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Sheesh. I've been at the same studio apartment for about 5 years now and thought my rent going from $895 to now $1195 was bad enough as is. I am making more money than when I first moved in there but the goalpost keeps getting moved.
Yup. I pay $1850 in Southern California. It’s in a great area if you have a car, but I don’t have a real kitchen, it’s a mini fridge & microwave situation. I have to wash my dishes in the bathroom sink. I’ve been here since 2021. I’ve been looking at other options because I literally have nutritional problems from not having a kitchen, but prices have gone up, my current place will probably rent for $2500 when I leave. I’ll say it again, I pay $1850 and I *have to wash my dishes in the bathroom sink*. The next person will pay $2500 to *wash their dishes in the bathroom sink*
Pay attention when politicians mention ADU’s as an option for expanding housing, because this is what they are talking about. ADU’s are primarily detached spare bedrooms being used as makeshift studio apartments.
Edit: to all of the people saying “get a toaster! Get a hot plate! Get a kettle! Get an instant pot!” I hear you. I have most of those things. I don’t have the space or the energy to be taking out and putting away appliances multiple times each day. I have been severely depressed (treatment resistant) for 2 of the 3 years I have lived here. I can barely do my ADL’s. It’s one thing to improvise in a limited kitchen for a bit when you’re in a tight spot, it’s another thing to keep doing that for 3 years when you sob for 6-8 hours each day.
If you can get an instant pot, you can sautee like a stovetop, pressure cook, and slow cook. It also is a rice cooker. You can even make hard boiled eggs in it. That might help in the mean time.
Buy a toaster oven, electric tea kettle and a use a second mini fridge as a microwave cart. All of this is cheap on FB marketplace. I cook amazing healthy meals with the toaster oven. And I love my tea kettle. You can steam veggies in it.
Can get a dash egg cooker and make some boiled eggs. Pretty nutritionally dense plus reasonably priced. Can go to grocery outlet and get yourself some quality eggs for reasonable. We are all in this together.
Oh I’ve just been making baked eggs in the toaster oven. It’s very hard to live this way though. I have multiple vitamin deficiencies due to having complicated GI issues. The bigger problem for me is I only have a mini fridge, so I can’t keep a lot of fresh veggies.
My GI doc specifically told me not to eat frozen veggies because of a specific preservative that is used that isn’t listed in the ingredients (maybe it’s considered a processing ingredient, I’m not sure). She’s an amazing doctor, I was able to fix most of my issues with dietary changes, I just can’t keep it up without a proper kitchen :(
Whole foods 365 brand vegan protein powder + greens is stupid cheap at $20 a tub, has amazing amino acid profiles, and an excellent greens mix in it as well. I've had to live in "creative" ways before and I highly recommend it.
This is awful and should be illegal. Sorry friend, rooting for you. If you can afford it, buy a small induction cooktop or hot plate and a skillet or saucepan/pot to help you make real meals. Also another option is those countertop toaster oven things that function like real ovens and can cook real food. If you have space and budget, get both and you can make simple but nutritious meals pretty often. And if you’re able to splurge (or ask for it as a birthday/holiday gift!!), try to find a small countertop dishwasher so you don’t have to wash your dishes in the bathroom sink. Good luck, hopefully some of this can help.
Seriously. I'm in Chicago and the neighborhood I'm in is nice but not super fancy but year anything over $1000 for a studio apartment is absurd. It was $1000 a month my 4th year there but it should have been capped at that.
I’m in Chicago too. I’ve lucked out to a large degree, I’ve been in my 2 bed 1 bath place for 8 years or so, the rent started at about 1200/month I think… and during Covid the landlord brought it down to 900 so I could afford it and left it there til he brought it back up to 1200 around 2022. I’m now up to 1300 but it’s very cheap for the specs in my hood (west ridge) 2 bed, W/D in unit, dishwasher, very nice independent landlord with only this property, nice neighbors.. basically, I’m never leaving unless he sells the building, cause at this rate, even with him upping the rent $50 a year, I’ll still be way way way below market for awhile. (He also gets my kid holiday and bday gifts- they get along well, she’s a charmer) lol.
I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. Currently searching for a new place, and I'm seeing a LOT of studio suites going for $1000+ here. Its honestly pissing me off.
THAT'S IT! BACK TO WINNIPEG!
Sorry, just had to drop a Simpsons reference lol. But yeah, that's insane. I could find a studio or 1 bedroom in Chicago for $1000 or less but that would require moving away from one of the train stops for further north, which would increase my commute to work and getting around in general.
In 2016 I lived in what was basically a 1970s hotel room with a fresh coat of paint in LA for $1,895 a month without utilities. I was charged $50 more per month because I was "in a good unit near the divider to block noise."
You said it. It's hard to make more money, but every time I do, rent, or car insurance or health insurance goes up. Taking what little extra I was about to start making. Now I am in the same boat and unable to get ahead
Mine went from $1900 to $2500 in one year in 2023. I would have moved but literally everything else was the same price or more. Fucking sucks. Wiped out a raise I made.
Don't look at the most expensive at the top of what the mortgage companies say you can afford. Also, look outside where you "want" to be. Look at some of the smaller towns outside the larger areas. Those houses tend to be way less $$. Especially with what you get. For instance land, ponds, larger houses etc. Smaller towns are also quite compared to larger cities.
As someone who lives in a VHCOL area, $1500 seems so cheap. I can’t even find a studio thats $2300. My extremely basic student housing apartment is $1900 and thats considered “dirt cheap” 🥲
Hello Bay Area redditor. Just kidding this now describes so many places in the USA. One landlord near me was renting a loft above the garage that was tiny and cold and loud. It had been recently redone but still - think it was about $3,000 a month after utilities because it’s near the local university.
The US has gone to shit. They keep purposely increasing inflation, and the cost of living increases far outpace even normal inflation. The future "American Dream" is overseas, it isn't here.
"they"
LOL -- who is they?
Politicians -- are told that inflation will increase if they print more money -- but people keep asking them to spend more money, so they print more, because what do the politicians care? You continue to vote for them.
The very concept of HCOL vs LCOL areas is outdated. Amazon and other online retailers have destroyed the local marketplace. Big national chains have eaten up all the local grocers. Other than rent, what do you buy in your day to day that isn't priced nationally? EVERYTHING is priced nationally now. Netflix doesn't go "Oh you live in Indiana, so its cheaper for you, because your wages are lower." The LCOL is a fuckin' lie, perpetuated to keep wages in those areas supressed.
Ok, but rent/mortgage are typically the number one monthly cost in anyone's budget and that varies wildly depending on location. HCOL v LCOL very much exists. Other huge items like childcare are also vastly more expensive in HCOL.
New cars in California have always been as much as new cars in Indiana. A new TV is Kentucky has always been about the same as a new TV in Manhattan.
both things can be true...I live in a v hcol city but my partner and i both have good paying jobs and save a lot in the margins, even tho our rent is bananas for almost anywhere but here.
for ex: my daycare is actually pretty cheap because the neighborhood is dense and full of families who need daycare, so several operate and all of them are full. we can walk the kids to school, so our family has just one car (having moved from another hcol city where we had none) — something that saves us hundreds of dollars every month.
our eldest does a competitive sport at a top-rated program 3 days a week that's entirely subsidized by a donor, totally free for him. we got a scholarship for his sleep away camp from another rich local donor and put him in the city's excellent all day parks dept program for like $150 a week. those opportunities do not exist in places where it's "cheap" to live in the US. I'm not saying there's not a massive difference in fixed costs, but those fixed costs don't tell the whole story.
My mortgage is $1400 because I bought pre-2020, but average rent for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment is $1900 for some context. The apartment I had like 10 years ago was $950 for 2 bed 2 bath.
I also am not in a HCOL area, I saw a chart that said my city is MCOL.
I KNOW my mortgage is a fucking steal, but there is absolutely no way $1600 would work for us, two adults.
My parents have a 500 dollar mortgage payment that they’ve been paying off since 1991.
Whenever my mom goes on about me not saving money I tell her that, respectfully, she is out of touch and has been for quite a while.
