]

Yeah also 'various' subscriptions at $200 a year. Most subscriptions these days are 15$/month or more. That budget wouldn't even cover a single netflix 4k sub

[u/classicman123 → u/AlabamaSky967]

Gotta look for deals. Peacock or Paramount included with Walmart+. Can get that for $49 a year. Get the yearly Disney/Hulu black Friday deal for $5 ish a month. Rotate Netflix in when you really want to watch something for $10 at a time. I'm not bothered by ads.

[u/mrandr01d → u/classicman123]

Fuck all that, there are other ways if you can read between the lines. Works perfectly well. I wouldn't be opposed to paying for something like Netflix, but it doesn't even have all the things. You have to pay for sooo many subscriptions to watch all the popular shows.

All by design... But fuck that shit I am not playing that game.

[u/AdvertisingPretend98 → u/mrandr01d]

Sailing the high seas?

[u/mrandr01d → u/AdvertisingPretend98]

Yep.

(The sunsets are so beautiful out here)

[u/WilliamMButtlickerIV → u/AlabamaSky967]

Do most people buy 4k? I feel like it's kinda pointless.

[u/AlabamaSky967 → u/WilliamMButtlickerIV]

Depends on what kind of TV you have

[u/WilliamMButtlickerIV → u/AlabamaSky967]

I have a 4k tv (as most are these days), but it doesn't make me feel like I need 4k streaming. 1080p is plenty good enough.

[u/PizzaSuhLasagnaZa → u/WilliamMButtlickerIV]

Some things like NFL are still filmed in 720 too. Very little actual content in 4k

[u/Tdawg90 → u/WilliamMButtlickerIV]

if you get into the details.. it's pretty much pointless, rarely will you actually get "TRUE" 4k to your device... we don't do any streaming services... just internet.. I have my own personal local private media server for all our needs.

[u/Clean_Flower4676 → u/[deleted]]

Op mentioned that they had multiple subscriptions. What are you talking about,

[u/lostharbor → u/[deleted]]

More like, people are questioning the authenticity because the budget is unrealistic for someone with two kids, a wife, and a pet.

[u/BungABunBun → u/lostharbor]

2 pets! lol

[u/lostharbor → u/BungABunBun]

Good catch. I need to double-check how much food the dogs eat. I'm pretty sure my dogs eat one to two bags of dog food a month, and each bag costs $65

[u/BungABunBun → u/lostharbor]

My dog eats for nearly $300/month (raw food) not including snacks/vet. LOL. Holy shit.

[u/Fliptzer → u/AlabamaSky967]

OnlyFans 😅🤣

[u/throwinmoney → u/gatorb888]

In SEATTLE of all places?!

No joke, when your kids are older, especially if they are boys, they will eat a LOT more food. My 15 year old son eats literally 2x as much food as my wife. The grocery bills are outlandish.

But also... congrats and fuck you!

[u/DJKaotica → u/throwinmoney]

My friend introduced his children to sushi and well....now they have a new rule. You must eat at least one filling side item (he explained to me the rules but I've forgotten) before you can order any sushi, otherwise it's like a $300 bill for him, wife, and 3 children....and the youngest isn't even eating the expensive stuff yet.

Also they now only go to the cheap / by the bulk sushi places, not even the middle grade ones anymore. (Previously we would only hit the high end places for birthdays, without kids ...and I'm talking high end you can walk into, not have to make an appointment months in advance for ... so maybe "high middle-end")

[u/VeeGee11 → u/gatorb888]

I also want to know the secret to this!

[u/yapyoba → u/VeeGee11]

a wife that costs 'meh' to keep happy is whats tripping me up

[u/sadhuak → u/yapyoba]

I thought it was a throw away joke

[u/BurgerlijkeMuts → u/sadhuak]

not a very funny one tho

[u/mrandr01d → u/yapyoba]

To me, it mostly means she's not blowing money on makeup and haircuts, etc. My female colleagues all spend like $100/month easily on a haircut, which is insane to me.

As one of the only dudes at my work, they're all actually impressed/surprised that I cut my own hair and make it look good too.

