How much does it cost to live well in USA?

[NoComments]

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/live05.html

provides interesting data

[CDSmith]

[davethetruth]

Here's a similar article I was reading the other day. The Most Overpriced Places To Live

LA is #10, and the median home price is $381,400

[High Quality]

You can live well spending $25k a year. So, before taxes you'd have to make $35 to $40k.

[polish_aristocrat]

Originally Posted by High Quality

You can live well spending $25k a year.

in Las Vegas?

[Rinaldo]

I would think 50k would be considered living comfortably. 75k well off... 100 upper class

[TheJimmy]

personally I think anything under 75-100k is a struggle if you've got even a few expenses going and don't want to live in the ghetto...

most of the worthwhile places to live in the US are clearly overpriced :/

[High Quality]

Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat

in Las Vegas?

Yup. This can be done anywhere actually with very few exceptions like nyc, SF and a few other cities

[High Plains Drifter]

To live well by yourself, you need between $50K -$75K a year. If you have a family, double that.

[Hollywood Horwitz]

Originally Posted by TheJimmy

personally I think anything under 75-100k is a struggle if you've got even a few expenses going and don't want to live in the ghetto...

most of the worthwhile places to live in the US are clearly overpriced :/

damn nigga ,you need to shop at the 99 cents store more..i live in a boochie nice neighborhood in silverlake,CA and i dont make half of that...

[High Quality]

Originally Posted by Hollywood Horwitz

damn nigga ,you need to shop at the 99 cents store more..i live in a boochie nice neighborhood in silverlake,CA and i dont make half of that...

yeah. $25k a year is $2100/mo right?

$800 rent
$500 car - payment, insurance, gas
$300 food & dining out
$500 misc fun shit per month

[wedouglas]

Michigan is damn affordable. Midwest in general is very affordable.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by wedouglas

Michigan is damn affordable. Midwest in general is very affordable.

Agreed.

I do not know where some of these people responding in the thread live where you need 75-100k+ to squeek by, I'm guessing if you are in the US, it must be Hawaii, NY, or CA.

I'd say in most of the US, you can live well at 50k. Especially if you are single. If you have a family, you might need a few more pesos, but being by yourself, and needing 100k you apparently have some serious money management issues.

[polish_aristocrat]

i wonder who will be the first 'playah' to reply here and say that he would starve to death on $100k per year ;)

[Antonio]

Originally Posted by skinnywussy

To live well by yourself, you need between $50K -$75K a year. If you have a family, double that.

if that's true 99% of the GFYers are starving, and since 99% of the GFYers are fat, that can not be true ;)

[High Quality]

Originally Posted by Antonio

if that's true 99% of the GFYers are starving, and since 99% of the GFYers are fat, that can not be true ;)

HAHAHAAHAHAHA

[OldSchoolJim]

Oprah and Dr. Phil say 40K

[TheJimmy]

Originally Posted by Hollywood Horwitz

damn nigga ,you need to shop at the 99 cents store more..i live in a boochie nice neighborhood in silverlake,CA and i dont make half of that...

haha right on, I know roughly where that is...I'm a native of the SFV...but live a little further north now


I figured it simply like this which isn't really living large so to speak...

rent/mortgage: 2-3k a month
utilities: 300ish
phone: 100-200ish
car + insurance + gas etc: 1-1.5k
food entertainment etc: 500-1k
cc bills, taxes, misc shit: 1k
biz expenses: 300-1k
health insurance, dental, vision: 500 & up
got kids? school costs, toys, clothes, other crizap: 500 & up

all tolled, not counting the occasionall emergency, ie tranny fell out of the car, kid needs to go to camp, or the neverending stream of holiday, b-day present events (figure another 100-2k on that a month) and this is where anything under 75k a year


"can" be a struggle :/


I miss the many years ago, of no car payments (paid cash for my pimp 70' monte carlo)...girlfriends that paid their way...no kids...no big cc bills...housing & other shit could keep wicked low as it was just where I kept my shit....



those were the days...


now the challenge is simply to make more without putting in 18-20 hour days

[Sosa]

interesting read.

[High Plains Drifter]

Originally Posted by Antonio

if that's true 99% of the GFYers are starving, and since 99% of the GFYers are fat, that can not be true ;)

haha there's a pretty large gap between "living well" and starving. I'm sticking by those figures. I'm right in that range with family and I'm so poor I have to postwhore on forums in hopes they'll send me a shirt so I'll have something to wear.

