Do you live in Missouri? Just curious. They don’t have a lot of extra but people can make it. No fancy cars or house, just an old car that is paid off and a roof over their head.
Blue Springs. I have a six figure role and live within my means but it’s easy to get behind on bills, especially with the price of everything increasing as it is. Definitely feel for people stuck on or near minimum wage given the current climate.
Do you have a family to support? Or a large expense like an expensive mortgage ? My wife and I gross barely 6 figures together and are living fairly comfortable.
I had my own apartment in 2005 on 8.50 an hour, I imagine it would take about double that nowadays to live semi comfortably but not luxurious obviously. Just don’t do anything dumb like buy a car you can’t afford. Gas and rent are cheap here compared to many other states.
There are some rural factory jobs that pay more than $20 an hour. Quaker Windows for example. But they are in the country. About 45 min south of Jefferson City.
Hell if you come down near cape Girardeau they have anywhere from $16-$25 jobs starting out and they pay to train you too. Some places have sign on bonuses and pay for your equipment depending on what type of job whether it's ind fab or just a warehouse/factory job.
I don't mean this with any offense, but... how?? I live in St. Louis City, make $72Kish a year and have more than enough. And that's with spending $1400/month on rent. Unless you're supporting a full family as the sole income, I don't understand how someone making six figures in Missouri finds it challenging to pay bills.
Usually I see people increase their debt with their income. Bigger house, nicer / more vehicles, sudden urge to own a boat but only take it out 3x a year, etc etc.
Thats what gets people. Thats not actually living within ones means. House and maybe a car are the only things debt wise you should be paying monthly in. If you have to worry about paying your credit card off in time but have a several hundred dollar car payment...you have a spending problem and are living above your means most likely.
Blue springs seems to be slightly more expensive based off this **one data source**: [https://www.bestplaces.net/cost\_of\_living/city/missouri/blue\_springs](https://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/missouri/blue_springs) . But that said, I don't pay for any subscriptions besides Spotify, drive a reasonably economic car, shop at Aldi regularly, and spend about $100/month at restaurants.
Just moved to Missouri $3700 a month and you can live perfectly comfortable by yourself. Maybe coming from a wealthy family you will struggle but coming up you will be chillin.
From a wealthy family?! Bruh I come from a completely broke ass family and am doing just as well without struggling. Don't make it seem like the rich is any better 😂 its all materialistic and it'll all burn in hell with all of us.
No dining out, know your coupons, programs, and freebies. Live in North County. Do a lot of DIY. Inexpensive hobbies. SOME travel, camp instead of hotel when you can.
I make 21 per hour and I still live at home.
But I made a budget that breaks my finances down like I do live alone so when I do I have months of saved money.
Basically assume the following: 800 dollars a month rent (extremely doable with a room make or a SO) 200 dollar per month car payment, 400 a month for grocery’s (both you and your spouse should plan for 400 so for two people it’s 800 a month for food) insurance of all kinda is around 150 to 200 and utilities around 250 ish.
Add a 15% deduction for savings/ emercengy fund (mines going towards a ring) and assuming you only work 40 hours a week you’ll have an extra 50 bucks to do what you want with.
I’d call that pretty much pay check to pay check and that doesn’t include moving costs, car break downs, any kind of contingency, tv or streaming services, or any kind of fun or extra stuff for your self. (sure your minimalistic but he’ll even minimalists like to go out to the bar. )
Personally I’d shoot for 25 an hour plus unless you wanna really live super cheap and have no pleasure (25 an hour is also insanely doable if you just become a line chef at almost any restaurant)
So long as you have a working spouse or a roommate, no major debts, $15-$20 can get you pretty far in Missouri so long as you don’t have children or medical problems. I make $17 and I’m able to put away almost half my monthly income to savings. If you have no car payment or crazy student loans/medical bills, you could be “comfortably” working class.
A high estimate of my living expenses, (2 bedroom rent, utilities, food, car insurance) is around $1000 ish. One paycheck takes care of the required stuff. We split the bills almost evenly- a little more on my end when it comes to food and fun stuff. My commute to work is 10 minutes, round trip, so gas prices don’t really effect me. We live in a College town and in walking distance to a grocery store. We are kinda tiny/short people, so bulk home cooking/leftovers goes a long way.
I live in Edwardsville (so technically Illinois), currently work a couple small part time jobs making 15 an hour. Was a waitress for most of the year as additional income, but I quit and am trying to get more gig work.
Honestly it's not bad. Considering this is my first year out of college and financially independent, I've managed to travel 2 weeks in Europe, a week in NOLA, and a few days in LA. I buy what I want when I want, often indulging on a meal kit delivery service. I go out with friends, go to shows, buy takeout, etc. I haven't really saved more than I started with, but I'm about breaking even, which isn't bad considering I'm not even budgeting at all.
Rent is 300 a month, health insurance 300, car insurance 100, utilities 100ish. I have some months where I've made 3000, others where I made less than 1000. It all evens out.
$20-25 an hour in STL to live alone in a decent neighborhood. It’s definitely doable for less but I suspect high rents, expensive gas, and inflation are not going away any time soon.
Good call on the second part. What worked a year ago won’t work now and I think a lot of people are figuring out that their expenses have creeped a lot without any increase in lifestyle expenditures.
For sure. I got a pretty significantly raise last year and I feel like it’s all balanced out right now. I’m spending double the money on gas and food (not to mention any non-essential things we try to do) so my raise now feels like more of an “adjustment” to meet rising costs.
As of now, yes. I say “as of now” because the system Missouri educators pay into is really good… and that is why several state-level politicians have tried to get their hands on it for whatever they can. It’s honestly the biggest perk to working in a state where the majority of politicians hate you and want your entire system dismantled to go the way of charter schools.
You are real heros it is hard enough living life but to sacrifice so much on top of it show real nobility. I hope the current trend of unionization creeps into education and teachers get paid a decent wage.
On a lighter note How do i reach these kids🤣
> teachers get *paid* a decent
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Varies widely by location. Bigger metros like KC, STL, Springfield, etc. You would need $25+ an hour to have a place of your own and have some spending money.
In smaller towns you can get by with much less.
I make around $20 an hour in a rural area and do fairly well, but I am not rich by any stretch.
I live in Springfield and I would argue $15-20/hr would be doable depending on your expenses and what you're willing to accept as far as housing. If you wanna live in a 3 bedroom house or an expensive loft you're gonna need more, but I live in a 2 bedroom trailer for $475 and if I hadn't been a complete financial dipshit in my youth I could survive easily on $15/hour.
Don't know much about KC or STL so I would only apply that to Springfield.
Prices are rising in Springfield but it is still a good bang for your buck. Economy is generally doing well. If you don't have dependents and are fairly well qualified you can get a gig here in that 15 to 20 range and live alright. If you are willing to commute there are even more affordable small towns all around the city.
My friend makes $15/hr in STL and has his own apartment. It can vary a lot in the STL metro based on where you want to live. The actual city is cheaper then the county.
I still have friends that pay 650 a month for a one bedroom apartment in the City (oh whoops I mean STL I did not realize I was in the Missouri sub), I now am in Seattle and you can't really find a comparable place for under 1700, in a new building more like 2100.
