Mortgage on primary residence is about 50% of that - 15 cars most of which are considered ultra luxury vehicles - insurance - property tax - full time staff of 6 in our 3 homes. This 350k a month does not include travel or clothing or dining out. As I said don’t do as I do.
I have 4 for the main residence as we have 6 acres and 35,000 square feet. Other home is cottage country and only 8,000 square feet and home in Miami is 10,000 both of which are rarely used so one full time in each and 2 of my staff travel with me so when at the homes there’s always 3 people working.
Because houses require people in them. All my properties have land so that needs to be taken care of as well. If there’s a flood or an electrical issue. If someone tries to break in and pretend like they live there or theft. Something sounds silly as needing the toilets to get flushed weekly but when you have 16 bathrooms it needs to happen.
One of the biggest issues however is people aren’t reliable - so if you have someone that needs to come in once a week let’s say to look at the property if they stop coming and you don’t notice it can be 6-9 months before you notice or visit the property yourself. Much easier to just have someone full time and there 6 days a week.
No they’re monitored on camera by my top staff member at the main house. They don’t live in the house and they wear uniforms and clean all day every day they’re there. No one is just chilling around living in the houses.
Are you happy you purchased a home that big? Do you have some hobbies that require a lot of space? I had about 17k sqft but I just didn’t need the space and a lot of the “specialty rooms” so I ended up downsizing
I bought the house I used to drive to after work and park my car in front of the gate and look at it. I don’t regret it as I can comfortably afford it - I just have a poor person mentality of 350k a month being ridiculous. Funny enough I get more upset when I go to a gas station and see a vitamin was for $6 than I do at large bills they don’t seem to affect me.
Omg you’re right. I’m gonna sell everything off and live in nature. I hope then you a random nobody will approve of my spending. I won’t be able to sleep until I have fixed this.
One thing rich people realize is that status matters.
In the military, it's blatant. You wear your rank on your collar. When people see or work with a high-ranking officer, they know immediately not to hassle this person and just do what they are asked (or told).
In civilian life, it's much more coy, but the principle is still there. You buy status symbols so when people work with or around you, they notice that you are a serious person, not to be fucked with.
For example, I got into an accident a few weeks ago. When I told the police my home address, guess what? Ambulance immediately, and I was first in to the trauma center. No waiting or fucking around whatsoever. Was that a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. I do think it made a difference.
I mean you can tell yourself whatever you want but the simple fact is when you have access to things you get more. This is natural human behavior. Telling yourself oh rich people do this to show off but all people will buy a nicer car or house if they have the money. They live in a safer place. Go out to dinner instead of cooking. You buy a bigger tv when you can afford it. So on and so on. The simple fact is I can afford it and I want it. I can afford a lot more I don’t spend even 20% of my yearly income and the investments I have that pay this income are enough for 100’s of lifetimes. The reason I don’t get even more is because that’s all I want - nothing to do with showing off. I don’t have social media I don’t show anything off to anyone and I don’t do it for anyone except myself and because I can. I have a couple friends who have car collections worth 50m+ and they sit in a warehouse without anyone knowing. But the moral of the story is they enjoy it personally and the outside world doesn’t matter.
That's very noble of you and your friend.
Fact is, if that was effective, members of the military wouldn't need to wear rank. Everybody would just be meek and kind, and jobs would get done and wars won based on fairytales and unicorn dust. (I realize we haven't won a war in 80 years. Maybe that's why?)
In civilian life, we display our rank -our social status- by displaying our possessions.
Your friend with the 50 cars? Of course he doesn't flaunt them. He doesn't have to. He knows he can tell a few close acquaintances -like you-, and you will do that for him. Word gets out, and he doesn't look gauche.
Big TVs? I mean, in the 90s that was a flex, sure. Anymore, that's not even worth bringing up.
Status matters or else people wouldn't seek it.
This isn't even getting into the whole incel red pill black pill blue pill stuff of mate pairing. Men in particular show off their unique and/or expensive possessions to attract women.
Oh hey I forgot to casually mention my airplane. Don't worry it's just a propeller plane, not a jet.
Just got done paying off my house which will dramatically decrease COL for me. All in, I'd say monthly im at 2000 ish.
That covers my Utilities, insurance, property tax, groceries/eating out, and country club dues. Without CC dues i'd be at 1200.
Everything else is paid off/paid in cash each month.
Single guy, only eat a meal a day, dont drink alcohol. I eat for $15 or less a day on average.