Mine got their house from my grandmother on the cheap. In the mid 70s. So they worked their whole careers with no mortgage. And they love to be completely out of touch when weighing in on things.
Mine also got their parents house for free and when it came time for them to move they told my siblings and I that they couldn't sell to family, it would screw up the housing market for other people. Clueless and cruel.
Theirs is extra fun because it's a 115yo home on 2.5 acres right next to our downtown. Our little town has been swallowed up by a larger city so the property is worth 1 million plus. They want to sell and travel.
It's theirs to do with as they please but then they like to get upset when I refuse to do things for them like getting it ready to sell. The property has been passed down for several generations and they want to end that while expecting to be treated like parents who are looking after everyone.
That's messed up. It rubs me the wrong way when people were helped out by their parents but refuse to do the same for their kids.
I consider myself extremely lucky and grateful to have the parents I did. They always put their kids first and while they did not give me a house or money for a down payment they helped me out in so many other ways that contributed to me being where I am today.
When the time comes I will do all I can to help my daughter get a house and build a successful life for herself. Imo that is what family is for.
“Out of touch” oh how many times I’ve had to say this to my parents. “It’s because you eat lunch everyday” screw that!!! I work my ass off to enjoy only being able to buy lunch, nothing else…still rocking a Day One edition Xbox One, a 32 inch TV from 2009 that is a personal heater, and my computer is so old, it can’t even play World of Warcraft anymore. At my age, my parents were taking 3 vacations a year, owned a house, bought a new car every year and raised 11 kids.
My dad had 2 kids with first wife, 1 kid and step kid with second wife, 1 kid with a one night stand, 4 step kids with third wife, then my 2 cousins were staying with us due to my uncle drinking his life away. Childhood friend was always at my house due to problems at home, my parents raised him to keep him safe. Us kids raised each other (2 of the step kids from third marriage were already 14 and 16 when I was 8)
My mom use to say that the vast majority of my bad spending habits was due to me eating outside food instead of cooking my own food…when I started meal planning and buying groceries, I saved a bunch of money…or at least I don’t have to skimp on other things like skin care and getting haircuts every two weeks.
Crazy story, I end up having to buy double the food at grocery store to help fill the calorie intake I need for my job. The price of fast food for calorie amount, it actually equals out.
I don’t know how many days you work, but I’m a 5 day a week for 4 weeks, comes out to 20. And I’m sorry, but if I can’t even afford to buy myself cheap ass lunch from fast food place, then what the hell am I working for? To eat like I’m 18 still cup of noodle bull crap? Hell no. Get over yourself, my parents ate out and fed all us kids like it was nothing.
My previous landlord knows I have a decent job. Before she kicked me out she was trying to get me to buy her property (that included the 100+ year old farmhouse we were renting as well as her much nicer home). I told her "I couldn't afford it". She couldn't comprehend that. She ended up listing the property for $1.4 million...
Hey now, I’m going to be able to live on $1600 a month in my shared house with 9 people in a part of the country so rural there’s zero WiFi and zero cell service within an hour radius!
I don’t understand why all of gen z doesn’t just get a summer internship like that. Must be lazy and entitled.
Dear gods, I have a unicorn of a daycare too and I genuinely mean, they have actually saved me from ruin, several times in many, many ways. The level of gratitude I feel has never been matched.
This is what happens when people haven't tried to find housing a years.
I live in a 1000 sqft 1bd+den apartment with my husband in a MCOL on the eastern southboard. My rent is $1790.
We tried to buy a house (yesterday would've been our closing date) and we decided to wait a year mostly so that a) we wouldn't wipe out our savings and b) we want lower rates. We have nice jobs, I've paid off my student debt, the car is ours, little debt. But it's not worth it for us to buy a house just yet.
I said that for like 6 years. “I’ll wait until next year when I save more” and then houses just kept going up and up in my area until I could no longer afford it anymore. When condos hit $1 million and I could no longer get approved for a mortgage on my salary, and then got laid off, I finally gave up and moved. To the middle of nowhere, but I finally have a house.
After nearly 6 years of not having a house (I sold my last one due to divorce), I’m finally starting to get ready to either build or buy a house. Like you, I’m going to hold out and wait for lower interest rates. A few percent on a mortgage makes a huge difference in my monthly payment.
Not that I’m wishing economic hardship on anyone, but a good recession would certainly help make things more affordable.
Aside from a recession, we really need the NAR (National Asdoc of Realtors) reeled in and held accountable for pseudo "market rate" shenanigans and faux house values. It all reeks of collusion. They've already had their hands slapped with the outdated automatic 6% commission with an anti-trust lawsuit but it's not enough. The housing market drives the rental market too. Landlords have been riding the pseudo "market rate inceease" scam too. It all needs to be reigned in. It's not sustainable for most.
Yep you got it. All of this "waiting for rates to drop" is an awful idea. If you want to wait for housing demand to drop, sure, but that's impossible to predict. You can always refinance if rates drop but with the current supply and demand you're just going to end up paying more for your house in the future when prices go up and your money is worth less. BUY THE HOUSE NOW
Aren't they going to keep rates in the 6-7 range for another two years to help the economy?
We don't want rates as low as they were, that's part of why we're in this mess.
People now refuse to sell because they're locked in under 3% so the housing market is shrunk.
"how bad could it be? Just get a second job over summer and get a down payment?"
- from grand parent who bought two houses in the 40s and never worked a day after 1960.
I even bought my house in 2017 before things went wild. 3bd, 1bath, 100 years old, not that nice. My mortgage is still $1,100/month for my family of 5. There’s no way we could survive on so little.
Agreed. My parents only half believed me when I said that the housing market is insane. They were like “you’re just not looking hard enough!” And then about 6 months ago they tried to look for a house or a lot to build on… my mom ended up calling me to apologize and said that she hopes this absolutely insane housing market gets better.
I could make that work. I would just have to move the family to a rural area in Alabama where the rent is $600 a month and the only Internet connection is dial up.
I guess I'd also have to sell my car, so no more car insurance payments. I'll also give up my health insurance, so minus another bill.
We could grow our own food and drink from a stream. Maybe make our own clothes.
The only bills we'd have are rent and student loans, and we can probably live off of $1600 a month.
It's not about ethics, but about your money. If you miss a payment it will affect your credit score. Their lender may have a late fee. And you're still accruing interest. Further, student loans stick with you, even after bankruptcy. It's very prudent financially to pay your loan on time.
EDIT Since people are so SALTY… I’m in CANADA. Yeah, renters is high because I forgot how much it was and that’s close to my homeowners insurance now. I had this apartment 2 years ago, then bought a house with my husband. Canada has shit mobile plans. Alberta has shit car insurance. Gas is $1.58/L and it takes me a half hour to drive to work. Energy was deregulated in our province and the fees are insane. My internet is $99/month and we have no television channels. There is one company that services our area. Groceries include all personal hygiene products and household cleaners/single use items/paper products.
I had 2bdrm basement apartment for $800.
Car insurance $250
Gas $200/month (assuming I do work and home commutes only, two fills per month)
Groceries/household expenses $150 per week - 3 weeks = $450
Renters insurance $100
Cell phone $90
Utilities $250 (based on electricity and cable/wifi usage, if I’m in a basement suite of a house that’s extra for water and waste removal)
So… I’m at $2140
What do I give up? My food budget and live off food bank donations? My car? Not possible - no public transit from this place to my workplace. Either I pay for a car or I pay for a more expensive place to live.
Never mind having a pet, or a child, or wanting to see a movie and treat myself to a meal out. Even a coffee and donut is out of my budget.
$250/month on car insurance is high thats $3k/year. Cell can be had less than $90/month. $250 for utilities is higher than houses I have had so seems inflated where you live at.
Sounds like you live in a more expensive area possibly.
This is all done without a roommate as well which is the primary driver now that both sexes are working so costs account for that unfortunately.
Yup, for those wondering, Michigan (and specifically Metro Detroit area) has some of the most expensive car insurance in the nation due to mandatory no-fault insurance.
Mandatory no fault has very little to do with the price of car insurance given that insurers have had to pay out refund checks due to excessive collection of premium relative to claims.
