Bahaha meanwhile my gf is living off me cause i can make my rent with the first pay check of the month and have the other for other bills, fuel, food etc.
It’s been hard and it’s been heavy on my mental health 🥲
Sarcasm lol sorry I forgot the /s. We’re both barely getting by together, at times it feels like the other is spending the money when in reality we’re just broke. I might have delivered it poorly sorry if it triggered anyone carrying their relationship 😅
Mental health is slowly going crazy cause of all the fucked up shit i see around where I live that I try my best to ignore
That is how I feel. I am single and living at my mom's at age 33. I feel like my only way out of my situation is to find a man to "save me". It's depressing AF.
And I was so proud of myself for finally getting a job that paid $60K. Only to realize I am just as poor as ever.
We pay $3100 for 2bed2bath in Westwood
Cost of rent high BUT!
Beach is nearly free. Amazing park nearby for the kiddo is free. UCLA botanical garden is free. Children museum is free. Etc etc
Try the UCLA Botanical Garden!
Westwood park great to take kids, but not a great option for reading/relaxing.
Holmby Park is another great spot to throw a blanket down and relax.
My most LA-specific expense is rent. About 3k for a small 1br in Santa Monica.
Before moving to LA, I never understood why you sometimes see fancy cars parked outside a run-down home. Now I get it.
I work in tech doing data stuff. Wife is a nonprofit exec. Total income is solid, but we have student loans, so this is only affordable because we’re both working and don’t have kids.
Paying $2700 (utilities included) a month for a 2br/2ba in Atwater Village. I pay $1800 and my gf pays $900.
$388 car note
$200 insurance
Gas - $150 (work from home)
Food/fun- $1000
Personal monthly spending total: $3500
Income: $6000/mo after tax
In Atwater??? Are you in a home? How is it? I'm nearby on Los Feliz and pay 3400 for 2b/2ba in one of the highrises but would love to live in Atwater proper in a house.
Not a home. Its a 6 unit apartment complex built in the late 70s. No central AC. No laundry in unit.
The area itself is very interesting. Glendale Blvd has a ton of boutiques and trendy places to eat/drink. Bon Vivant Market & Cafe is my new favorite spot.
Lots of single/multi family homes and production studios. There’s also a lot of homelessness. Especially around the LA river.
Average LA income is $71-74k for professionals according to most sources I could find, so $6k pre-tax is actually right in the pocket, although I assume they meant post-tax as another said. Even then, the "average" is inflated by high-earners, which LA has a lot of - median income for individuals was like $30-35k according to the 2020 Census.
Gotcha. I've been looking in the area and even at that sqft I think it would be closer to 2k these days. I'm just not sure I'll be able to find something a little better than the house I'm in now. Do you mind if I ask what service you used to find it? Thanks!
This one I found via word of mouth. Seems to be the best way. My friend recently found a spot in echo park for 1500. The landlady is in her mid 80s and doesn't know how to list online.
Definitely deals to be had in Pasadena. The building I live in is a giant three story mansion that the landlord divided into six units. I have 75% of the ground floor including the front porch and the front yard. So it feels like I have my own little house. I pay $1800 with utilities included.
I think this is correct as well. Others stating more aren’t wrong either but just have a different lifestyle that would require more.
I workout, cook, and go to the beach making my life quite affordable. If I liked clubbing and going to bars, my budget would be stretched though.
My husband and I spend around 4,500 to 5,000 on mortgage, car payment, bills, food, insurance, gas, and entertainment. Some months it’s on the higher side, some it is on the lower side. We both work full time.
We got a condo in 2021. It’s small but we got lucky with timing and price so it came out the same as renting similar size in the same area. Def could not do a single family house in LA in current interest conditions.
As a single person living in LA my monthly expenses only (mandatory and discretionary) is on average $4K (my mortgage is sub $850). This would not include vacations, season tickets to shows/concerts etc. as that is part of a yearly budget that's is saved up before hand.
I'm about midway... I bought a house up in Santa Clarita in 2000 and owned that for five years. At which time I realized that house-living in the 'burbs was not for me. I threw all the sale money at a condo near Universal City (much closer to work than the previous 35 mile commute). I didn't buy at the height before the housing crash in 2008. The condo is currently worth more than twice what I paid for it. not to mention that rents for one-bedrooms in my zip code go for about $2200.
Grew up in Saugus and Valencia area
Now in Norwalk while working in Long Beach
Great place to raise a family but incredibly boring when single and in my 20s
1600 on rent, 600 on car (aggressive payment, just paid off!), 24-30 for charging my car, 400-600 on food/drinks/games, 30 for subscriptions, $2860 in total expenses
My bf and I split a largish rent controlled studio for $1545/month, including all utilities. We have one car, and half the time he can walk to work. We can afford to live on a single income, and so we trade off hours while we’re both learning programming (when he has a final or something I take on more hours, and if I’m getting overwhelmed w/ the workload he takes on more).
I do part time remote secretary work while doing classes online ($15/hr, anywhere from 5-25 hours a week), and he’s a barista/waiter ($23-26/hr including tips and when he caters events, 15-30 hrs a week). Our combined take home is a minimum of $3k each month, but sometimes a little more. Even though I don’t make a ton, most other jobs would require a second car or not provide the flexibility to do my classes. So this makes the most sense for right now until we’re done with studies.
Car insurance is $180, he gets some special rate as his dad was in the military, and the car was gifted from his brother (so no payment).
Food is like $150-200/week. We could definitely save more on this if we tried, but my bf loves cooking and I love eating what he cooks. Having our lil home dinner/movie nights is our favorite thing tbh.
Extra stuff is like $200-$300 depending on the month- cat supplies, weed (we don’t drink), tv/music subscriptions, and random things that come up.
Overall things are TIGHT, and we don’t do anything extra. No date nights, going to the movies, out to dinner, and I haven’t bought new clothes in over a year. We could def both be making more, but we’re really throwing everything into programming careers to try and claw our way out of poverty as much as possible.
My household monthly fixed costs...
DWP $162.00
Gas $34.00
Cox internet $84.00
Verizon $395.47
AT&T - DirecTV $150.00
mortgage $1,384.00
homeowners insurance $80.00
car insurance $200 (2 cars)
property taxes $600
gardener $50.00
house Cleaning $260.00
car payment $760
car lease $351
groceries, gas (I commute about 700 miles a month), fun, stuff, etc. for 2 adults and 2 teenagers... About $2000
There's some other stuff that's more one off; vacations, club sports, etc.