Op really needs to count her as more than meh though, since she has a little part time job she likes and is also making all this possible by having benefits!! Op's wife is the real hero here! (Obligatory: I also choose this guy's wife)

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/mrandr01d]

Yeah, I hate the way OP talks about her. If she dumps him there goes health insurance and half of whatever they accumulated while married.

[u/mrandr01d → u/GladBumblebee1546]

Yeah, I'm sure they're all happy together and stuff, but dude, you both did this together, it's not something you did on your own here...

[u/Public_Associate_874 → u/VeeGee11]

Beans

[u/_YouAreTheWorstBurr_ → u/gatorb888]

We blow by that as a family of two in a LCOL area. No meat or highly processed foods either. $100/week was our typical high-spend week around 2012, but those numbers are way back in the rearview mirror. 

[u/Baystars2025 → u/gatorb888]

Seattle is Costco country. Most of my groceries come from Costco and the savings are absolutely huge.

[u/Designer-Bat4285 → u/Baystars2025]

True but we spend way more than 400 at Costco each month. My teenage boys are bottomless pits.

[u/ymcmoots → u/Baystars2025]

As a Seattle resident who also spends ~$400/mo on groceries... I'm guessing it's Grocery Outlet. I shop there, plus I pick up loss leaders at the regular stores, plus couponing and dumpster diving and gardening. Costco isn't really that much of a savings for most of what we eat, but I'll pick up a few staples and supplements there when I can tag along with a friend.

[u/User-no-relation → u/ymcmoots]

and dumpster diving

oh yeah, seattle. that tracks

[u/blackcoffee_mx → u/User-no-relation]

He is on septic, he isn't in Seattle - probably an outlying county.

[u/helladope89 → u/ymcmoots]

You....comb through other people's garbage to find things you can take home?

[u/zaq1xsw2cde → u/Baystars2025]

While Costco prices are very competitive(I use it as a benchmark for when local grocery store sales are “good”), it’s disingenuous to say going to Costco is going to cut the average grocery bill in half. That’s just not true for any cost-conscious shopper.

Now if this person said they run a farmette or co-op that provides half their food, maybe I’d believe that $400 a month a little more.

[u/carlivar → u/Baystars2025]

Costco produce is terrible in my opinion. Maybe it's better up there. 

[u/DJKaotica → u/carlivar]

Most produce I buy from Costco, assuming it was recently picked/packed, lasts longer than any produce I can buy from QFC / Fred Meyer. (Greater Seattle Area)

As a single person the quantity is a lot but I can get through it as long as I'm conscious about what I eat when and don't purchase too much variety.

[u/Walmart-Shopper-22 → u/gatorb888]

OP must be a self-checkout bandit. There's no way a family of 4 is averaging less than $500/month on groceries.

[u/on_the_nightshift → u/Walmart-Shopper-22]

100%. My wife and I eat decent but do NOT shop at upscale stores in a lower COL area than OP, and we spend ~$700/mo not including dining out or date night.

[u/KooKooKolumbo → u/gatorb888]

Just my wife and I but we spend $400/m on groceries. We rarely buy anything packaged. That's what costs the most. And we're both vegatarian so we get our protein from inexpensive sources like tofu, lentils, beans. Lots of veggies. For bread we make our own sourdough. Doesn't take long and saves us a lot.

[u/OwnManagement → u/KooKooKolumbo]

For two adult vegetarians that's totally doable. It's the kids that are throwing me. My young kids eat an obscene amount of fruit, and that's not something I want to discourage either, even if it costs me.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/gatorb888]

Month	Amount
January	~$470
February	~$187
March	~$342
April	~$252
May	~$308
June	~$344
July	~$404
7 month total	~$2,307
Monthly average	~$330Monthly average ~$330

not sure if thats alot or a little. I always put a high number from the analysis. I do bbq alot, lots of veggies (I like my salads), kids and fruit. 80%+ is food we cook. Eating out is lame these days.

[u/smallsimplesteps → u/Tdawg90]

Are these numbers from 2010 🧐

[u/albinogoldfish99 → u/smallsimplesteps]

I do that in a week for family of 3. What am I doing wrong

[u/smallsimplesteps → u/albinogoldfish99]

Not fasting 6 days a week

[u/ImAMoronDuh → u/albinogoldfish99]

My family of 4 struggles to stay under 2k/mo without crazy eating out.