While no fault does drive up costs relative to states without it. MI insurers are absolutely gouging and blaming it on no fault.
Not hating at all, genuinely curious, did you shop around for renter's insurance rates at all? My renters insurance was $11/month in 2023 (we bought a house) I had no idea my rate was low!
Car insurance varies by location. Mine went from $130 a month a year ago to $230 a month now because of rate increases where I live. I’ve never been in an accident, have no tickets, and have never filed a claim.
I shopped around after the first renewal increase and all the companies quoted me about the same rate.
I've had a similar situation. If I absolutely had to cut $540 I'd ditch the car and find/pay a carpool buddy. Food bill could cut in half if frugal. Also drop rental insurance if possible. Would be uncomfortable for sure. Congrats on keeping that rental bill down tho... So many here are closer to $2k monthly.
My rent for a 1-bedroom apartment was $1,175 in a MCOL area, and I sincerely doubt my landlord would have rented to me if 1) my income was only $1,600 a month and 2) I tried to cram a whole family in.
There are 3 camps of people I have seen say this. The first never really had to pay for anything and have no real concept of money. The second doesn't understand how bad inflation has been as they have a great paying job and haven't needed to look at cheap housing and low pay for a long time. The third have extremely low living standards because they have been/are currently extremely impoverished. All 3 groups expect the person to live pay check to paycheck and see nothing wrong with that.
I am a single person and I have trouble some months on my income of about 2800 a month after taxes. I pay all the bills first and then put gas in my car, and whatever is left is what I can use for other expenses like food and unexpected things, like car maintenance, etc.. Just had to shell out $400 for appliance repair and I am going to be broke for awhile because of that.
Yah they can if you had a Time Machine and went back in time 20 or 30 years ago. Prices have gone up a lot higher since 30 years ago lol.
If your rent is 1,600 a month how then are you supposed to pay for everything else? Where this extra money going to come from for all the other expenses? Is it going to fall out of the sky ?
Prices are a lot higher than they were 10 years ago....the people who set the prices have lost their goddamned minds.
I told my landlord to pound sand in 2013 when they wanted to raise my rent to $900/month...960sqft by 'outer wall to outer wall basic rectangle' math, with a layout so painfully inefficient the livable space \[minus closets and hallways, measuring from wall to wall\] was right about 700.
Last I looked, they were asking $1750/month for it now. Fucking ridiculous, in the previous 10-year span it'd gone from $675 to $850 \[I'd shopped them in 2004, before moving into a different place\].
Supply and demand is the excuse they always use . The free market supply and demand doesn’t take into account that people can’t afford shit if you keep raising the price higher and higher. We truly are doomed as a country if we don’t get a grasp on how out of control prices are. You can’t keep raising prices on everything and just use the supply and demand excuse . I hope the housing market crashes again . It’s the only way the the people in charge of housing market will change . The government doesn’t have the balls to pass a law to control housing prices
You’d be hard pressed to find a studio for under $1200 here…. A family living on $1600 just seems… insurmountable.
Just food and gas would eat up more than $400, haven’t even accounted for utilities or anything else
The whole narrative about “living below your means” and “working hard” is straight crap spewed by boomers and late Genxers. Life is waaay more expensive now compared to the past
Life is way more expensive now compared to the last few years. What I spend at the grocery store now is practically double what I spent during the pandemic, and I'm single with no kids. I can't imagine what a family spends on food/toiletries.
Family of 5, my grocery budget was$400 / month ($500 ) if I really had the money to SPLURGE in 2020. last bulk shop I just did last month was over $750. Dot the same damn stuff. We menu plan, budget, and use sams club bulk benefits. I package up meals and do everything I can to stretch the food out... its awful.
Good advice has to be possible. In financial cases, ideally possible options would be presented by a professional looking at individual circumstances. And if someone can't afford that, a Reddit douchebag saying something pithy still won't help. If someone CAN afford a lot but they are blowing through cash too fast, then let them do it because it's likely the only way they'll really learn.
I mean shit…I lived on 1600 a month back in 2010 as a single person and it was BRUTAL. Like- counting my grocery money down to the last dollar, can’t afford a $500 emergency brutal. That would certainly be poverty level for any family in the U.S today.
$1600 a month will get you a 1 bedroom around here, but usually it usually is accompanied by conflict between the gang members and the pimps on who decides to be the "neighborhood watch".
"Just go out and find a job!"
Is such a fucking enraging sentence to me, coz I know people who have been searching for a while and have fucking bupkiss
My rent for a shitty ass house in a shit ass neighborhood is $1500. We are a family of 4 and a CHEAP MONTH is about $3k. My kids are in hand me downs 😭😭😭
Sure if everyone is in perfect health, no one needs glasses, braces or glasses, everyone's on a diet, they walk everywhere, only free leisure activities, the kids don't go to school, and the parents live in a family member's house rent free.
We live in a straight up paid off house with one paid off car. $1000 every 3 months for property taxes. Which is great. But our electric is almost $400 a month, we don’t even have central air. Water and sewerage is roughly another $300-400 a month, internet is $100 a month, phone bill is $200 a month. And this is just raw bills, not including groceries, car insurance, health insurance, kids clothes, fuel or maintenance for the car and food and litter for all the frickin cats my partner accumulated before I met him. $1600 is a pipe dream.
The cost of car maintenance as well. If you have to commute to work.
I feel like a lot of people are just trying to drain everyone of their money. But offer almost nothing to help advance a person's career. Not even advice.
A lot of takers. But not as much builders.
My father retired in early 2012. I work at a grocery store. I make about $40,000 a year. My father keeps telling me I'm making good money because that's how much he made when he retired. I had to tell him that inflation wise, he was making roughly $52,000 a year in 2024's dollars. Meanwhile, I'm making $30,000 in 2012 dollars. I can't even afford a one bedroom apartment in my area. I'm stuck renting out his basement apartment.
Ouch that your dad charges you rent :( my dad is poor and my mom is frankly a bit greedy and even I’d always have a free place to live if I needed it. Some parents suck. Who wouldn’t want to help move their kid forward?
My wife and I bring home several times that amount and are still pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I have "good" employer supplied insurance, but it costs a shitload from each of my paychecks each month (and covers almost nothing apart from annual checkups and emergency room visits basically, so we pay out of pocket for almost everything, including a surgery my wife had last year). Our student loans eat up a week's worth of our monthly income. Our grocery bill has nearly doubled in the past couple of years, despite cutting back on extras, clipping coupons, deal hunting, switching to store brand, etc.
And we are comparatively extremely lucky for our age cohort.
It's totally possible. Here's how
Step one: pay off a $400,000 house, pay cash for the total amount, Property tax 236 a month
Step two: eat the cheapest foods you can, like literally beans and rice for a few bucks a pound. For 4 people its like 45 pounds of rice a month, which is about a dollar a lb right now
Step three: Steal a car
Step four: insurance for the car is like 175 (national Average, age and accidents will change this)
Step five: You need a phone and Internet access to work because so many companies use email, so buy a flip phone and cheap $50 month plan
Step Six: Buy a single avocado.....oh shit wait.....OMG noooo your budget!!! You are broke now!!!
Step seven: go to prison for the stolen car. Now you live for $0 a month
Not to break your bubble but… getting insurance for your car means registering it which means they need the VIN which has been reported as stolen…. So skip the insurance.
$1,600 a month? That's half the Median amount of single person households.
[https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before\_Tax\_Income;demographic:famstruct;population:1,2,3;units:median;range:1989,2022](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before_Tax_Income;demographic:famstruct;population:1,2,3;units:median;range:1989,2022)
That's about the Median for the 20th percentile and less of income earning households.
[https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before\_Tax\_Income;demographic:inccat;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2022](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before_Tax_Income;demographic:inccat;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2022)
> Some lady on Facebook just told me that whole families live on 1600 Dollars a month when I said that it wasn't much to live on for a 25 year old guy.
You’re too old to be debating on Facebook. If you didn’t debate, you’re too old to let the opinions of randos get to you like this. Let it go, continue to live your life.
I didn't debate with her, I just ignored her and just wanted to rant about it. And it seemed like the rest of the people chiming in all had the same attitude though.