Property tax-450 a month, Utilities-180 a month, insurance 125 a month, leaves 445 a month for food (thats about 15 a day). Pretty simple, and unsexy, but it works for me and I have no complaints
Single guy, no kids, no wife or SO. Live alone.
If I eat out, its Qdoba and my meal is $12, a takeout pizza is same price. If I eat at home its PB&J's, eggs, or something else equally unexciting. If I go to a sit down dinner, its no more than 25 bucks, I dont drink and prefer dive bars.
Wife and I aren’t truly rich. Upper middle class probably. Last year outside of mortgage and car payments we spent a combined $60k on our credit cards per our wrap up (we pay them off every month we just like the Cashback), and our cars + house + miscellaneous bills probably adds about another $50000. So we need about $110k per year to keep our American dream going
Similar boat as you. What’s your net worth?
I’m wondering what makes someone rich? Compared to some we would be, others they’d think we’re poor. Such a weird place to be.
I have to guess, I really don't know! I save a lot of income. Day in and day out, I'm frugal. But then there are exceptions. Marriages to celebrate, other events, generous gifting.... I neglected house maintenance for years, more than a decade, to spend at least twice the original purchase price of my home renovating. Cash. I can't annualize that. The pandemic struck during the renovation. I had set aside enough cash for a tear down. The remodel was only half that. During the pandemic lows, unused cash was invested. Turns out my renovation was free! Except the lost opportunity building so much cash for ten years! $1M.
$200k/yr to slowly row the boat.
I spend about $30-50k per mo but that's mostly business costs on my 30+ rental properties so not sure that counts.
Purely on myself and my family? $3,200 mortgage and average $5k on credit cards so that's probably a pretty close estimate.
I should sit down and do the math again, but we could probably get by on around $15K a month. Probably less actually. But I think we spend more than that now
Bills around $700 a month for utilities, internet, phone, and insurances… House, car, boat… all paid off. We live in a beach house in Panama. Collect 5g a month. About 1500/food a month, go out a lot. Extra 3g/month goes to traveling and gifts.
While I may not be rich rich, we do have an annual income of around 300k in a low COL area
This is our COL breakdown/budget per month:
2750 - 15 year mortgage (note I pay 0 in property tax) - 380,000 original purchase price
600 - Pool loan - 90k purchase
650 - Car insurance - 3 cars w/ a teen driver one "sports" car
300 - Phone - 50% veteran discount also I pay for my parents phone lines
300-400 power - house stays around 72/74 - hot tub eats a lot of power and pool pumps
150-250 water - pool
100 - Digital services (prime, internet, streaming subscriptions)
1000 - Misc Spending - unforeseen expenses / stuff not budgeted
1600 - "allowances" we each get 800 a month of "no questions asked spending / saving"
2200 - Groceries, gas, eating out, Costo bulk supplies - 3 cars to fill 4 mouths to feed / 4 family fun nights a month
4000-5000 savings - varies
2000 - 401k - pre taxed with employee 6% match
500 - Tax account - We underpay taxes so we save this to not offset what we owe
1000 - vacation - 12k vacation every year so 1k needed per month
500+ in other accounts that just kind of grow for when we need them (gifts, car maintenance, etc)
310 - Cleaners twice a month
100- Lawn services twice a month
All 3 cars paid off, no CC debt
Is this a perfect budget? Nah but for where we are at in life I think we are doing pretty well for having salary jobs vs owning a business. Also, I broke down the cost cause I saw a few people asking for breakdowns.
350k a month - don’t do as I do
Let’s hear about it?
Mortgage on primary residence is about 50% of that - 15 cars most of which are considered ultra luxury vehicles - insurance - property tax - full time staff of 6 in our 3 homes. This 350k a month does not include travel or clothing or dining out. As I said don’t do as I do.
Interesting. I have a few staff members that follow me around. Are you keeping two full time staff members in each home?
I have 4 for the main residence as we have 6 acres and 35,000 square feet. Other home is cottage country and only 8,000 square feet and home in Miami is 10,000 both of which are rarely used so one full time in each and 2 of my staff travel with me so when at the homes there’s always 3 people working.
Why do you have full time staff at the homes you aren’t at?