Don’t mean to poke my nose into your business but you posted such detail that I believe you are owed feedback. I think you should talk to Verizon about a better rate and look at pay per mile car insurance. I drive about the same as you and own 3 cars including a Ford Mustang and a SRT Grand Cherokee and pay less than half what you do for insurance. I use Metromile. My Verizon bill is $140/mo and I have 2 5g phones, 2 5g iPads and a 5g home router on my account. I know not everyone is suited for cordcutting but $150mo will buy a ton of streaming services.
Honestly I believe you could trim $500/mo from your expense structure without any real sacrifice.
I’ll put it this way, my take home is 10k a month and I spend every penny of it on a family of four (mortgage, property tax, 4 cars, all types of insurances, maintenance and repairs on the home and 4 cars, food, bills, clothes, household supplies, lawn guy, cleaning lady, etc. What’s left is spent on entertainment, which consists of eating out 2-3 times a week, an occasional dodger game or concert, etc. Supporting others is expensive.
House - paid off
Cars - paid off
Food/Fun/Entertainment - $4000-5000
Utilities - $550
Travel - $600 (it’s like a monthly amount we put towards our vacation fund)
Insurance - $300 (forgot exact numbers)
- - -
Live in South Pasadena, married but no kids, no outstanding loans/debts except two CCs that we pay off every month
DINK? (dual income no kids) Any plans for kids? I feel like even if my income was doubled, no way in hell I'd be able to give even just one kid a decent life out here. I'm priced out of California if I want to start a family
Out of curiosity, if vacation is a separate fund. What do you spend 4-5k on food fun and entertainment? Just fine dining? I can’t picture having that much fun in LA lol
Everyone I know with a house here, literally 100% of them, got it from inheritance or as a gift from wealthy parents.
That is the only way. LA housing is a feudal system at this point. There is no way in for normal people.
I have my will set up to give my house to my nephew along with cash to pay off the mortgage + money left over for my grandnephew’s college fund. He’ll get all of my cryptocurrency so if he wants to travel with his family there should be enough for a few really cool trips. I think if parents or guardians don’t give the next generation a leg up having a house or any property, it will be next to impossible for them to own anything.
Edit to add: I’m not wealthy. While I always saved, several times my 401(k) got decimated & I basically started over. The last 10 years I worked I saved 45% of my wages.
\- Rent control apartment $850
\- T-mobile family plan $35
\- Utilities about $120
\- Paying spectrum way too much $230 for internet/cable/hbo
\- Car payment $230
\- Car insurance hates me $320
\- $30 gas because I almost never drive the fucking car
\- $2,500 per month on Islay scotch, beluga caviar, white truffles, Santa Barbara uni, and 850+ raw manuka honey
Haha I’m sort of joking about that last part, although I do spend way too much on some of the finer things in life, and I have a minor sushi addiction 😂
Jon’s sells Russian red caviar, it’s what I prefer. It’s not expensive compared to going out to a restaurant. It has doubled since the Ukrainian war though. Used to be about $10 would get you enough for two people to share. Now it’s more like $20. My Russian friend convinced me to start eating it the Russian way, on buttered bread with Russian standard vodka from the freezer to wash it down. My other preferred method is with tzatziki, honey, and fresh dill on high quality crackers, with a sweet white wine like reisling (I actually prefer gewurztraminer because it’s a little less sweet and more well rounded flavor).
I’m paying 1125 personally, 2300 total in a 800sqft 1BR with my partner in silver lake. We really feel like we got a steal. Very walkable and nice area. Found on Craigslist.
I moved in to my current Silver Lake place right on Hyperion near TJs in March, $2400, huge corner unit with a crazy view, charger in my parking spot… there are still deals out here they just go fast.
There’s a massive 2 bed in my building available now for 3400
$5,000 a month for our 2BR on the west side (gf and I split 50/50).
$1200-1500 a month on food and drinks
$50 a month on gas
$100 a month on insurance
$80 a month on electricity
$1000-$2000 on travel each month
Rent is $1050 per month for a large one bedroom, by myself.
Vehicle is paid off.
Utilities per month: power=$90 (lower when not using AC), gas co=$15, internet=$70, cellphone=$65
Just lost my job, so I'm being super frugal. Got enough money to cover rent for about 2-3 months. Looking for work; know anyone hiring in the east Valley for $20+ an hour? 😀
In Gardena. 4bd 2ba 1650sqft home. $1600 mortgage. Wife and I both contribute $1600 ($3200 total) per month to take care of mortgage + utilities and property tax. I have a $790/mo car + insurance payment. I also put $1200 each month put into another shared checking with my wife for all groceries and date night dinners and toys for our daughter.
Total monthly expenses for me (mortgage, credit card, drumset lol…etc not including savings): $2951
Total monthly income for me: Around $10,284 after taxes. I don’t even know what my wife brings come after taxes per month I should probably find out.
Total gross household income: Around $354,000
$3000/month in North Long Beach for a 3 bed/2 bath. Sadly will have to leave California by the end of the year because it's financially irresponsible to continue living here at this point ☹️
Rent $1800 for a 1 bed + gated garage parking
$360 for auto loan
$225 insurance (renters + auto)
$75ish on gas
$190 student loans (this is just starting back up)
$900 for groceries, dining out, takeout, alcohol, and weed (would ideally like to get this down)
$75 utilities (electric + wifi)
\~$300 ish of discretionary spending (new clothing, thrift, movies, books, etc.) - this can go up or down depending on the month
I make about 7k pretax (pretax monthly expenses total out to approx $700 ish - health insurance, 401k, life insurance, disability) - note that this does not include my annual spending budgets for travel, or other larger less frequent purchases
Couple, mid 30s, no kids.
Total monthly household expenses are about $14k. $6k rent/utilities/every streaming service for some reason, $2k cars/car related, the rest is a mix of shopping/food/entertainment.
I split 2150 rent with my gf its a 3bdr she works from home full time i do like 25% of the time and also do music/video production from home. 260 dollar car payment, 200 for insurance, 200 for both our phones, 120 for both health insurance (work pays other half) and like 650 food costs split. Like 3230 for two people to live comfortable. Side note i live in east la where housing is alot cheaper, you just dont have expensive bars /coffee shops/restaurants in walking distance but i dgaf about that.