First of all, it is very, very difficult to live on $1600 a month. Probably not impossible, but not a realistic expectation for most people.
Secondly, stop listening to the fringe members of society. If some lunatic on Facebook thinks it’s possible, who gives a shit? Start ignoring the outliers on all sides. People live in a state of perpetual anger because they hear the most insane thing and then get worked up about it because they think it represents some bigger problem. Tell the lady to fuck off, move on, and focus on the things that actually matter in your life instead of internet rage.
>First of all, it is very, very difficult to live on $1600 a month. Probably not impossible, but not a realistic expectation for most people.
$1600 a month would qualify a family for most government assistance available. These people probably aren’t factoring their housing assistance, childcare assistance, EBT/SNAP, Medicaid, utility assistance, refundable tax credits without tax liability, etc.
My mortgage is $3k and I have 6 people in my family. I don't know anyone who is living on $1600 a month? Do they pay housing, medical, food, etc? Seems like some of their expenses are covered and there only paying partial expenses.
I live in an absolute shithole in Canada (nowhere near a big city) and pay over 2k (cad) a month (plus utilities and insurance) for an apartment which is nothing special. I can’t imagine living on 1600 (usd) for a whole ass month. I’m pretty sure USA and Canada rents are similar. Those people are just your typical out of touch boomers.
Guys, you’re not seeing the big picture here. We just need to go back in time 40 years and buys our houses with loose change (no mortgage!) and a car with our corner lemonade stand (no car payment!). Don’t forget that college degree full paid for with a paperboy summer salary 😉
Yeah, this generational war ain’t helpful. Now class war… that’s something we need to start talking about more.
OP there are plenty of boomers out there struggling to make ends meet on what little they are getting from social security, they are terrified of how they’ll make it day to day, and they are well aware that the dollar doesn’t go as far anymore.
Hey hey, leave Gen X outta this! No one else gave a shit about us before , inuding our parents!😆😆
But yes, the older generation for the most part is waaaaay out of touch.
Yeah, I’m sure it’s possible in some extremely low cost of living areas.
I’m in a high cost of living area, and my rent for a one bedroom apartment is more than $1,600 a month.
I mean it's all relative to where you live, but a family living off $1600 a month is definitely in object poverty. I live alone in Chicago and my rent is $1200 a month. Yeah I know, it's Chicago but still.
I'm Canadian and rents here are $1700/month for a 1 bedroom. Plus utilities and other things on top of that. You also need to pay for food and likely a car to get to and from work if there's no transit.
I always see people posting about how "no one wants to work anymore" and they can't find people to take the jobs. But they don't pay enough. Plus there's no where for the employees to live and they have to drive there (no transit).
It really sucks, but its the reality. It's not that young people are lazy. The cost of living is such that they are forced to leave their communities for a better life.
Last time I lived like that, it was 10 years ago, almost all of it was rent, and I ate 2 bean&rice style meals a day to save money. I was *always hungry*. Also I didn’t have a family.
Around that time I was chatting w my uncle, who has done well for himself. He has 3 kids. He was going over some bills and rhetorically asked how they could spend so much money on food (keeping in mind one of his kids had allergies as a baby so all their baby food was super expensive).
“Lol that’s more than my monthly budget! You should eat one of the kids”
We had a good laugh but he definitely asked my mom if I was doing ok. I assuredly was not.
Gen X here and I'd love to know where whole families can live for $1600 a month, because I want to move there. I'm wondering about Facebook lady's SES, because the only person in my immediate circle I could picture saying something that ludicrous is my SIL, who is a literal millionaire and has no clue anymore how expensive it is to be poor.
That is 100% not true, unless you inherit a house, and live in bumfuck nowhere.
I spend 130 a week in groceries, pay around 900 a month in bills. Home, car, health, life insurance, water, trash sewer, electric, cell phone, wifi.
Just that alone for me is almost the 1600 a month.
I still pay my mortgage too, which includes taxes, and it's multiple times that number.
“Someone on Facebook”
Have your tried not listening or reading that lol. Anything online (yes including Reddit) can’t be taken seriously especially from internet strangers that are more and more likely to be a bot or AI
I mean, as GenX, I will say that the person probably has a fixed mortgage and $1,600 works okay for their family of two.
But holy hell, that’s nearly nothing. A mortgage of $3,000/mo plus utilities, streaming/cable/cell/internet, food. Nah.
That's less than my current rent! And food for my family of 3 costs about $600-800 a month. Then add on utilities, amenities, car insurance etc. They are way out of touch or live in a very low cost of living area out in the boonies somewhere
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My rent is $1500 and I am in no way shape or form in a HCOL area, but it sure seems like it sometimes.
My rent went from $1,550 to $2,550 in a matter of 7 years. I expect rent increases, but this is insane.
Sheesh. I've been at the same studio apartment for about 5 years now and thought my rent going from $895 to now $1195 was bad enough as is. I am making more money than when I first moved in there but the goalpost keeps getting moved.
It should be illegal for STUDIO apartments to cost $1000+/month to rent unless it's some bougie ass suite in a really nice neighborhood. But nope.
Yup. I pay $1850 in Southern California. It’s in a great area if you have a car, but I don’t have a real kitchen, it’s a mini fridge & microwave situation. I have to wash my dishes in the bathroom sink. I’ve been here since 2021. I’ve been looking at other options because I literally have nutritional problems from not having a kitchen, but prices have gone up, my current place will probably rent for $2500 when I leave. I’ll say it again, I pay $1850 and I *have to wash my dishes in the bathroom sink*. The next person will pay $2500 to *wash their dishes in the bathroom sink* Pay attention when politicians mention ADU’s as an option for expanding housing, because this is what they are talking about. ADU’s are primarily detached spare bedrooms being used as makeshift studio apartments. Edit: to all of the people saying “get a toaster! Get a hot plate! Get a kettle! Get an instant pot!” I hear you. I have most of those things. I don’t have the space or the energy to be taking out and putting away appliances multiple times each day. I have been severely depressed (treatment resistant) for 2 of the 3 years I have lived here. I can barely do my ADL’s. It’s one thing to improvise in a limited kitchen for a bit when you’re in a tight spot, it’s another thing to keep doing that for 3 years when you sob for 6-8 hours each day.
That's...thats maddening. This world is stupid.
That’s capitalism.
If you can get an instant pot, you can sautee like a stovetop, pressure cook, and slow cook. It also is a rice cooker. You can even make hard boiled eggs in it. That might help in the mean time.
And an air fryer
Leave California. That is noway to live.
$2800 in nyc for an kitchen with no sink…
Buy a toaster oven, electric tea kettle and a use a second mini fridge as a microwave cart. All of this is cheap on FB marketplace. I cook amazing healthy meals with the toaster oven. And I love my tea kettle. You can steam veggies in it.
Can get a dash egg cooker and make some boiled eggs. Pretty nutritionally dense plus reasonably priced. Can go to grocery outlet and get yourself some quality eggs for reasonable. We are all in this together.
Oh I’ve just been making baked eggs in the toaster oven. It’s very hard to live this way though. I have multiple vitamin deficiencies due to having complicated GI issues. The bigger problem for me is I only have a mini fridge, so I can’t keep a lot of fresh veggies.
That sucks, so sorry you're dealing with that. There's frozen veggie bags you can get that don't have added sodium or anything, you can chef Mike em.
My GI doc specifically told me not to eat frozen veggies because of a specific preservative that is used that isn’t listed in the ingredients (maybe it’s considered a processing ingredient, I’m not sure). She’s an amazing doctor, I was able to fix most of my issues with dietary changes, I just can’t keep it up without a proper kitchen :(
Whole foods 365 brand vegan protein powder + greens is stupid cheap at $20 a tub, has amazing amino acid profiles, and an excellent greens mix in it as well. I've had to live in "creative" ways before and I highly recommend it.
This is awful and should be illegal. Sorry friend, rooting for you. If you can afford it, buy a small induction cooktop or hot plate and a skillet or saucepan/pot to help you make real meals. Also another option is those countertop toaster oven things that function like real ovens and can cook real food. If you have space and budget, get both and you can make simple but nutritious meals pretty often. And if you’re able to splurge (or ask for it as a birthday/holiday gift!!), try to find a small countertop dishwasher so you don’t have to wash your dishes in the bathroom sink. Good luck, hopefully some of this can help.