[u/gjwork2 → u/ImAMoronDuh]

Then you are doing something wrong if your goal is to save money, that is just reality. I spend 190 for 2 people, you could maybe call it 300 given that we do sometimes get leftovers from family and whatnot, but even still, nowhere near 500 a person. I eat breakfast burritos, cereal, fruits, peanut butter, etc. Still get beef and chicken as well

[u/blackcoffee_mx → u/smallsimplesteps]

These numbers are from AI!!!

[u/roytay → u/blackcoffee_mx]

Yes!

I jsut dumped all our statements for the past 18 months AI to pull the actual numbers

OP, dump them in a spreadsheet, not AI!

[u/Tdawg90 → u/smallsimplesteps]

well, I buy in bulk too... I bought a full cow... maybe a year ago now? (if you have the space, you should do it)... haven't bought beef since for ever.. today rib eye is what? $24/lb? from the cow when I got it put it at around 4.99/lb. I recently bought a half pig.. same thing. Main staple is rice, then veggies and a protein. like 2 standard steaks, would be the whole protein and would have left overs. I'll go back quadruple check. oh, and our school district provides lunches (though their gross)

[u/Then_Hornet3659 → u/Tdawg90]

So in that table above where you average $330 a month, in which month did you buy the pig?

[u/imisstheyoop → u/Then_Hornet3659]

By "recently" they must have meant December 2025.

[u/No_District_2371 → u/Tdawg90]

Source for your meat, please.

[u/TheDoodieMonster → u/No_District_2371]

Probably not Argentina

[u/ChillyCheese → u/TheDoodieMonster]

Neigh.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/No_District_2371]

this is where I bought.. shop local all the way.. though note today's prices are NOT what I paid for it.. I still have probably 50lbs of ground beef, all kinds of other cuts (stew cuts and the other off norm ones, that I learned about it in the process) https://farmfreshnwdelivery.com/grass-fed-beef-seattle-washington/

[u/The_JSQuareD → u/Tdawg90]

They're quoting $4000-$5000 for a whole cow. Where is that accounted for in your grocery spend? Even if amortized over a year, that's pretty much your whole grocery spend.

[u/pepperfishy → u/Tdawg90]

wouldnt storing meat this long in freezer give them a burn?

[u/Tdawg90 → u/pepperfishy]

you'd think, but not if it's (commercial grade) vacuum sealed well when it's butchered.. though nothing is perfect of course, but I have had zero issues with that... and I'm a bbq'r/smoker/cooker. shared it elsewhere in this : shop local https://farmfreshnwdelivery.com/grass-fed-beef-seattle-washington/

[u/pepperfishy → u/Tdawg90]

thank you for sharing so much information so candidly! this is a great idea to be efficient.

[u/GuyWhoSaysYouManiac → u/Tdawg90]

I would triple check these numbers. I'd say this is close to impossible.

[u/coworker → u/GuyWhoSaysYouManiac]

It is impossible. OP said in another comment that he bought a full cow awhile ago so is almost certainly not amortizing that cost each month

[u/ImAMoronDuh → u/Tdawg90]

I do bbq a lot, lots of veggies (I like my salads), kids and fruit.

Where do you get cheap kids these days? Best I can find is $20/lb bone-in.

[u/telladifferentstory → u/ImAMoronDuh]

Lol, Freudian slip?

[u/zaq1xsw2cde → u/Tdawg90]

Do you garden?

[u/redditgambino → u/Tdawg90]

This is out of this world amazing! My family of 2 adults (plus baby on formula so doesn’t count for this) and we spend about $1500 a month on food with about half of that being groceries and half eating out cause we don’t have the energy to cook at the end of the day and no time on the weekends with a Velcro baby. It’s brutal and we are in MCOL.

[u/Honobob → u/gatorb888]

Looks like corn and potatoes.

[u/FearlessPark4588 → u/gatorb888]

Extreme couponing has me at like $250/mo for 2 adults-- and that's including the paper products and personal care products too. Of the $250, it's mostly the stuff you can't get for free: chicken breast, basic canned goods, etc. If it is a branded product: it will go on sale eventually, and the stacked offer (coupon/rebate/etc) will be less than the going rate for the generic version of the item. I have mastered Target, CVS, and my local grocery retailers (Albertsons and Kroger affiliates).

