Question of living comfortably and salaries

[Synapses]

Originally Posted by CyclesMcHurtz

I can say that an 850 sqft 2bd 1ba apartment in a FAIR (not GREAT, not BAD) San Diego neighborhood rents for around 1700/mo.

Whoa.. this makes me sad. I wanted to move to Cali but probably not anymore lol.

[Rbstr]

75k is way above median, it's plenty to get by on without any sort of real hardship as a single person in any part of the country. If a single dude can't deal with a 1k expense that happens less than yearly it simply isn't anything resembling a priority.

I can deal with it on 27k (Admittedly at only $500/mo in rent). Of course, others would prioritize differently. Instead of the 1k I spend on a computer ever so often they might spend it on new golf clubs or plane tickets or whatever hobby.
Though, at 75k and still single, I think I could fit both golf and computers...and a nicer car.

But, in general...I agree with the idea that spending much more than 1k on a computer is dumb. Diminishing returns past there, really.

[Synapses]

The cost of living is going up and this is really starting to scare me... gives me this feeling of impending failure of my future and dreams... It almost makes me wonder if its going to be worth living at all in 20-30 years... everything will be so expensive and I get this feeling of depression when thinking about it.

[Rbstr]

Salary goes up with inflation too (well...one hopes, make sure you're going to have training to do something that's useful in the future!).

Hardly anything is more expensive now, adjusted for inflation, than it's ever been.

[Firefly]

Originally Posted by Synapses

I guess that's true Hamma, I wouldn't have thought it would be THAT big of a difference in living cost. I mean I live in Utah, which is more expensive then Texas... were talking like 900 a month for a two bedroom apartment, probably 1000 for a really nice one.

And I agree Skitrel. I put one together the other day on Newegg for fun (LGA 2011) and hit about 3.5k and that was me building TOP OF THE LINE. It is my dream someday to build one thats just overkill for fun if I have the money, but as it is now I cant see spending over 2k.

Where I live, if you want to be single and living comfortably on your own, without any roommates or debt or whatnot, you need to be making well above 85k. In fact I'd suggest a six-figure income unless you want to live in the projects (hint: nobody wants to live in the projects, especially not people making six-figure incomes). Conversely, if I were to move down to South Carolina where the average comfortable single-person middle-class income hovers around 40-50k, a six-figure income would be obscene and, moreover, highly unlikely.

One thing that people seem to forget is that "rich people" don't get rich by blowing a bunch of frivolous money. Just because a guy makes 500K a year doesn't mean he spends 500K a year. Yeah he could probably easily afford a 5k computer rig, but that is irrelevant - it's his mindset, and that's probably why he's well-off.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by CyclesMcHurtz

I can say that an 850 sqft 2bd 1ba apartment in a FAIR (not GREAT, not BAD) San Diego neighborhood rents for around 1700/mo.

I can buy a nice little 2-3 bedroom house here in a decent neighborhood for 50k or less. With a garage.

How do people live in those cities? >_<



As for the PC, 5k is complete overkill, but if its your primary hobby, not egregious. Especially if you want something that can run 3 monitors at 5760x1080.

People easily spend that much on other toys. Boats, jetskis, motorcycles, etc. My brother spends 3-5k a year going on hunting trips.

[Crazyduckling]

Originally Posted by CutterJohn

I can buy a nice little 2-3 bedroom house here in a decent neighborhood for 50k or less. With a garage.

Where do you live? I need to move there when I graduate.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Crazyduckling

Where do you live? I need to move there when I graduate.

Des Moines, Iowa.

Nice place. Boring, but nice.

[Fenrys]

Some of those numbers boggle my mind. When I was just out of school and renting in Pensacola Florida, I paid $200/month for the master bedroom in a 3 bed 1 bath house. It wasn't in a nice area at all.

[Crazyduckling]

Originally Posted by CutterJohn

Des Moines, Iowa.

While you're there, tell the state congress to increase funding at UNI. Thanks. (As a student, Price Lab can close. We still need more funding though.)

Well, I guess I won't move to where you're at. I think I'll move out of Iowa.

[BUGGER]

Originally Posted by Fenrys

Some of those numbers boggle my mind. When I was just out of school and renting in Pensacola Florida, I paid $200/month for the master bedroom in a 3 bed 1 bath house. It wasn't in a nice area at all.

Hurricanes?

In Maine my mother has a 3br, 3bth house; full furnished kitchen and laundry room, with a downstairs apartment with bath and kitchen. Garage, drywalled with heating. And 15 acres. For 1,500.

Here in California I have friends paying anywhere between 2,500 and 1,500 for a 2br 1bth apartment.

[BNuts]

I looked at my W2 income statement this year and almost cried.

Even with the expenses one would allot for a mortgage (I have free housing), medicare / health insurance (I have free health care), and basic utilities (those come with the free housing...) I am a poor sumibich.

Time to move to private sector job.

I need a better computer for sure, not just regarding the impending release sometime in the next few gigalimilion years of PS2 (beta).

My old XPS ain't cut out for squat now.

I've allotted myself a little under 2k to build a new machine, and already got me a sweet new monitor, but 5k!!!!! whoa. That's more than my wife's car is worth.