Because houses require people in them. All my properties have land so that needs to be taken care of as well. If there’s a flood or an electrical issue. If someone tries to break in and pretend like they live there or theft. Something sounds silly as needing the toilets to get flushed weekly but when you have 16 bathrooms it needs to happen. One of the biggest issues however is people aren’t reliable - so if you have someone that needs to come in once a week let’s say to look at the property if they stop coming and you don’t notice it can be 6-9 months before you notice or visit the property yourself. Much easier to just have someone full time and there 6 days a week.
Damn thats wild, so your staff is basically getting paid to live in your luxurious houses?
No they’re monitored on camera by my top staff member at the main house. They don’t live in the house and they wear uniforms and clean all day every day they’re there. No one is just chilling around living in the houses.
Are you happy you purchased a home that big? Do you have some hobbies that require a lot of space? I had about 17k sqft but I just didn’t need the space and a lot of the “specialty rooms” so I ended up downsizing
I bought the house I used to drive to after work and park my car in front of the gate and look at it. I don’t regret it as I can comfortably afford it - I just have a poor person mentality of 350k a month being ridiculous. Funny enough I get more upset when I go to a gas station and see a vitamin was for $6 than I do at large bills they don’t seem to affect me.
How did you get rich?
Lots of luck and a couple good decisions
Business?
Yes
What kind if I may ask
Financial services
It sounds like you're really bad with money and waste a mountain of it every year on stuff you don't use...just for status? That is soooo dumb dude.
Omg you’re right. I’m gonna sell everything off and live in nature. I hope then you a random nobody will approve of my spending. I won’t be able to sleep until I have fixed this.
🙄
One thing rich people realize is that status matters. In the military, it's blatant. You wear your rank on your collar. When people see or work with a high-ranking officer, they know immediately not to hassle this person and just do what they are asked (or told). In civilian life, it's much more coy, but the principle is still there. You buy status symbols so when people work with or around you, they notice that you are a serious person, not to be fucked with. For example, I got into an accident a few weeks ago. When I told the police my home address, guess what? Ambulance immediately, and I was first in to the trauma center. No waiting or fucking around whatsoever. Was that a coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. I do think it made a difference.
I mean you can tell yourself whatever you want but the simple fact is when you have access to things you get more. This is natural human behavior. Telling yourself oh rich people do this to show off but all people will buy a nicer car or house if they have the money. They live in a safer place. Go out to dinner instead of cooking. You buy a bigger tv when you can afford it. So on and so on. The simple fact is I can afford it and I want it. I can afford a lot more I don’t spend even 20% of my yearly income and the investments I have that pay this income are enough for 100’s of lifetimes. The reason I don’t get even more is because that’s all I want - nothing to do with showing off. I don’t have social media I don’t show anything off to anyone and I don’t do it for anyone except myself and because I can. I have a couple friends who have car collections worth 50m+ and they sit in a warehouse without anyone knowing. But the moral of the story is they enjoy it personally and the outside world doesn’t matter.
That's very noble of you and your friend. Fact is, if that was effective, members of the military wouldn't need to wear rank. Everybody would just be meek and kind, and jobs would get done and wars won based on fairytales and unicorn dust. (I realize we haven't won a war in 80 years. Maybe that's why?) In civilian life, we display our rank -our social status- by displaying our possessions. Your friend with the 50 cars? Of course he doesn't flaunt them. He doesn't have to. He knows he can tell a few close acquaintances -like you-, and you will do that for him. Word gets out, and he doesn't look gauche. Big TVs? I mean, in the 90s that was a flex, sure. Anymore, that's not even worth bringing up. Status matters or else people wouldn't seek it. This isn't even getting into the whole incel red pill black pill blue pill stuff of mate pairing. Men in particular show off their unique and/or expensive possessions to attract women. Oh hey I forgot to casually mention my airplane. Don't worry it's just a propeller plane, not a jet.
Whatever helps you sleep at night buddy. All the best.
This is so inspiring to me. This is the life that I want to live. This is the life that I will live.
I thought spending 125k a month was bad
What did you end up doing with that $250k 7 years ago?
Just got done paying off my house which will dramatically decrease COL for me. All in, I'd say monthly im at 2000 ish. That covers my Utilities, insurance, property tax, groceries/eating out, and country club dues. Without CC dues i'd be at 1200. Everything else is paid off/paid in cash each month.
do you live in the 90s?
