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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (212743)	7/20/2007 3:51:25 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794035

>> You seem to have a different sense of necessities than I do. I doubt that. I am very much into hardcore wilderness camping and enjoy backpacking across developing countries. So I am aware of how little I can survive with. But if both parents are working, as is often the case, then a daycare is not optional. As I pointed out, that alone easily runs you for $18k/yr. If you have two kids that need daycare, then that is $36k/yr. In most professional settings, establishing good relations with peers and coworkers is a necessity for your career (especially if you want to move up). That means that lunches with colleagues and an occasional drink after works is not as extravagant as you seem to think. Otherwise, you may find yourself unaware of office life and that could turn against you. A car is not a necessity if you live in Manhattan. But then again, if you do live in Manhattan, a two bedroom in any clean and decent neighborhood (and by no means a luxury one) will run you $3500/mo. Even then, car is still essential in case of emergencies. Still, you could move out to Queens and shift a portion of that rent towards car. In total it will cost you more. Try explaining to your kids why they cannot have toys or cloth that their friends in school have. You can (and should) do that some times. But you can't keep them deprived all the time, whatever you may think of the necessity of those toys or cloth. Cell phones (for everyone in the family) and Internet access are more of a necessity than a luxury. The picture I painted for you, was of what a typical and non-extravagant middle class life in NYC costs. From that, I concluded that if you are making half as much, then it would be really hard life here. You seem to be talking about the minimum one needs to survive. I have personally lived with less than $10k/yr while traveling across much of Asia and had a lot of fun doing it. Some of my best meals were the ones that I caught myself. But that is not a realistic way of life for most people.