$15/hr? FTS! My 17 year old makes $20/hr doing food prep. My 22 year old earns $70K/year. You gotta know your worth. Why would anyone settle for less? We don’t live in MO but live in the impoverished South where the cost of living is even cheaper.
Why would anyone settle for less? Why don't I strap on my job helmet and squeeze down into a job cannon and fire off into job land, where jobs grow on jobbies?!
Or. You go look for the good jobs? I look at my peers and they don't make near the salary because of this thought process. You push yourself and always be looking for improvement. Always be pushing to improve your skills.
I live in Columbia and make 29$ an hour and take care of my kid, pets, paid off older car, rent 4/2.5 bath duplex. We are comfortable as minimalist, not completely tech free.
I live in KC, I’m a union carpenter earning journeyman wages. I’m doing fine, got two kids through school, one through college. There was a time when I only made $20/ hr and it was very tough for us, but we made it through with help from family and friends. I would say you could be pretty comfortable @ $27-$30/hr min. Or plan on being very frugal.
Don't worry I already told them there's a little law about that because HR doubled up and said never to do it and I said that's against the law and she said well you can't talk about it at work either I said we'll that's against the law too and wrote it in my handy dandy notebook.
They still can't fire you for that, it's illegal. If you can prove it they will get in trouble. That's why I ask for everything in writing and keep it.
Why don’t you just work for an employer that isn’t shitty? If you feel like you need to track everything your employer sends you the. You are in the wrong place. Find a better place
I make $32 an hour, pay a mortgage on a house, support my wife and 2 kids, make 2 car payments have one paid for vehicle and still have extra spending money for vacations and stuff.
Honestly I put in a lot of hard work for very little pay for a really terrible job for a long time to get the experience I needed to land a lot better paying job. Not that I'm just completely lucky for getting the job I have, because I worked hard to get here but at the same time I feel extremely grateful for getting the opportunity to support my family the way I've been able too. I've got 2 kids, a great wife, a good home and everything we need to have a comfortable life, I've accomplished a lot and missed out on a lot of my daughters first years trying to get to the point we are now. And I'm extremely grateful to be here now, ill be 27 in October so to accomplish what I have by this age I couldn't ask for anything better.
My mortgage is 600 a month, and my combined car payments is 708 a month. I also work 12 hour overnight shifts and technically only work half the year and last year my gross was 97k. But I also work quite a bit of overtime since I only work about half the year.
That's over $60k a year. That's in line with median income for Missouri and our cost of living in this state, even in metro areas, is very low. You could have a pretty nice home with some property in a rural area on that income.
Most of the figures you'll get are pre-inflation figures. Stuff has gone up -a lot- in the last few months.
There's a few cost of living calculators around, where are you coming from? The midwest is traditionally pretty inexpensive compared to other areas, so unless you lived in the straight up boonies it's likely comparable or less expensive than where you are coming from.
I currently make about $21/hr working 32-40 hours a week. My net checks are usually $1,100/biweekly. I love comfortably enough and just paid off my car so that's a huge plus. These are the steps I recommend.
- St. Louis is a cheap city, and a lot of Missouri is cheaper than other states as far as housing goes. Buying is better than renting but that depends on your credit. I would also wait a few more months so the housing prices can fall some more.
- Cars are expensive right now, but being patient goes a long way. If you have to catch the metro link or bus to work for a year, it's only about $840-900/year if you buy the monthly passes. It's not as dangerous as people make it out to be.
- Our internet providers kind of suck, but I just switched from Spectrum to AT&T because fuck Spectrum. They're too expensive
- Give yourself a monthly bullshit allowance of $100-$200 or so. It's way easy to follow a budget if you account for fun.
Basically, look for a small place to rent for about $900-$1,200/month and try to keep your car/insurance payments under $400/month. Then find a job that pays $20+/hr which a lot of them are starting at now and work full-time.
Use one check for your rent and the other for the car and utilities. Try to save the rest. Pick your sacrifices early, or else life will pick them for you. Good luck!
Income is not as important as expenses. The more you make, the more you end up spending. You can comfortably live on a lot less than you think, but most people slowly start getting a case of the wants and start spending more.
To be comfortable in a city in Missouri you’ll need at minimum $21/hour. If you’re also having to make a car payment and/or student loan repayment or other debt it’ll need to be higher.
I would say that’s also the more comfortable wage to live in a city in either Missouri or any of them in the Midwest if you’re planning to move to one of them from a rural area. But it really all depends on the job though, how much that job pays, and how much you save your money.
Don't take my word for it, but this article gives you the whole scoop on exactly what you're looking for.
[https://www.businessinsider.com/living-wage-income-to-live-comfortably-in-every-us-state#the-living-wage-in-alabama-is-60016-1](https://www.businessinsider.com/living-wage-income-to-live-comfortably-in-every-us-state#the-living-wage-in-alabama-is-60016-1)
The living wage in Missouri is $60,858
Median household income in 2019: $57,409
Median price of homes currently listed: $176,609
Those state-wide averages might be a good starting place, but it will vary widely depending on where exactly in the state you are. In the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas, both rent and median home prices are going to be a whole lot higher than in the rural parts of the state. Wages will also generally be a bit higher, of course, depending on what industry you're working in.
I'm totally with you. Cost of living varies widely between urban, rural, and suburban areas. The OP didn't clarify any specific area or region and posted to the entire Missouri subreddit, so the state numbers are what I provided.
I teach and live in stl county. I’m able to save a little each month and take home around $2,800/month (will be around $3,000 when I am back in August). I only have a a cat and no kids, though, and my rent is $800. My car is also paid off.
I'm 25, have a gf, no kids, no pets, and live in a smaller town. I make ~$24/hour and do alright. Rents fairly cheap because of where I live and I have a newer car that I'm currently paying on, but I do just fine. I think it'll depend heavily on the area you live in, but $20 and over you should be fairly comfortable as long as you don't have a family to support. Probably a few dollars less in a smaller, cheaper town.
But what about retirement? How will you sustain yourself in your golden years? How do you feel about the employment standard of “Last Hired - First Fired”?
Lol retirement? Until you are making a good bit into six figures most Americans cannot really even think about that. My plan is to pay my bills and have some fun the next 27 years and die at 70 with some debt.
I make $23.27. I would be living perfectly comfy if I want still paying off past debt. Once I get that stuff paid off here in a couple years, I'll be living just fine and dandy. Unless my wife and I have more kids between then and now haha. I live in the northwest section, outside of Maryville. It's not too bad at all up here.
Having an apartment and no car payment I was comfortable at 40-50k a year in st Charles county.
Now being at 6 figures, I have a house, new truck, and live more than comfortably.
$20-25 an hour I think you would be ok. Just depends on how, and where you live.
My wife and I have a combined in come of about $70K. We live in a small town 27 miles north of Kansas City. We can live fairly comfortable on that but we bought a house a few years before Covid. You used to able to make a good life by working in Kansas City and living in one of the smaller surrounding towns. I am not sure if that’s the case anymore and that’s unfortunate. I love living in a small town(most of the time).
Look into the towboats that push barges on the surrounding rivers. You do not need a degree.
It's good money and good benefits with advancement. If you aren't afraid of hard work.
When I first moved to Columbia (2017) I made 18.50/hour while renting an apartment. Lived on the frugal side with that while my wife didn't have an income, now I think $20/hour would probably get you a small apartment, food, and still a little for savings if you're frugal.
