Reality check: Only with equity?

I would like to know how you manage with two children including rent on €2,500. We are at about €3,000 with the same rent and one child, and live relatively frugally.

€400 for groceries €500 for daycare and nanny €100 for food in care €100 for media consumption (internet, mobile phone, Amazon Prime) This covers all "essentials". Apparently, we manage quite well with the remaining €400.

I also find that intense, but it can work. Always a matter of priorities / eating habits. Although €400 for insurance, mobility (!), vacation, clothes, devices, hobbies, outings, etc. is really tough and you basically spend that as soon as you have just one car (depreciation, taxes, insurance, fuel). But with the income and capital situation, firstly it doesn’t matter whether it is €500 or €1000 more, and secondly the equity has to come from somewhere.

400 for groceries? Per week or what? 400? That's even less than the ALGII rate for 4 people.

400 for groceries? Per week or what?
400? That’s even less than the ALGII rate for 4 people.

There was no mention of the children’s ages, right? Ours only eat along halfway (1 and 4 years old and warm meals are usually at the daycare). If you mainly eat vegetarian and use deals/discount stores, it’s doable. It just means no fresh rolls twice on the weekend with salmon and avocado, but more pasta and pesto and possibly homemade bread. Whether that has to be the case with a computer scientist and a doctor is then a matter of priorities...

You don’t buy clothes, neither for yourselves nor the kids?

Don’t get me wrong, but I doubt the value for the average monthly expenses. I was also extremely surprised at ourselves about what you don’t really keep track of.

You don’t have a car?

Yes. But I still find it creepy. Less than 15 EUR/day... only discount stores? One(!) nice hip steak already costs 6, 7 EUR. That's then not affordable.

Sure, the income is generous. But then you shouldn't lie to yourself either.
4 people with 2,500 EUR expenses including 1,100 EUR rent with heating... I have a company car, which costs me almost nothing as an electric car (0.25% gwV of the list price) and we come to significantly more.

Interesting comments. Although it's off-topic now, whatever.

It's really not like we turn over every cent. On the contrary. We buy what we need and/or want. And at the end of each month, we wonder how other people manage to spend so much money.

[*]The children are 1 and 3 years old, eating a warm meal during the week at daycare.
[*]We cook proper fresh meals ourselves 3-4 times a week. Probably cheaper than ready meals and Lieferando?
[*]Yes, we mainly cook vegetarian. But for the kids, there is also sausage and similar things. A three-year-old has no interest in hip steaks yet.
[*]Fresh rolls are of course not every day, the kids prefer muesli anyway.
[*]We live in the city and cover most routes by bike. I also regularly use public transport with my job ticket.
[*]There are plenty of clothes for the kids at children's flea markets and on Vinted or passed on from friends.
[*]We are both not fashionistas and have no interest in shopping. Therefore, our wardrobe is certainly less well stocked than that of some others. Why would you need more than three pairs of long pants?
[*]Hobbies: With two kids at that age, there is no time for hobbies. And beyond commercial offers, there is plenty of children's entertainment.

As I said, it's nothing we do because we think we have to. It is and has always been our lifestyle. At the end of the month, we then wonder again why so much goes into the savings account.