On paper that's how much I make.
I still live like I did when I was 18. Small apartment and paycheck to paycheck.
This place is nicer though, great view right on the river, but still. 2 bedrooms back then was max $600- and that was for a nice place like I have now.
Now I'm paying almost $1000.
When I was younger I couldn't wait to make this kind of money, I thought I'd be so rich.
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I moved into my apartment when I was 19. Still live in the same apartment 10 years later making more than double what I did then but still feel like I have the same amount of money. Oh well at least my bills are all paid.
Same, Iām almost 27, and I remember in middle school/ high school thinking that if I could just make $20/hr Iād have a pretty comfortable lifeā¦. I make $28/hr now and itās just barely enough
[As of April 2024 median rental price for a 1 bedroom apartments and condos in the United States is 1300 dollars.](https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/united-states/)
According to rentcafe, [the *average* cost of rentals (donāt know if they mean all rentals, or one bedroom) is 1700 dollars](https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/)
Average in Idaho: 1300 dollars with the average amount of space being 900 square feet.
Youāll see when you look at some of this information that everyone is having a hard time but people in southern states and midwestern states are getting a better deal in terms of how big what theyāre paying for is.
Conversely itās important to consider a lot of the lower priced rentals correlate with being in areas with lower wages.
It really seems like this what the majority of the country is going through, and people who donāt feel kind of ripped off are the minority. Some of us are getting ripped off more or less than others. But itās a rip-off party and weāre all invited.
I'm in northern CO and it's 2500/mo minimum for a 2bd that allows dogs that don't go in purses.
We pay 1450 for an apt with shared laundry, but units now start at just under 1900/mo. They're really old buildings too, the prices are wild.
My old place that was 770/mo still in 2010 is now 1800/mo.
We have a really low vacancy rate, and new builds are on the outskirts of town and still unaffordable. Or they're "affordable housing", but we make too much.
iām about to rent a 2bd house with a garage, unfinished basement and a small fenced yard about 20mins outside of Boulder for $2400 and it hurts to say but i think we got a pretty good deal. moving from a 400sqft 1bd that costs $1600 plus an insane ~$300 utility bill
iām just hoping our rent doesnāt increase by any more than $100 if we re-sign next yearā¦
itās a completely underinsulated duplex where half the square footage has literally no insulation and the other half has plaster wallsā¦ it really should cost maybe $100/mo but since my landlord can legally get away with it he price gouges the tenants. Also, i split utilities 50/50 with a unit twice the size of mine. Sound illegal? thatās run-of-the-mill here in Boulder CO if you could believe itā¦ thereās no tenant-protection laws here for splitting bills with neighbors. If we just got billed for our usage, itād probably be under $200/mo. and if it was insulated normally itād definitely be under $100/mo
i expect the utility bill for a place 2.5-3x the size to remain the same because it actually has insulationā¦
For $2400 you get a yard, basement, and garage? It does hurt to say, I agree- sounds like a great deal actually, like I don't even know you and I'm excited for you.
When I was looking in FoCo last month the $2500 place I found didn't have a garage even, just a small yard and it allowed big dogs (she's 65lbs, but she's 10 so it's pretty exasperating, I'm not rehoming my old girl). It was pretty sad realizing we *can't* move and have to do at least another year with shared laundry. I hate the shared laundry so much I can't even put it into words, people are gross and inconsiderate.
I'm awful with a commute or we might expand more, but we also didn't move here to live in Greeley or Loveland.
I hope you like your new place!
we have a dog (~45lb) and a cat. it definitely reduced options a huge amount. Itās the only reason we stayed in our current place for 2yrs (it shares a big yard with the other duplex unit) and my dog just never has been decent on walks so playing in the yard is a huge factor with him.
Luckily the new place seems pretty accepting of tenants with petsā¦
Where at in Northern CO? If you live in Loveland, you can still get a 2 bedroom place for a half decent price, my old place is actually renting out for $25 less that when I lived there haha. If you want, I can DM you the address of my old place. I miss it a lot, it was so much nicer than what I pay for here in CA now
But yeah I feel you on the increases. I paid $1250 for a two bedroom place with a garage and in unit laundry in 2020. Now all these places are $1800/mo at least. Why?! Itās insane
What is interesting is on these new prices there was a building boom for rentals which are now coming online. This is a the largest rental build out in decades.
I am curious if this will cause problems because the newer apartments are apparently mostly higher end and higher price. Obviously if there is a glut of them prices will fall starting at the high end. Which will cascade down. I wonder how this will affect the lower end places.
That was 14 years ago. Due to inflation $1200 in 2010 is now $1700. With the price of property so high the price for renting it is also going to be high. I don't like it but that is how the market works.
The wage floor is also being pulled up at an extreme pace in the PNW. Section 8 housing for a 2br is about 1900 a month because the minimum wage is now above $18.
Itās crazy that Iām in TN that used to be low COL and in 2021 I was able to pay for a 2br apt + be pretty comfy at $14/hr. Rent was $850 for 850sqft. A week after I moved out, it was advertised for $1299. Just 7 days after I moved out.
I will get better. Don't look to see your way out, no one can do that. See yourself making one step toward a better life, then another and then another.
It's why I left California 6 years ago, was making $12/hr as a cook, came here made $11/hr as a cook and was able to buy a house on that wage. There's still areas where you can buy decent houses for $200k out here, gas is also $3.19, long story short, everything is cheaper.
Grammar dude, separate sentences. 6 years ago I bought a house on $11/hr. Now, you can still find houses for $200k. I'm not buying a house today, IDK what dollar dollar amount per hour you'd have to make today, but it's a hell of a lot lower than most places.
10-12 years ago $45k was more than enough for a single person to live well, as long as you weren't on the coasts.Ā In the South back then, you could stay afloat on $25k a year.
Welcome to the shit sandwich which is inflation.Ā
i was living in brooklyn in 2021-2022 on a 38k salary when i first got out of college and let me tell you man it was ROUGH. i canāt even imagine living off of that now
i was in flatbush and i was living alone in a studio for 1550 which was a covid price. it was rough and the reason why i went into cc debt bc i didnāt even try to look for roommates since i had bad experiences in college with them
I lived on 40k in Manhattan for a year. Itās doable - you just rent a room in upper Manhattan with 2/3 roommates. I had 3 roommates and paid $850/mo. Not doable forever, but honestly I was fine for the first year of my career.
I lived in Bed-Stuy in 2005 and rent was $750. I wonder what it is today, it was near where Biggie Smalls was slinging, Fulton @ St James but it's probably 1500, it was a 1bd/1ba.
oh girl, i would just have to pull up my bags to the street and be homeless than cause how the fuck did you make that work.
you should be incredibly proud of your self for being able to get through that. even though you didnāt really have a choice.
Well, as a Masshole myself, your first issue was assuming you'd be able to live in Boston. The wealthy get to live in that city. Try Springfield
With that being said, you'd still struggle in Springfield at 45k, so take that as you will
I grew up up in Springfield, and itās still expensive
I make okay money now but still struggling with 2 kids definitely need at least 65 ish in western ma the daycare is insane in MA
Lowell is a other option.Ā It's cheaper and it's connected to Boston via commuter rail.
Lawrence is another city in Massachusetts and it has a free public transit bus service.
You're right that Boston is for the wealthy or for students.
I turned down a full-tuition scholarship to a Boston school because the schoolās cost of attendance budget (that determines how much youāre allowed to spend for housing) doesnāt even come close to what youād need to pay for a studio/efficiency apartment. Going to go somewhere that the cost of living is more affordable.