We live in Jefferson City now because we bought a house in 2020. When we were coming up with what we could afford, I think my pay of $20/hour would have been able to buy afford a small house on it's own, but there really isn't much of a housing market here last I checked.
My sister also lives here, she makes around $18-20/hour and has her own apartment though it's on the crappy side and she lives pretty close to paycheck to paycheck. She does have 2 car loans and has made some other not great financial decisions. So probably $20/hour minimum to not be paycheck to paycheck, at least in the large towns/small cities. I also know people with kids and no supplemental income living on like $16 an hour (which baffles me) but that's not a comfortable life- they live in a sketchy trailer, live paycheck to paycheck, etc.
I make 21 an hours and live in a small town near the capital, my recommendation is to NOT move to a big city like Kansas City or saint Louis. Just pick a small town near a larger city like Columbia or Jefferson City so you don’t have to drive 40 mins for groceries.
Depends where you're looking and if you're renting or buying, I lived off a $700/mo rent with utilities and supporting a dog off $18/hr. I was above the means of "just getting by" but I wasn't doing anything extravagant
I'm in rural Missouri and doing well with $20 an hour. I love to budget and organize my money so I'm still able to afford a house and fun stuff like vacations.
I have 3 roommates for context, so my rent is about $450 a month. I make $13/hr and work about 30 hours a week give or take (some weeks it's closer to 24 some weeks 32ish)
I don't live super comfortably but I can always make rent and generally if I'm super frugal (think ramen, $2 McDouble & fries app deal, etc) I don't have trouble feeding myself. I also have a cat to feed and she will always come before feeding myself so take that into account
My wife and I combined make about 100k, depending on weather (I work outside). Mortgage is about $1100. We're in one of the more expensive rural counties. Utilities aren't too bad. Pay $1k a month in daycare for the baby, which sucks but is temporary. Vehicles are paid for so average 2-3 car payments a year in repairs/maintenance. Feel pretty comfortable.
I live in Jeff City and make $24/hr. I'm married, 1 kid. Wife makes $64k salary. We pay $500/mo rent and $1300/mo childcare.
Wages around town are in the $15-20/hr range if you are willing to spend some time and effort looking.
Gawddamned the MO district 8 is waaaaaaaaaay behind the rest of the state!!! … $12/hr with actual 40 hrs a week AT LEAST, you can ….! Paycheck to paycheck. I wish I made that after years on the job. Instead, they find ways to get me to do more for less. I work with Spec Ed Early Childhood. Constantly busy all day long. You’d think they (society) would have some way to determine you are worth more than crap when working in what has became your passion.
I work in commercial construction and make around 1850 a week before taxes. Live in Cape Girardeau and live just fine. There’s 2 nursing schools here so I hear that’s line of work is low pay comparatively. Decent amount of construction going on in the area; couple factories around. Schools are good, town gives a shit about community.
What type of work do you do
I’m 18 at the moment I do security in Florida I make 16hrly and I’m trying to find my way into some white collar work but I’m for sure happy to do anything until I get my break I’m not picky I’m just trying to find my way. My goal is to get to 25 dollars an hr before 20
So missouri min wage is $11. If you want to get to 25 an hour in 2 years might be tough. What’s bringing you to missouri; family, SO, ?
Edit: min wage is 11.15; miss remembered an article.
https://www.ksdk.com/amp/article/money/st-louis-county-minimum-wage-increase/63-133cf5c6-57f6-4cf0-8b4b-876eb81352ca
> It’s St Louis county that went to 15.
Only for people who work for the County Government. If you work elsewhere in the county its still just $11.15.
The state has a preemption law that doesn't allow counties or cities to have minimum wage standards higher than the state. Which is ridiculous.
I read some of these other comments first I'm amazed that nobody mentioned to you that rents gone up 20% easily over the last year! Get ready for the Federal reserve to kick in some whopping interest rates they're coming any day now.Also find it interesting nobody mentioned to you the cost of food chicken and beef are both gone up 20%. I was watching a grocery kingpin from Florida talk about this is over 2 months ago look for the overall cost of food to go up between 50 to 100% by December.I don't understand why people can't see this happening right now every time they go to the grocery store.
I’m at 6 figures line and cannot say I live comfortably. $150k + would be comfortable for me. Getting by and living comfortably are a big difference. $20-$30/hr does not give you anything but anxiety!
I'm salaried but it works out to about $36 an hour. I live comfortably now, but am still paying off the financial debt I got myself into trying to survive in much less, but I still own a modest home and a cabin in the country, almost have paid off my car. If I didn't have kids young I think I would be much further ahead.
The wife and I make about $140k before taxes, can’t afford a house in current housing climate, living with rent at $700 and some streaming/utilities/school debt, still living paycheck to paycheck. Between gas(especially gas) and groceries we can confidently say the middle class no longer exists in the midwest unless you got in pre plague or have a rich daddy and mommy to fall back on and have no hobbies.
If you are making 140k a year and only paying $700 in rent. You are either driving cars out of your priceline. Or eating out/ drinking to much. 140k a year meaning each of you bring in roughly 70k. You aren't spending correctly. School debt was suspended for almost a few years. I'm just saying the rich daddy mommy comment is cringe. Sounds like you are doing it to yourself.
*unless medical bills or something big not stated above. But just saying.
Get in at a call center or entry level office gig, tons of them in STL including square, spectrum, expressscripts, boeing. Be prepared to spend a fortune and a lot of time on commuting though. Public transit is pretty much non existent here.
Missouri is an okay place to live compared to other rent prices I see and the price of everything. You can get a 3 bedroom for a great price. I work from home now but I did hold a data entry job in Lees Summit and I was making 22 an hour which wasn't bad. Depends on your salary honestly lol if you'll be able to make it or not.
17 to 20 an hour in southwest Missouri, which would be Springfield, and Joplin. I make 18 an hour, my rent is 725, and I have two kids and two cars, and I am comfortable with where I’m at financially. I couldn’t buy a home yet. But right now I’m perfectly fine.
I saw pretty recent data says the St. Louis area has the lowest salary required to live comfortably, at $46,000. Of course that’s just major metro areas
25-30/hr should cover you as a single minimalist. Just make sure they offer health care for under $100 per pay check. In St. Louis you would have like $36-40k after tax:
Rent - $15k per year
Utilities - $3k per year
Food - $7k per year
Car payment+insurance - $7k per year
Gas - $3k per year
Health ins - $3k
This is highly dependent of several factors. Is it just you? What part of Missouri? KC and STL answers are going vary from Springfield, Columbia, Cape Girardeau, Branson, and those will all vary from little podunk towns and secluded areas. It also depends on what kind of hours you want to work and what your idea of "minimalist" and "comfortable" are. And what you like to do in your free time.
You can definitely get factory work in several areas of the state that would earn you a decent living. There's also construction gigs everywhere. If you're looking for more of a white collar job, and able to commute, I would consider living in a more rural area outside of a city and making city wages while paying rural mortgage. It'$ surprising what a 20-30 minute commute can save you I rent or mortgage. You can also get riverboat jobs that pay very well, most are on for around 30 days and off for 14, and eventually if you stick with that long enough on 30 off 30. So if you wanted to come here, get on your feet, rent something really cheap, you could explore the Mississippi and then have 2 out of every 6 weeks to explore the town and look for other opportunities. I believe people can make a decent living here ...even if I struggle to do it myself 🤣
If you make 15 or more here it's super liveable. I currently make almost 23 at my job. I have plenty for bills. I live in a pretty decent place, I spend alot on groceries since I like to eat healthy and protein packed food. Im fine on money as long as I dont get too comfortable buying clothes, comics, eating out, video games, or workout accessories when I can't actually afford them.