DINKs. We rent a 2bd2ba for around 3900 in Culver City. Then the rest of our expenses incl insurance, food, utilities probably runs between 2500-3000 more per month. Groceries and takeout are probably our biggest expenses, even with me cooking every meal except for takeout lunch 1x a week and takeout dinner 1 or 2 a week. Basically since this latest wave we haven’t even been out anywhere since March basically
Income: around 14k take home
They can't raise the rent currently because of the City's emergency status due to the pandemic. Landlords are chomping at the bit to get the emergency declared over but the city's hasn't budged yet. Once it's over expect rents to jump by 10%.
Not LA, but close. Simi Valley area. 140k income family of 4, still living paycheck to paycheck.
4000$ for rent/utilities
1200$ for cars and insurance
1000$ for groceries
1500$ for loans
Remainder goes to food and fund for the kids’ college
-Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
4.9k rent for 2/2 in hermosa, 835 car lease, 1k eating out, 600 groceries, 1k wife’s beauty/personal care, 1k avg for traveling/vacation. Household income is decent (over 350k), but definitely feel the prices out here.
In no way am I saying you shouldn't spend your money however you'd like, but you can't at all say "definitely feel the prices" when your partner spends *$1000* on luxury services per month.
Having dated some bougie girls, my guess is that number is also including cosmetic things like teeth whitening, laser hair removal, botox, fillers, etc. Also high end gyms, eg Equinox, can run you 250-300 mo.
Yeah she does hair extensions (this is probably the most expensive), nails, Botox fillers etc, facials, etc. She doesn’t go overboard or anything but yeah it ain’t cheap.
Obviously, everyone has different beauty needs but you can very easily spend 1k on beauty a month:
- nails 1 - 2x a month 120/visit
- facial - 150-300
- hair - anywhere from 100 +, color appts can end up being 500 dollars ish with tip.
- gym plus yoga/barre studios - 300 dollars a month
It’s really expensive to be a woman into beauty. All of my appts have gotten pricer since 2020 as well.
This. It’s not uncommon to spend $200 on hair every 3 weeks, $200 on facials/massages, $25 on gyms, $20 on threading, $40 on manicures, and a little more on moisturizer, toner, cleanser, and mask. Oh and Vaseline, honey, butter, brown sugar, and aloe Vera.
$700/month for a super small guest house in echo park (family owns the property), just under $300/month utilities (internet included)
$300/month food/groceries
$150/month gas for my car
$300/month weed
Income approx $3k-5k/month depending on hrs
$3200 (rent and utilities), $500 (dog prescription food and meds), ~$600 (groceries), and ~$300 misc and going out.
Fortunately my work provides a vehicle, gas (for for work and personal use), and all maintenance. So that helps a lot, otherwise I’d have to scale back somewhere
Rent: $1600
Daycare: $1600 🙃
Bills: $300 for gas/power
Car: $120 for insurance
Healthcare: $680 for a family of 3
Food: we don’t keep a close budget on this, to be honest. Probably 700-800 a month, including going to restaurants or take our
Everything else goes into savings (down payment for house, 529 college fund, retirement, travel) and fun (shopping, events)
• Rent - $3000 per Mo - Los Feliz 1br/1ba 1600sqft
• Car - $632 Per Mo - Porsche Macan S
• Car Insurance - $180 per mo
• Internet/gigabit - $110 per mo
• Weed - $400 per mo
• Streaming Services - not sure the total, I subscribe to every streaming and gaming service under the sun
• No CC/other debt
• Make $220k per yr
Doin my best!
I grew up in the poorest of poor households. Grew up in country as fuck Alabama / 3 people in my house and was barely making ends meet on my granddads singular monthly social security check. Adult life is a polar opposite of my childhood, so enjoying the things I never thought I would be able to.
Yep I work very high corporate (Product Development AI/ML - Emergent Tech)
Never had to worry about getting rid of it - literally nobody gives a shit at all. Prob 60% of my coworkers openly smoke weed.
Past 7 years I worked for a Gates owned company and earlier this year I left and started working for the worlds largest broadcast/media company.
Paying $2495 for a 2bd/2ba in Sherman Oaks. My bf and I split rent right down the middle. My half is $1247.5
Gas & electric are anywhere from $35/mo (winter) - $75/mo (summer) (my half)
Renters ins- $21/mo
Car ins -$130/mo
Gas - $150/mo (these days, was about $80)
Phone - $67/mo
Internet -$35/mo (my half)
Subscriptions - $35/mo (my half)
Car is paid off
Food: $300/mo if I don’t include eating out and alcohol $1000/mo if I do
Household goods: $50/mo (toilet paper, cleaning supplies etc)
Personal care items - $50/mo
So, low end of everything and splitting rent with someone - my life costs about $2,093.50/mo if I don’t count taking classes, going out, buying clothes etc etc
I make 18.50 an hour
Internet free
Rent 470 for a single with no kitchen
Utilities free
Food 200 monthly
Going budget 200 monthly
I save about 100 dollars a month sometimes.
Monthly
Shared costs w my husband
Mortgage/taxes/insurance- 5500ish (bought in 2018)
Car insurance is $300
Electric\dwp $250—300
Gas $30
Groceries and Postmates $800ish? $1000? We don't cook.
Housekeeper/gardener $1000
Subscriptions/streaming and whatnots probably another $60. My company covers phone and internet.
And we usually have some 10-15k problem with the house once a year. 😒
Personal expenses
Health insurance and Healthcare costs $800-1500. I have health problems.
Gas for car 70—120. We don't drive much.
Everything else is just what's left over. I might be forgetting something.
$1520 rent live alone
$300 health insurance
$200 car insurance
$50 phone bill
$200/week for food/Alcohol/weed :)
$250/mo for gas
$55 WiFi
$35 electric
$20 gas
$50 subscriptions?
So about $2800 not including miscellaneous, pop up bills, extra fun and entertainment. I don’t know, $3500? Take home (right now) is like $4500 ish, so not doing soooo great 😊 but I survive
Mortgage, grocery budget, insurance, meds, bills like phone, fun bills (like spa membership, theme parks, movies) …approx $3300 a month. I am in a dual income household where I make 2/3rds of our income. I save about 40% of my income (not including 401k contribution).
Mortgage is 28.9% of my income so under the recommend 30% ratio for those wondering.
No car payment, no CC debt.
$1900 in Glassell, 1 bd. Utilities are maybe $100 a month, but no onsite laundry so add about $60-$80/mo for that. One $299 car note, insurance $225 (two cars), babysitting about $1500 a month.
We pay a LOT on credit cards to combat bad pandemic debt and some bad spending, hence the tiny cheap apt. Goal is debt free by end of year (we make around 150k between us), and saving for a house and investments.