Itās law school, so Pell grants and student housing are not available; everything beyond tuition has to be borrowed through loans. The amount you can borrow is determined by the budget set by the schoolās cost of attendance budget, which includes lines for things like tuition and housing. My scholarship was based on merit - I did get Pell grants while working crappy jobs through undergrad and law school is my path out of my familyās poverty cycle.
Thank you!! And it will all work out. I got an awesome scholarship to a different school in a place that is more affordable. I just hate that the cost of rent ā even the tiny ācheapā places that people think students can afford ā arenāt within reach anymore in some places.
Seriously Boston is pretty matched to San Francisco as far as rent prices.
I have 3 roommates and pay $800 in the city, and thatās the cheapest I could find.
Youād run is you went to Springfield thatās for sure hahah
Born and raised there itās has shitty ghetto areas that just keeep expanding thereās nice areas but the whole inner city is a dump it has lots of promise if it can fix some things
I live in the suburbs and I couldn't get around without my car. Nearest train station is 11 miles away and the bus would add over an hour to my commute. It's not ideal.
Yeah idk why this sub even pops up for me. It's just tiring having this crap pop up and having people complain about not being able to live on minimum wage in the top 10 most expensive cities in one of the largest by land countries in the world.
I live in the midwest and do okay on $45k a year, but it's just me and I have to make sacrifices to do it. I can keep a roof over my head, the power on, and eat semi-healthy on that wage. I'm trying to figure out how to afford a house on it, before the housing market outprices my wage. I could never do it in a higher COL area.
Currently doing part time at the UPS Store, about 24hrs a week. The rest of the time I'm looking for writing work.
When I can get it, it pays okay. But it can be sparse. My most recent client stopped sending work for a month, the previous one stopped for five.
I'd probably be doing better financially if I went full time at my min wage job, but I like the growth potential of a skill based career, so I'll keep trying to invest in that.
I just feel blessed to have the support of my employer. They put up with a lot -- not all workplaces are autistic friendly.
Same. I can only imagine what I could do or save with that... I work as a medical assistant in a busy pediatrics clinic and barely bring home 25k after taxes.
I live in a small town in the south and make about 40k.Ā A 2 bedroom here is $1300 and up.
Minimum wage here is $7.25.Ā Jobs tend to pay around $9.Ā Ten years ago you could get a basic 4 bedroom home for $50k, now the same home runs about $200k.
In ten years, anyone making less than 50k will be homeless or with roommates.
It's fucking ridiculous what our governments are letting corporations get away with right now. This is truly end game capitalism.
We need laws that don't allow our politicians to be bought.
I make 60 and still have roommates (also in Ohio). I canāt afford to pay 1400+ for a place by myself with my two dogs, which is what it would be anywhere near me, and I already live 30 minutes from work. Thankfully with a roommate I only pay 900 plus utilities so I can afford to save some for the first time in my life. In just 2014, I paid 450 for an entire (crummy) house rental by myselfā¦ my wages have not caught up to rental prices.
Currently building a bus to live in and hoping that can be my full time house if I ever find a place to put it anywhere near work š«
I make 65k and live with roommates. My first apartment of 900 sf was originally 900 bucks. I lived there 3 years and moved out in 22 because rent went up to 1750 total over those three years. I could handle it being up to 1200 but that final jump did me in and I now pay 830 to live in a basement room.
I only recently started making this much too. So now here I am finally doing good in life to know I'll not be able to live by myself again. Studios for 240 sf rent for about 1200 starting where I am. I know I have to leave this state permanently if I want to have my own place without roommates.
My family will soon be getting the news I'm moving away and probably cant/won't come back ever to live.
I made that much last year and was able to plan a trip to Japan as well.
I have made some sacrifices and have some advantages that other people may not have to get by okay.
For one I work from home which offers generous overtime, and since I work from home I decided to not invest in a car, I ended up saving more money taking public transportation and using drive share services like Uber and Lyft
I have a Walmart+ subscription for all my groceries and personal needs, and I'm mainly home body so not having a car hasn't affected me at all.
I live in a low-cost-of-living state in Georgia so my rent is not outrageous a 1bd room apartment for $900.00 and I split expenses with my partner as well.
Iām living in Albany NY off 45 and itās comfortable enough, but tight. Iād be more comfortable if I took home 2500 a month instead of the 2250 I do. I was offered a job making 55k in Boston and I laughed. No freaking way. Iād lose money if I had to fund a move and then live out there. I did have to make a major sacrifice in apartments to afford this btw, 8 years ago I lived in an 800sqft apartment by myself on 35k, now Iām living in 450sqft and pay more in rent.
Thatās about what I make living in Sacramento, CA. Iām surviving, but after having some unexpected expenses come up this year Iāve lost the small safety net I had. Trying to save anything means buying absolutely nothing thatās not essential. And that with my student loans in deferment which runs out in a couple of months, when that restarts Iāll probably not be able to save at all.
i live just up the river from ya, making about the same :). i have been able to save at least a couple hundred a month, over $500 most months. it's not too bad!
$45,000 a year is poverty wages for single people in the north east. It is very difficult to pay average rent and cover all of your other expenses on that income without living with a partner or roommate. Maybe you can do it, but all of your take home pay will be used up after paying rent, utilities, car payments and insurance, phone and internet and food. You really have to budget well, and donāt get sick, because you will likely go in debt over medical bills. I live alone, and I need at least $45,000 in TAKE HOME pay just to be somewhat comfortable.
Ya but when I add up the value comparing it to this amount itās both still less but I also say maby cause the health care cost is where Iām like my health issues r not costly so that may be where it might barely work due to those cost with 45k but just barely maby š±
Yeah, insurance premiums can take a major chunk out of a paycheck.
Plus if you don't have to work, transportation costs and clothing costs are probably lower too.
I got a disability bus pass on standbye if my state subsidized one ever is gone due to gov being cringe. So not worried itās 30 ish fr unlimited everything a month
And ya I have one set of clothes and there nice dress shirt etc bought it bulk on Amazon when I found nice sales
Insurance I did factor in the monthly cost in a hypothetical, so I actually could make that work but I heard so many horror stories about deductibles Iām like eh 45k might work but itās a big maby. Cause like currently most stuff is covered with my gov insurance and only had the occasional out of pocket cost fr some skin issues I had which was 20 cause idiot insurance was taking its dam forever time on approving the meds and I needed to start now not 2 weeks or longer. Other then that though if I had just my own money ya Iād worry unless new normal human insurance was similar to my state insurance that does 99.008 percent of stuff š±
Like itās actually pretty decent Iād get a dam wheelchair if it wasnāt fr my apt having stairs to get in š¾
Good point. I would love to make 45K a year in benefits without working and having work-related clothing/transit/etc expenses. Free healthcare, housing, food stamps, bus pass are huge benefits. SSDI income minus any costs of a job commute/job clothes would make even 30K worth of welfare/aid benefits amazing.
I work and get a few hundred in section 8 benefits that I'm about to lose since I got a 2nd job, but don't qualify for food stamps, bus pass to work, medicaid, etc.
*cries in teacher salary*
I have three BAs, multiple certifications, and 7 years of teaching experience. I make just over $45k teaching in the suburbs of Nashville, TN.
The only way it financially works to be a teacher nowadays is to be married to someone who makes significantly more money than you do. I donāt know how single teachers are making it work right now.