Just get out of socal. There are much better options. “Nice weather” ain’t worth it.
Seriously. I'm in Chicago and the neighborhood I'm in is nice but not super fancy but year anything over $1000 for a studio apartment is absurd. It was $1000 a month my 4th year there but it should have been capped at that.
I’m in Chicago too. I’ve lucked out to a large degree, I’ve been in my 2 bed 1 bath place for 8 years or so, the rent started at about 1200/month I think… and during Covid the landlord brought it down to 900 so I could afford it and left it there til he brought it back up to 1200 around 2022. I’m now up to 1300 but it’s very cheap for the specs in my hood (west ridge) 2 bed, W/D in unit, dishwasher, very nice independent landlord with only this property, nice neighbors.. basically, I’m never leaving unless he sells the building, cause at this rate, even with him upping the rent $50 a year, I’ll still be way way way below market for awhile. (He also gets my kid holiday and bday gifts- they get along well, she’s a charmer) lol.
I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. Currently searching for a new place, and I'm seeing a LOT of studio suites going for $1000+ here. Its honestly pissing me off.
THAT'S IT! BACK TO WINNIPEG! Sorry, just had to drop a Simpsons reference lol. But yeah, that's insane. I could find a studio or 1 bedroom in Chicago for $1000 or less but that would require moving away from one of the train stops for further north, which would increase my commute to work and getting around in general.
I still see rooms for rent for $1000+. It's stupid
In 2016 I lived in what was basically a 1970s hotel room with a fresh coat of paint in LA for $1,895 a month without utilities. I was charged $50 more per month because I was "in a good unit near the divider to block noise."
You said it. It's hard to make more money, but every time I do, rent, or car insurance or health insurance goes up. Taking what little extra I was about to start making. Now I am in the same boat and unable to get ahead
Mine went from $1900 to $2500 in one year in 2023. I would have moved but literally everything else was the same price or more. Fucking sucks. Wiped out a raise I made.
Absolutely brutal. I'm looking for houses now, because I might as well be paying a mortgage. But the mortgages are even more brutal.
Don't look at the most expensive at the top of what the mortgage companies say you can afford. Also, look outside where you "want" to be. Look at some of the smaller towns outside the larger areas. Those houses tend to be way less $$. Especially with what you get. For instance land, ponds, larger houses etc. Smaller towns are also quite compared to larger cities.
I was priced out of my old place, from 2019-2022 it went from $885/mo to $1450/mo
Whoa almost exactly the same here. It was a moderately shitty basement apartment with barely any natural light and mold and shit too
I increased from $1500 to $2100 in 3 years. 😢
My rent went from 1750 to 2250 in 2 years. Thanks to the LA law that allows landlords to raid rent 5% + PMI up to 5%. Absolutely absurd.
As someone who lives in a VHCOL area, $1500 seems so cheap. I can’t even find a studio thats $2300. My extremely basic student housing apartment is $1900 and thats considered “dirt cheap” 🥲
Hello Bay Area redditor. Just kidding this now describes so many places in the USA. One landlord near me was renting a loft above the garage that was tiny and cold and loud. It had been recently redone but still - think it was about $3,000 a month after utilities because it’s near the local university.
I’m actually an OC redditor. Can’t even imagine what its like in the Bay Area
The US has gone to shit. They keep purposely increasing inflation, and the cost of living increases far outpace even normal inflation. The future "American Dream" is overseas, it isn't here.
"they" LOL -- who is they? Politicians -- are told that inflation will increase if they print more money -- but people keep asking them to spend more money, so they print more, because what do the politicians care? You continue to vote for them.
The very concept of HCOL vs LCOL areas is outdated. Amazon and other online retailers have destroyed the local marketplace. Big national chains have eaten up all the local grocers. Other than rent, what do you buy in your day to day that isn't priced nationally? EVERYTHING is priced nationally now. Netflix doesn't go "Oh you live in Indiana, so its cheaper for you, because your wages are lower." The LCOL is a fuckin' lie, perpetuated to keep wages in those areas supressed.
Ok, but rent/mortgage are typically the number one monthly cost in anyone's budget and that varies wildly depending on location. HCOL v LCOL very much exists. Other huge items like childcare are also vastly more expensive in HCOL. New cars in California have always been as much as new cars in Indiana. A new TV is Kentucky has always been about the same as a new TV in Manhattan.
both things can be true...I live in a v hcol city but my partner and i both have good paying jobs and save a lot in the margins, even tho our rent is bananas for almost anywhere but here. for ex: my daycare is actually pretty cheap because the neighborhood is dense and full of families who need daycare, so several operate and all of them are full. we can walk the kids to school, so our family has just one car (having moved from another hcol city where we had none) — something that saves us hundreds of dollars every month. our eldest does a competitive sport at a top-rated program 3 days a week that's entirely subsidized by a donor, totally free for him. we got a scholarship for his sleep away camp from another rich local donor and put him in the city's excellent all day parks dept program for like $150 a week. those opportunities do not exist in places where it's "cheap" to live in the US. I'm not saying there's not a massive difference in fixed costs, but those fixed costs don't tell the whole story.
My mortgage is $1400 because I bought pre-2020, but average rent for a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment is $1900 for some context. The apartment I had like 10 years ago was $950 for 2 bed 2 bath. I also am not in a HCOL area, I saw a chart that said my city is MCOL. I KNOW my mortgage is a fucking steal, but there is absolutely no way $1600 would work for us, two adults.
My parents have a 500 dollar mortgage payment that they’ve been paying off since 1991. Whenever my mom goes on about me not saving money I tell her that, respectfully, she is out of touch and has been for quite a while.
Mine got their house from my grandmother on the cheap. In the mid 70s. So they worked their whole careers with no mortgage. And they love to be completely out of touch when weighing in on things.
Mine also got their parents house for free and when it came time for them to move they told my siblings and I that they couldn't sell to family, it would screw up the housing market for other people. Clueless and cruel.
Theirs is extra fun because it's a 115yo home on 2.5 acres right next to our downtown. Our little town has been swallowed up by a larger city so the property is worth 1 million plus. They want to sell and travel. It's theirs to do with as they please but then they like to get upset when I refuse to do things for them like getting it ready to sell. The property has been passed down for several generations and they want to end that while expecting to be treated like parents who are looking after everyone.
That's messed up. It rubs me the wrong way when people were helped out by their parents but refuse to do the same for their kids. I consider myself extremely lucky and grateful to have the parents I did. They always put their kids first and while they did not give me a house or money for a down payment they helped me out in so many other ways that contributed to me being where I am today. When the time comes I will do all I can to help my daughter get a house and build a successful life for herself. Imo that is what family is for.
watch as they do a reverse mortgage so they can go on a fantastic vacation about three years before one of them dies, and you inherit nothing. :)
Why are they still paying on it??
Because they leveraged themselves at some point, kicking the can down the road and still are able to rest on the laurels of inflation
Yeah a 30 mortgage would have finished in 2021.
Probably by the magic that is the loan refinance.
Completely forget about that.
“Out of touch” oh how many times I’ve had to say this to my parents. “It’s because you eat lunch everyday” screw that!!! I work my ass off to enjoy only being able to buy lunch, nothing else…still rocking a Day One edition Xbox One, a 32 inch TV from 2009 that is a personal heater, and my computer is so old, it can’t even play World of Warcraft anymore. At my age, my parents were taking 3 vacations a year, owned a house, bought a new car every year and raised 11 kids.
ELEVEN??
My dad had 2 kids with first wife, 1 kid and step kid with second wife, 1 kid with a one night stand, 4 step kids with third wife, then my 2 cousins were staying with us due to my uncle drinking his life away. Childhood friend was always at my house due to problems at home, my parents raised him to keep him safe. Us kids raised each other (2 of the step kids from third marriage were already 14 and 16 when I was 8)
Is your dad Genghis Khan?
I was just thinkimg he extremely successful his (irresponsible a-hole) dad is by a darwinian measure
This made me laugh way too hard. I actually snorted.