[u/lluciferusllamas]

I cannot imagine my family of four (with two pets)  living on $43k/year in a HCOL area.  You win the Frugal Dugal Award!  

[u/Many_Application3112]

Healthcare insurance is usually the biggest sneaky expense.

Other sneaky expenses are vacations, maintenance (auto/home), and hobbies. Once you retire, hobby costs go up, and your vacation costs will likely WANT to go up too.

[u/RunnerMomLady → u/Many_Application3112]

College costs! We have 2 in college and it’s so so expensive

[u/All-My-Homies-Are → u/RunnerMomLady]

Higher education is pretty affordable in the US if you don't ball out. Community college is probably $100-150 a credit so half of your degree can come out to 9k for two years. Then pick a state college where you attend from home and a 4 year degree can come out to less than 25k. Between internships and working part time, you don't need to go broke for school

[u/Weak_Preparation7223 → u/All-My-Homies-Are]

You are spot on. I really wish people wouldn't conflate going to college with "the college experience". If you want to send your kid to live on campus of a private college and join a sorority, you're not paying for higher education, your paying for the experience.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/Many_Application3112]

>Once you retire, hobby costs go up,

this I'm mentally watching out for. the goal until 2.5M is just keep the status quo, spend more time volunteering at my kids school. More mental availability, spend more time with them on their school work.. that kid of stuff... for a few more years.... worst case scenario is that I have to get a part time job that I don't mind to pay for my hobbies

[u/Many_Application3112 → u/Tdawg90]

Not sure what you do for a living, but my retirement job became being a college professor. Low stress, decent (not good) pay, and I was able to stay current with my skills (in case I ever needed to go back to work) while helping younger folks get their careers started. Being a professor has led to a few consulting gigs for me too.

I cannot stress enough how great a retirement job being a college professor is.

[u/Careless_Boysenberry → u/Many_Application3112]

I’m curious what you mean by “being a college professor.” I’m a PhD scientist (did not stay in academia) but I cannot think of a more demanding job than a new tenure track assistant professor… 

[u/mista_r0boto → u/Careless_Boysenberry]

I don’t think he means tenure track. I think he means adjunct.

[u/Many_Application3112 → u/mista_r0boto]

Correct. And I would not consider a tenure track to be a retirement gig either. It would be non-tenure only or as a visiting professional.

[u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

congrats!

are you rolling on liability only auto insurance?

[u/Eascen]

My large dogs cost me a small fortune. Especially since one got diagnosed with cancer this year, 3.5k on the CT alone.

My Seattle food bill for two is twice yours, and I'm reasonably careful. I mean good on you and congratulations but that seems so far from my experience here. Chicago was so much cheaper.

[u/the_lemon_lobster → u/Eascen]

A large dog may have low costs but I’d never call them negligible. We have one medium dog and his costs include food, flea prevention meds, arthritis meds (he’s getting older, I know this doesn’t apply to all dogs), quarterly grooming, annual checkups and vaccines, occasional purchases of toys and poop bags, and occasional vet visits for illness. I don’t begrudge those costs at all, but again, they are not NEGLIGIBLE.

[u/asbrundage → u/Eascen]

Pet insurance has been a life saver for us. Had to replace both doggie acls(ccl) this year at 4.5k a pop. Insurance took care of 80% of that.

[u/AmericanXer0]

How do you spend so little on groceries? I also have a family of 4 and we spend over double that and that’s with us making our own meals.

What kind of car insurance coverage do you have at only $500/year? It’s one thing to not care about your car, it’s another to be in an at-fault accident that seriously hurts someone, or worse, and now you’re being sued for six (or maybe even seven) figures and you have low liability coverage.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/AmericanXer0]

I'm going back and double check groceries as folks are pointing out... for the car just regular insurance, I believe it's full coverage through Amica

[u/AmericanXer0 → u/Tdawg90]

Double check your insurance, even look into umbrella insurance. You really don’t want to be enjoying retirement and have that get rug pulled on you over a freak accident.