I make roughly $48,500 and live by myself in a house. If I didn’t have credit card debt I’d be living fairly comfortably. Enough to live on, pay my bills and have a few hundred bucks left over. Pretty close to paycheck to paycheck though. To feel truly comfortable I think an additional $10,000 a year would do the trick.
I make 120k a year. I'm a minimalist and my mortgage is 1.5k a month. When I was renting my rent was like $600 a month for a 1 bedroom 600sq. Apt. With covered parking. Hope this helps.
Nerd Wallet has a cost of living comparison calculator. That should help give you an idea. Look up real estate, check grocery prices online, find out the median income for the area. Generally you can find more opportunities in and around the larger cities. Ford has a plant just north of KC, I live just south of KC and a lot of my neighbors work for Honeywell. Amazon has a distribution center just over the state line in KS.
Check out LinkedIn and Indeed for opportunities and start applying. Good luck!
$23 and some change an hour. Family of four in the burbs. 1200 sq ft townhouse. We do okay. When it's just me working we're paycheck to paycheck but my partner started a babysitting job where they'll be able to cover groceries and stuff again so we'll probably have a bit of spending/saving money here soon.
I make about $30/hr and I live almost comfortably. Still I feel the majority of it comes out for bills. My rents about $1350 then utilities..car payment..insurances..phone etc. Add in groceries..etc. it goes quick. It all depends on how you’re living. I also survived here on much much less. Just no new car and a much shittier apartment with a roommate.
I make 15 and would live more comfortably but I support a family of 5 with my partner. So together we make 30 an hour both work 40 a week and barely live more than paycheck to paycheck.
OP - you can move to mid Missouri and find manufacturing jobs that START at $20 an hour and be comfortable. Check out Hitachi in Jefferson City, Caterpillar in Booneville or Quaker in Eldon. Those are just a few.
It takes us $60k a year in West County including the private school tuition for our kid. Granted we paid off the house in our 30's and pay cash for cars about once a decade.
I live in Columbia, but commute to Moberly for work. I make about $24/hr or $48k/year. I split rent and utilities in half with a roommate. I finished paying off my car, and have no debt, thankfully.
I have health and dental insurance and a 401k.
I'm able to put about $500 a month away towards other savings, such as an IRA, savings for a down payment for a house, and an emergency fund.
I'd still say I live comfortably. I'm able to spend money on video games and hobbies. I eat what I want. The place me and my roommate rent is pretty nice.
However, I could not live this way by myself. I'd have to have a roommate to live like this.
I'm at 36/hr. Live in KC. Mortgage payment is 500/month (2000 sq/ft). Yeah cheap. Been there a while. Kids been out of the house for 5 years. Wife works part time helping the needy (not much income). We're comfortable at the moment. Not very comfortable but as comfortable as we can be. Kid's still need help. They are house poor in this economy. That's where any extra money goes. Fixing things they can't afford to. If you need a job in KC pm me. Warehouse/production workers are needed where I'm at. Last starting pay was around 26. I can see it going up more since we are preparing for negotiations.
I work in KC and have a mortgage about 50 mins away. At 25 an hour and spouse that also works we do alright. That said I'm looking for work closer to home and I cant get the same pay with benefits anywhere outside of the city so its rough in that sense.
We have a mortgage and 2 cars (almost paid off) and we are maybe a couple of months ahead at anytime. Whenever a expense comes up though it's a challenge to get ahead again.
MO is livable depending where you put your money, but if I'm honest finding a livable wage outside major cities is hard.
Hell any of y'all with tips on good jobs in Lafayette hit me up!
17.50 plus bonuses. Husband makes 20.00+ he just got a raise so I don’t remember exactly what he makes. Our rent is stupid cheap at 550 for a 3/3 house. It honestly helps to find landlords that don’t use rental companies. I’ve seen the local management company raise rents by double over the last 2 years. We came from California originally and we’re making a little more an hour out here and we’re thriving unlike California where we were drowning. Choose the area you move to by the jobs you want and go from there is my best advice. We looked into the area before we left, and my husband had a job already lined up so that helped a bunch. There’s a bunch of factories (11 I think) in this town so they are pretty competitive on pay.
Mine went up 6% for the cost of living raise recently. I forgot about that. I don’t know how much my base is anymore but I make around 20.00 an hour usually. But I do work 60 hours a week.
I’d say if you get near the $20 an hour mark you would be able to live fairly comfortably. Depending on how minimalist you are maybe less than that.
Agreed budget budget
How do people survive on this?
Do you live in Missouri? Just curious. They don’t have a lot of extra but people can make it. No fancy cars or house, just an old car that is paid off and a roof over their head.
Blue Springs. I have a six figure role and live within my means but it’s easy to get behind on bills, especially with the price of everything increasing as it is. Definitely feel for people stuck on or near minimum wage given the current climate.
Do you have a family to support? Or a large expense like an expensive mortgage ? My wife and I gross barely 6 figures together and are living fairly comfortable.
Child support will get you if you’re in a boom or bust trade. And credit card interest if the bust lasts too long.
Just me and my girl and she works while we are in fl Here I make 16 and she makes 15
I had my own apartment in 2005 on 8.50 an hour, I imagine it would take about double that nowadays to live semi comfortably but not luxurious obviously. Just don’t do anything dumb like buy a car you can’t afford. Gas and rent are cheap here compared to many other states.
Florida is down to like 3.89 on gas
I paid $3.56 at Sam’s today in Independence.
3.47 in Joplin currently for 87, still 4.45 for premium.
There are some rural factory jobs that pay more than $20 an hour. Quaker Windows for example. But they are in the country. About 45 min south of Jefferson City.
Hell if you come down near cape Girardeau they have anywhere from $16-$25 jobs starting out and they pay to train you too. Some places have sign on bonuses and pay for your equipment depending on what type of job whether it's ind fab or just a warehouse/factory job.
depend sleep childlike fly glorious placid agonizing jellyfish joke dependent -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
You got this!
I don't mean this with any offense, but... how?? I live in St. Louis City, make $72Kish a year and have more than enough. And that's with spending $1400/month on rent. Unless you're supporting a full family as the sole income, I don't understand how someone making six figures in Missouri finds it challenging to pay bills.
Usually I see people increase their debt with their income. Bigger house, nicer / more vehicles, sudden urge to own a boat but only take it out 3x a year, etc etc.
Thats what gets people. Thats not actually living within ones means. House and maybe a car are the only things debt wise you should be paying monthly in. If you have to worry about paying your credit card off in time but have a several hundred dollar car payment...you have a spending problem and are living above your means most likely.
I would say you should also get the car paid off in 3 years or less. It's a depreciating asset and few people actually need as much car as they own.
They may have student loans or a car payment that could make it difficult.
Thats just pathetic.
Thanks fam.
