Cost of living

[Lebreau]

So, I was talking to Damon on MSN, and discussing a trip to England. A friend of mine had $2000 in American money (I'm too lazy to translate it >.>) for her place ticket and two months of staying in England. I'm not sure where, exactly, but she came home with a bit of money left. She also had a place to stay though...

The way I figure, I could live on $1000 a month. I think. Or, you know, I'm completely insane and it would be much much more than that. I'm only 17, I don't know XD I'm curious though, how much does it take for you to live on? Or, how much do you make, and what's the minimum you could do with?

(Also, I couldn't find a thread like this, but I could just be blind...)

 

[Bambi]

Id say the average rent over here was about £450 pcm, council tax varies area to area, so lets say for arguments sake, you get a single person discount and your paying £70 pcm Gas and electric, about £40 each pm. Tv licence is £147 per year, which would be about £13 a month, although, if you dont already OWN one, you have to buy one in advance, so youre looking at like £25 for about 6 months til it goes down to the £13..I pay mine £36 quaterly, oh and water rates too, thats about £20/25 a month I think, I cant quite remember.... and that's just the stuff you HAVE to pay for add line rental/internet on top of that, plus food - can't live without food, although I have a damn good try at that Plus you need to furnish the place too Living somewhere is alot different than just going somewhere for a holiday or whatever I choose not to answer the personal questions That is just if you decide to live on your own though, there's always lodging...

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

I'm moving into student accommodation soon, which is £55 per week with water, gas and electric included. I think it's about £7 a month for the internet bill and £28 quarterly for the phone. We have to pay £1 for the washing machine every time we want to use it though, so I'll be taking my washing home every week or so to do it for free. >>

As far as food costs go, I'm not sure. I think I'll be able to make it on £25-£30 a week.

 

[Shu]

I'm paying for mostly two people so our minimum we have to make per year is around 50,000 (untaxed) in order to stay alive.

Why so high you ask?

1) House Mortgage (15 year) - 750.00 a month
2) Car Insurance Payments - 515.00 (for 6 months) + 148.00 a month
3) Gas - 210.00 (2 cars)
4) Car Payment - 345.00 a month
5) Property Tax - 2000.00 a year
6) Home owners dues - 200.00 (for six months)
7) CC payments - 500.00 a month
8) Electric - 130.00 - 150.00
9) Water - 50.00-60.00
10) Car Maintenance - 720.00 (oil)
11) Car Tags - 250.00+
12) okay I'm done.. tired of this - kind of depressing if you ask me =P

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

Cost of living isn't as cheap as some may think. They reckon it's so easy to move out and such but they really have no clue. <_<

Together me and Steve make close to 50-60,000 a year.

We rent so there's no real expenses in the home maintenance area.

Rent = $275 per week
Bond = $1200 (until we move out and give it someone else <_<)
Electricity bill = $200 every three months
Food = $150 per week
Petrol = $40 per week
Internet = $39 per month
Car Insurance = $700 per year
Car Registration = $500 per year
Car Loan = $50 per week
Phone bill = $60 per month

On a good week I will only spend the following on bills:

Rent: $137.50 (my half)
Food: $50 (my half)
Petrol: $40
Car Loan: $50
= $277.50

I earn around $515 per week.

That leaves me with around $237.50 left.

I make around $2000 a month. So that isn't alot of money. <_<

If you're just going for a holiday you won't have all that crap to worry about, but you will have to worry about accommodation costs, food costs and transport costs.

You're dreaming if you think you can get away with $1000 if you're not staying with someone you know.

You're going to want to go shopping and eat out and such I would imagine, especially if you're traveling. So you'll need to save up a lot for that. You'll find all those little things will eat away at your money in no time.

 

[blakstang98]

Hmmm, lets see.