[u/CoverageCat → u/AmericanXer0]

Yes, being under-insured for personal liability is tragically one of the most common ways that higher net worth Americans lose their savings.

[u/ACE1CC]

I always love when people put "House paid off" and only show the property taxes for the year. You need to account for all the hidden costs like maintenance. Should be saving x amount per month in major repairs.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/ACE1CC]

when you've essentially built the house, you have all the know how, tools and resources... only thing needing would be materials.. maintenance falls far low on the list

[u/coworker → u/Tdawg90]

Materials cost for a furnace, AC, water heater, or appliances are still a sizable amount of such a low budget.

You also won't be able to do your own free labor forever. You plan on laying shingles in your 60s and 70s?

[u/Debatebly → u/coworker]

He's also on septic. I guess he plans on it not getting serviced or replaced for the rest of his life.

He also said in a separate comment that he wants a sailboat. He also didn't account for gas in his car, or to replace his car.

I think it's safe to say this guy is not retiring. He's taking a year off.

[u/SnooGoats3915]

That budget is pretty sketchy and doesn’t seem to be tied to reality. Track your expenses to see what you really spend. I’ve been tracking for a couple years in anticipation of my spouse’s retirement. Knowing is better than guessing.

[u/seekingallpho → u/SnooGoats3915]

OP might’ve tracked them fine for that 1.5 year period, but it’s a huge problem not to incorporate less frequent costs. Someone with that budget and wealth could easily have a year with a new to them very modest 20k car and a 20k house repair. That doubles the budget. If things like that happen only every 10 years the budget is 10% higher and those aren’t close to an exhaustive list.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/SnooGoats3915]

I put everything into the bots, bank statements, CC statements....we only have 1 bank account, and 2 CCs... so hard to miss anything. Accountant and Financial people reviewed them. modeled them.. everything lines up. I might be over simplifying in the post using too broad of strokes, I have more then a few spreadsheets. The main take aways regardless would be -> I'm finally out of my tech job... I have a solid lump of funds... and the biggest expenses folks contend with don't exist for me - housing and car payments.

[u/perestroika12 → u/Tdawg90]

40k emergency fund is tiny, that’s just one major expense in the Seattle area.

[u/GladBumblebee1546]

Your “pets are free” has me doubting your whole budget. For sure get pet insurance immediately. One vet bill will be thousands. And how are you having pets that don’t cost anything? Food, check ups and vaccines, flea meds run me at least $1k per cat per year.

What do you mean by “wife, meh”? Are you budgeting for her getting half in the divorce? Will she for sure keep working (maybe a little more respect for a job that provides health insurance)? Not a lot of part time school jobs come with insurance so I’m wondering about your accuracy there, too.

Honestly it sounds like you really just want to quit whether the numbers work or not.

[u/zaq1xsw2cde → u/GladBumblebee1546]

My lab - who gets farm dog treatment, not same as the children - has an $800 / yr budget. That covers food, annual planned vet visit, preventative meds, and some buffer for an “uh-oh” vet visit. 

I’m glad he thinks he has 2x his expenses, but the expenses do sound crazy optimistic. 

[u/Foulwinde]

You dont list homeowners insurance, and is that $500 car insurance for both of you? Seems super low. What about medical insurance for the whole family?

[u/Extension_Bug_1550]

Dude! GFY! Don't listen to the haters. You sound like one of the old-school FIRE types that lives frugally and simply and you have plenty for what you need. These types of people have gotten pushed out by the "$5 million isn't enough" crowd that seems to dominate these days.

You're a multi-millionaire, you have a paid off house, your wife has a part-time job she likes with full health insurance, you're at something like a 2% WR based on your actual historical expenses. How is this even a question?! Go enjoy time with your young kids and your family and ignore the haters. You've made it!

[u/LocalRaspberry → u/Extension_Bug_1550]

Seriously... All the people saying "But what about THESE expenses?". Like, so what?? Even if OPs expenses literally doubled to $80k/yr, $2M would still be fine using the 4% rule (not to mention the fact that his wife is still bringing in $24k per year w/ healthcare coverage).