Single guy, only eat a meal a day, dont drink alcohol. I eat for $15 or less a day on average. Property tax-450 a month, Utilities-180 a month, insurance 125 a month, leaves 445 a month for food (thats about 15 a day). Pretty simple, and unsexy, but it works for me and I have no complaints
Do you live on a farm? How do you keep food down below $1200 per month? I have employees spending $2k per month on food for a family of 6
Single guy, no kids, no wife or SO. Live alone. If I eat out, its Qdoba and my meal is $12, a takeout pizza is same price. If I eat at home its PB&J's, eggs, or something else equally unexciting. If I go to a sit down dinner, its no more than 25 bucks, I dont drink and prefer dive bars.
A couple hundred bucks a month. Now my fun money budget is way more lol.
Under $3k a month.
I avoid lifestyle-creep a literally **all** costs.
How much you make?
No idea. I pay somebody else to keep my books.
So they could be blindly robbing you and you wouldn’t know…how big is your mansion😂😂
Why would I live in a mansion? I live at the beach.
Can I come live with you at the beach? I’m great at grilling chicken and steak. We could have rad cookouts.
Can your book keeper actually rob you? Wouldn’t there be some authorization?
COL about 7k, but that includes 2 mortgages.
Are you me?
No one's ever seen us both in the same room...just saying
Freaky
Wife and I aren’t truly rich. Upper middle class probably. Last year outside of mortgage and car payments we spent a combined $60k on our credit cards per our wrap up (we pay them off every month we just like the Cashback), and our cars + house + miscellaneous bills probably adds about another $50000. So we need about $110k per year to keep our American dream going
Similar boat as you. What’s your net worth? I’m wondering what makes someone rich? Compared to some we would be, others they’d think we’re poor. Such a weird place to be.
I’m not rich cause I gotta put in my 40 hours a week. Slave to the system still
Depends on how you define it. Anywhere from $100-400k
Mind breaking it down?
I have to guess, I really don't know! I save a lot of income. Day in and day out, I'm frugal. But then there are exceptions. Marriages to celebrate, other events, generous gifting.... I neglected house maintenance for years, more than a decade, to spend at least twice the original purchase price of my home renovating. Cash. I can't annualize that. The pandemic struck during the renovation. I had set aside enough cash for a tear down. The remodel was only half that. During the pandemic lows, unused cash was invested. Turns out my renovation was free! Except the lost opportunity building so much cash for ten years! $1M. $200k/yr to slowly row the boat.
Me? About 1500 a month. My wife? About 6k a month.
Wife and I spend about $15k per month
~ 17k-20k / mo
I spend about $30-50k per mo but that's mostly business costs on my 30+ rental properties so not sure that counts. Purely on myself and my family? $3,200 mortgage and average $5k on credit cards so that's probably a pretty close estimate.
I should sit down and do the math again, but we could probably get by on around $15K a month. Probably less actually. But I think we spend more than that now
Bills around $700 a month for utilities, internet, phone, and insurances… House, car, boat… all paid off. We live in a beach house in Panama. Collect 5g a month. About 1500/food a month, go out a lot. Extra 3g/month goes to traveling and gifts.
While I may not be rich rich, we do have an annual income of around 300k in a low COL area This is our COL breakdown/budget per month: 2750 - 15 year mortgage (note I pay 0 in property tax) - 380,000 original purchase price 600 - Pool loan - 90k purchase 650 - Car insurance - 3 cars w/ a teen driver one "sports" car 300 - Phone - 50% veteran discount also I pay for my parents phone lines 300-400 power - house stays around 72/74 - hot tub eats a lot of power and pool pumps 150-250 water - pool 100 - Digital services (prime, internet, streaming subscriptions) 1000 - Misc Spending - unforeseen expenses / stuff not budgeted 1600 - "allowances" we each get 800 a month of "no questions asked spending / saving" 2200 - Groceries, gas, eating out, Costo bulk supplies - 3 cars to fill 4 mouths to feed / 4 family fun nights a month 4000-5000 savings - varies 2000 - 401k - pre taxed with employee 6% match 500 - Tax account - We underpay taxes so we save this to not offset what we owe 1000 - vacation - 12k vacation every year so 1k needed per month 500+ in other accounts that just kind of grow for when we need them (gifts, car maintenance, etc) 310 - Cleaners twice a month 100- Lawn services twice a month All 3 cars paid off, no CC debt Is this a perfect budget? Nah but for where we are at in life I think we are doing pretty well for having salary jobs vs owning a business. Also, I broke down the cost cause I saw a few people asking for breakdowns.
8k/month...rent/gym/insurance/utilities is about $4500 and the rest is mostly spent on dining out