{"id":559590,"date":"2026-04-02T04:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559590\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:55:08","slug":"a-week-in-the-midwest-on-a-135000-salary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559590\/","title":{"rendered":"A Week In The Midwest On A $135,000 Salary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Occupation: Physician Assistant<br \/>Industry: Healthcare<br \/>Age: 35<br \/>Location: Midwest<br \/>Salary: $135,000<br \/>Joint Income\/Financial Setup: $265,000 base (mine and husband&#8217;s combined salaries), plus up to 15% yearly bonus for my husband. I also \u201cmoonlight\u201d or pick up extra shifts. This year, I made an extra $20K. So I expect us to make $290,000 total this year. My husband and I have had joint accounts since we married in 2014. He bought our house in 2013, as I was in school and he was working. My husband spends very little when we are apart, typically just on gas and the occasional meal out.<br \/>Assets <br \/>Savings: $100,000. This is high because we have had some big purchases this year: a backyard renovation and a new car for me (we will start moving money to brokerage in the next month). <br \/>My 403(b): $265,000<br \/>My husband&#8217;s 401(k): $202,000<br \/>I-bonds: $800 <br \/>529 plans: $10,000 <br \/>Roth IRA: $34,000 (x2) <br \/>Brokerage: $45,000<br \/>House value (estimation): $400,000 (fully paid off) <br \/>Car (x2): Estimated at $15,000 and $30,000 (both fully paid off)<br \/>Debt: $0<br \/>Paycheck Amount (2x per month): $3000<br \/>Pronouns: She\/her<\/p>\n<p>Monthly Expenses<br \/>Housing Costs: $0<br \/>Loan Payments: $0<br \/>Utilities: gas\/water $150; electric $85 and internet $40. <br \/>Phone: $143, which includes Netflix and AppleTV. <br \/>Gym: $20 for my husband, $0 for me as I have a gym at work. I do occasionally buy passes to yoga and Pilates, and spend $300 over the course of the year.<br \/>Disney+ and Hulu bundle: $2.99<br \/>Cleaning service: $160 (2x per month). This is a new expense as I&#8217;m injured, and just underwent surgery to repair an ACL tear.<br \/>PreK for daughter: $1050 a month<br \/>Before\/after school care for son: $90 per week<br \/>Groceries: per last year&#8217;s budget, we typically spend $1000 a month<br \/>Dining out: per review of past year, typically $800 a month<\/p>\n<p>Yearly Expenses<br \/>Property taxes: $6,000 (we pay twice a year in split payments)<br \/>House insurance: $2,500 (we pay yearly)<br \/>Car insurance: $1,500 (we pay yearly)<br \/>Vehicle taxes\/registrations: $2,750 (I bought a new car this year). <\/p>\n<p>Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?<br \/>Yes. My mother had gone to college on a full ride, and there was an expectation I would as well. Luckily, I&#8217;m a good standardized test taker, and my ACT score qualified me for full tuition. My parents had started a 529 plan for me at birth, and luckily paid for my housing expenses. I originally had planned to become a pharmacist, but I shadowed a primary care PA, loved it, and switched gears to attend PA school mid-way through undergrad. My GPA during PA school qualified me for a full tuition scholarship, and my husband paid for our living expenses during school. I actually got married and we bought our house during my last year of school (I do NOT recommend; very stressful). <\/p>\n<p>Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s) educate you about finances?<br \/>Growing up we didn&#8217;t have a lot of money. My dad didn&#8217;t have a college degree, and worked fixing phones at companies. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. I was aware that we didn&#8217;t have money for extras like travel and eating out. However, we always had a roof over our heads and food on the table. I received an allowance when I was younger, but was terrible with money and blew through any money I had almost immediately. <\/p>\n<p>What was your first job and why did you get it?<br \/>I started working at a grocery store when I was 15. I needed to pay for gas and car insurance for my car. I was also an impulse spender and wanted to buy myself clothes and other treats.<\/p>\n<p>Did you worry about money growing up?<br \/>Sometimes, yes. My parents were transparent with finances, and I knew we were on a budget. My parents made it seem like I wouldn&#8217;t be able to go to college if I didn&#8217;t have scholarships, so I applied to many. I didn&#8217;t realize loans were an option at the time, which was terrifying, but now I&#8217;m so glad I don&#8217;t have any. My most recent PA students have had 150K+ in student loans, and it breaks my heart because the loan repayment is such a burden.<\/p>\n<p>Do you worry about money now?<br \/>Sometimes, yes. We are in a great financial situation, but ever since I became injured, I now know things can change in the blink of an eye. During this break from work, I have realized I would love to work part-time or work PRN, but I&#8217;m not sure we could swing things on one paycheck.<\/p>\n<p>At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?<br \/>When I started PA school. Technically, my parents and in-laws could both be our financial safety net, but I dread ever having to ask them for money. It&#8217;s hard enough for me to ask them to watch the kids.<\/p>\n<p>Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.<br \/>My parents paid for my living expenses until PA school, and I benefited from the 529 they had for me. They also gave us $10,000 for our wedding and honeymoon, mostly because I wanted to elope, and they wanted us to marry in a church. My husband&#8217;s parents gifted us $10,000 towards a down payment for our house. We each had our first cars paid for, a $3,000 salvage title for me, and a brand new sporty two-door car for my husband. We have since bought new cars ourselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Occupation: Physician AssistantIndustry: HealthcareAge: 35Location: MidwestSalary: $135,000Joint Income\/Financial Setup: $265,000 base (mine and husband&#8217;s combined salaries), plus up&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,2297,147,530,53148,2138],"class_list":{"0":"post-559590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-money-diaries","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance","12":"tag-the-latest","13":"tag-work-money"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}