[Linkster]

Originally Posted by TheJimmy

I figured it simply like this which isn't really living large so to speak...

rent/mortgage: 2-3k a month
utilities: 300ish
phone: 100-200ish
car + insurance + gas etc: 1-1.5k
food entertainment etc: 500-1k
cc bills, taxes, misc shit: 1k
biz expenses: 300-1k
health insurance, dental, vision: 500 & up
got kids? school costs, toys, clothes, other crizap: 500 & up

Damn - 100-200 for a phone that costs $30 a month in most places? Of course biz expenses are separate - that goes in the corp. so I wouldnt count that as a living expense - but where in the heck do you have to pay 2-3k for rent unless you are definitely living large - that would buy the most expensive mansion here. As far as kids expenses - I cant remember back that far thank god!

[sniperwolf]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

that is classic... hehehe

[gdog]

What the hell am I doing in San Diego, these numbers are crazy. I own property, that costs me 2k per month, car 500, insurance 100, gas 120, home phone 50, cable 150, gas and electric 100, health insurance 150,

so that is 3170 and I have not eaten food yet. So lets call it 4k personally, 48k per year after taxes so that is like 70k before taxes just to cover the basics.

OK, I feel sick right now.

[tungsten]

Originally Posted by High Quality

yeah. $25k a year is $2100/mo right?

$800 rent
$500 car - payment, insurance, gas
$300 food & dining out
$500 misc fun shit per month

utilities? phone? cable (tv/internet)?

[L0rdJuni0r]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

[Jace]

haha, this is what they have for Atlanta...using area code 30305, which is one of the most trendy and overpriced areas in atlanta....maybe they should use something a little more practical

Net Income After Taxes $307,061

Primary Home Cost $1,400,000 - HAHAHAHA, yeah, right...we just got our 3 bedroom 2000sq ft house with two car garage and huge front and back yards for $163k

Annual Home Payments $77,758
Vacation Home Location St Simons Island
Vacation Home Cost $1,600,000
Annual Vacation Home Payments $88,792
Cars $18,600
Dining Out $8,300
Food at Home $8,300
Travel $19,900
Health Care $6,700
Utilities $8,100
Private School Costs $15,100
College Costs $30,295
Other $22,146
Savings $3,100
Local/State Taxes 11.2%

[Jace]

Originally Posted by TheJimmy

personally I think anything under 75-100k is a struggle if you've got even a few expenses going and don't want to live in the ghetto...

most of the worthwhile places to live in the US are clearly overpriced :/

jeez, i don't make near that right now and I live damn fine here in atlanta....3 cars, 2000 sq ft home, all the luxuries...

[andrej_NDC]

Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat

i wonder who will be the first 'playah' to reply here and say that he would starve to death on $100k per year ;)

I would have problems to pay my bills(biz and non-biz related) with that...

[polish_aristocrat]

Originally Posted by andrej_NDC

I would have problems to pay my bills(biz and non-biz related) with that...

why do people so often include biz bills in it

many if not most ppl buy traffic or hosting, so traffic purchases and hosting should be counted as biz expenses and not included in the same category as electricity bills for your home

not talking about you, but some average webmaster, he spends $2k per month on traffic and hosting and makes $8k per month, so he simply makes $6k per month

at least this is how i calculate my finances

[andrej_NDC]

Originally Posted by polish_aristocrat

why do people so often include biz bills in it

many if not most ppl buy traffic or hosting, so traffic purchases and hosting should be counted as biz expenses and not included in the same category as electricity bills for your home

not talking about you, but some average webmaster, he spends $2k per month on traffic and hosting and makes $8k per month, so he simply makes $6k per month

at least this is how i calculate my finances

thats why I was talking about biz(hosting, etc) and non-biz related bills(car, phone, funds, etc)

but I got your point

[zzgundamnzz]

Originally Posted by tungsten

utilities? phone? cable (tv/internet)?

I think Phone/cable tv/internet would go under:

misc fun shit per month

[Sosa]

I might not make much, but my company does pretty good

[Drake]

All the little payments really add up

[tristan_D]

it's really hard to keep up with prices nowadays, especially gas.

[Jace]

http://www.myspace.com/pinkchaostheater

[woj]

If you have no family and know how to manage your money, you can live reasonably well making only $60k...

[Sharky]

for a family of 3 or 4 in Tampa you can live on $50k/year if you are renting an apartment in the ghetto.