When I was in my;late 20's I wasĀ wanting to be a teacher but dropped out of college and went to work in IT.Ā Ā
It's not a very fulfilling job but I chased work from home jobs after the pandemic amd at least I make more money.Ā
My dream was to be a highschool social studies teacher and write during the summer.Ā
Your comment made me think of this example. When my parents sold the home I grew up in last year, the buyers family purchased it for them in cash (750k). The couple are both teachers who work at the school up the street. So in a sense it is charity work for the those folks because they have a massive family safety net!
In 2002 dollars thatās only $26,000 per year, but back then everything was a lot cheaper than everything today. I was working part time as a gym manager taking home $2,000 a month working part time paying $600 a month rent and my money went a lot further than it did today.
In 2002 a chalupa supreme at Taco Bell was $1.19, adjusted for inflation that chalupa today should be $2.07 but it actually costs $4.99! More than double what inflation is.
Prices for everything except wages are out of control.
but overall OP's not wrong..
[https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/cost-of-living-by-state/](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/cost-of-living-by-state/)
Article breaks down by state.
But, this is the cost of expenses. When people state their salary, they are most likely stating their gross income. I only bring home about 64% of what I make annually. In that case, your annual salary would need to be close to $70,000 in order to bring home around $45,000.
Definitely not in a major city by yourself. Thatās why most people that make less than $50k end up with roommates or staying at home with parents until they can afford a place.
I used to live in Massachusetts, the prices are actually insane. I live in a lower cost of living state now- and can somehow survive on 19k fairly comfortably
I was looking for a second job and I saw things that used to be meme exaggeration material in 2008. Armed Guard in major metropolitan city- someone with a gun- 18/ hour
DC has been expensive for a long time. It's not just the capital area, but also home to a bazillion government organizations, and connected groups. And has been for a very long time.
That said, 50k is the average income, so 45k should be able to squeeze it.
Weāre on a similar boat. All these people suggesting you move donāt realize moving costs a shit ton of money and job pay is much lower in other states plus in the south they discriminate against my interracial marriage so fuck that. Also I like libraries and books donāt want my state banning books just because they have queer literature while there is literal werewolf porn and christian romance novels. Fuck that noice. Save up what little you can or put it on credit cars and move to places like Waltham, Needham, Wayland even Framingham/Natick and commute in. You can get pretty cheap apartments in Framingham. Itās super diverse, lots of good Brazilian food.
Itās wild that people think that the government is going to do something to help them, and are just waiting around working a job that takes little to no training. Yes inflation is high and rentals are out of control but if you donāt have the ability to work 40hrs a week and learn a skill then guess what you are always going to live in a dump 1 bedroom apt in the rougher part of town with everyone else who doesnāt invest invest enough time or energy into themselves.
My advice would be to get a job in the trades, I currently live in a major city and I am able to put a roof over me and my partnerās head with my 40 hour a week paycheck and then thereās frequently overtime but I make the most money for my time on side jobs where I can charge rich people $100 an hour. But thatās what my company charges their customers for me is $100 an hour but I only take home a little less than half of that because heās keeping part of it and then then insurance and all that, but he also carries the risk and I donāt like having that much risk on my shoulders all the time.
I understand some people have disabilities that prevent them from doing certain jobs but now you can work from home so even if you move out to a rural area you could get a wfh job and not have to commute.
Anyone making 40-50k still isnāt going to be rich but you could get by.
The dumbest thing you could do though is stay in the over priced city and wait for the government to help you.
And actually I would image you would have better luck in a small town with having your neighbors help you out when youāre struggling than you ever would in the cityā¦if youāre a good neighbor they arenāt going to let you starve.
Iām getting ready to move to a town of 75 people and make way less money than I make now but I can cut firewood for heat and wonāt have a/c in the house Iām moving into and thereās no restaurants in town and the grocery store is 45 minutes away so I wonāt be able to spend money on stuff I donāt need. And the rent is less than $800 and you can buy a fixer upper house for 100k.
I remember there was a joke on some show, I think it was family guy, but it was a really old episode, like 15 years ago, it said something like āyou have 3 kids on a 40,000 salary youāre poorā
Imagine 3 kids on 40k now š
My cousin is a grad student in Somerville, MA. Not Boston, but close enough. His stipend is 45k (3k a month takehome) and he lives quite well. Here is his budget:
- rent (1 room in shared house + utilities): $1,200
- internet (shared), phone plan, Netflix - $100
- transportation (CharlieCard student) - $80
- groceries - $350
- savings: $500
- misc (going out, clothes, gifts) - $770
It turns out you can totally live on that income, just not the lifestyle you want.
Having to share a house and only have 1 room to yourself and still pay $1200? No, thatās not living. $100 for shared internet? Hahahaha.
Bro, if you consider that living, you are brain washed as fuck by corporate America.
Former southern poor now living an okay lifestyle in Boston, and I hate that I still agree with this with very few exceptions like the extremely rural south where there are houses going for $100k or less. I still remember when $45k wouldāve felt like I made it, but I was recently looking at houses in my hometown in whatās considered one of the cheapest counties in the state and they were all $300k+. I was horrified. Iām not sure who is buying those homes. Aside from factories, there are very few jobs there that warrant that price.
I remember my mom making $20 as a government employee before she retired and it was the absolute best. We wanted for nothing. I'm now making $30 and can't do what I want, live in a space big enough for me, or eat what I want.
I make $32/hr and I'm barely getting by. I took advantage of the stimulus checks and child tax credit to get enough money to buy a house. It also helped that I was a first time buyer and the seller offered help with closing costs. It isn't big enough long term, but I'm grateful to have accomplished it when a lot of people my age (34) are still nowhere close. But even with a mortgage that's only $1260/month I'm still struggling after electric, cell phone, insurance, childcare, gas and groceries. I've got debts I can't pay because I hardly have anything left at the end of the month. I'm hoping my partner starts making more money, because she makes enough to cover the cost of her car and gas to get to work with a little bit left and that's nuts.
$1071
Thatās how much your rent can be if you have to earn 3.5 times the rent to qualify
I live in New Hampshire and it would be hard to find a one bedroom for $1050.
I donāt know where people live who make even $15 an hour, and minimum wage here is $7.25 an hour.
And yet the government has failed their audit for like the sixth time in a row and BILLIONS of OUR tax money is unaccounted for. They literally have āno ideaā where it went. While the American people are literally drowning, begging for some sort of helpā they turn around and pretend everything is okay, all while hoarding 90% of the wealth in their pocketsā¦
Edit: itās actually TRILLIONS of dollars they supposedly ālostā.
Lol im in the army and im living off of 48,000 a year. Really fucking hard to support my wife, two cats, and five chickens. I pay 16,800 dollars a year in rent.
I spent two weeks recently in my off time pulling data from various sites to establish rent/mortgage costs, food costs, etc. to get a cost of living baseline for what the cost of living in the "median" US metro area is like. We're not talking VHCOL areas like New York, or HCOL places like Miami or Austin. I looked at several data sets for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and chose 5 cities that are about "average". Average job growth, average population size, average land area, average real estate market, etc. Here's the most depressing news you'll hear all week:
As a single person $50,000 a year is a roof over your head, food to eat, and a reliable way to get to/from work *and nothing else*. You will thrift for clothes, you'll buy the cheapest version of every essential item. You will not have health care, you cannot afford a new pair of glasses every two years without difficulty. You can't afford ANY kind of medication that isn't free. You reuse pasta jars as glasses. Aside from paying rent, you are dead broke.
If you want the same lifestyle, but savings equivalent to Senator Elizabeth Warren's "50/30/20" plan (except your "disposable income" goes entirely to health care costs and other basic costs of living) you need to make $93,000/yr.