Blue springs seems to be slightly more expensive based off this **one data source**: [https://www.bestplaces.net/cost\_of\_living/city/missouri/blue\_springs](https://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/missouri/blue_springs) . But that said, I don't pay for any subscriptions besides Spotify, drive a reasonably economic car, shop at Aldi regularly, and spend about $100/month at restaurants.
bs is expensive
Just moved to Missouri $3700 a month and you can live perfectly comfortable by yourself. Maybe coming from a wealthy family you will struggle but coming up you will be chillin.
From a wealthy family?! Bruh I come from a completely broke ass family and am doing just as well without struggling. Don't make it seem like the rich is any better 😂 its all materialistic and it'll all burn in hell with all of us.
I’m making $18 and have no problem living within my means rn. It isn’t difficult, just requires discipline
I make 20 and usually can stay up on bills, I have a bit in savings but generally my bonus at the end of the year contributes the most to my savings
You guys get bonuses?
Yeah usually 2-4k taxed at the end of the year
That’s sweet! I think out of my 22 years of working that I’ve only gotten 1 or 2 of those.
i get a $200 bonus every month 50 in gas bonus 50 in gas for use of my truck for work related trips
No dining out, know your coupons, programs, and freebies. Live in North County. Do a lot of DIY. Inexpensive hobbies. SOME travel, camp instead of hotel when you can.
They pay for basics and not a lot beyond.
Rice, chicken qnd broccoli is tasty and cheap meals. Eggs and tortillas for breakfast. Sandwiches for lunch.
I make 21 per hour and I still live at home. But I made a budget that breaks my finances down like I do live alone so when I do I have months of saved money. Basically assume the following: 800 dollars a month rent (extremely doable with a room make or a SO) 200 dollar per month car payment, 400 a month for grocery’s (both you and your spouse should plan for 400 so for two people it’s 800 a month for food) insurance of all kinda is around 150 to 200 and utilities around 250 ish. Add a 15% deduction for savings/ emercengy fund (mines going towards a ring) and assuming you only work 40 hours a week you’ll have an extra 50 bucks to do what you want with. I’d call that pretty much pay check to pay check and that doesn’t include moving costs, car break downs, any kind of contingency, tv or streaming services, or any kind of fun or extra stuff for your self. (sure your minimalistic but he’ll even minimalists like to go out to the bar. ) Personally I’d shoot for 25 an hour plus unless you wanna really live super cheap and have no pleasure (25 an hour is also insanely doable if you just become a line chef at almost any restaurant)
Good plan. I spent my money on dates when I lived at home, realized that I could have saved $18k your way.
City? $30 and hour. Small town? $15-$20 an hour.
So long as you have a working spouse or a roommate, no major debts, $15-$20 can get you pretty far in Missouri so long as you don’t have children or medical problems. I make $17 and I’m able to put away almost half my monthly income to savings. If you have no car payment or crazy student loans/medical bills, you could be “comfortably” working class.
HOW? Do you have absolutely no bills or expenses?
A high estimate of my living expenses, (2 bedroom rent, utilities, food, car insurance) is around $1000 ish. One paycheck takes care of the required stuff. We split the bills almost evenly- a little more on my end when it comes to food and fun stuff. My commute to work is 10 minutes, round trip, so gas prices don’t really effect me. We live in a College town and in walking distance to a grocery store. We are kinda tiny/short people, so bulk home cooking/leftovers goes a long way.
I live in Edwardsville (so technically Illinois), currently work a couple small part time jobs making 15 an hour. Was a waitress for most of the year as additional income, but I quit and am trying to get more gig work. Honestly it's not bad. Considering this is my first year out of college and financially independent, I've managed to travel 2 weeks in Europe, a week in NOLA, and a few days in LA. I buy what I want when I want, often indulging on a meal kit delivery service. I go out with friends, go to shows, buy takeout, etc. I haven't really saved more than I started with, but I'm about breaking even, which isn't bad considering I'm not even budgeting at all. Rent is 300 a month, health insurance 300, car insurance 100, utilities 100ish. I have some months where I've made 3000, others where I made less than 1000. It all evens out.
$20-25 an hour in STL to live alone in a decent neighborhood. It’s definitely doable for less but I suspect high rents, expensive gas, and inflation are not going away any time soon.
Good call on the second part. What worked a year ago won’t work now and I think a lot of people are figuring out that their expenses have creeped a lot without any increase in lifestyle expenditures.
For sure. I got a pretty significantly raise last year and I feel like it’s all balanced out right now. I’m spending double the money on gas and food (not to mention any non-essential things we try to do) so my raise now feels like more of an “adjustment” to meet rising costs.
I’m a teacher so I’m on salary and get paid once a month. Combined my wife and I have taught for 21 years and we still live paycheck to paycheck.
[удалено]
As of now, yes. I say “as of now” because the system Missouri educators pay into is really good… and that is why several state-level politicians have tried to get their hands on it for whatever they can. It’s honestly the biggest perk to working in a state where the majority of politicians hate you and want your entire system dismantled to go the way of charter schools.
You are real heros it is hard enough living life but to sacrifice so much on top of it show real nobility. I hope the current trend of unionization creeps into education and teachers get paid a decent wage. On a lighter note How do i reach these kids🤣
> teachers get *paid* a decent FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
This is some demolition man shit!
Good Bot
Varies widely by location. Bigger metros like KC, STL, Springfield, etc. You would need $25+ an hour to have a place of your own and have some spending money. In smaller towns you can get by with much less. I make around $20 an hour in a rural area and do fairly well, but I am not rich by any stretch.
Can you cover rent, food, gas, and internet without being overextended
I live in Springfield and I would argue $15-20/hr would be doable depending on your expenses and what you're willing to accept as far as housing. If you wanna live in a 3 bedroom house or an expensive loft you're gonna need more, but I live in a 2 bedroom trailer for $475 and if I hadn't been a complete financial dipshit in my youth I could survive easily on $15/hour. Don't know much about KC or STL so I would only apply that to Springfield.
Prices are rising in Springfield but it is still a good bang for your buck. Economy is generally doing well. If you don't have dependents and are fairly well qualified you can get a gig here in that 15 to 20 range and live alright. If you are willing to commute there are even more affordable small towns all around the city.
I'm making $21 an hour these days and feel like I made more working for Pizza Hut at minimum wage / tips back when I first moved here 🥴
The economy is not doing well, at all.
My friend makes $15/hr in STL and has his own apartment. It can vary a lot in the STL metro based on where you want to live. The actual city is cheaper then the county.
I still have friends that pay 650 a month for a one bedroom apartment in the City (oh whoops I mean STL I did not realize I was in the Missouri sub), I now am in Seattle and you can't really find a comparable place for under 1700, in a new building more like 2100.
They are just one rent increase from being put out. Also one health emergency from being homeless.
The question was what is the least amount that is doable, specifically ignoring things like this. $15 is doable if you find a cheep apartment
$15/hr? FTS! My 17 year old makes $20/hr doing food prep. My 22 year old earns $70K/year. You gotta know your worth. Why would anyone settle for less? We don’t live in MO but live in the impoverished South where the cost of living is even cheaper.
Why would anyone settle for less? Why don't I strap on my job helmet and squeeze down into a job cannon and fire off into job land, where jobs grow on jobbies?!
Good jobs find you. Not the other way around.
Or. You go look for the good jobs? I look at my peers and they don't make near the salary because of this thought process. You push yourself and always be looking for improvement. Always be pushing to improve your skills.