Rent = $895 (heat and hot water included ) per month
Electric = Approximately $50 per month
Property Maintenance = $30 per month
Cable/Internet/Telephone = $120 per month
Car Payments = $300 per month
Car Insurance = $750 quarterly
Cell Phone = $50 (basic services) per month
Credit Cards (2 and only get used for gas and other random purchases) = Approximately $200 combined per month
Food and Groceries = Approximately $200 per month

Monthly Cost = Approximately $2,095

I think I hit all the bills. This is just for me, I don't have a roommate or a wife to split costs (even though they'll increase cost as well). I'm also a very light spender when it comes to buying wanted items, so this is a pretty good estimate of my spendings, give or a take probably like $100. I think if I play my cards right, I may be able to shave off some cost here and there. The car is actually almost payed off too, so that's $300 that I'd save. So yeah, looking forward to that raise come December!

 

[Midnight Memoire]

I don't know about Europe's cost of living. I'm not sure if that is what you are wanting to know... As for here in America.

First of all, each state is significantly different. California and Florida are extremely expensive. In Cali a 1 bedroom apartment with NO utilities included costs approximately $2,000 a month. Adding utilities, that's looking at around $2,300 per month. That doesn't include food or anything of the sorts.

Now for the more reasonable states (I currently reside in Pennsylvania), here is what I'm dishing out:

My income = $800 per month (I'm currently on unemployment)
My Husband's income = $1,350 per month
Household Income Total = $2,150 each month

Rent: $350
Gas: $60-$150 depending on season
Electric: $50
Cable/Internet/Phone: $70 (for now.. we're on one of those 6 month deals...)
Car Insurance: $110
Cell Phone: $90
Bills/Debt: (not total, just what we're paying each month) ~$300
Groceries: ~$200

Total Cost = ~$1,230

That doesn't include little household goods. Keep in mind that you'll need to have furniture and whatnot. I'm still working on furnishing my apartment.

This is for two people. It's actually a lot easier to live "on your own" when your married or have roomates, or at least I think so. I'm also in-between jobs right now due to the economy. We'd have a lot more coming in if we could find jobs in our fields. He's only working at a gas station right now. He used to be a Foreclosure Trustee. So.. the money we have coming in isn't what we're used to. Luckily the cost of living here isn't very high so we get by with about $100 a month left over. >____<

 

[Not of Rust]

When I came out of college and was on my own, the monthly ledger looked like this (this was in Austin, TX - a wonderful, wonderful city):

Rent - $800 (1 BR, 750 sq ft apt, no utilities)
Utilities - $115 (gas, electric, water)
Cable/Interwebs - $75
Cell - $50
Car - $300
Car Ins - $120
Student Loans - $180
Groceries - $200
Gas - $80
Clothing/Incidentals - $150

So, about $2,070/month. I got by and was able to save some/live with a little cushion. I was really petrified of credit cards at the time so thankfully I never established much debt outside of a car payment and student loans. Most of the cushion went to plane tickets to go visit my wife - we were engaged at the time and she was in graduate school in Pennsylvania.

Fast forward a bit and we're now married, both working and have a little bitty bebe living outside of Philadelphia, which is quite a bit more expensive than Austin:

Mortgage - $3,200 (inc'l taxes, homeowners hns, etc)
Daycare - $1,150
Cars - $740
Car Ins - $160
Student Loans - $375 consolidated
Utilities - $300 (gas, electric and water)
Cable/Phone/Interwebs - $120
Cell - $70 (luckily work provides me with a BBerry)
Groceries + Eating Out - $800
Gas - $200
Various Doggie Costs - $50
Incidentals - $400

Total bill of about $7,600/month. It sucks - living near a city and raising/providing a good home for a family has gotten insanely expensive over the last 8-10 years and wages just haven't kept up. As a result we both have to work insanley hard and do a very delicate balancing act to make sure we give the little one every shred of love and attention we can (which for me usually means bolting from work to pick her up, spending a few good hours with her before her bedtime, then jumping back on the computer and working until 10-11PM).

But, we get by. We still avoid CC debt like the plague and save diligently. It's exhausting but unfortunately I see it as a burden my generation has to bear to try and fix whats been broken of the course of the last 25 years here in the US. Work hard, play hard and live honsetly.