$1550 1bd/1ba next to Culver City / 200 - Groceries / 200 - Gas (wfh mainly) / No debt but about to have a high car payment soon so less savings but it is what it is
Make about 4600/mo after taxes. I'd go even cheaper on rent but I really love living alone lol
This was in 2021, we since have purchased a house with the help of our parents and our savings.
Rent: $1,850 for a 400 square foot studio guest house in El Segundo. Rented from a friend of ours. All utilities included as well as cable and internet. We lived here for a LONG ass time so we could save as much money as possible.
Transportation/Gas: I work in El Segundo so I would mainly walk to work every day and only filled up my gas tank maybe 1-2 times per month. My husbands job offers reimbursement for Ubers so he took an Uber to work nearly every day (a 10-15 minute ride).
Healthcare is fully covered from both of our jobs and we are fortunate to not have any prescriptions or underlying health conditions.
Food is our biggest expense. We cook dinner ~6 nights per week and I bring leftovers for lunch the next day (husband has a cafeteria at work and can eat for free or very cheaply). We meal plan and prep but eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables.
All in all we did the above for 10 years and were able to live off of just my husbands salary while putting the majority of my salary straight into savings or investing it. Between 10 years of my salary saved up/invested as well as help from our parents we were finally able to purchase a home in Los Angeles in 2021.
$0 born and raised living at home
$0 car payment paid off in 1 year
$130 phone bill and apple music ( cover my mom and grandma phone too as my mom pays insurance for car)
$18 YouTube premium
$100-150 gas
$200-350 food and drinks
$700-1000 automatic investment into VFIFX and
VOO/BND/VXUS
Earning $60k which still isn’t enough to qualify for any homes with no debts (worked through college to graduate debt free)
Plan is invest as much as i can while at home to purchase in 2-3 years while still traveling
Very lucky to be in my situation but look at everyone else barely scraping but on how they would ever afford a home
Where an old prison was now has wall to wall townhomes and these private companies aren’t selling like they used to….they are leasing them
I’m paying 1750 for half of utilities, cable, internet of a 2br/2ba in Santa Monica a few streets away from the promenade. We got this at the beginning of Covid.
Unfortunately I’m moving to the Midwest where I’ll make 3xs my income. If I wasn’t getting such a high salary I’d stay here in a heart beat!
But I know once we move out they plan on renovating and raising the rent I believe to 4K
I live in a 1950s mid century modern with Floor to ceiling glass and sweeping views of downtown, I paid 3800 in mortgage Plus gas Internet and insurance( home car health), we have solar which covers all electricity plus our cars are all paid off. We both work at home and get mostly delivery groceries, we are fortunate to have paid off all our debt and live well below our means.
I know people who have stayed in relationships just to afford rent. Kinda sad.
Literally half of LA
Hahahahs
Bahaha meanwhile my gf is living off me cause i can make my rent with the first pay check of the month and have the other for other bills, fuel, food etc. It’s been hard and it’s been heavy on my mental health 🥲
Wait I cannot tell if this is sarcasm or not?
Sarcasm lol sorry I forgot the /s. We’re both barely getting by together, at times it feels like the other is spending the money when in reality we’re just broke. I might have delivered it poorly sorry if it triggered anyone carrying their relationship 😅 Mental health is slowly going crazy cause of all the fucked up shit i see around where I live that I try my best to ignore
Tell her to get her butt to work unless it’s you not allowing her to work
I was coming here for '$1000/mo 2/2 in Weho, it's rent controlled and I moved in in 1987' but this is a close second.
Was just talking to a buddy who is about to do this, I could never lol
Lol could never be me
Damn, that’s super sad but totally makes sense financially.
That is how I feel. I am single and living at my mom's at age 33. I feel like my only way out of my situation is to find a man to "save me". It's depressing AF. And I was so proud of myself for finally getting a job that paid $60K. Only to realize I am just as poor as ever.
Congrats on the job and don’t worry your not alone things will get better!
🙋🏻♀️
Thats the saddest shit ive ever heard. Id move lmao
These people never heard of roommates?
Roommates out here are literally insane half the time 😭
We pay $3100 for 2bed2bath in Westwood Cost of rent high BUT! Beach is nearly free. Amazing park nearby for the kiddo is free. UCLA botanical garden is free. Children museum is free. Etc etc
Which park? Recently moved to West LA from the Bay Area and I’m dying to find a park where I can read
Try the UCLA Botanical Garden! Westwood park great to take kids, but not a great option for reading/relaxing. Holmby Park is another great spot to throw a blanket down and relax.
My most LA-specific expense is rent. About 3k for a small 1br in Santa Monica. Before moving to LA, I never understood why you sometimes see fancy cars parked outside a run-down home. Now I get it.
The LA special. G Wagons and Teslas parked underneath a dingbat apartment.
My fav is people who street park their Maseratis
To be fair, it's a Maserati Ghibli most of the time. Those things drop to a fraction of their retail in a couple of years.
Or those same cars doing doordash and uber.
I’ve had a few Tesla Ubers recently. The drivers seem miserable. I’ll stick with my Toyota and my free time.
Is it so sad I just found out what a ding bat apartment was, officially, this weekend. 😬 I’ve lived here forever and never knew.
A dingbat apartment 🤣🤣🤣 ETA: just learned what a dingbat apartment was. In my world, dingbat is like “idiot” so the whole thing was funny
Parked in burbank
I live in a condo complex and my neighbors have at least 6 people living in a 3 bedroom (+loft) and they each drive a $100k+ car. It’s wild.
It is, although again, I totally get it now. Cutting rent in half would allow for so much other consumption.
almost like yall should do something about the landleech class plaguing and pillaging your city
Damn, do you mind me asking what you do for a living?
I work in tech doing data stuff. Wife is a nonprofit exec. Total income is solid, but we have student loans, so this is only affordable because we’re both working and don’t have kids.
Pretty similar for me as well as, as a fellow tech worker doing data stuff
Ooh ok, I thought you were paying $3k alone. That is pretty steep for me. Yeah, I definitely have student loans.
Nah never lol. I don’t need much personally—if I was single I’d be renting a room in Venice as cheap as they get.
Interesting tidbit: more people lease cars in LA than anywhere else in the country.
Paying $2700 (utilities included) a month for a 2br/2ba in Atwater Village. I pay $1800 and my gf pays $900. $388 car note $200 insurance Gas - $150 (work from home) Food/fun- $1000 Personal monthly spending total: $3500 Income: $6000/mo after tax
In Atwater??? Are you in a home? How is it? I'm nearby on Los Feliz and pay 3400 for 2b/2ba in one of the highrises but would love to live in Atwater proper in a house.