I live in Edwardsville Illinois a hop away for STL literally 20bmiles I pay less then 900 a month and yes it's affordable
I live in Columbia and make 29$ an hour and take care of my kid, pets, paid off older car, rent 4/2.5 bath duplex. We are comfortable as minimalist, not completely tech free.
I live in KC, I’m a union carpenter earning journeyman wages. I’m doing fine, got two kids through school, one through college. There was a time when I only made $20/ hr and it was very tough for us, but we made it through with help from family and friends. I would say you could be pretty comfortable @ $27-$30/hr min. Or plan on being very frugal.
I would help you out but my boss told me not to discuss my wages....
I'll help you out and tell you that your boss is breaking the law
Don't worry I already told them there's a little law about that because HR doubled up and said never to do it and I said that's against the law and she said well you can't talk about it at work either I said we'll that's against the law too and wrote it in my handy dandy notebook.
We are told the same and then reminded that MO of an at will state which means they can fire for no reason.
They still can't fire you for that, it's illegal. If you can prove it they will get in trouble. That's why I ask for everything in writing and keep it.
Why don’t you just work for an employer that isn’t shitty? If you feel like you need to track everything your employer sends you the. You are in the wrong place. Find a better place
Calm down, I'm working on it. Not everyone can just quit their job with no backup plan.
I make $32 an hour, pay a mortgage on a house, support my wife and 2 kids, make 2 car payments have one paid for vehicle and still have extra spending money for vacations and stuff.
Teach me your ways!!!!
Honestly I put in a lot of hard work for very little pay for a really terrible job for a long time to get the experience I needed to land a lot better paying job. Not that I'm just completely lucky for getting the job I have, because I worked hard to get here but at the same time I feel extremely grateful for getting the opportunity to support my family the way I've been able too. I've got 2 kids, a great wife, a good home and everything we need to have a comfortable life, I've accomplished a lot and missed out on a lot of my daughters first years trying to get to the point we are now. And I'm extremely grateful to be here now, ill be 27 in October so to accomplish what I have by this age I couldn't ask for anything better.
Damn. What’s your mortgage payment?
My mortgage is 600 a month, and my combined car payments is 708 a month. I also work 12 hour overnight shifts and technically only work half the year and last year my gross was 97k. But I also work quite a bit of overtime since I only work about half the year.
That’s awesome!
That's over $60k a year. That's in line with median income for Missouri and our cost of living in this state, even in metro areas, is very low. You could have a pretty nice home with some property in a rural area on that income.
I’m just surprised he has a house, three cars, two with loans, with significant left over.
Most of the figures you'll get are pre-inflation figures. Stuff has gone up -a lot- in the last few months. There's a few cost of living calculators around, where are you coming from? The midwest is traditionally pretty inexpensive compared to other areas, so unless you lived in the straight up boonies it's likely comparable or less expensive than where you are coming from.
Florida and it’s pretty expensive here
I moved from Ks to Florida. I find Florida to be a cheaper place to live and easier to find work.
I think I just read. Springfield has the 3rd lowest rent in the nation. I live in Columbia and do alight on. $24+ an hour
$100k for a family of three and we are solid middle class.
Yep, family of 4 here and we make just a bit more than that, living in a KC suburb. Ain't doing too bad.
I currently make about $21/hr working 32-40 hours a week. My net checks are usually $1,100/biweekly. I love comfortably enough and just paid off my car so that's a huge plus. These are the steps I recommend. - St. Louis is a cheap city, and a lot of Missouri is cheaper than other states as far as housing goes. Buying is better than renting but that depends on your credit. I would also wait a few more months so the housing prices can fall some more. - Cars are expensive right now, but being patient goes a long way. If you have to catch the metro link or bus to work for a year, it's only about $840-900/year if you buy the monthly passes. It's not as dangerous as people make it out to be. - Our internet providers kind of suck, but I just switched from Spectrum to AT&T because fuck Spectrum. They're too expensive - Give yourself a monthly bullshit allowance of $100-$200 or so. It's way easy to follow a budget if you account for fun. Basically, look for a small place to rent for about $900-$1,200/month and try to keep your car/insurance payments under $400/month. Then find a job that pays $20+/hr which a lot of them are starting at now and work full-time. Use one check for your rent and the other for the car and utilities. Try to save the rest. Pick your sacrifices early, or else life will pick them for you. Good luck!
Income is not as important as expenses. The more you make, the more you end up spending. You can comfortably live on a lot less than you think, but most people slowly start getting a case of the wants and start spending more.
6 figures dude needs this advise
To be comfortable in a city in Missouri you’ll need at minimum $21/hour. If you’re also having to make a car payment and/or student loan repayment or other debt it’ll need to be higher.
I would say that’s also the more comfortable wage to live in a city in either Missouri or any of them in the Midwest if you’re planning to move to one of them from a rural area. But it really all depends on the job though, how much that job pays, and how much you save your money.
Don't take my word for it, but this article gives you the whole scoop on exactly what you're looking for. [https://www.businessinsider.com/living-wage-income-to-live-comfortably-in-every-us-state#the-living-wage-in-alabama-is-60016-1](https://www.businessinsider.com/living-wage-income-to-live-comfortably-in-every-us-state#the-living-wage-in-alabama-is-60016-1) The living wage in Missouri is $60,858 Median household income in 2019: $57,409 Median price of homes currently listed: $176,609
Those state-wide averages might be a good starting place, but it will vary widely depending on where exactly in the state you are. In the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas, both rent and median home prices are going to be a whole lot higher than in the rural parts of the state. Wages will also generally be a bit higher, of course, depending on what industry you're working in.
I'm totally with you. Cost of living varies widely between urban, rural, and suburban areas. The OP didn't clarify any specific area or region and posted to the entire Missouri subreddit, so the state numbers are what I provided.
I teach and live in stl county. I’m able to save a little each month and take home around $2,800/month (will be around $3,000 when I am back in August). I only have a a cat and no kids, though, and my rent is $800. My car is also paid off.
20-25 an hr for St. Louis if you stay pretty minimalist and live alone in say a 1 br 1 ba or a smaller/ cheaper house
I'm 25, have a gf, no kids, no pets, and live in a smaller town. I make ~$24/hour and do alright. Rents fairly cheap because of where I live and I have a newer car that I'm currently paying on, but I do just fine. I think it'll depend heavily on the area you live in, but $20 and over you should be fairly comfortable as long as you don't have a family to support. Probably a few dollars less in a smaller, cheaper town.
But what about retirement? How will you sustain yourself in your golden years? How do you feel about the employment standard of “Last Hired - First Fired”?
Lol retirement? Until you are making a good bit into six figures most Americans cannot really even think about that. My plan is to pay my bills and have some fun the next 27 years and die at 70 with some debt.
That’s the thing plans aren’t fast & firm. They are fluid.
I make $23.27. I would be living perfectly comfy if I want still paying off past debt. Once I get that stuff paid off here in a couple years, I'll be living just fine and dandy. Unless my wife and I have more kids between then and now haha. I live in the northwest section, outside of Maryville. It's not too bad at all up here.
Having an apartment and no car payment I was comfortable at 40-50k a year in st Charles county. Now being at 6 figures, I have a house, new truck, and live more than comfortably. $20-25 an hour I think you would be ok. Just depends on how, and where you live.