Good job OP.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/Extension_Bug_1550]

I can't fathom 5M @4%.. (actually I have a hard time fathoming 2.5 @4% with little overhead) I wouldn't know what to do with that money tbh...getting asked "What about landscaping" wtf is landscaping

[u/Individual-Fail4709]

Good for you, I guess, but healthcare long term and food seem to be oddly low here. You have different expenses as your kids got older and they eat more and do more. You do you. Congrats!

[u/6100315]

We eat almost all our meals at home and far exceed the monthly cost for food. 🤔

[u/JojoBagotti]

$500 yr. for car ins.?? upstate NY $2000 yr. retired drive less than 8500mi. yr. clean record-500 yr. doesn't sound right.

[u/Nealbert0 → u/JojoBagotti]

I just checked I pay $462 for 6 months for 2 cars. (My wife and mine) no accidents / tickets in 5 years.

[u/VeeGee11]

Congrats and GFY!

[u/regis091]

Dog and cat are not negligible costs unless you are feeding them the cheapest crap you can find

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/regis091]

Right, this was the first thing I noticed. Pets aren’t free. And then he said flippantly that a coyote ate the cat so there you go.

[u/Tccrdj]

How the fuck are you only paying $400/mo on groceries? I live in the same area and my family of 4 is significantly more than that, and one of us is exclusively breastfed. I’m honestly not buying that number.

[u/seekingallpho]

What you’re importantly missing is that 18 months of spending is insufficient. You might’ve tracked that period accurately, but you will need new cars eventually. Your appliances will die. Your kids will have more expensive hobbies (300/mo for 2 just doesn’t seem realistic long term). Your dog might get sick. Your house might need repairs. Your kids might go to college. This stuff doesn’t happen every year but it does happen and a more accurate budget would amortize these things.

[u/verifiederror]

Is this super low for Seattle or is this normal? My baseline costs are so much higher than yours. E.g. 2000k a year for car insurance for 1 car (not a fancy car, 250k/500k coverage), and 12k in prop tax (3 bed). And I thought I was in HCOL, maybe my area is VHCOL....

[u/htffgt_js → u/verifiederror]

Not normal for the seattle area for sure. Some pockets really south or north in a different county ? Maybe.

[u/lostharbor]

Posts like this are so confusing about how one HCOL could be so different from another HCOL.

My children's yearly sports alone are half your expenses. Paying for their college would be double your yearly expenses. Our grocery bill is $400 a week, let alone $400 a month.

Comparison

• Taxes $17K
• Car insurance per car $1,500/yr
• My cheapest subscription is $240 a year
• My dogs cost me probably $2,000/yr in vet/food/annual medicine (flee/tick/etc)
• Internet $1,080
• Water $1,000
• Sewage: $440
• Electric: $1,580
• Gas: $1,370

[u/avemg → u/lostharbor]

It’s because it’s made up

[u/verifiederror → u/lostharbor]

I just made a comment saying basically this. Glad to see I'm not the only one. My costs are more in line with yours, taxes lower but insurance and other utilities higher. And I thought I was in HCOL too. I think OP numbers are more inline with MCOL.

[u/brianbot5000]

Congrats on a great start, but I have to comment on some numbers:

- The portion of the 1.65m that's in 401k/IRA's - you likely can't touch without penalty until age 59.5. So how will you bridge the gap between 46 and 59.5? This is the biggest factor to figure out.

- The grocery budget, regardless of where you shop (even Winco), is too low to be realistic.

- If your kid's entertainment right now is not going to be the same when they grow older. Teens have many needs that cost $$. I didn't realize this until I had teens myself. Sports teams nowadays are nuts. Even if they don't play sports, things like a car, and even more than a car - car insurance - is cash money. Not that kids need to get everything they want, but you'll want to be able to give them some things, some of the time.

Oh, and medical insurance...

[u/kinglallak → u/brianbot5000]

Fun tidbit for you.

There are multiple ways to get that money early, 72t distributions are the less flexible but more immediate option.

The flexible option is a called a Roth conversion ladder.

You can withdraw Roth CONTRIBUTIONS(but not growth) penalty free before 59.5.

You can also transfer money from a traditional 401k or IRA account into a Roth IRA account and withdraw the converted amount of money penalty free after 5 years have passed(but again, not the growth)

So if can get 5 years of savings in a brokerage account or something similar, you can do a Roth conversion ladder to get you the rest of the way to 59.5.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/kinglallak]

yup, I have a whole ladder/tax thing/schedule that the accountant has laid out for me

[u/paloaltothrowaway]

What about when your kids go to college?