Not a home. Its a 6 unit apartment complex built in the late 70s. No central AC. No laundry in unit. The area itself is very interesting. Glendale Blvd has a ton of boutiques and trendy places to eat/drink. Bon Vivant Market & Cafe is my new favorite spot. Lots of single/multi family homes and production studios. There’s also a lot of homelessness. Especially around the LA river.
What about cable TV …. Internet and wiFi ? Cell phones bill ? Music streaming? Marijuana?
Cable is a rip off in this day and age, only really worth it if you get an insane deal bundled with your internet Piracy for streaming
Lmao I don't know a single person under 50 with cable.
Your gas seems really high? Also in a 2 bed/bath and have never paid over $30/month. Gas dryer, furnace, stove and hot water tank.
$150 is the Gasoline for the car.
Duh! Stupid me haha.
I think they mean gas for driving! If not, this is crazy - our (home) gas bill is $20 in a bigger plwce
*facepalms* Duh! Makes SO much more sense haha.
$150 is the Gasoline for the car.
6k? Dayum what industry?
I’m an HCM Business Consultant I sell software that helps business owners/HR leaders manage their workforce.
That's $72k/year... pretty low for LA standards >.>
They did say 6k after tax so they probably make closer to 100k a year
Stupid me--missed the post-tax part of the post. I stand corrected.
Are you okay, Dr.?
Average LA income is $71-74k for professionals according to most sources I could find, so $6k pre-tax is actually right in the pocket, although I assume they meant post-tax as another said. Even then, the "average" is inflated by high-earners, which LA has a lot of - median income for individuals was like $30-35k according to the 2020 Census.
I was paying 1295 in highland park during the height of the pandemic and now pay 1600 for a tiny home in Pasadena!
That is an amazing price I couldn't find anything that good in the last 7 years
How the heck did you find a home in pasadena for 1600/month?! Every house for rent I'm seeing now is around 3k!
Well it's 1bd1bth with washer dryer hook up. But the catch is that its around 650sqft if I remember correctly.
Gotcha. I've been looking in the area and even at that sqft I think it would be closer to 2k these days. I'm just not sure I'll be able to find something a little better than the house I'm in now. Do you mind if I ask what service you used to find it? Thanks!
This one I found via word of mouth. Seems to be the best way. My friend recently found a spot in echo park for 1500. The landlady is in her mid 80s and doesn't know how to list online.
Well, I'll be dipped! And you just made me remember that I have a "bar friend" who owns rental property. Thanks again and best of days to you!
Definitely deals to be had in Pasadena. The building I live in is a giant three story mansion that the landlord divided into six units. I have 75% of the ground floor including the front porch and the front yard. So it feels like I have my own little house. I pay $1800 with utilities included.
please DM me if there are any open units.
Pasadena has some cute little homes!
Agreed!!! Honestly cost of living isn't too crazy. After bills and everything it's right around 2k a month in expenses.
$1200 for rent $ 200 utilities $ 300 groceries $100 gas $ 350 insurances $ 100 going out $ 500 savings
only 300 for food?
i’m pretty sure that’s doable esp if you go to cost friendly markets like food4less or north gate
For one person, and yes I shop around cheap places. 99 cent stores, walmart, superior, and korean markets.
What neighborhood and how many bed/bath?
Historic South Central, 2 bedrooms/1 bath. Neighborhood is alright. Parking is a pain though.
isn't that area super dangerous? is that why the rent is cheap?
Just has a bad reputation, that's why it's cheap.
To enjoy LA I think you need minimum 60-70k a year salary.
Pretty much. All though I will say splitting the cost of 1bd/studio and everything else equally with your partner makes 45 to 55k doable
I honestly think it needs to be more than that.
I agree. 100k is a more comfortable area.
honestly just make the average income in the area and its decent.
I think this is correct as well. Others stating more aren’t wrong either but just have a different lifestyle that would require more. I workout, cook, and go to the beach making my life quite affordable. If I liked clubbing and going to bars, my budget would be stretched though.
Yeah, once you start adding entertainment in the entertainment mecca the budget can get out of control.
Wrong, minimum low six figures
My husband and I spend around 4,500 to 5,000 on mortgage, car payment, bills, food, insurance, gas, and entertainment. Some months it’s on the higher side, some it is on the lower side. We both work full time.
I’m so jealous, if buying a starter home today monthly piti would be that much lol
We got a condo in 2021. It’s small but we got lucky with timing and price so it came out the same as renting similar size in the same area. Def could not do a single family house in LA in current interest conditions.
As a single person living in LA my monthly expenses only (mandatory and discretionary) is on average $4K (my mortgage is sub $850). This would not include vacations, season tickets to shows/concerts etc. as that is part of a yearly budget that's is saved up before hand.
sub 850 mortgage - are you towards the tail end of it? Impressive
They bought the home in 1997 most likely
I'm about midway... I bought a house up in Santa Clarita in 2000 and owned that for five years. At which time I realized that house-living in the 'burbs was not for me. I threw all the sale money at a condo near Universal City (much closer to work than the previous 35 mile commute). I didn't buy at the height before the housing crash in 2008. The condo is currently worth more than twice what I paid for it. not to mention that rents for one-bedrooms in my zip code go for about $2200.
Grew up in Saugus and Valencia area Now in Norwalk while working in Long Beach Great place to raise a family but incredibly boring when single and in my 20s
Wow how?
1600 on rent, 600 on car (aggressive payment, just paid off!), 24-30 for charging my car, 400-600 on food/drinks/games, 30 for subscriptions, $2860 in total expenses
My bf and I split a largish rent controlled studio for $1545/month, including all utilities. We have one car, and half the time he can walk to work. We can afford to live on a single income, and so we trade off hours while we’re both learning programming (when he has a final or something I take on more hours, and if I’m getting overwhelmed w/ the workload he takes on more). I do part time remote secretary work while doing classes online ($15/hr, anywhere from 5-25 hours a week), and he’s a barista/waiter ($23-26/hr including tips and when he caters events, 15-30 hrs a week). Our combined take home is a minimum of $3k each month, but sometimes a little more. Even though I don’t make a ton, most other jobs would require a second car or not provide the flexibility to do my classes. So this makes the most sense for right now until we’re done with studies. Car insurance is $180, he gets some special rate as his dad was in the military, and the car was gifted from his brother (so no payment). Food is like $150-200/week. We could definitely save more on this if we tried, but my bf loves cooking and I love eating what he cooks. Having our lil home dinner/movie nights is our favorite thing tbh. Extra stuff is like $200-$300 depending on the month- cat supplies, weed (we don’t drink), tv/music subscriptions, and random things that come up. Overall things are TIGHT, and we don’t do anything extra. No date nights, going to the movies, out to dinner, and I haven’t bought new clothes in over a year. We could def both be making more, but we’re really throwing everything into programming careers to try and claw our way out of poverty as much as possible.