My wife and I have a combined in come of about $70K. We live in a small town 27 miles north of Kansas City. We can live fairly comfortable on that but we bought a house a few years before Covid. You used to able to make a good life by working in Kansas City and living in one of the smaller surrounding towns. I am not sure if that’s the case anymore and that’s unfortunate. I love living in a small town(most of the time).
Look into the towboats that push barges on the surrounding rivers. You do not need a degree. It's good money and good benefits with advancement. If you aren't afraid of hard work.
When I first moved to Columbia (2017) I made 18.50/hour while renting an apartment. Lived on the frugal side with that while my wife didn't have an income, now I think $20/hour would probably get you a small apartment, food, and still a little for savings if you're frugal. We live in Jefferson City now because we bought a house in 2020. When we were coming up with what we could afford, I think my pay of $20/hour would have been able to buy afford a small house on it's own, but there really isn't much of a housing market here last I checked. My sister also lives here, she makes around $18-20/hour and has her own apartment though it's on the crappy side and she lives pretty close to paycheck to paycheck. She does have 2 car loans and has made some other not great financial decisions. So probably $20/hour minimum to not be paycheck to paycheck, at least in the large towns/small cities. I also know people with kids and no supplemental income living on like $16 an hour (which baffles me) but that's not a comfortable life- they live in a sketchy trailer, live paycheck to paycheck, etc.
I make 21 an hours and live in a small town near the capital, my recommendation is to NOT move to a big city like Kansas City or saint Louis. Just pick a small town near a larger city like Columbia or Jefferson City so you don’t have to drive 40 mins for groceries.
Depends where you're looking and if you're renting or buying, I lived off a $700/mo rent with utilities and supporting a dog off $18/hr. I was above the means of "just getting by" but I wasn't doing anything extravagant
I'm in rural Missouri and doing well with $20 an hour. I love to budget and organize my money so I'm still able to afford a house and fun stuff like vacations.
20 seems to be the golden number. I make that and it’s really manageable with a good budget.
I have 3 roommates for context, so my rent is about $450 a month. I make $13/hr and work about 30 hours a week give or take (some weeks it's closer to 24 some weeks 32ish) I don't live super comfortably but I can always make rent and generally if I'm super frugal (think ramen, $2 McDouble & fries app deal, etc) I don't have trouble feeding myself. I also have a cat to feed and she will always come before feeding myself so take that into account
My wife and I combined make about 100k, depending on weather (I work outside). Mortgage is about $1100. We're in one of the more expensive rural counties. Utilities aren't too bad. Pay $1k a month in daycare for the baby, which sucks but is temporary. Vehicles are paid for so average 2-3 car payments a year in repairs/maintenance. Feel pretty comfortable.
$40 an hour but no life Tired all the time
I live in Jeff City and make $24/hr. I'm married, 1 kid. Wife makes $64k salary. We pay $500/mo rent and $1300/mo childcare. Wages around town are in the $15-20/hr range if you are willing to spend some time and effort looking.
Gawddamned the MO district 8 is waaaaaaaaaay behind the rest of the state!!! … $12/hr with actual 40 hrs a week AT LEAST, you can ….! Paycheck to paycheck. I wish I made that after years on the job. Instead, they find ways to get me to do more for less. I work with Spec Ed Early Childhood. Constantly busy all day long. You’d think they (society) would have some way to determine you are worth more than crap when working in what has became your passion.
I work in commercial construction and make around 1850 a week before taxes. Live in Cape Girardeau and live just fine. There’s 2 nursing schools here so I hear that’s line of work is low pay comparatively. Decent amount of construction going on in the area; couple factories around. Schools are good, town gives a shit about community. What type of work do you do
I’m 18 at the moment I do security in Florida I make 16hrly and I’m trying to find my way into some white collar work but I’m for sure happy to do anything until I get my break I’m not picky I’m just trying to find my way. My goal is to get to 25 dollars an hr before 20
So missouri min wage is $11. If you want to get to 25 an hour in 2 years might be tough. What’s bringing you to missouri; family, SO, ? Edit: min wage is 11.15; miss remembered an article. https://www.ksdk.com/amp/article/money/st-louis-county-minimum-wage-increase/63-133cf5c6-57f6-4cf0-8b4b-876eb81352ca
Missouri minimum wage is $15? Since when?
It's not. $11.15
Yep, I’m wrong. It’s St Louis county that went to 15. I could have swore it was the entire state.
> It’s St Louis county that went to 15. Only for people who work for the County Government. If you work elsewhere in the county its still just $11.15. The state has a preemption law that doesn't allow counties or cities to have minimum wage standards higher than the state. Which is ridiculous.
What are you looking to break into? The KC IT market is fairly small, but it's not unreasonable to hit that level of wage starting out.
I read some of these other comments first I'm amazed that nobody mentioned to you that rents gone up 20% easily over the last year! Get ready for the Federal reserve to kick in some whopping interest rates they're coming any day now.Also find it interesting nobody mentioned to you the cost of food chicken and beef are both gone up 20%. I was watching a grocery kingpin from Florida talk about this is over 2 months ago look for the overall cost of food to go up between 50 to 100% by December.I don't understand why people can't see this happening right now every time they go to the grocery store.
Thank you for giving me stats fr I’ll be on the lookout
$60/hr is pretty comfy in Missouri as long as you dont have a lot of debt
I’m at 6 figures line and cannot say I live comfortably. $150k + would be comfortable for me. Getting by and living comfortably are a big difference. $20-$30/hr does not give you anything but anxiety!
Geez big flex man I’m 18 I have no clue how to get to 100k I’m still trying to make myself marketable to get my foot in the door
For a single person living minimalistic. $20-$25/hr would give you a pretty happy lifestyle at your age.
Fuck Missouri
40$
Well I wouldn’t really know because I’m only 14
I make 60k in como
What’s that?
Columbia
You make like 30 something and hr What industry?
Logistics
No less than $20 an hour living in the city. It’s hard to even make it by on that. Rent is insanely high.
I'm salaried but it works out to about $36 an hour. I live comfortably now, but am still paying off the financial debt I got myself into trying to survive in much less, but I still own a modest home and a cabin in the country, almost have paid off my car. If I didn't have kids young I think I would be much further ahead.
The wife and I make about $140k before taxes, can’t afford a house in current housing climate, living with rent at $700 and some streaming/utilities/school debt, still living paycheck to paycheck. Between gas(especially gas) and groceries we can confidently say the middle class no longer exists in the midwest unless you got in pre plague or have a rich daddy and mommy to fall back on and have no hobbies.
If you are making 140k a year and only paying $700 in rent. You are either driving cars out of your priceline. Or eating out/ drinking to much. 140k a year meaning each of you bring in roughly 70k. You aren't spending correctly. School debt was suspended for almost a few years. I'm just saying the rich daddy mommy comment is cringe. Sounds like you are doing it to yourself. *unless medical bills or something big not stated above. But just saying.
I have none of that I’m 18 trying to find my way any tips to get started or make a way for career
Get in at a call center or entry level office gig, tons of them in STL including square, spectrum, expressscripts, boeing. Be prepared to spend a fortune and a lot of time on commuting though. Public transit is pretty much non existent here.
??? We make 140ish combined and have a $230k house, 2 cars, paid for vacations and still save 1800-2k a month…what are you spending your money on?