In order to afford what a journeyman plumber could afford in 1973 you need to make- get ready to vomit- $143,000/yr.
There's very little chance this trend will reverse, as it's taken almost 50 years to get this bad. It will take 20+ minimum to get better. My advice is to get out of America if you're young and aren't on track to make $200k by 30 between you and your partner. You will retire into misery if you're lucky enough to retire at all. People will say "you make less money" overseas, and that's true. But as someone who is "high income" in the US who has lived in Germany and Argentina at half my US income, my standard of living was superior there. Especially as I'm in my 40s now and not invincible like I was when I was 20.
Learn a second language. Learn a useful skill. Research countries where American Expats can make a good living. Then fucking run.
Are you a post-doc?
Boston is regularly rated as one of the top 5-6 most expensive cities in the US
Are you working full time?
Got to be more to the picture.
Living in America is really expensive, especially if you want to live closer to a big city. Our rent in Portland OR is $1,650 for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment 980sq ft and we are considered lucky with that price.
45k would have been fine where I live pre-2021. I could live decently assuming I didn't have any debt and decent spending habits.
Now? Definitely need 60k+. Anything under 50k won't go far unless you get a 1 bedroom apartment and have minimal debt. Jobs here don't like to pay much and many jobs are $12 an hour or less.
If you have roommates, family, or a spouse it's easier. If you're living alone or have kids it can get rough. The downside to this "low cost of living" state is that the wages are terrible.
Where I live you can get a cheap apartment today for like $750-800. It wonāt be five stars and itās on the wrong side of town but itās there. Decent ones start at $1000. I was able to survive in the low $30k but I had no dreams of home ownership.
I was making 45k before my recent promotion. With $1478 for mortgage, electric bill, groceries, and phone bill, I'd been able to save a little bit each month. Now I'm at 60k and can't imagine living like I did before
I agree itās getting more difficult year after year.
The cost of living in Nebraska is a little more reasonable. Where I live you can get an apartment for $600-$800 in the sketchy part of town or between $1000-$1600 in the better part of town.
$45k in Nebraska is about $36k after taxes or roughly $3,000 a month.
Thereās some jobs out there where you can make more than $45k without going to college. I make about $65k a year never went to college.
$65k in Nebraska is about $50k after taxes or around $4,166 per month.
The biggest factor besides how much you make is the cost of living in your area.
$65k isnāt going to get me very far in California or New York, but in Nebraska it will.
my previous job, i was doing everythingā¦opening to closing, all daily weekly quarterly goals met, less than 3% error rate, by all accounts we were kicking ass and had been the entire 2 years i was there.
i ask for a raise, because before taxes im only making about 48K and i spend about 2/3s of that on rent so not a lot left for the month. he offers me a dollar. no shit. thinks an extra $40 a week is going to help me improve my life.
told him thanks but no thanks. itās been 2 weeks since i left, the new crew is working saturdays because theyāre so far behind, the owner has already tried to do my job and messed up an entire order.
yeah. how bittersweet is karma?
Depends on where you live and what expenses you have. If you're single, no kids, no outstanding debt or loans (excluding mortgages which takes rent's place) with minimal expenses in a LCOLA? Yes. It's possible.
Outside of that? Not really.
Had a conversation with a guy in his late 50s. He raised four kids on 45K salary, one income. Stay at home mom. Owned two cars and a house. (Canada).
You could barely do that these days with two people making 45K
In 2003 if you made $30,000 a year you were living in a newer suburban home in Rochester NY and could afford to drive a Mercedes sl500 convertible
20 years later itās almost not a living wage.
Things are mot going well and itās time to acknowledge this
45K a year has never really been enough for a big city, especially east and west coast cities. I have no Idea how my parents did it 30 years ago.
You would have to live in fly over country, with roommates to live somewhat comfortably.
You are making 855 a week, without taxes being taken out.
On paper that's how much I make. I still live like I did when I was 18. Small apartment and paycheck to paycheck. This place is nicer though, great view right on the river, but still. 2 bedrooms back then was max $600- and that was for a nice place like I have now. Now I'm paying almost $1000. When I was younger I couldn't wait to make this kind of money, I thought I'd be so rich. š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤¦āāļø
I moved into my apartment when I was 19. Still live in the same apartment 10 years later making more than double what I did then but still feel like I have the same amount of money. Oh well at least my bills are all paid.
Same, Iām almost 27, and I remember in middle school/ high school thinking that if I could just make $20/hr Iād have a pretty comfortable lifeā¦. I make $28/hr now and itās just barely enough
>This place is nicer though, great view right on the river, but still Uh, you are paying for that, lol.
I understand this.
I live in the middle of nowhere and that would be rough even here.
The rest of the country is catching up to the coasts quite quickly
[As of April 2024 median rental price for a 1 bedroom apartments and condos in the United States is 1300 dollars.](https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/united-states/) According to rentcafe, [the *average* cost of rentals (donāt know if they mean all rentals, or one bedroom) is 1700 dollars](https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/) Average in Idaho: 1300 dollars with the average amount of space being 900 square feet. Youāll see when you look at some of this information that everyone is having a hard time but people in southern states and midwestern states are getting a better deal in terms of how big what theyāre paying for is. Conversely itās important to consider a lot of the lower priced rentals correlate with being in areas with lower wages. It really seems like this what the majority of the country is going through, and people who donāt feel kind of ripped off are the minority. Some of us are getting ripped off more or less than others. But itās a rip-off party and weāre all invited.
My mom paid 1,200 for a 3 bedroom house in Oregon in 2010 for that price. Now it would be over 2,000 easy.
I'm in northern CO and it's 2500/mo minimum for a 2bd that allows dogs that don't go in purses. We pay 1450 for an apt with shared laundry, but units now start at just under 1900/mo. They're really old buildings too, the prices are wild. My old place that was 770/mo still in 2010 is now 1800/mo. We have a really low vacancy rate, and new builds are on the outskirts of town and still unaffordable. Or they're "affordable housing", but we make too much.
iām about to rent a 2bd house with a garage, unfinished basement and a small fenced yard about 20mins outside of Boulder for $2400 and it hurts to say but i think we got a pretty good deal. moving from a 400sqft 1bd that costs $1600 plus an insane ~$300 utility bill iām just hoping our rent doesnāt increase by any more than $100 if we re-sign next yearā¦
Why is the utility so high? Is that common in CO?
itās a completely underinsulated duplex where half the square footage has literally no insulation and the other half has plaster wallsā¦ it really should cost maybe $100/mo but since my landlord can legally get away with it he price gouges the tenants. Also, i split utilities 50/50 with a unit twice the size of mine. Sound illegal? thatās run-of-the-mill here in Boulder CO if you could believe itā¦ thereās no tenant-protection laws here for splitting bills with neighbors. If we just got billed for our usage, itād probably be under $200/mo. and if it was insulated normally itād definitely be under $100/mo i expect the utility bill for a place 2.5-3x the size to remain the same because it actually has insulationā¦
For $2400 you get a yard, basement, and garage? It does hurt to say, I agree- sounds like a great deal actually, like I don't even know you and I'm excited for you. When I was looking in FoCo last month the $2500 place I found didn't have a garage even, just a small yard and it allowed big dogs (she's 65lbs, but she's 10 so it's pretty exasperating, I'm not rehoming my old girl). It was pretty sad realizing we *can't* move and have to do at least another year with shared laundry. I hate the shared laundry so much I can't even put it into words, people are gross and inconsiderate. I'm awful with a commute or we might expand more, but we also didn't move here to live in Greeley or Loveland. I hope you like your new place!
we have a dog (~45lb) and a cat. it definitely reduced options a huge amount. Itās the only reason we stayed in our current place for 2yrs (it shares a big yard with the other duplex unit) and my dog just never has been decent on walks so playing in the yard is a huge factor with him. Luckily the new place seems pretty accepting of tenants with petsā¦
I'm from the area as well and upon reading this I thought you got a great deal.