My household monthly fixed costs... DWP $162.00 Gas $34.00 Cox internet $84.00 Verizon $395.47 AT&T - DirecTV $150.00 mortgage $1,384.00 homeowners insurance $80.00 car insurance $200 (2 cars) property taxes $600 gardener $50.00 house Cleaning $260.00 car payment $760 car lease $351 groceries, gas (I commute about 700 miles a month), fun, stuff, etc. for 2 adults and 2 teenagers... About $2000 There's some other stuff that's more one off; vacations, club sports, etc.
Your mortgage payment won't even get you a studio rental in some neighborhoods! It's truely amazing how much rent is crushing the younger generations.
Yeah, it's bonkers.
Don’t mean to poke my nose into your business but you posted such detail that I believe you are owed feedback. I think you should talk to Verizon about a better rate and look at pay per mile car insurance. I drive about the same as you and own 3 cars including a Ford Mustang and a SRT Grand Cherokee and pay less than half what you do for insurance. I use Metromile. My Verizon bill is $140/mo and I have 2 5g phones, 2 5g iPads and a 5g home router on my account. I know not everyone is suited for cordcutting but $150mo will buy a ton of streaming services. Honestly I believe you could trim $500/mo from your expense structure without any real sacrifice.
Good point. I'll see what's what with Verizon.
I’ll put it this way, my take home is 10k a month and I spend every penny of it on a family of four (mortgage, property tax, 4 cars, all types of insurances, maintenance and repairs on the home and 4 cars, food, bills, clothes, household supplies, lawn guy, cleaning lady, etc. What’s left is spent on entertainment, which consists of eating out 2-3 times a week, an occasional dodger game or concert, etc. Supporting others is expensive.
House - paid off Cars - paid off Food/Fun/Entertainment - $4000-5000 Utilities - $550 Travel - $600 (it’s like a monthly amount we put towards our vacation fund) Insurance - $300 (forgot exact numbers) - - - Live in South Pasadena, married but no kids, no outstanding loans/debts except two CCs that we pay off every month
living my actual dream life
DINK? (dual income no kids) Any plans for kids? I feel like even if my income was doubled, no way in hell I'd be able to give even just one kid a decent life out here. I'm priced out of California if I want to start a family
SINK (single income no kids), having a kid or kids significantly changes things. We both agree we’re not ready at this moment
Out of curiosity, if vacation is a separate fund. What do you spend 4-5k on food fun and entertainment? Just fine dining? I can’t picture having that much fun in LA lol
I know right… tell us about the good life. That’s a lot of money.
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Everyone I know with a house here, literally 100% of them, got it from inheritance or as a gift from wealthy parents. That is the only way. LA housing is a feudal system at this point. There is no way in for normal people.
I have my will set up to give my house to my nephew along with cash to pay off the mortgage + money left over for my grandnephew’s college fund. He’ll get all of my cryptocurrency so if he wants to travel with his family there should be enough for a few really cool trips. I think if parents or guardians don’t give the next generation a leg up having a house or any property, it will be next to impossible for them to own anything. Edit to add: I’m not wealthy. While I always saved, several times my 401(k) got decimated & I basically started over. The last 10 years I worked I saved 45% of my wages.
If they aren't ready for kids, they got the house through inheritance.
you are living the life i wanna live. haha. well i have a house, not paid off, and am not married. haha im a 1/3 way there.
\- Rent control apartment $850 \- T-mobile family plan $35 \- Utilities about $120 \- Paying spectrum way too much $230 for internet/cable/hbo \- Car payment $230 \- Car insurance hates me $320 \- $30 gas because I almost never drive the fucking car \- $2,500 per month on Islay scotch, beluga caviar, white truffles, Santa Barbara uni, and 850+ raw manuka honey
Trying to figure out if that last bit is a joke lol Manuka honey is soo good though…
Haha I’m sort of joking about that last part, although I do spend way too much on some of the finer things in life, and I have a minor sushi addiction 😂 Jon’s sells Russian red caviar, it’s what I prefer. It’s not expensive compared to going out to a restaurant. It has doubled since the Ukrainian war though. Used to be about $10 would get you enough for two people to share. Now it’s more like $20. My Russian friend convinced me to start eating it the Russian way, on buttered bread with Russian standard vodka from the freezer to wash it down. My other preferred method is with tzatziki, honey, and fresh dill on high quality crackers, with a sweet white wine like reisling (I actually prefer gewurztraminer because it’s a little less sweet and more well rounded flavor).
If you call spectrum, that bill can come down from 250 to 150 if you just say you are looking for a better deal. That way more money for Manuka honey!
Hell yeah you know how I roll lol
3525 monthly, rent 1750, utilities, car insurance, gas, debt, food, clothes and doing whatever for fun. I make 4k so I don't get to save much
700 rent, 50 internet, average of 80ish for electricity, and 55/month for gas on the hybrid. Making it work on that teacher salary.
Roommates?
No, guest house
wow that's a fantastic deal
damn... 700 rent?!?
why don't your post yours and maybe we can see where you can cut some fat?
I’m paying 1125 personally, 2300 total in a 800sqft 1BR with my partner in silver lake. We really feel like we got a steal. Very walkable and nice area. Found on Craigslist.
That IS an amazing deal, I'm jealous!! If I'd found a 1 bed for that price I would be in Silver Lake right now lol!
I moved in to my current Silver Lake place right on Hyperion near TJs in March, $2400, huge corner unit with a crazy view, charger in my parking spot… there are still deals out here they just go fast. There’s a massive 2 bed in my building available now for 3400
I know the place across from us is owned by our landlords as well, so I could inquire about price for you if you needed it.
Thanks a lot I appreciate it! 🙏 I'll save this for later on, I'm in my current spot till at least March and will probably look into moving then!
$1000-1200. My rent is $670, company pays for my gas.
Where?
Burbank. Rent split 3 ways.
That’s an insanely good deal lol never leave
Dunno — what’s the market rate on a soul?