Now days you can expect to spend $1500/mo for a 2br apartment in a decent area. $2000+ for a 3br.
I own my house so I don't have that issue, but I would say $100k/yr minimum is needed in FL (with no state taxes!) to live a basic and comfortable life. The forbes article was generalized to upper middle class and I think it was right on to state roughly $300k/yr in the south.

[reynold]

90k will do if you are single and knows how to spend your money wisely. ;)

[kane]

damn I live in Portland and it's ranked #3 hard to belive we are higher up than san fran, LA and miami They just said a few months back that about 1 million more peopel are expected to move to this area in the next 5 years and the average price of a home will rise to around 300K. I guess now is the time to buy real estate if you have the cash.

[Peaches]

My monthly expenses are $4K a month (and that includes house payment, car payment, eating out, health insurance, money towards travel and savings, etc.) and I feel like I'm "Living well".

I have to say, having kids is the kicker. When my son was growing up my monthly expenses were an additional $2K+ a month and that's just one kid

[Peaches]

Oh, and let me add that I live very simply - but it's still "Living well" to me

[icedemon]

Originally Posted by sharky

for a family of 3 or 4 in Tampa you can live on $50k/year if you are renting an apartment in the ghetto.

Now days you can expect to spend $1500/mo for a 2br apartment in a decent area. $2000+ for a 3br.
I own my house so I don't have that issue, but I would say $100k/yr minimum is needed in FL (with no state taxes!) to live a basic and comfortable life. The forbes article was generalized to upper middle class and I think it was right on to state roughly $300k/yr in the south.

Damn Sharky, what apartments are you thinking of? I was paying $800/month at Calusa Trace with a garage. Unless you don't think Calusa Trace is a "decent" area That $2,000 is right on the mark. I just bought a 4 bedroom/3 bath/3 car garage in Cheval and I'm paying $1,700/month.

[reynold]

It is so expensive to live in a country full of expensive things to buy.

[2257-Ben]

I knew I was right.. I keep telling my wife we need to move from Dinuba CA, to Cheyenne WY.

[Joesho]

Originally Posted by High Quality

Yup. This can be done anywhere actually with very few exceptions like nyc, SF and a few other cities

haha NO WAY, I just got a house in Summerlin and I am paying $450,000.00

How the fuck can I just earn 35K a year and pay for that ????

PLEASE show me how I will call you GOD

[Hollywood Horwitz]

Originally Posted by TheJimmy

haha right on, I know roughly where that is...I'm a native of the SFV...but live a little further north now


I figured it simply like this which isn't really living large so to speak...

rent/mortgage: 2-3k a month
utilities: 300ish
phone: 100-200ish
car + insurance + gas etc: 1-1.5k
food entertainment etc: 500-1k
cc bills, taxes, misc shit: 1k
biz expenses: 300-1k
health insurance, dental, vision: 500 & up
got kids? school costs, toys, clothes, other crizap: 500 & up

all tolled, not counting the occasionall emergency, ie tranny fell out of the car, kid needs to go to camp, or the neverending stream of holiday, b-day present events (figure another 100-2k on that a month) and this is where anything under 75k a year


"can" be a struggle :/


I miss the many years ago, of no car payments (paid cash for my pimp 70' monte carlo)...girlfriends that paid their way...no kids...no big cc bills...housing & other shit could keep wicked low as it was just where I kept my shit....



those were the days...


now the challenge is simply to make more without putting in 18-20 hour days

well my expenses would go like this:
rent:$500 my room in a swank ass pimp pad in Silverlake(near Hollywood in LA)..this is a whole house with a jucuzzi and bar,total rent is 2100
bill:my part $75 a month
car payments: none,i own my ride,a toyota echo,its not a beamer or nothing but its reliable.
cell bill: $35 for 1000 minutes unlimited nites and weekends
drugs and drinks: $200 a month,thats a average,who knows what my bar tabs are looking like this month..
food:$150 a month, i know thats not alot but i shop smart,im a jew for christs sake,i watch every nickel and dime.
fine vagine: $50 a month, my dating life is not that busy,but when it is, i make a girl dinner at my house,saves money and its closer to the bed.

TOTAL :$1010

so even if i make $2100 a month,which i dont, i'm still rolling ...

[slapass]

Just a heads up but this was started as living large. No one lives large on less then 100k. I think they went way overboard with the million dollar vacation homes but I spend a lot more on travel then they had budgeted so who knows.

[Doctor Dre]

God damn thsoes prices are crazy-insane !