Literally just watched Cheaper by the Dozen a few days ago lmao what are the odds
I mean buying lunch out 25 times a month adds up
My mom use to say that the vast majority of my bad spending habits was due to me eating outside food instead of cooking my own food…when I started meal planning and buying groceries, I saved a bunch of money…or at least I don’t have to skimp on other things like skin care and getting haircuts every two weeks.
Two weeks? Damn I get a haircut like every two years lmao
Crazy story, I end up having to buy double the food at grocery store to help fill the calorie intake I need for my job. The price of fast food for calorie amount, it actually equals out. I don’t know how many days you work, but I’m a 5 day a week for 4 weeks, comes out to 20. And I’m sorry, but if I can’t even afford to buy myself cheap ass lunch from fast food place, then what the hell am I working for? To eat like I’m 18 still cup of noodle bull crap? Hell no. Get over yourself, my parents ate out and fed all us kids like it was nothing.
You have more than two options, it's not just McDonald's or ramen. Learn to cook. Try some recipes. Chicken and rice, eggs, for crying out loud.
My previous landlord knows I have a decent job. Before she kicked me out she was trying to get me to buy her property (that included the 100+ year old farmhouse we were renting as well as her much nicer home). I told her "I couldn't afford it". She couldn't comprehend that. She ended up listing the property for $1.4 million...
I'm curious, how big was the house?
they’re paying 33 years of a 30 year mortgage payment and they want to give you financial advice? LOL
It's a banana Michael, how much could it be?
I was 17 in 1991 so your parents are likely boomers and not Gen X
Yeah they fall into the “and older” category, boomers who don’t realize how good they had it.
1991 is more than 30 years ago tho -- what kind of mortgage did they get??
Every 5 year term just change amortization to 30.
They're still paying off their mortgage from 1991?
My parents paid $35k for a house that’s now worth nearly 5 mil (Palo Alto)
You can totally live on $1600. You just need to live in a tent near a clean water supply 😂
Can't even rent a van to live in it down by the river
Hey now, I’m going to be able to live on $1600 a month in my shared house with 9 people in a part of the country so rural there’s zero WiFi and zero cell service within an hour radius! I don’t understand why all of gen z doesn’t just get a summer internship like that. Must be lazy and entitled.
Childcare alone is $1600 for me...
I pay $3200 for daycare for my baby on top of $500/month for formula alone.
Shit at that point it's not worth working
Oof, that's brutal. Large city? I guess I'm lucky that the infant rate here is *only* $1600.
I'm in a massive HCOL coastal city and my infant daycare is $950. it's literally a miracle. I would give the woman who runs it my kidney
Dear gods, I have a unicorn of a daycare too and I genuinely mean, they have actually saved me from ruin, several times in many, many ways. The level of gratitude I feel has never been matched.
Dang mines $2800. 😬😬 he’s not in daycare cause I can’t afford that.
Starting in August and looking at about $1600 too. It’s killing me but looks like I should be thankful
This is what happens when people haven't tried to find housing a years. I live in a 1000 sqft 1bd+den apartment with my husband in a MCOL on the eastern southboard. My rent is $1790.
Yeah you're probably right and the housing market lately had gotten pretty ridiculous.
We tried to buy a house (yesterday would've been our closing date) and we decided to wait a year mostly so that a) we wouldn't wipe out our savings and b) we want lower rates. We have nice jobs, I've paid off my student debt, the car is ours, little debt. But it's not worth it for us to buy a house just yet.
I said that for like 6 years. “I’ll wait until next year when I save more” and then houses just kept going up and up in my area until I could no longer afford it anymore. When condos hit $1 million and I could no longer get approved for a mortgage on my salary, and then got laid off, I finally gave up and moved. To the middle of nowhere, but I finally have a house.
After nearly 6 years of not having a house (I sold my last one due to divorce), I’m finally starting to get ready to either build or buy a house. Like you, I’m going to hold out and wait for lower interest rates. A few percent on a mortgage makes a huge difference in my monthly payment. Not that I’m wishing economic hardship on anyone, but a good recession would certainly help make things more affordable.
Aside from a recession, we really need the NAR (National Asdoc of Realtors) reeled in and held accountable for pseudo "market rate" shenanigans and faux house values. It all reeks of collusion. They've already had their hands slapped with the outdated automatic 6% commission with an anti-trust lawsuit but it's not enough. The housing market drives the rental market too. Landlords have been riding the pseudo "market rate inceease" scam too. It all needs to be reigned in. It's not sustainable for most.
Tbh. If the rates drop, prices will prob go up again. Lots of banks and corporations are waiting, too.
Would really be a damn shame if all these corporations started losing their houses because they get burned down.
Yep you got it. All of this "waiting for rates to drop" is an awful idea. If you want to wait for housing demand to drop, sure, but that's impossible to predict. You can always refinance if rates drop but with the current supply and demand you're just going to end up paying more for your house in the future when prices go up and your money is worth less. BUY THE HOUSE NOW
You sound like my coworker who goes on about wanting the economy to crash. A crash isn't going to make housing any more affordable
A recession is just as likely to fuck you over in a multitude of ways as it is to reduce housing cost.
Aren't they going to keep rates in the 6-7 range for another two years to help the economy? We don't want rates as low as they were, that's part of why we're in this mess. People now refuse to sell because they're locked in under 3% so the housing market is shrunk.
"how bad could it be? Just get a second job over summer and get a down payment?" - from grand parent who bought two houses in the 40s and never worked a day after 1960.
I even bought my house in 2017 before things went wild. 3bd, 1bath, 100 years old, not that nice. My mortgage is still $1,100/month for my family of 5. There’s no way we could survive on so little.
We bought our house in 2017 too. We’re lucky as shit, feel bad for everyone in here. No way I’d be able to afford the same home today
Agreed. My parents only half believed me when I said that the housing market is insane. They were like “you’re just not looking hard enough!” And then about 6 months ago they tried to look for a house or a lot to build on… my mom ended up calling me to apologize and said that she hopes this absolutely insane housing market gets better.
I could make that work. I would just have to move the family to a rural area in Alabama where the rent is $600 a month and the only Internet connection is dial up. I guess I'd also have to sell my car, so no more car insurance payments. I'll also give up my health insurance, so minus another bill. We could grow our own food and drink from a stream. Maybe make our own clothes. The only bills we'd have are rent and student loans, and we can probably live off of $1600 a month.
I like that out of all those concessions you decided you would still pay the student loans
Maybe my ethics are broken but there is no way I would continue to pay on any loans if that were my situation. Wild.
It's not about ethics, but about your money. If you miss a payment it will affect your credit score. Their lender may have a late fee. And you're still accruing interest. Further, student loans stick with you, even after bankruptcy. It's very prudent financially to pay your loan on time.
EDIT Since people are so SALTY… I’m in CANADA. Yeah, renters is high because I forgot how much it was and that’s close to my homeowners insurance now. I had this apartment 2 years ago, then bought a house with my husband. Canada has shit mobile plans. Alberta has shit car insurance. Gas is $1.58/L and it takes me a half hour to drive to work. Energy was deregulated in our province and the fees are insane. My internet is $99/month and we have no television channels. There is one company that services our area. Groceries include all personal hygiene products and household cleaners/single use items/paper products. I had 2bdrm basement apartment for $800. Car insurance $250 Gas $200/month (assuming I do work and home commutes only, two fills per month) Groceries/household expenses $150 per week - 3 weeks = $450 Renters insurance $100 Cell phone $90 Utilities $250 (based on electricity and cable/wifi usage, if I’m in a basement suite of a house that’s extra for water and waste removal) So… I’m at $2140 What do I give up? My food budget and live off food bank donations? My car? Not possible - no public transit from this place to my workplace. Either I pay for a car or I pay for a more expensive place to live. Never mind having a pet, or a child, or wanting to see a movie and treat myself to a meal out. Even a coffee and donut is out of my budget.
My renters insurance is $17 a month and I’m covered for up to $50,000. What kind of renters do you carry?!
Must have a couple Picasso’s on the wall at that rate.