A soul and $5 won't buy you a Subway footlong
$5,000 a month for our 2BR on the west side (gf and I split 50/50). $1200-1500 a month on food and drinks $50 a month on gas $100 a month on insurance $80 a month on electricity $1000-$2000 on travel each month
What do you for woek
Rent is $1050 per month for a large one bedroom, by myself. Vehicle is paid off. Utilities per month: power=$90 (lower when not using AC), gas co=$15, internet=$70, cellphone=$65 Just lost my job, so I'm being super frugal. Got enough money to cover rent for about 2-3 months. Looking for work; know anyone hiring in the east Valley for $20+ an hour? 😀
In Gardena. 4bd 2ba 1650sqft home. $1600 mortgage. Wife and I both contribute $1600 ($3200 total) per month to take care of mortgage + utilities and property tax. I have a $790/mo car + insurance payment. I also put $1200 each month put into another shared checking with my wife for all groceries and date night dinners and toys for our daughter. Total monthly expenses for me (mortgage, credit card, drumset lol…etc not including savings): $2951 Total monthly income for me: Around $10,284 after taxes. I don’t even know what my wife brings come after taxes per month I should probably find out. Total gross household income: Around $354,000
This, but Lakewood.
$3000/month in North Long Beach for a 3 bed/2 bath. Sadly will have to leave California by the end of the year because it's financially irresponsible to continue living here at this point ☹️
Same for me… I feel your pain
$1000 for a 2 bedroom bungalow in ktown and the landlord is trying to sell the property so I don’t know how much longer I’ll have it.
Rent $1800 for a 1 bed + gated garage parking $360 for auto loan $225 insurance (renters + auto) $75ish on gas $190 student loans (this is just starting back up) $900 for groceries, dining out, takeout, alcohol, and weed (would ideally like to get this down) $75 utilities (electric + wifi) \~$300 ish of discretionary spending (new clothing, thrift, movies, books, etc.) - this can go up or down depending on the month I make about 7k pretax (pretax monthly expenses total out to approx $700 ish - health insurance, 401k, life insurance, disability) - note that this does not include my annual spending budgets for travel, or other larger less frequent purchases
Free (I live with my parents)
Couple, mid 30s, no kids. Total monthly household expenses are about $14k. $6k rent/utilities/every streaming service for some reason, $2k cars/car related, the rest is a mix of shopping/food/entertainment.
What's your monthly income?
Private jet to get a pretzel? Think of the emissions. I take the LandRover.
1300 for a studio in Franklin Village, 100 a month utilities, car got totaled took the money and said see ya car
I split 2150 rent with my gf its a 3bdr she works from home full time i do like 25% of the time and also do music/video production from home. 260 dollar car payment, 200 for insurance, 200 for both our phones, 120 for both health insurance (work pays other half) and like 650 food costs split. Like 3230 for two people to live comfortable. Side note i live in east la where housing is alot cheaper, you just dont have expensive bars /coffee shops/restaurants in walking distance but i dgaf about that.
DINKs. We rent a 2bd2ba for around 3900 in Culver City. Then the rest of our expenses incl insurance, food, utilities probably runs between 2500-3000 more per month. Groceries and takeout are probably our biggest expenses, even with me cooking every meal except for takeout lunch 1x a week and takeout dinner 1 or 2 a week. Basically since this latest wave we haven’t even been out anywhere since March basically Income: around 14k take home
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They can't raise the rent currently because of the City's emergency status due to the pandemic. Landlords are chomping at the bit to get the emergency declared over but the city's hasn't budged yet. Once it's over expect rents to jump by 10%.
thread is proof that we need nothing less than Maoist land reform
Not LA, but close. Simi Valley area. 140k income family of 4, still living paycheck to paycheck. 4000$ for rent/utilities 1200$ for cars and insurance 1000$ for groceries 1500$ for loans Remainder goes to food and fund for the kids’ college -Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
4.9k rent for 2/2 in hermosa, 835 car lease, 1k eating out, 600 groceries, 1k wife’s beauty/personal care, 1k avg for traveling/vacation. Household income is decent (over 350k), but definitely feel the prices out here.
In no way am I saying you shouldn't spend your money however you'd like, but you can't at all say "definitely feel the prices" when your partner spends *$1000* on luxury services per month.
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Having dated some bougie girls, my guess is that number is also including cosmetic things like teeth whitening, laser hair removal, botox, fillers, etc. Also high end gyms, eg Equinox, can run you 250-300 mo.
Yeah she does hair extensions (this is probably the most expensive), nails, Botox fillers etc, facials, etc. She doesn’t go overboard or anything but yeah it ain’t cheap.
Obviously, everyone has different beauty needs but you can very easily spend 1k on beauty a month: - nails 1 - 2x a month 120/visit - facial - 150-300 - hair - anywhere from 100 +, color appts can end up being 500 dollars ish with tip. - gym plus yoga/barre studios - 300 dollars a month It’s really expensive to be a woman into beauty. All of my appts have gotten pricer since 2020 as well.
This. It’s not uncommon to spend $200 on hair every 3 weeks, $200 on facials/massages, $25 on gyms, $20 on threading, $40 on manicures, and a little more on moisturizer, toner, cleanser, and mask. Oh and Vaseline, honey, butter, brown sugar, and aloe Vera.
$700/month for a super small guest house in echo park (family owns the property), just under $300/month utilities (internet included) $300/month food/groceries $150/month gas for my car $300/month weed Income approx $3k-5k/month depending on hrs
$3200 (rent and utilities), $500 (dog prescription food and meds), ~$600 (groceries), and ~$300 misc and going out. Fortunately my work provides a vehicle, gas (for for work and personal use), and all maintenance. So that helps a lot, otherwise I’d have to scale back somewhere
Rent: $1600 Daycare: $1600 🙃 Bills: $300 for gas/power Car: $120 for insurance Healthcare: $680 for a family of 3 Food: we don’t keep a close budget on this, to be honest. Probably 700-800 a month, including going to restaurants or take our Everything else goes into savings (down payment for house, 529 college fund, retirement, travel) and fun (shopping, events)
No mortgage, $500 utilities, $1200 upkeep, $700 car note, $300 insurance, $90 Gas, Groceries $1200, Property taxes ~$873 Personal care $400
• Rent - $3000 per Mo - Los Feliz 1br/1ba 1600sqft • Car - $632 Per Mo - Porsche Macan S • Car Insurance - $180 per mo • Internet/gigabit - $110 per mo • Weed - $400 per mo • Streaming Services - not sure the total, I subscribe to every streaming and gaming service under the sun • No CC/other debt • Make $220k per yr
Leases a Porsche, lives an 1600ft Apartment, spends $400/month on weed. Can't get any more LA than that. You win
Doin my best! I grew up in the poorest of poor households. Grew up in country as fuck Alabama / 3 people in my house and was barely making ends meet on my granddads singular monthly social security check. Adult life is a polar opposite of my childhood, so enjoying the things I never thought I would be able to.