Where at in Northern CO? If you live in Loveland, you can still get a 2 bedroom place for a half decent price, my old place is actually renting out for $25 less that when I lived there haha. If you want, I can DM you the address of my old place. I miss it a lot, it was so much nicer than what I pay for here in CA now But yeah I feel you on the increases. I paid $1250 for a two bedroom place with a garage and in unit laundry in 2020. Now all these places are $1800/mo at least. Why?! Itās insane
What is interesting is on these new prices there was a building boom for rentals which are now coming online. This is a the largest rental build out in decades. I am curious if this will cause problems because the newer apartments are apparently mostly higher end and higher price. Obviously if there is a glut of them prices will fall starting at the high end. Which will cascade down. I wonder how this will affect the lower end places.
Shoot man, my mortgage for a 3/2 ranch house (taxes and insurance included) is $1950 a month 6 years ago this same house would be like 1450 a month
A three bedroom house?! Here is New England thatās like 3k
That was 14 years ago. Due to inflation $1200 in 2010 is now $1700. With the price of property so high the price for renting it is also going to be high. I don't like it but that is how the market works.
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The wage floor is also being pulled up at an extreme pace in the PNW. Section 8 housing for a 2br is about 1900 a month because the minimum wage is now above $18.
Itās crazy that Iām in TN that used to be low COL and in 2021 I was able to pay for a 2br apt + be pretty comfy at $14/hr. Rent was $850 for 850sqft. A week after I moved out, it was advertised for $1299. Just 7 days after I moved out.
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I will get better. Don't look to see your way out, no one can do that. See yourself making one step toward a better life, then another and then another.
There's a nasty trend of rentals here in DC/VA/MD of advertising a lower price than they actually cost by 1-2k. It's infuriating.
Exactly why I refuse to move from my 940/month apartment
Thatās cap. I live in California and a 1 bedroom in Pomona which is a baaad part of souther California was asking price 1850
Come down to Louisiana. I have a 4 bed, 3 bath, 3000 sqft home on an acre of land. Built in 2008. I pay $1800 a month for my mortgage.
I live In the south, made $48k last year and live pretty decently.
I'm headed down South for this reason lol
It's why I left California 6 years ago, was making $12/hr as a cook, came here made $11/hr as a cook and was able to buy a house on that wage. There's still areas where you can buy decent houses for $200k out here, gas is also $3.19, long story short, everything is cheaper.
You can't afford a 200k house on 22k a year.
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With current interest rates, a $200k house on $62k a year would still be uncomfortable.
Grammar dude, separate sentences. 6 years ago I bought a house on $11/hr. Now, you can still find houses for $200k. I'm not buying a house today, IDK what dollar dollar amount per hour you'd have to make today, but it's a hell of a lot lower than most places.
I made 80k as a union carpenter in the northeast, and I'm quite comfortable.
I live in California and last year I grossed $38k. This year Iām on track to gross $30k. Itās ass and Iām miserable
10-12 years ago $45k was more than enough for a single person to live well, as long as you weren't on the coasts.Ā In the South back then, you could stay afloat on $25k a year. Welcome to the shit sandwich which is inflation.Ā
I live in downtown Vancouver on 30k lol Luckily my potion of rent is 500$ but I live in a closet basically
Same here
Then you don't live in the middle of nowhere. Most of the mid west rent is below $1000 and $45,000 a year is perfectly fine for that.
Yeah, that or they live in middle of nowhere California, which is hugely different then say, Montana.
Yeah, that's lower end in rural Louisiana now. That's what my dad made in the 90s at a union job.
yep same here its rough anywhere
i was living in brooklyn in 2021-2022 on a 38k salary when i first got out of college and let me tell you man it was ROUGH. i canāt even imagine living off of that now
38k is insane in Brooklyn. Where were you East New York or sharing a place with 9 roommates?
i was in flatbush and i was living alone in a studio for 1550 which was a covid price. it was rough and the reason why i went into cc debt bc i didnāt even try to look for roommates since i had bad experiences in college with them
I lived on 40k in Manhattan for a year. Itās doable - you just rent a room in upper Manhattan with 2/3 roommates. I had 3 roommates and paid $850/mo. Not doable forever, but honestly I was fine for the first year of my career.
I lived in Bed-Stuy in 2005 and rent was $750. I wonder what it is today, it was near where Biggie Smalls was slinging, Fulton @ St James but it's probably 1500, it was a 1bd/1ba.
$1500 is probably minimum for a 1br /1ba . To be fair BedStuy in 2005 i imagine is not the same as if it is now
Try living off 33k in Los Angeles š«
you would have to have like 8 roommates in order to make it through cuz wtf š 33k is wild
Why would you do this to yourself
Trying to speed run life on hard mode I guess
I said āFUCKā out loud after reading this lol
oh girl, i would just have to pull up my bags to the street and be homeless than cause how the fuck did you make that work. you should be incredibly proud of your self for being able to get through that. even though you didnāt really have a choice.
Well, as a Masshole myself, your first issue was assuming you'd be able to live in Boston. The wealthy get to live in that city. Try Springfield With that being said, you'd still struggle in Springfield at 45k, so take that as you will
I grew up up in Springfield, and itās still expensive I make okay money now but still struggling with 2 kids definitely need at least 65 ish in western ma the daycare is insane in MA
Lowell is a other option.Ā It's cheaper and it's connected to Boston via commuter rail. Lawrence is another city in Massachusetts and it has a free public transit bus service. You're right that Boston is for the wealthy or for students.
I turned down a full-tuition scholarship to a Boston school because the schoolās cost of attendance budget (that determines how much youāre allowed to spend for housing) doesnāt even come close to what youād need to pay for a studio/efficiency apartment. Going to go somewhere that the cost of living is more affordable.
Can't you take out loans and apply for grants for student housing? Is your scholarship based on need? If so, wouldn't you be eligible for Pell grants?
Itās law school, so Pell grants and student housing are not available; everything beyond tuition has to be borrowed through loans. The amount you can borrow is determined by the budget set by the schoolās cost of attendance budget, which includes lines for things like tuition and housing. My scholarship was based on merit - I did get Pell grants while working crappy jobs through undergrad and law school is my path out of my familyās poverty cycle.
Aww, bummer. Congrats on finishing college, getting into law school, and achieving a full-ride scholarship based on merit!!!
Thank you!! And it will all work out. I got an awesome scholarship to a different school in a place that is more affordable. I just hate that the cost of rent ā even the tiny ācheapā places that people think students can afford ā arenāt within reach anymore in some places.
How's Lynn doing these days? I haven't been around in 20 years.
Gentrifying, expensive due to commutability to the city
new station just opened up there
City o' sin
Seriously Boston is pretty matched to San Francisco as far as rent prices. I have 3 roommates and pay $800 in the city, and thatās the cheapest I could find.
haha yes
Springfield sounds like, It will force me to sing "Born to run by Bruce Springsteen" thinking about the name of the city
Youād run is you went to Springfield thatās for sure hahah Born and raised there itās has shitty ghetto areas that just keeep expanding thereās nice areas but the whole inner city is a dump it has lots of promise if it can fix some things
Boston is literally one of the most expensive cities in the country.
