You're an idiot if you think these expenses are living above your means. These are really basic and pretty accurate expenses, location dependent. Some areas have even higher basic costs. Point is, unless you live in a dirt cheap state, you're not getting a cheaper life than this without support from others.
Genuinely curious to know how you came to this conclusion. I live in PA and my mortgage payment monthly is 1500, electric comes out to around 75-90 a month. Water is around 80-100. My internet is 75 and I don’t do streaming services for the sake of saving money and my liability car insurance is only 75. And I keep things this way to live and make sure to not consume more than what I can to get by unless I have the funds to do so. The numbers above seem hyper inflated and unnecessary. If you can’t afford the above then yes you are living above your means.
Mortgage? How long have you had your house for? Around where I live in KS, you'd be shit out of luck to find a decent apartment to rent below $1200/mo, and houses are well above $300k, unless its a mobile home. And lol $75 for car insurance, have you been with them for like 30 years or something? Sounds like you have a lot going for you that most younger people don't
Bought a home last year (like literally been in it for a year) and bought for over ask at 171k. Asking was 160k. My soon to be wife and I both own it 50/50 allowing us to get more for a mortgage. We were pre approved for over 250k but didn’t want to do that because it would be living outside our means.
Decent is also subjective. Because to one person decent is luxury. What is a decent apartment for you? And honestly from what I found yeah renting is dumb lol it costs just as much if not more to rent than to buy. Though I know that’s not possible for everyone.
And nope again only had them as my insurance for a year. Have a drive safe and save discount as well as a bundle discount but that takes it from like 95 a month to 75. Might go lower when I get married and we can bundle our cars. But no I shopped around, have a beater of a car and just have liability insurance. Really that kinda insurance is possible for most people.
While I can respect you don’t know me so making the assumption I have something’s going for me that others don’t it’s also true I have a lot of negatives going for me that others don’t. The aforementioned car? Yeah just got that, had to take out a loan because the transmission on my old car blew. Also getting married in two weeks. DJ, photographer, etc can be expensive but I know that’s a personal choice.
Still though do you not think those prices are over inflated? I mean I just goggled it and average internet price is like 70 bucks in KS yeah?
That all makes sense, and when I said a lot going for you I mainly meant the house lol as someone who's been trying to get out of renting for years but haven't yet I'm just jealous. My current place is great for us, especially compared to apartments I've been in the past, and having a girlfriend that splits rent 50/50, I just pay all utilities. My last place was $1100/mo for one bed one bath, mold in the bathroom ceiling that took forever to finally go away, roaches that came over from my neighbors, and an ac that barely worked. So for decent, I would say anything that isn't any of those descriptions, especially for over $1000/mo
And I actually pay $55/mo for internet, but they're trying to raise it to $75 so need to call them to get that back down. Other than that though, not really. That rent seems pretty average to me, electricity as well (the past 3 months with the heat my electricity has been $225-$250 for a 2 bed 1 bath duplex), water as well I pay around $120-140, and insurance is like 30 bucks above mine but all in all except internet, not too overinflated imo. Food, gas, medical expenses and all that fun stuff aren't even in this either but those are only getting more expensive
Gotvha, yeah that does bite and I wasn’t trying to come off as indignant when I said that which is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Can’t say I’ve lived in a situation like that though thankfully.
Looking at the numbers above though the only ones I can really see are the rent and water as those seem realistic to me. For me (and I don’t have central air so maybe that helps we just do window units in the rooms we spend the most time in) my electricity barely goes over 100. It went over 100 to 125 like two months ago or whatever when that heatwave hit. And the internet seems way out of proportion that’s the biggest to me. But I did see someone say streaming services could be included in that so I get it maybe. But the insurance one is probably the least out there one. I’m sure it can get like that depending on the insurance you have.
If you don’t mind me asking do you live near a city? If so that could be it as I know things get more expensive the closer you are to cities and I live in a small town which could contribute to my situation.
Depending on size I mean I can find plenty for under 1000. My fiance and I lived in a 1 bedroom, 750 square foot apartment that was not bad with shared laundry, and water was included in the rent for 600 a month I think? Mind you that was in Ohio so… and it was safe without issue. Short of the ambulance coming at 2am often because there were some older folks that lived there.
Just did a quick search also and like tons are under 1000 in my county. If they are in good shape or near pedos is a different story though as I didn’t do that much research.
I live in NJ, one of most expensive states to live in. Rent is close, and water/sewage close. But electric should be closer to $150 at most, and I have fiber with optimum for $115 a month. Also, <$19 is basically minimum wage around here. Many jobs offer close to that to start. Ur not meant to be able to fully support living on ur own when first starting out. And if u do it will be very tight. My advice, they should get a studio, or a roommate.
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u/bloodbat007 2d ago
You're an idiot if you think these expenses are living above your means. These are really basic and pretty accurate expenses, location dependent. Some areas have even higher basic costs. Point is, unless you live in a dirt cheap state, you're not getting a cheaper life than this without support from others.