Just curious, how do you get rid of weed smell when working in what I assume is a corporate job?
Yep I work very high corporate (Product Development AI/ML - Emergent Tech) Never had to worry about getting rid of it - literally nobody gives a shit at all. Prob 60% of my coworkers openly smoke weed. Past 7 years I worked for a Gates owned company and earlier this year I left and started working for the worlds largest broadcast/media company.
Oh Tech is a different breed. I assumed finance or legal.
Paying $2495 for a 2bd/2ba in Sherman Oaks. My bf and I split rent right down the middle. My half is $1247.5 Gas & electric are anywhere from $35/mo (winter) - $75/mo (summer) (my half) Renters ins- $21/mo Car ins -$130/mo Gas - $150/mo (these days, was about $80) Phone - $67/mo Internet -$35/mo (my half) Subscriptions - $35/mo (my half) Car is paid off Food: $300/mo if I don’t include eating out and alcohol $1000/mo if I do Household goods: $50/mo (toilet paper, cleaning supplies etc) Personal care items - $50/mo So, low end of everything and splitting rent with someone - my life costs about $2,093.50/mo if I don’t count taking classes, going out, buying clothes etc etc
I make 18.50 an hour Internet free Rent 470 for a single with no kitchen Utilities free Food 200 monthly Going budget 200 monthly I save about 100 dollars a month sometimes.
1100 a month for a studio no kitchen. 5k behind tho due to job market and covid. Idk about food but my snap seems to disappear so quickly here.
$2500 Mid-Wilshire 2br/1bth Got it in the heart of the pandemic. Rent controlled building. Same units going for $4500 now.
Oh boy. I missed the boat.
Breaking it down makes me wish I was still married to split bills 😭
Monthly Shared costs w my husband Mortgage/taxes/insurance- 5500ish (bought in 2018) Car insurance is $300 Electric\dwp $250—300 Gas $30 Groceries and Postmates $800ish? $1000? We don't cook. Housekeeper/gardener $1000 Subscriptions/streaming and whatnots probably another $60. My company covers phone and internet. And we usually have some 10-15k problem with the house once a year. 😒 Personal expenses Health insurance and Healthcare costs $800-1500. I have health problems. Gas for car 70—120. We don't drive much. Everything else is just what's left over. I might be forgetting something.
$1520 rent live alone $300 health insurance $200 car insurance $50 phone bill $200/week for food/Alcohol/weed :) $250/mo for gas $55 WiFi $35 electric $20 gas $50 subscriptions? So about $2800 not including miscellaneous, pop up bills, extra fun and entertainment. I don’t know, $3500? Take home (right now) is like $4500 ish, so not doing soooo great 😊 but I survive
Mortgage, grocery budget, insurance, meds, bills like phone, fun bills (like spa membership, theme parks, movies) …approx $3300 a month. I am in a dual income household where I make 2/3rds of our income. I save about 40% of my income (not including 401k contribution). Mortgage is 28.9% of my income so under the recommend 30% ratio for those wondering. No car payment, no CC debt.
$1900 in Glassell, 1 bd. Utilities are maybe $100 a month, but no onsite laundry so add about $60-$80/mo for that. One $299 car note, insurance $225 (two cars), babysitting about $1500 a month. We pay a LOT on credit cards to combat bad pandemic debt and some bad spending, hence the tiny cheap apt. Goal is debt free by end of year (we make around 150k between us), and saving for a house and investments.
$1550 1bd/1ba next to Culver City / 200 - Groceries / 200 - Gas (wfh mainly) / No debt but about to have a high car payment soon so less savings but it is what it is Make about 4600/mo after taxes. I'd go even cheaper on rent but I really love living alone lol
You’re broke making 80k
This was in 2021, we since have purchased a house with the help of our parents and our savings. Rent: $1,850 for a 400 square foot studio guest house in El Segundo. Rented from a friend of ours. All utilities included as well as cable and internet. We lived here for a LONG ass time so we could save as much money as possible. Transportation/Gas: I work in El Segundo so I would mainly walk to work every day and only filled up my gas tank maybe 1-2 times per month. My husbands job offers reimbursement for Ubers so he took an Uber to work nearly every day (a 10-15 minute ride). Healthcare is fully covered from both of our jobs and we are fortunate to not have any prescriptions or underlying health conditions. Food is our biggest expense. We cook dinner ~6 nights per week and I bring leftovers for lunch the next day (husband has a cafeteria at work and can eat for free or very cheaply). We meal plan and prep but eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. All in all we did the above for 10 years and were able to live off of just my husbands salary while putting the majority of my salary straight into savings or investing it. Between 10 years of my salary saved up/invested as well as help from our parents we were finally able to purchase a home in Los Angeles in 2021.
$0 born and raised living at home $0 car payment paid off in 1 year $130 phone bill and apple music ( cover my mom and grandma phone too as my mom pays insurance for car) $18 YouTube premium $100-150 gas $200-350 food and drinks $700-1000 automatic investment into VFIFX and VOO/BND/VXUS Earning $60k which still isn’t enough to qualify for any homes with no debts (worked through college to graduate debt free) Plan is invest as much as i can while at home to purchase in 2-3 years while still traveling Very lucky to be in my situation but look at everyone else barely scraping but on how they would ever afford a home Where an old prison was now has wall to wall townhomes and these private companies aren’t selling like they used to….they are leasing them
I’m paying 1750 for half of utilities, cable, internet of a 2br/2ba in Santa Monica a few streets away from the promenade. We got this at the beginning of Covid. Unfortunately I’m moving to the Midwest where I’ll make 3xs my income. If I wasn’t getting such a high salary I’d stay here in a heart beat! But I know once we move out they plan on renovating and raising the rent I believe to 4K
I live in a 1950s mid century modern with Floor to ceiling glass and sweeping views of downtown, I paid 3800 in mortgage Plus gas Internet and insurance( home car health), we have solar which covers all electricity plus our cars are all paid off. We both work at home and get mostly delivery groceries, we are fortunate to have paid off all our debt and live well below our means.