Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pleasant Day in Bellevue

The three of us spent a warm day checking out the Eastside of Seattle today (Aka Bellevue) as part of our preliminary scouting of possible places to live. Yes, as soon as our home sells, which could be in a month or in a year, we will be moving into a rental on the East side of Lake Washington. We recently found a church that we've been attending. The people are pretty cool and the message is smart (a rare combo). The next thing to consider in a move is daycare. As Rachel and I will still be working, and as we have no family within a hundred miles, well be using full time daycare for our two boys. That equals about $2500 per month, or effectively $30,000 a year. That equals the take-home salary of someone making about $40,000 (40,000 *[1-25% tax] = 30,000). I am awestruck at how people can afford this. It makes so much more sense to invest that money. And the govt doesn't give parents hardly any tax assistance for daycare as they do for small potato expenses like a mortgage payment. What does a parent do...

Please forgive my run-on sentences and typos as I'm writing from my iPhone.

1 comment:

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said...

UGH. I'm telling you that you need to take them OUT of mass production day care and put them in a home day care with a REAL LIVE mom to take care of them. She won't charge nearly as much, and they will be loved. Even in the Seattle area, SAHM's charge about $800 a month. (Lower in Oregon, but whatever!) Or, you could always do what we have chosen to do! Just stay home and raise your kids in the early years!! Yes, it is tough and comes with a LOT of sacrifices, but everyone can afford to do it if they re-prioritize for a while. Even in the Seattle area.