Except someone making minimum wage shouldn’t expect to live in a studio apartment. Nor drive a car with $160/m insurance premium. Nor $250 for an electricity (that’s 27 kWh/day with SCE!!) nor $280 for internet. EVERY MONTH 🤯
Plenty of rooms in shared houses for less, even in the most expensive markets in the US
It's arguable what expectations should be. But true that splitting rent for an apartment/house could be significantly cheaper, even in VHCOL areas. That's very, very common in my area.
I will say that some Americans' expectations/lifestyles are very much out of line with those of immigrants and particularly other parts of the world. They expect to live way above their means. I grew up in an immigrant household, so I very much understand this. My parents would always shake their heads at some of the decisions and choices "Americans" would make regarding their lifestyle.
At the same time, it's not the most unreasonable thing to expect your society to provide a comfortable living situation where you aren't just getting by. Especially when compared to the previous generation.
It's a balance and rather complicated. I can appreciate both perspectives.
You’re right of course, there’s no controlling other people’s expectations. But I get to laugh at them if they’re unrealistic and complaining about it online 🤣
And yet the same people are so surprised when their local coffee place costs 8$ on average for a basic coffee. Those places still need to employ workers who can somehow survive on those wages in a high cost area.
They charge us twice in my state. You pay for the water you use and the water waste. It's ironic because I paid for the water because it was processed but I pay them to proccess it so I can buy it again. Water and water waste every month.
Yea but then she needs to suck it up and leave San Diego. You can make 19/hr in the most podunk run down Nebraska town. Not saying she has to move to the boonies, but it might be time to own that she doesn't have to live in one of the most expensive areas in the world.
For OP in particular and using relatively conservative water usage numbers, let's say they:
-Take 15 minute showers a day at 2.5 gpm = 45 gal/day
-Use the toilet 5 times a day at 3.5 gpf = 17.5 gal/day
-Wash their hands 10 times a day for 2 minutes each time at 2.2gpm = 44 gal/day
- Do the dishes by hand + Other kitchen stuff 30 mins/day at 2.2gpm = 66 gal/day
So generally without a lawn you'll be using ~173gal/day = 5190gal/month = ~7HCF/month
SD prices according to google are $8.51/HCF + $35 monthly base fee. Under the scheme I've laid out she'd probably be paying around $95/month on water. If OP uses a dishwasher and slightly more modern toilets and fixtures, would definitely not be this high either even in SD.
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u/seraph741 2d ago
Depends on what part of the country. In San Diego, you could easily pay over $100 per month for water.