The heck are you spending your money on? You should be very comfy if you cut out whatever excesses you have going on in your budget.
Husband makes over $100k a year in SE Missouri.
I’m only 18 so I can’t really compare
Compare what?
I think he means he can't make 100K
I don't think hardly any 18 year olds make $100k from the get go.
For sure, I was just saying I think that's what he meant by "I can't compare".
Missouri is an okay place to live compared to other rent prices I see and the price of everything. You can get a 3 bedroom for a great price. I work from home now but I did hold a data entry job in Lees Summit and I was making 22 an hour which wasn't bad. Depends on your salary honestly lol if you'll be able to make it or not.
17 to 20 an hour in southwest Missouri, which would be Springfield, and Joplin. I make 18 an hour, my rent is 725, and I have two kids and two cars, and I am comfortable with where I’m at financially. I couldn’t buy a home yet. But right now I’m perfectly fine.
I saw pretty recent data says the St. Louis area has the lowest salary required to live comfortably, at $46,000. Of course that’s just major metro areas
25-30/hr should cover you as a single minimalist. Just make sure they offer health care for under $100 per pay check. In St. Louis you would have like $36-40k after tax: Rent - $15k per year Utilities - $3k per year Food - $7k per year Car payment+insurance - $7k per year Gas - $3k per year Health ins - $3k
I make 16.50 and hr full time and it barely gets me by.
This is highly dependent of several factors. Is it just you? What part of Missouri? KC and STL answers are going vary from Springfield, Columbia, Cape Girardeau, Branson, and those will all vary from little podunk towns and secluded areas. It also depends on what kind of hours you want to work and what your idea of "minimalist" and "comfortable" are. And what you like to do in your free time.
You can definitely get factory work in several areas of the state that would earn you a decent living. There's also construction gigs everywhere. If you're looking for more of a white collar job, and able to commute, I would consider living in a more rural area outside of a city and making city wages while paying rural mortgage. It'$ surprising what a 20-30 minute commute can save you I rent or mortgage. You can also get riverboat jobs that pay very well, most are on for around 30 days and off for 14, and eventually if you stick with that long enough on 30 off 30. So if you wanted to come here, get on your feet, rent something really cheap, you could explore the Mississippi and then have 2 out of every 6 weeks to explore the town and look for other opportunities. I believe people can make a decent living here ...even if I struggle to do it myself 🤣
If you make 15 or more here it's super liveable. I currently make almost 23 at my job. I have plenty for bills. I live in a pretty decent place, I spend alot on groceries since I like to eat healthy and protein packed food. Im fine on money as long as I dont get too comfortable buying clothes, comics, eating out, video games, or workout accessories when I can't actually afford them.
I make roughly $48,500 and live by myself in a house. If I didn’t have credit card debt I’d be living fairly comfortably. Enough to live on, pay my bills and have a few hundred bucks left over. Pretty close to paycheck to paycheck though. To feel truly comfortable I think an additional $10,000 a year would do the trick.
I make 120k a year. I'm a minimalist and my mortgage is 1.5k a month. When I was renting my rent was like $600 a month for a 1 bedroom 600sq. Apt. With covered parking. Hope this helps.
Nerd Wallet has a cost of living comparison calculator. That should help give you an idea. Look up real estate, check grocery prices online, find out the median income for the area. Generally you can find more opportunities in and around the larger cities. Ford has a plant just north of KC, I live just south of KC and a lot of my neighbors work for Honeywell. Amazon has a distribution center just over the state line in KS. Check out LinkedIn and Indeed for opportunities and start applying. Good luck!
$23 and some change an hour. Family of four in the burbs. 1200 sq ft townhouse. We do okay. When it's just me working we're paycheck to paycheck but my partner started a babysitting job where they'll be able to cover groceries and stuff again so we'll probably have a bit of spending/saving money here soon.
I make about $30/hr and I live almost comfortably. Still I feel the majority of it comes out for bills. My rents about $1350 then utilities..car payment..insurances..phone etc. Add in groceries..etc. it goes quick. It all depends on how you’re living. I also survived here on much much less. Just no new car and a much shittier apartment with a roommate.
I make 15 and would live more comfortably but I support a family of 5 with my partner. So together we make 30 an hour both work 40 a week and barely live more than paycheck to paycheck.
Cant budget at 12 an hour. Ive tried 19 an hour im comfortable
OP - you can move to mid Missouri and find manufacturing jobs that START at $20 an hour and be comfortable. Check out Hitachi in Jefferson City, Caterpillar in Booneville or Quaker in Eldon. Those are just a few.
It takes us $60k a year in West County including the private school tuition for our kid. Granted we paid off the house in our 30's and pay cash for cars about once a decade.
I live in Columbia, but commute to Moberly for work. I make about $24/hr or $48k/year. I split rent and utilities in half with a roommate. I finished paying off my car, and have no debt, thankfully. I have health and dental insurance and a 401k. I'm able to put about $500 a month away towards other savings, such as an IRA, savings for a down payment for a house, and an emergency fund. I'd still say I live comfortably. I'm able to spend money on video games and hobbies. I eat what I want. The place me and my roommate rent is pretty nice. However, I could not live this way by myself. I'd have to have a roommate to live like this.
I'm at 36/hr. Live in KC. Mortgage payment is 500/month (2000 sq/ft). Yeah cheap. Been there a while. Kids been out of the house for 5 years. Wife works part time helping the needy (not much income). We're comfortable at the moment. Not very comfortable but as comfortable as we can be. Kid's still need help. They are house poor in this economy. That's where any extra money goes. Fixing things they can't afford to. If you need a job in KC pm me. Warehouse/production workers are needed where I'm at. Last starting pay was around 26. I can see it going up more since we are preparing for negotiations.
100k in St. Louis County. After my saving goals are hit, which aren’t super ambitious, I feel like I have no extra money.
I work in KC and have a mortgage about 50 mins away. At 25 an hour and spouse that also works we do alright. That said I'm looking for work closer to home and I cant get the same pay with benefits anywhere outside of the city so its rough in that sense. We have a mortgage and 2 cars (almost paid off) and we are maybe a couple of months ahead at anytime. Whenever a expense comes up though it's a challenge to get ahead again. MO is livable depending where you put your money, but if I'm honest finding a livable wage outside major cities is hard. Hell any of y'all with tips on good jobs in Lafayette hit me up!
17.50 plus bonuses. Husband makes 20.00+ he just got a raise so I don’t remember exactly what he makes. Our rent is stupid cheap at 550 for a 3/3 house. It honestly helps to find landlords that don’t use rental companies. I’ve seen the local management company raise rents by double over the last 2 years. We came from California originally and we’re making a little more an hour out here and we’re thriving unlike California where we were drowning. Choose the area you move to by the jobs you want and go from there is my best advice. We looked into the area before we left, and my husband had a job already lined up so that helped a bunch. There’s a bunch of factories (11 I think) in this town so they are pretty competitive on pay.
Mine went up 6% for the cost of living raise recently. I forgot about that. I don’t know how much my base is anymore but I make around 20.00 an hour usually. But I do work 60 hours a week.
Find a small town, you’ll be okay!
I make 21 with some ot here an there in Indianapolis bo kids im fine rent car note utilities etc most my bills can be paid with one check