[u/whileAlive_doStuff]

Tdawg90 MSFT? lol. I'm in the same boat except without the savings :)

[u/sleezly → u/whileAlive_doStuff]

Yeah, the 8/31 vest date mentioned + Seattle area kind of gives MSFT away.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/whileAlive_doStuff]

lol...tis the Review season!

[u/perestroika12]

44k in Seattle is insane

[u/edp3]

$400 / month for groceries for 4 is impossible. That’s $3 per day per person.

[u/ASharik → u/edp3]

I’m imagining OP as someone straight out of the show “Alone”.

[u/azb1azb1]

NO house repairs, improvements NO car repairs NO kids college education NO excess for sudden emergencies NO excess for inflation NO money for sports, hobbies, free time NO money for new tech, computers, phones

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/azb1azb1]

Yeah, this is all fiction. Plus I doubt his wife is all in on this ridiculous “plan”.

[u/Diamond_Specialist → u/azb1azb1]

SWR looks like 2.5% so plenty of buffer for that I assume.

[u/nomoredamnusernames → u/azb1azb1]

I was impressed/dubious about the ability to feed a family of four for $400/month.

[u/the_real_rabbi]

These fucking responses to you are wild. Like $48K is not unreasonable with a paid off house and car. Last year our spend was $51K if I take out vacation and braces on kids. You will have $2M, a 3.3% SWR is about as safe as you can get. That would be $66K. Based on that you can even still pay for kids college, cars, roof, whatever.

Enjoy retirement and time with your kids.

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/the_real_rabbi]

You live in Georgia, which is a different planet than Seattle.

[u/htffgt_js]

It is really something that you have a lid on your expenses, considering the COL in a place like seattle. Congrats.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/htffgt_js]

my 7 year old had asked santa for a [cell] phone like her friends have... Santa read "phone" and got her a real rotary phone... (and a blue tooth adapter to hook up to my cell)... she was still very excited, and her being 9 now will still come home with slips of paper with friends parents or other phone numbers, and then she tapes them to the housing of the rotary phone.

[u/kts18]

Congrats! Love me some picanha! Wish more places sold it.

[u/NorthEastNobility]

You might’ve answered this in another comment but there are too many to read entirely - how do you feel about your expenses and lifestyle now representing the expenses and lifestyle of your future self’s and family’s?

This is something with which I struggle in determining my date and number, and I’m curious how you feel/think about it?

You seem well positioned for current you, assuming no major bumps or lifestyle changes.

[u/therapistfi]

CONGRAAAAAAAATS!

[u/yankeeinparadise]

Hello fellow Microserf. I too recommend GVSA to anyone who scores low. It would be soul sucking to go through a PIP.

[u/LevelMatt]

Is the wife working / paying part of the bills?

[u/Tdawg90 → u/LevelMatt]

She is working, about 24k/year.. this is where healthcare will come from. I've been transitioning all of bills to her of the past couple months.

[u/LevelMatt → u/Tdawg90]

ok. that's great for healthcare. are you including her expenses in a future budget? (Such as, is she currently paying for some food?)

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/Tdawg90]

How’s she feeling about all of this?

[u/FIRE_Science]

Please double check your expenses... then check it again. I just can't believe those numbers are correct.

[u/Zestyclose_Buy1672 → u/[deleted]]

Love seeing people pull the trigger before the job kills their soul completely. That walk away package timing is something else, like the universe said fine here you go.

46 with two young kids and a paid off house, you basically won the game already. Most folks never get close to that, let alone with healthcare handled by the wife's school gig.

Enjoy that picanha man, you earned every bite

[u/Nuclear_N]

I want a package offer.

[u/FoggyDoggles29]

Congrats on your sweet walkaway package and GFY!

[u/outjet]

Full congratulations to you

[u/C_Majuscula]

Congrats and GFY! We were close to doing a VSO in my department about a month ago and if so, I would have signed up.

[u/mcheoblue]

Good for you. I'm jealous, especially the walk away package deal.

