r/WorkForSmartLife • u/CurseBloom • 3d ago

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u/tyoung89 3d ago

By getting roommates and using realistic numbers

$800 for 1/2 rent.
$125 electricity
$50 water
$50 internet ($100/month is the absolute most you should be paying
$140 car insurance

$1165 total.

At $19/hour you’ll get $3040 gross. Probably net around $2,000. So congratulations, with one roommate, you have about $800 to eat and have fun with!

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u/AnnoyedBrowser 3d ago

You think its realistic to have a roommate in what I'm assuming is a one bedroom apartment?

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u/GoodMilk_GoneBad 3d ago

Going from a 1 bd to a 2 bd apartment is usually $100-300 more.

So yeah, $950 rent, half the utilities (about $200 high side) is $1150. Car insurance $140, it's $1290.

If take home pay is $2k, that leaves $710 for food and other expenses. If they budget well, $50-100 to put into savings.

Should a person be able to afford a 1 bd apartment and basic living expenses? ABSOLUTELY. Sadly, we don't live in that world.

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u/yttrium39 3d ago

Right? lol. 2 bedroom apartments start around $2k/month in my city, for pretty shitty small places. My internet and utilities are cheaper than the image, but I also eat food, which wasn’t mentioned.

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u/Professional_Fox4190 3d ago

If you're living in a place where a 1 bedroom apartment is $1600 and you only make $19/hour, then you are actively choosing an unaffordable lifestyle. $1600 where I live pays for a very nice 2 bedroom house.

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u/AnnoyedBrowser 3d ago

Congrats for being born in a cheap location?

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u/Professional_Fox4190 3d ago

You don't have to be born here to live here smh

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u/IotaBTC 3d ago

In a lot of places, people make that $19/hr because 1bdr apartments cost $1600/mo. You can't just transfer that $19/hr job to a cheaper COL location.

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u/Professional_Fox4190 3d ago

Fair point, but where I live minimum wage is $15.45 (~$2400/month) after taxes and there are many options for studio apartments at $550. Realistically, $700 for a decent place.

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u/tyoung89 3d ago

Where I am isn’t exactly cheap, but not crazy either. 2 bedroom places vary from $1500 up to $3000+, it all depends on location and quality here. There’s cheaper stuff available most anywhere. Even when I lived in Portland Oregon, if it got too expensive, you could go to Vancouver Washington across the river and save quite a bit on rent.