How can it possibly cost someone $20,000/mo to live?

[napi21]

I have CNN on in the background, and they just had a guy on who lost his job and was selling his collectibles to survive until he finds a new job. He sold some coinn collections, some watercolor art, etc, at an auction house, and he got $10,000. Her said "It won't last me a whole month, but it will probably make it 1/2 way. I',m spending all my time now selling myself. I need to get another job."

I sympathize with him for having lost his job, but I CAN'T imagine how it could possibly cosst anyone $20,000 a month to live. Even people with hugh houses don't pay THAT MUCH for their mtg. & upkeep.

I've been thinking about it, and I would find it almost impossible to spend that much every month! Sure, at first I could buy a great sports car, maybe a new house, go out to some fine restaurants etc, but after the first 2-3 months, I can't imagine what I'd ever spend that amount of $$ on!

[ananda]

1. I hear that!

Right now I live fine on less than $3000/mo.

And if I had to, I could live on $2000 or
less... I'd just have to share a space and
cut back on certain expenses.

[Mike 03]

2. Didn't Christy Brinkley (or some celebrity) need a hundred grand a month?

It is absurd, but I hear this all the time.

[bigtree]

3. outstanding bills?

couple months mortgage and utilities could do that

[NeedleCast]

6. Glad you Said That

Everyone seems to assume that someone spending 20K/month is living some lavish lifestyle. There could be any number of things involved. Medical bills, unexpected car repairs, having multiple children in college, ect, ect.

[rug]

9. Electroconvulsive therapy is quite expensive.

[napi21]

12. I suppose you're right, but this guy didn't say anything like that.

He said he was an auctioneer and lived a nice life. All he talked about was selling hiself to get another job "And with my selling skills, I know it won't be long." I gathered he had recently lost his job, and was selling his collectibles so he didn't get into arears.

[Mari333]

4. sheet, I live on 900 a month

lotta beans.

[sandnsea]

8. Bless your heart

:hug:

I swear I don't know how you do it.

[Wiley50]

20. Shit, I live on less than $600/mo

Something needs to be done to get real about how folks on SSI disability are supposed to survive.

It's suffered cut after cut since Reagan

[Mari333]

22. high five to you from me

penny pinching all the time, isnt it. hugs.

[dkf]

5. Alimony and child support?

[JI7]

17. isn't that based on ability to pay ?

[dkf]

21. Do they reset it if you lose your job?

At the time you get divorced, I imagine a person could pay it.

I'm only mentioning it because my friend got hit with $3700 a month. Painful.

[JI7]

23. was it for child support or alimony ?

i don't think they can do much if someone refuses to pay alimony but not paying child support can get you into trouble. i'm pretty sure it's based on ability to pay and changes if you lose your job. there might be some legal stuff involved to do it all .

but i don't know for sure.

[dkf]

24. Both. His wife cheated on him and is having some other guy's baby.

And now he has to pay for all this. Not fair. But he still has his job. I'm just thinking of how a person can have $20,000 in expenses. And $3700 is payment for someone who makes less than this guy.

[JI7]

25. he is paying child support for a kid that is not his biologically ?

a kid that isn't even born yet ? and the biological father is with the woman that is pregnant ?

i think your friend needs a lawyer that can help him with this. looks like he might be taken advantage of because of lack of info or resources on his part.

[dkf]

27. No, he has kids that are his, but his wife fooled around on him

with her boss and is now pregnant with the other guy's kid.

So he is paying for his kids and his wife's alimony, all because she cheated and left him.

[JI7]

31. he should probably still check with a lawyer

to see if they can do anything. he should pay child support but in his case probably not alimony.

[sandnsea]

7. Daily flowers

And allergy pills.

It adds up.

:shrug:

[B o d i]

10. Cocaine and prostitutes?

:shrug:

[Contrary1]

11. The answer is right there in your post:

"coin collections, some watercolor art, etc..."

[Retrograde]

13. A long weekend for 2 in, say, Paris

flying 1st class instead of looking for a cheap fare, staying at the Georges V instead of a cheaper place, eating at classier restaurants than I usually do - that can do it right there. Then there's the upkeep on the McMansion to consider - these things do add up.

I can come up with a few scenarios. Consider someone in a high-priced housing market, who's paying $3,000 a month on mortgage. Add an additional $1000 for utilities and property taxes, $1500 for health and dental coverage for a family with a late-middle aged person, maybe $500 for life insurance, maybe $3000 for kid's educational expenses, especially if there's more than one in college or a private school, another $1000 for car expenses (gas, payments, insurance) and you're up to $10K before even considering things like food and clothing. It's not too extreme for Silicon Valley, where you pretty much need two good salaries to make it to middle class.

[kentuck]

14. "Middle class" to some here on DU...

What a country!

[sandnsea]

29. That is $240,000 a year

isn't it. Yep, the suffering "middle class" to many.