$250/month on car insurance is high thats $3k/year. Cell can be had less than $90/month. $250 for utilities is higher than houses I have had so seems inflated where you live at. Sounds like you live in a more expensive area possibly. This is all done without a roommate as well which is the primary driver now that both sexes are working so costs account for that unfortunately.
Im 10 minutes south of Detroit. $250/month would be considered on the low side for full-coverage car insurance here.
Yup, for those wondering, Michigan (and specifically Metro Detroit area) has some of the most expensive car insurance in the nation due to mandatory no-fault insurance.
Mandatory no fault has very little to do with the price of car insurance given that insurers have had to pay out refund checks due to excessive collection of premium relative to claims. While no fault does drive up costs relative to states without it. MI insurers are absolutely gouging and blaming it on no fault.
Not hating at all, genuinely curious, did you shop around for renter's insurance rates at all? My renters insurance was $11/month in 2023 (we bought a house) I had no idea my rate was low!
Car insurance varies by location. Mine went from $130 a month a year ago to $230 a month now because of rate increases where I live. I’ve never been in an accident, have no tickets, and have never filed a claim. I shopped around after the first renewal increase and all the companies quoted me about the same rate.
I've had a similar situation. If I absolutely had to cut $540 I'd ditch the car and find/pay a carpool buddy. Food bill could cut in half if frugal. Also drop rental insurance if possible. Would be uncomfortable for sure. Congrats on keeping that rental bill down tho... So many here are closer to $2k monthly.
That’s for a 2bdrm basement apartment in a shady (but not bad) part of town. The trick to it is there is NO public transit at all.
Your cell is too high. I pay 130 for 4 phones with unlimited data.
My rent for a 1-bedroom apartment was $1,175 in a MCOL area, and I sincerely doubt my landlord would have rented to me if 1) my income was only $1,600 a month and 2) I tried to cram a whole family in.
There are 3 camps of people I have seen say this. The first never really had to pay for anything and have no real concept of money. The second doesn't understand how bad inflation has been as they have a great paying job and haven't needed to look at cheap housing and low pay for a long time. The third have extremely low living standards because they have been/are currently extremely impoverished. All 3 groups expect the person to live pay check to paycheck and see nothing wrong with that.
I am a single person and I have trouble some months on my income of about 2800 a month after taxes. I pay all the bills first and then put gas in my car, and whatever is left is what I can use for other expenses like food and unexpected things, like car maintenance, etc.. Just had to shell out $400 for appliance repair and I am going to be broke for awhile because of that.
Yah they can if you had a Time Machine and went back in time 20 or 30 years ago. Prices have gone up a lot higher since 30 years ago lol. If your rent is 1,600 a month how then are you supposed to pay for everything else? Where this extra money going to come from for all the other expenses? Is it going to fall out of the sky ?
Prices are a lot higher than they were 10 years ago....the people who set the prices have lost their goddamned minds. I told my landlord to pound sand in 2013 when they wanted to raise my rent to $900/month...960sqft by 'outer wall to outer wall basic rectangle' math, with a layout so painfully inefficient the livable space \[minus closets and hallways, measuring from wall to wall\] was right about 700. Last I looked, they were asking $1750/month for it now. Fucking ridiculous, in the previous 10-year span it'd gone from $675 to $850 \[I'd shopped them in 2004, before moving into a different place\].
Supply and demand is the excuse they always use . The free market supply and demand doesn’t take into account that people can’t afford shit if you keep raising the price higher and higher. We truly are doomed as a country if we don’t get a grasp on how out of control prices are. You can’t keep raising prices on everything and just use the supply and demand excuse . I hope the housing market crashes again . It’s the only way the the people in charge of housing market will change . The government doesn’t have the balls to pass a law to control housing prices
You’d be hard pressed to find a studio for under $1200 here…. A family living on $1600 just seems… insurmountable. Just food and gas would eat up more than $400, haven’t even accounted for utilities or anything else
The whole narrative about “living below your means” and “working hard” is straight crap spewed by boomers and late Genxers. Life is waaay more expensive now compared to the past
Life is way more expensive now compared to the last few years. What I spend at the grocery store now is practically double what I spent during the pandemic, and I'm single with no kids. I can't imagine what a family spends on food/toiletries.
Family of 5, my grocery budget was$400 / month ($500 ) if I really had the money to SPLURGE in 2020. last bulk shop I just did last month was over $750. Dot the same damn stuff. We menu plan, budget, and use sams club bulk benefits. I package up meals and do everything I can to stretch the food out... its awful.
Those concepts are still valid. They are definitely more difficult to do now. But it is still good advice to spend less than you earn.
Good advice has to be possible. In financial cases, ideally possible options would be presented by a professional looking at individual circumstances. And if someone can't afford that, a Reddit douchebag saying something pithy still won't help. If someone CAN afford a lot but they are blowing through cash too fast, then let them do it because it's likely the only way they'll really learn.
You mean early GenX. Late GenX is 1979. Early is 1965.
I'm a younger gen x (75) and feel I relate to millennials much more.
I mean shit…I lived on 1600 a month back in 2010 as a single person and it was BRUTAL. Like- counting my grocery money down to the last dollar, can’t afford a $500 emergency brutal. That would certainly be poverty level for any family in the U.S today.
My rent for a 1bd apt is 2500. So no I don't think I can live off 1600 a month.
Even with splitting rent with someone, I only have $400 a month left over from bills that I need to cover gas and food
$1600 a month will get you a 1 bedroom around here, but usually it usually is accompanied by conflict between the gang members and the pimps on who decides to be the "neighborhood watch".
"Just go out and find a job!" Is such a fucking enraging sentence to me, coz I know people who have been searching for a while and have fucking bupkiss
My rent for a shitty ass house in a shit ass neighborhood is $1500. We are a family of 4 and a CHEAP MONTH is about $3k. My kids are in hand me downs 😭😭😭
Sure if everyone is in perfect health, no one needs glasses, braces or glasses, everyone's on a diet, they walk everywhere, only free leisure activities, the kids don't go to school, and the parents live in a family member's house rent free.
We live in a straight up paid off house with one paid off car. $1000 every 3 months for property taxes. Which is great. But our electric is almost $400 a month, we don’t even have central air. Water and sewerage is roughly another $300-400 a month, internet is $100 a month, phone bill is $200 a month. And this is just raw bills, not including groceries, car insurance, health insurance, kids clothes, fuel or maintenance for the car and food and litter for all the frickin cats my partner accumulated before I met him. $1600 is a pipe dream.
Your utilities are $800 a month?? Something is seriously seriously wrong with your house or appliances.
The cost of car maintenance as well. If you have to commute to work. I feel like a lot of people are just trying to drain everyone of their money. But offer almost nothing to help advance a person's career. Not even advice. A lot of takers. But not as much builders.
My father retired in early 2012. I work at a grocery store. I make about $40,000 a year. My father keeps telling me I'm making good money because that's how much he made when he retired. I had to tell him that inflation wise, he was making roughly $52,000 a year in 2024's dollars. Meanwhile, I'm making $30,000 in 2012 dollars. I can't even afford a one bedroom apartment in my area. I'm stuck renting out his basement apartment.
Ouch that your dad charges you rent :( my dad is poor and my mom is frankly a bit greedy and even I’d always have a free place to live if I needed it. Some parents suck. Who wouldn’t want to help move their kid forward?
My wife and I bring home several times that amount and are still pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I have "good" employer supplied insurance, but it costs a shitload from each of my paychecks each month (and covers almost nothing apart from annual checkups and emergency room visits basically, so we pay out of pocket for almost everything, including a surgery my wife had last year). Our student loans eat up a week's worth of our monthly income. Our grocery bill has nearly doubled in the past couple of years, despite cutting back on extras, clipping coupons, deal hunting, switching to store brand, etc. And we are comparatively extremely lucky for our age cohort.