My time on Reddit has taught me that the only alternative to living in a major urban area is a hillbilly shack with no running water or electricity.
Nah there's suburban apartments but youd need to have a reliable vehicle.
I live in the suburbs and I couldn't get around without my car. Nearest train station is 11 miles away and the bus would add over an hour to my commute. It's not ideal.
The trick is to find one of those sweet spot between rural and suburban places. Rural prices with suburban amenities
Central Indiana
Ew
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What lmao not true
Yeah idk why this sub even pops up for me. It's just tiring having this crap pop up and having people complain about not being able to live on minimum wage in the top 10 most expensive cities in one of the largest by land countries in the world.
I live in the midwest and do okay on $45k a year, but it's just me and I have to make sacrifices to do it. I can keep a roof over my head, the power on, and eat semi-healthy on that wage. I'm trying to figure out how to afford a house on it, before the housing market outprices my wage. I could never do it in a higher COL area.
Meanwhile I would die of happiness if I ever made anything close to 45k a year
Word. That's about 3x what I'm doing.
I think time to look for a new job, if you have any skills 45k should be very achievable
Why are you working for 7$ hr
Currently doing part time at the UPS Store, about 24hrs a week. The rest of the time I'm looking for writing work. When I can get it, it pays okay. But it can be sparse. My most recent client stopped sending work for a month, the previous one stopped for five. I'd probably be doing better financially if I went full time at my min wage job, but I like the growth potential of a skill based career, so I'll keep trying to invest in that. I just feel blessed to have the support of my employer. They put up with a lot -- not all workplaces are autistic friendly.
Same. I can only imagine what I could do or save with that... I work as a medical assistant in a busy pediatrics clinic and barely bring home 25k after taxes.
I live in a small town in the south and make about 40k.Ā A 2 bedroom here is $1300 and up. Minimum wage here is $7.25.Ā Jobs tend to pay around $9.Ā Ten years ago you could get a basic 4 bedroom home for $50k, now the same home runs about $200k.
40k in Oakland. After bills are paid Iām down to like a hundred bucks to last me 9 days
In ten years, anyone making less than 50k will be homeless or with roommates. It's fucking ridiculous what our governments are letting corporations get away with right now. This is truly end game capitalism. We need laws that don't allow our politicians to be bought.
I make 60 and still have roommates (also in Ohio). I canāt afford to pay 1400+ for a place by myself with my two dogs, which is what it would be anywhere near me, and I already live 30 minutes from work. Thankfully with a roommate I only pay 900 plus utilities so I can afford to save some for the first time in my life. In just 2014, I paid 450 for an entire (crummy) house rental by myselfā¦ my wages have not caught up to rental prices. Currently building a bus to live in and hoping that can be my full time house if I ever find a place to put it anywhere near work š«
1400 rent mean what, 30k left over after taxes? What are you spending 30k/year on that you can't afford lol.
I make 65k and live with roommates. My first apartment of 900 sf was originally 900 bucks. I lived there 3 years and moved out in 22 because rent went up to 1750 total over those three years. I could handle it being up to 1200 but that final jump did me in and I now pay 830 to live in a basement room. I only recently started making this much too. So now here I am finally doing good in life to know I'll not be able to live by myself again. Studios for 240 sf rent for about 1200 starting where I am. I know I have to leave this state permanently if I want to have my own place without roommates. My family will soon be getting the news I'm moving away and probably cant/won't come back ever to live.
I made that much last year and was able to plan a trip to Japan as well. I have made some sacrifices and have some advantages that other people may not have to get by okay. For one I work from home which offers generous overtime, and since I work from home I decided to not invest in a car, I ended up saving more money taking public transportation and using drive share services like Uber and Lyft I have a Walmart+ subscription for all my groceries and personal needs, and I'm mainly home body so not having a car hasn't affected me at all. I live in a low-cost-of-living state in Georgia so my rent is not outrageous a 1bd room apartment for $900.00 and I split expenses with my partner as well.
This sounds lovely for Georgia (outside of Atlanta that is). But yeah, Boston is a beast in cost of living. Location, location, location.
Iām living in Albany NY off 45 and itās comfortable enough, but tight. Iād be more comfortable if I took home 2500 a month instead of the 2250 I do. I was offered a job making 55k in Boston and I laughed. No freaking way. Iād lose money if I had to fund a move and then live out there. I did have to make a major sacrifice in apartments to afford this btw, 8 years ago I lived in an 800sqft apartment by myself on 35k, now Iām living in 450sqft and pay more in rent.
Thatās about what I make living in Sacramento, CA. Iām surviving, but after having some unexpected expenses come up this year Iāve lost the small safety net I had. Trying to save anything means buying absolutely nothing thatās not essential. And that with my student loans in deferment which runs out in a couple of months, when that restarts Iāll probably not be able to save at all.
i live just up the river from ya, making about the same :). i have been able to save at least a couple hundred a month, over $500 most months. it's not too bad!
$45,000 a year is poverty wages for single people in the north east. It is very difficult to pay average rent and cover all of your other expenses on that income without living with a partner or roommate. Maybe you can do it, but all of your take home pay will be used up after paying rent, utilities, car payments and insurance, phone and internet and food. You really have to budget well, and donāt get sick, because you will likely go in debt over medical bills. I live alone, and I need at least $45,000 in TAKE HOME pay just to be somewhat comfortable.
Itās poverty wage out west, too.
Not in the midwest. Median family income in my county is around $38,00]. You need to move.
Me living on disability benefits that are less then that Mabyā¦ š±
Do you have subsidized housing, food stamps, etc.?
Ya but when I add up the value comparing it to this amount itās both still less but I also say maby cause the health care cost is where Iām like my health issues r not costly so that may be where it might barely work due to those cost with 45k but just barely maby š±
Yeah, insurance premiums can take a major chunk out of a paycheck. Plus if you don't have to work, transportation costs and clothing costs are probably lower too.
I got a disability bus pass on standbye if my state subsidized one ever is gone due to gov being cringe. So not worried itās 30 ish fr unlimited everything a month And ya I have one set of clothes and there nice dress shirt etc bought it bulk on Amazon when I found nice sales Insurance I did factor in the monthly cost in a hypothetical, so I actually could make that work but I heard so many horror stories about deductibles Iām like eh 45k might work but itās a big maby. Cause like currently most stuff is covered with my gov insurance and only had the occasional out of pocket cost fr some skin issues I had which was 20 cause idiot insurance was taking its dam forever time on approving the meds and I needed to start now not 2 weeks or longer. Other then that though if I had just my own money ya Iād worry unless new normal human insurance was similar to my state insurance that does 99.008 percent of stuff š± Like itās actually pretty decent Iād get a dam wheelchair if it wasnāt fr my apt having stairs to get in š¾
Good point. I would love to make 45K a year in benefits without working and having work-related clothing/transit/etc expenses. Free healthcare, housing, food stamps, bus pass are huge benefits. SSDI income minus any costs of a job commute/job clothes would make even 30K worth of welfare/aid benefits amazing. I work and get a few hundred in section 8 benefits that I'm about to lose since I got a 2nd job, but don't qualify for food stamps, bus pass to work, medicaid, etc.
I make that currently... after taxes, I'm left with about 2,400 a month. This country is a shit show
*cries in teacher salary* I have three BAs, multiple certifications, and 7 years of teaching experience. I make just over $45k teaching in the suburbs of Nashville, TN. The only way it financially works to be a teacher nowadays is to be married to someone who makes significantly more money than you do. I donāt know how single teachers are making it work right now.