[Motown_Johnny]

15. Hookers and Booze???

[JI7]

16. there are many people who refuse to change their lifestyle

and by that i mean people feel they are suffering if they can't buy the most expensive clothes, eat at most expensive restaurants etc.

there was an article that was posted on here multiple times about a week or 2 ago about this. someone complaining about how they need money to afford the nanny and private school.

these people can still continue living a very comfortable life without worrying about bills being paid if they made a few changes like cutting back on how often they eat out at the very expensive places, not fly first class when going on vacation etc.

[Horse with no Name]

18. For $20k

I can pay my rent for the entire year and have $12,800 left.
I can pay gas for my car for the entire year and have $11,600 left.
I can buy groceries for the entire year and have $8,000 left.
I can pay my cable bill for the entire year and have $7,040 left.
I can pay my cell phone for the entire year and have $5840 left.
I can pay my water bill for the entire year and have $4760 left.
I do have to admit that the remainder (plus about $1200) is my electric bills for the year.

I don't have a car payment. I don't have credit cards. I don't have student loans. I pay cash for my furnishings--I buy most clothing and household items second hand.
In other words, I live within my means.

Hell, I don't even LIKE where I live that much (I do love my house--but the town and the area..not so much). BUT, I have a job here and I can afford to live here.

These folks ought to try it. It's truly refreshing.

[Bandit]

36. Your cable bill is $1100 a month?

Wow.. I don't know what to say about that. Is it all porn or ????? Mine is $60. a month.

[Horse with no Name]

37. Those are all yearly totals. n/t

[flvegan]

19. Obviously was living a lavish, albeit leveraged lifestyle.

Big house might have a $5k/month mortgage, credit card debt probably another $2k/month. Couple really nice cars financed, another $3k/month. Boat payment, college payments, insurance for the lot of it.

I'm not justifying it. I'd never live that way, regardless of my salary.

[napi21]

26. I can only assume that he fits into the explaination some reporter

gave on MSNBC a week or so ago when asked what was wrong with the bankers who took the tarp money then thought it was OK to buy a new jet, and host multimillion $$ jukets. The reporter said these guys have been living this life style for so long, they really don't know there's anything different.

I agree with that. I know I'm basing my opinion on my experiences, but that's really all any of us have to make judgements. I grew up right after the depression. We always had $$ to pay the rent, buy food, and I always got one gift for my bday and one for Christmas. About 10 years ago, we were making $80,000/yr household income, but we never threw money around. My mother got sick and I had to quit my job and move back to Pgh. She died, then I got sick and couldn't work anymore. For the last 11 years our income has been $24,000/yr. I thank God I had the background I did because I found it fairly easy to stop spending on anything but needs and very few wants. We are both now retired, live on SS, and have a few hundred $$ left at the end of each month to save for emergencies. It flips me out when people cry on my shoulder because they don't have any money, but they continue to buy stupid stuff like trinkets.

I guess I don't understand their lifestyle anymore than they understand mine.

[mdmc]

28. medical bills?

[Initech]

30. Shit, I live on $1400 a month.

$10K could easily last me a year, maybe two.

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. Easily: Mortgage probably 10K per month, then fancy car(s) maybe 2K, kids in private school 2K

Another 6K on all that goes with a fancy live (prop tax, gas, electricity, pool maintenance, food).

[KillCapitalism]

33. No one should really NEED $20K/month to get by.

Not even Octomom would need that much.

[Selatius]

34. You're right. It's a problem of needs vs. wants and how to distinguish between them.

If I bought $100,000 luxury cars, a yacht, a giant home with more room than I can use with a mortgage that is now likely bigger than the value of the home, a mind-numbing number of credit cards that are maxed out, and a whole host of other luxuries that nobody really needs, I could need $20,000 to cover all the bills that come due at the end of the month just to maintain the current standard of living, but I would really need a fraction of that to live (food, shelter, water, etc.). The rest are simply obligations--I say "obligations" in that bankers and bill collectors consider them such--borne out of a want.

[carlyhippy]

35. 20,000 a month?! I would not have any bills at all if I had that much to live on

I would have a ton of money in the bank, geeze this guy must have been really a big spender.

[callous taoboy]

38. My brother flies people around in jets that cost the customer $200 / minute

No, I'm not proud.

[Xithras]

39. It's easier than you'd think.

A $1.5 million dollar home with a 15 year mortgage will have a monthly mortgage payment of $12,500 a month (most wealthy people go for shorter mortgages to save interest). A maid will cost about $3,000 a month after taxes, UI, and insurance is covered. That shiny Mercedes in the driveway? $1000+ a month. And don't forget another $1,000 a month for the wifes SUV. And then there's alimony for the ex...


$20k a month isn't all that hard to blow if you have that kind of lifestyle.

[Generic Other]

40. The housepayment alone makes my heart palpitate!

The idea of paying $12,500 a month for a house--and I know this might not even buy you that much house these days--but the idea is frightening. This is like the average student loan for a 4 year education that you get 10 years to repay. It's a scary amount of money to be paying for a roof over your head.