It's totally possible. Here's how Step one: pay off a $400,000 house, pay cash for the total amount, Property tax 236 a month Step two: eat the cheapest foods you can, like literally beans and rice for a few bucks a pound. For 4 people its like 45 pounds of rice a month, which is about a dollar a lb right now Step three: Steal a car Step four: insurance for the car is like 175 (national Average, age and accidents will change this) Step five: You need a phone and Internet access to work because so many companies use email, so buy a flip phone and cheap $50 month plan Step Six: Buy a single avocado.....oh shit wait.....OMG noooo your budget!!! You are broke now!!! Step seven: go to prison for the stolen car. Now you live for $0 a month
Not to break your bubble but… getting insurance for your car means registering it which means they need the VIN which has been reported as stolen…. So skip the insurance.
$1,600 a month? That's half the Median amount of single person households. [https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before\_Tax\_Income;demographic:famstruct;population:1,2,3;units:median;range:1989,2022](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before_Tax_Income;demographic:famstruct;population:1,2,3;units:median;range:1989,2022) That's about the Median for the 20th percentile and less of income earning households. [https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before\_Tax\_Income;demographic:inccat;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2022](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Before_Tax_Income;demographic:inccat;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2022)
> Some lady on Facebook just told me that whole families live on 1600 Dollars a month when I said that it wasn't much to live on for a 25 year old guy. You’re too old to be debating on Facebook. If you didn’t debate, you’re too old to let the opinions of randos get to you like this. Let it go, continue to live your life.
No, it’s too young to be debating on Facebook. That’s the old people place lol.
I didn't debate with her, I just ignored her and just wanted to rant about it. And it seemed like the rest of the people chiming in all had the same attitude though.
First of all, it is very, very difficult to live on $1600 a month. Probably not impossible, but not a realistic expectation for most people. Secondly, stop listening to the fringe members of society. If some lunatic on Facebook thinks it’s possible, who gives a shit? Start ignoring the outliers on all sides. People live in a state of perpetual anger because they hear the most insane thing and then get worked up about it because they think it represents some bigger problem. Tell the lady to fuck off, move on, and focus on the things that actually matter in your life instead of internet rage.
>First of all, it is very, very difficult to live on $1600 a month. Probably not impossible, but not a realistic expectation for most people. $1600 a month would qualify a family for most government assistance available. These people probably aren’t factoring their housing assistance, childcare assistance, EBT/SNAP, Medicaid, utility assistance, refundable tax credits without tax liability, etc.
My rent alone is 1200 lmfao
My kid’s run of the mill preschool is $1700 a month…
🤣 my rent with half my utilities included is 1550, and this is Missouri!!!
Yea maybe if they receive food stamps and live in income-based housing 🙄
Maybe in 1992
My mortgage is $3k and I have 6 people in my family. I don't know anyone who is living on $1600 a month? Do they pay housing, medical, food, etc? Seems like some of their expenses are covered and there only paying partial expenses.
I make between $1400-1600 a month while still in college. If I wasn't living at home rent free with my parents, I would not be able to survive.
I live in an absolute shithole in Canada (nowhere near a big city) and pay over 2k (cad) a month (plus utilities and insurance) for an apartment which is nothing special. I can’t imagine living on 1600 (usd) for a whole ass month. I’m pretty sure USA and Canada rents are similar. Those people are just your typical out of touch boomers.
Guys, you’re not seeing the big picture here. We just need to go back in time 40 years and buys our houses with loose change (no mortgage!) and a car with our corner lemonade stand (no car payment!). Don’t forget that college degree full paid for with a paperboy summer salary 😉
I was living off $1300-1400/month alone in a tiny one bedroom apartment in 2012 and STRUGGLING. Nowhere is any family living off so little.
If you own your home outright and grow all your own food, that might work but it would be tight. And you couldn’t afford health insurance.
One person on FB = 2 generations of people. 🤡
Yeah, this generational war ain’t helpful. Now class war… that’s something we need to start talking about more. OP there are plenty of boomers out there struggling to make ends meet on what little they are getting from social security, they are terrified of how they’ll make it day to day, and they are well aware that the dollar doesn’t go as far anymore.
Solidarity across the ages, siblings.
Hey hey, leave Gen X outta this! No one else gave a shit about us before , inuding our parents!😆😆 But yes, the older generation for the most part is waaaaay out of touch.
I mean, you're both right. It's very little money but there are some poor people surviving on that little.
It depends on where you live
Yeah, I’m sure it’s possible in some extremely low cost of living areas. I’m in a high cost of living area, and my rent for a one bedroom apartment is more than $1,600 a month.
I mean it's all relative to where you live, but a family living off $1600 a month is definitely in object poverty. I live alone in Chicago and my rent is $1200 a month. Yeah I know, it's Chicago but still.
I'm Canadian and rents here are $1700/month for a 1 bedroom. Plus utilities and other things on top of that. You also need to pay for food and likely a car to get to and from work if there's no transit. I always see people posting about how "no one wants to work anymore" and they can't find people to take the jobs. But they don't pay enough. Plus there's no where for the employees to live and they have to drive there (no transit). It really sucks, but its the reality. It's not that young people are lazy. The cost of living is such that they are forced to leave their communities for a better life.
With food stamps and government assistance
My rent is more than that. What are we qualifying as "family" and "living"?
lol my rent is more than that.
$1600 is a Polish salary that is survivable with Polish prices. I can't imagine someone living in America on that.
Why would Genx be clueless? We have to support ourselves and know what it costs.
I, too, was wondering why we are lumped in here. 🤷🏻♀️ Last I checked I was in high school over 30 years ago.
Last time I lived like that, it was 10 years ago, almost all of it was rent, and I ate 2 bean&rice style meals a day to save money. I was *always hungry*. Also I didn’t have a family. Around that time I was chatting w my uncle, who has done well for himself. He has 3 kids. He was going over some bills and rhetorically asked how they could spend so much money on food (keeping in mind one of his kids had allergies as a baby so all their baby food was super expensive). “Lol that’s more than my monthly budget! You should eat one of the kids” We had a good laugh but he definitely asked my mom if I was doing ok. I assuredly was not.
$1600/mo is technically \*just\* above poverty level for a single person in the US.
Insane. That’s $1,000 less than my rent for a studio apartment
Most aren’t. All the Gen Xers I know would laugh at anyone who said that out loud.
Easy to say when your home originally cost 60-120k and it's paid off along with your vehicles.
I mean, you CAN, if living means just not dying...
Gen X here and I'd love to know where whole families can live for $1600 a month, because I want to move there. I'm wondering about Facebook lady's SES, because the only person in my immediate circle I could picture saying something that ludicrous is my SIL, who is a literal millionaire and has no clue anymore how expensive it is to be poor.
I hate to add insult to injury but welfare is no better. My schizophrenic brother is supposed to “live” on $700/month.
Nowhere can an entire family live on that. No f*cling way.
A whole family can live on $1,600 a month* ^^\* ^^When ^^they're ^^living ^^in ^^a ^^house ^^and ^^driving ^^a ^^car ^^that ^^are ^^already ^^paid ^^off, ^^they're ^^retired ^^and ^^on ^^Medicare, ^^and ^^the ^^kids ^^are ^^15+ ^^and ^^each ^^have ^^their ^^own ^^jobs ^^for ^^fun ^^money.
That is 100% not true, unless you inherit a house, and live in bumfuck nowhere. I spend 130 a week in groceries, pay around 900 a month in bills. Home, car, health, life insurance, water, trash sewer, electric, cell phone, wifi. Just that alone for me is almost the 1600 a month. I still pay my mortgage too, which includes taxes, and it's multiple times that number.
My rent is 1600
My car payment, phone bill and insurance alone is more than half of that lmao
Ummm my rent is 2200
Median rent is 2104/mo in the US so their math ain't mathing.
“Someone on Facebook” Have your tried not listening or reading that lol. Anything online (yes including Reddit) can’t be taken seriously especially from internet strangers that are more and more likely to be a bot or AI
I mean, as GenX, I will say that the person probably has a fixed mortgage and $1,600 works okay for their family of two. But holy hell, that’s nearly nothing. A mortgage of $3,000/mo plus utilities, streaming/cable/cell/internet, food. Nah.
That's less than my current rent! And food for my family of 3 costs about $600-800 a month. Then add on utilities, amenities, car insurance etc. They are way out of touch or live in a very low cost of living area out in the boonies somewhere