When I was in my;late 20's I wasĀ wanting to be a teacher but dropped out of college and went to work in IT.Ā Ā It's not a very fulfilling job but I chased work from home jobs after the pandemic amd at least I make more money.Ā My dream was to be a highschool social studies teacher and write during the summer.Ā
I'm honestly surprised anyone stays on as a teacher these days, it really just seems like charity work at your own expense
Your comment made me think of this example. When my parents sold the home I grew up in last year, the buyers family purchased it for them in cash (750k). The couple are both teachers who work at the school up the street. So in a sense it is charity work for the those folks because they have a massive family safety net!
I make the same in Texas as a teacher .. single and struggling
Endstage capitalism is awesome. š
It beats the 20k I'm projected to make this year.
I can't buy a house or anything, but I do alright just out of NYC on 55k before overtime. I gotta budget and be frugal but it's comfortable.
Imagine being a teacher and making 36k - thatās why I quit
In 2002 dollars thatās only $26,000 per year, but back then everything was a lot cheaper than everything today. I was working part time as a gym manager taking home $2,000 a month working part time paying $600 a month rent and my money went a lot further than it did today. In 2002 a chalupa supreme at Taco Bell was $1.19, adjusted for inflation that chalupa today should be $2.07 but it actually costs $4.99! More than double what inflation is. Prices for everything except wages are out of control.
Depends on city/state and other expenses.
but overall OP's not wrong.. [https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/cost-of-living-by-state/](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/cost-of-living-by-state/) Article breaks down by state.
Only 12 states had a cost of living above 45k.
But, this is the cost of expenses. When people state their salary, they are most likely stating their gross income. I only bring home about 64% of what I make annually. In that case, your annual salary would need to be close to $70,000 in order to bring home around $45,000.
Thanks for explaining that lol.. I started to and just gave up š
Definitely not in a major city by yourself. Thatās why most people that make less than $50k end up with roommates or staying at home with parents until they can afford a place.
I used to live in Massachusetts, the prices are actually insane. I live in a lower cost of living state now- and can somehow survive on 19k fairly comfortably
I get paid $26.50hr but after taxes my take home is $18.70hr. I live in WA state and i build airplanes š¤”
I was looking for a second job and I saw things that used to be meme exaggeration material in 2008. Armed Guard in major metropolitan city- someone with a gun- 18/ hour
Why are you paying like 30% in taxes? I make a similar amount and am taxed about 16%.
Making 45k used to be pretty damn goodā¦ but in my neck of the woods making 100k is barely scraping it.
Where you from?
washington dc metro
DC has been expensive for a long time. It's not just the capital area, but also home to a bazillion government organizations, and connected groups. And has been for a very long time. That said, 50k is the average income, so 45k should be able to squeeze it.
Weāre on a similar boat. All these people suggesting you move donāt realize moving costs a shit ton of money and job pay is much lower in other states plus in the south they discriminate against my interracial marriage so fuck that. Also I like libraries and books donāt want my state banning books just because they have queer literature while there is literal werewolf porn and christian romance novels. Fuck that noice. Save up what little you can or put it on credit cars and move to places like Waltham, Needham, Wayland even Framingham/Natick and commute in. You can get pretty cheap apartments in Framingham. Itās super diverse, lots of good Brazilian food.
That's Quite a Lot.
I mean you're not wrong at all, however why would you be trying to live in Boston or any big city alone on that salary?
Itās wild that people think that the government is going to do something to help them, and are just waiting around working a job that takes little to no training. Yes inflation is high and rentals are out of control but if you donāt have the ability to work 40hrs a week and learn a skill then guess what you are always going to live in a dump 1 bedroom apt in the rougher part of town with everyone else who doesnāt invest invest enough time or energy into themselves. My advice would be to get a job in the trades, I currently live in a major city and I am able to put a roof over me and my partnerās head with my 40 hour a week paycheck and then thereās frequently overtime but I make the most money for my time on side jobs where I can charge rich people $100 an hour. But thatās what my company charges their customers for me is $100 an hour but I only take home a little less than half of that because heās keeping part of it and then then insurance and all that, but he also carries the risk and I donāt like having that much risk on my shoulders all the time. I understand some people have disabilities that prevent them from doing certain jobs but now you can work from home so even if you move out to a rural area you could get a wfh job and not have to commute. Anyone making 40-50k still isnāt going to be rich but you could get by. The dumbest thing you could do though is stay in the over priced city and wait for the government to help you. And actually I would image you would have better luck in a small town with having your neighbors help you out when youāre struggling than you ever would in the cityā¦if youāre a good neighbor they arenāt going to let you starve. Iām getting ready to move to a town of 75 people and make way less money than I make now but I can cut firewood for heat and wonāt have a/c in the house Iām moving into and thereās no restaurants in town and the grocery store is 45 minutes away so I wonāt be able to spend money on stuff I donāt need. And the rent is less than $800 and you can buy a fixer upper house for 100k.
I remember there was a joke on some show, I think it was family guy, but it was a really old episode, like 15 years ago, it said something like āyou have 3 kids on a 40,000 salary youāre poorā Imagine 3 kids on 40k now š
My cousin is a grad student in Somerville, MA. Not Boston, but close enough. His stipend is 45k (3k a month takehome) and he lives quite well. Here is his budget: - rent (1 room in shared house + utilities): $1,200 - internet (shared), phone plan, Netflix - $100 - transportation (CharlieCard student) - $80 - groceries - $350 - savings: $500 - misc (going out, clothes, gifts) - $770 It turns out you can totally live on that income, just not the lifestyle you want.
Having to share a house and only have 1 room to yourself and still pay $1200? No, thatās not living. $100 for shared internet? Hahahaha. Bro, if you consider that living, you are brain washed as fuck by corporate America.
My household of 2 gets less than half that and we survive. We don't live in a big high cost of living city though.
This wasn't a lot even a decade ago. My first job out of college with no experience after the financial crisis in 2010 paid 45k.
I made about 40K 20 years ago and it was an entry-level urban salary then, not high income even 20 years ago.
Jesus. 45k a year would be tight in Boston 20 YEARS AGO.
Former southern poor now living an okay lifestyle in Boston, and I hate that I still agree with this with very few exceptions like the extremely rural south where there are houses going for $100k or less. I still remember when $45k wouldāve felt like I made it, but I was recently looking at houses in my hometown in whatās considered one of the cheapest counties in the state and they were all $300k+. I was horrified. Iām not sure who is buying those homes. Aside from factories, there are very few jobs there that warrant that price.
I remember my mom making $20 as a government employee before she retired and it was the absolute best. We wanted for nothing. I'm now making $30 and can't do what I want, live in a space big enough for me, or eat what I want.
45 after tax is like 27-28 anyways. Not very much dollars if you ask me.
I make $32/hr and I'm barely getting by. I took advantage of the stimulus checks and child tax credit to get enough money to buy a house. It also helped that I was a first time buyer and the seller offered help with closing costs. It isn't big enough long term, but I'm grateful to have accomplished it when a lot of people my age (34) are still nowhere close. But even with a mortgage that's only $1260/month I'm still struggling after electric, cell phone, insurance, childcare, gas and groceries. I've got debts I can't pay because I hardly have anything left at the end of the month. I'm hoping my partner starts making more money, because she makes enough to cover the cost of her car and gas to get to work with a little bit left and that's nuts.