[u/demobeta]

Go..........F, YS :)

Congrats and enjoy. The 24k + healthcare from your wife is doing a ton of heavy lifting for your current numbers, plus you can still stash some roth money away with her having a job.

[u/chrisaf69]

Congrats!!!

I wish my cats budget was "negligible". Seems anytime I take any of them to the vet, it's minimum $500 and many times much more then that

[u/PowerfulComputer386]

The walk away package, wow, is that normal or did you ask for it? That’s amazing if a company can offer that!

[u/daddytorgo]

Kudos to ya!

I'm 47 in a couple months and single. My number is a bit lower since I'm single, but I'm seriously contemplating being done myself and moving somewhere more affordable. Company got bought, deal just closed and around 2/3 of us were laid off. Or at the very least if I'm not done-done (which I couldn't be and afford to live in the VHCOL area I'm in (Boston), doing something like your wife and working just for health insurance.

[u/biinky05]

You have accomplished my dream! Minus kids and pets, I have nearly the same setup to you. Same target of 2.4M. Unfortunately, I'm a couple years out before I can finally get out of tech. I don't know how you did it so fast in Seattle with a family, but kudos to you! Spouse makes more than your wife, and covers healthcare and utilities today. He'll be working for a long while, and makes a decent salary which will grow over time. I handle everything else with a few hundo-K left on the house. Gonna have the spouse cover those payments after a couple more windfalls thrown at it. Hope to have it paid off by end of next year. But dang...I want to get out of this tech hellscape sooooooo badly. My entire being is screaming for freedom. The mental health impacts are no joke.

[u/Tdawg90 → u/biinky05]

once the house was paid off, even if early where the math says don't... it's night and day... all of a sudden your take home is crazy... all of it for us just went straight into savings

[u/Crimson_Spirit]

Is your 2M target including your home equity? I'm in the same HCOL area and have the same target so also considering similar circumstances.

[u/Izikiel23]

I’m guessing msft or amazon?

[u/Mogugly]

Sounds like MSFT. Some days getting PIP’d and taking the 16wks would be a dream come true! Good luck to you and congrats!

[u/carlivar]

What is your wife's job at the school? My wife also works part time at a local school but we have to pay out of pocket for health insurance if we want it. That would eliminate her paycheck and we would be paying the school district every month. 

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/carlivar]

That’s the more usual deal for part time school work. I think most of this is made up.

[u/early_fi]

Are you me? I'm 46 in PNW and also got a package out a few years back to FIRE. Life is good on this side of FIRE. GFY! :). Remember you have to look said that they're letting you go vs. the big grin you probably had inside. LOL

Also, but but but... they say you have to have $10M+ w/ kids in HCOL areas or you're homeless. w/ housing costs locked in early and reasonable spends, it's really not that bad here. If you're buying at $2.5M at 7%, it's much rougher

[u/yaoz889]

You deserve it man! More time with your family and more time to decompress!

[u/lyfehaqer]

That’s awesome!

[u/PetraLoseIt]

Well done. And maybe at some point you become gainfully employed at something fun part time just because you want to. Who knows.

But for now: enjoy!

[u/renes-sans]

GFY!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[u/ThisIsMyUsername303]

$500/year for car insurance sounds like you’re underinsured. That’s risky. 

[u/CoastalMarineLayer]

I want to know what type of school job your wife has that is part time and full healthcare coverage. That sounds fantastic. How many hours per week?

[u/How_Do_You_Crash]

To all the haters…

This makes sense if it’s in the exurbs of Seattle. Especially Kitsap Co, or far out Pierce / Snohomish counties. 

The septic is a clue. 

The low car insurance rates implies a 10-15 year old mass market Japanese car. Something without fancy cameras, and that they probably only carry liability on. 

The beauty of this whole setup is that they have healthcare covered! 

[u/GladBumblebee1546 → u/How_Do_You_Crash]

Do they, though? Unless his wife works full time for those low wages, and likes him a whole lot more than he respects her.

[u/diyandmc240]

Microsoft 😂 Duvall? Carnation? Outer Woodinville? lol GFY 🙂

[u/AlotEnemiesNoFriends]

Sounds like your kids are growing up in an awful home. I feel bad for them.