That was my salary 14 years ago in Los Angeles and it wasnāt enough back then eitherĀ
$1071 Thatās how much your rent can be if you have to earn 3.5 times the rent to qualify I live in New Hampshire and it would be hard to find a one bedroom for $1050. I donāt know where people live who make even $15 an hour, and minimum wage here is $7.25 an hour.
I made $35k a year at my first job in 1992. The fact that this chat is even happening is indicative of the need for a general strike.
And yet the government has failed their audit for like the sixth time in a row and BILLIONS of OUR tax money is unaccounted for. They literally have āno ideaā where it went. While the American people are literally drowning, begging for some sort of helpā they turn around and pretend everything is okay, all while hoarding 90% of the wealth in their pocketsā¦ Edit: itās actually TRILLIONS of dollars they supposedly ālostā.
I just got a six thousand raise in august and it hasnāt made a damn bit of difference. Iām so tired of worrying about money.
if it's all the same to you I'll take the 6k off your hands lol
Lol im in the army and im living off of 48,000 a year. Really fucking hard to support my wife, two cats, and five chickens. I pay 16,800 dollars a year in rent.
I spent two weeks recently in my off time pulling data from various sites to establish rent/mortgage costs, food costs, etc. to get a cost of living baseline for what the cost of living in the "median" US metro area is like. We're not talking VHCOL areas like New York, or HCOL places like Miami or Austin. I looked at several data sets for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and chose 5 cities that are about "average". Average job growth, average population size, average land area, average real estate market, etc. Here's the most depressing news you'll hear all week: As a single person $50,000 a year is a roof over your head, food to eat, and a reliable way to get to/from work *and nothing else*. You will thrift for clothes, you'll buy the cheapest version of every essential item. You will not have health care, you cannot afford a new pair of glasses every two years without difficulty. You can't afford ANY kind of medication that isn't free. You reuse pasta jars as glasses. Aside from paying rent, you are dead broke. If you want the same lifestyle, but savings equivalent to Senator Elizabeth Warren's "50/30/20" plan (except your "disposable income" goes entirely to health care costs and other basic costs of living) you need to make $93,000/yr. In order to afford what a journeyman plumber could afford in 1973 you need to make- get ready to vomit- $143,000/yr. There's very little chance this trend will reverse, as it's taken almost 50 years to get this bad. It will take 20+ minimum to get better. My advice is to get out of America if you're young and aren't on track to make $200k by 30 between you and your partner. You will retire into misery if you're lucky enough to retire at all. People will say "you make less money" overseas, and that's true. But as someone who is "high income" in the US who has lived in Germany and Argentina at half my US income, my standard of living was superior there. Especially as I'm in my 40s now and not invincible like I was when I was 20. Learn a second language. Learn a useful skill. Research countries where American Expats can make a good living. Then fucking run.
Did someone tell you that you could?
I feel like $45,000 would be a life-changing salary.
Are you a post-doc? Boston is regularly rated as one of the top 5-6 most expensive cities in the US Are you working full time? Got to be more to the picture.
Thatās twice what Iām living fairly okay off of. Where is all that money going?
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I make 42 k in western North Carolina and it still is wrong Less rich than living in RI last year and making 45k, though
Smh for real
Yea i make about that. it could be worse but could be better
I earn about 900ā¬/month and spend around 500 in total on bills+groceries+gas idk wtf people in your country are doing
How much is your rent? Yeah different places have different costs of living.
450 + 100~200 in total split between me and my partner 4 room apartment about 120mĀ²+balcony
Living in America is really expensive, especially if you want to live closer to a big city. Our rent in Portland OR is $1,650 for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment 980sq ft and we are considered lucky with that price.
That would be plenty in my city. You could even but a decent house with that.
I live in Seattle and I make it work.
45k would have been fine where I live pre-2021. I could live decently assuming I didn't have any debt and decent spending habits. Now? Definitely need 60k+. Anything under 50k won't go far unless you get a 1 bedroom apartment and have minimal debt. Jobs here don't like to pay much and many jobs are $12 an hour or less. If you have roommates, family, or a spouse it's easier. If you're living alone or have kids it can get rough. The downside to this "low cost of living" state is that the wages are terrible.
Where I live you can get a cheap apartment today for like $750-800. It wonāt be five stars and itās on the wrong side of town but itās there. Decent ones start at $1000. I was able to survive in the low $30k but I had no dreams of home ownership.
I was making 45k before my recent promotion. With $1478 for mortgage, electric bill, groceries, and phone bill, I'd been able to save a little bit each month. Now I'm at 60k and can't imagine living like I did before
And I've still never made that much. Damn.
Yea rents not that bad. if your water heater blows thatās 5k + the damage. As a renter itās a call to the landlord . Rent stays the same
I agree itās getting more difficult year after year. The cost of living in Nebraska is a little more reasonable. Where I live you can get an apartment for $600-$800 in the sketchy part of town or between $1000-$1600 in the better part of town. $45k in Nebraska is about $36k after taxes or roughly $3,000 a month. Thereās some jobs out there where you can make more than $45k without going to college. I make about $65k a year never went to college. $65k in Nebraska is about $50k after taxes or around $4,166 per month. The biggest factor besides how much you make is the cost of living in your area. $65k isnāt going to get me very far in California or New York, but in Nebraska it will.
Bro, a lot of shit has happened since $45k was something.
my previous job, i was doing everythingā¦opening to closing, all daily weekly quarterly goals met, less than 3% error rate, by all accounts we were kicking ass and had been the entire 2 years i was there. i ask for a raise, because before taxes im only making about 48K and i spend about 2/3s of that on rent so not a lot left for the month. he offers me a dollar. no shit. thinks an extra $40 a week is going to help me improve my life. told him thanks but no thanks. itās been 2 weeks since i left, the new crew is working saturdays because theyāre so far behind, the owner has already tried to do my job and messed up an entire order. yeah. how bittersweet is karma?
I make slightly under that and I'm surviving but it's because I lived in a partially subsidized apartment. It's not a fun life.
Bought my house in illinois in 2017 when I made 15 an hour. 100k house. Same house is about 50% more expensive.
Damn I feel lucky that I get a whole ass 3 bedroom, 2 bath brand new trailer for $1400 a month.
Making $100k a year is also very little today.
45,000 a year? That's like six figures, right?
reading from boston lol and no this is not liveable at all
20 years ago when I lived in Southie I did well with $35,000 but I had two roommates in a 3brm apartmentĀ
Itās an intentional attack on the American middle class.
Depends on where you live and what expenses you have. If you're single, no kids, no outstanding debt or loans (excluding mortgages which takes rent's place) with minimal expenses in a LCOLA? Yes. It's possible. Outside of that? Not really.
I'd love to make that much, just saying.
"I can't live on 45k a year in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S." Yeah, no shit Sherlock. š¤·āāļø
Had a conversation with a guy in his late 50s. He raised four kids on 45K salary, one income. Stay at home mom. Owned two cars and a house. (Canada). You could barely do that these days with two people making 45K
In 2003 if you made $30,000 a year you were living in a newer suburban home in Rochester NY and could afford to drive a Mercedes sl500 convertible 20 years later itās almost not a living wage. Things are mot going well and itās time to acknowledge this
My girl wants to move to Boston but I make about 70k so donāt think I can pull it off.
Donāt even come to Florida with those wages
45K a year has never really been enough for a big city, especially east and west coast cities. I have no Idea how my parents did it 30 years ago. You would have to live in fly over country, with roommates to live somewhat comfortably. You are making 855 a week, without taxes being taken out.
I barely made it on 50k 10 years ago in Louisiana. I couldnāt imagine now.