How much money does it cost just to survive?

Who pays for your tuition?

The majority of the adult population will carry a mortgage, auto payment, cable/DLS bill, kids soccer practice, electricity, gas, insurance, +++++

Trust me, 50k does not go far when you are not living in your parents' basement

For a family of 3 in middle america...

$550 a month in health insurance premiums (if you do not have employer provided then you can count on paying over $1000 a month)

$300 a month in groceries (food, diapers, forumula, etc)

$400 a month in car payment

$660 a month in apartment rent

$80 a month in car insurance

$80 a month in utilities (thank god I live in Kentucky)

$100 a month in student loan payments

Oh, and we're not even counting hospital bills due to our little ray of sunshine.

Most people get into debt because of hospital bills or they only plan their expenses for what they have now, not for unforseen circumstances. IE: they live up to their last penny.

Alan

Here are my basic expenses of my to help you out. Of course I could do with out some of them. But I thought like you when I was in college but reality hits you hard when you are our out of college. Remember the wifey wants certain comforts.

550 Rent

120 Cable/internet

25 water

75 power

500 Car payement

100 car insurance

700 college loans (Masters for both of us)

250 food

300 gas

200 pension (Me and my wife both have a pension so the 200 is extra into index funds)

This is just our basic living expenses. They round up to 2820 a month or 33840 a year with taxes you would have to make about 50000 or more to handle these expenses.

When you are in college your really have no idea how expensive life really is. Remember you can be as cheap as you want but when your wife wants something then there is nothing you can say that will change her mind and in the end you will spend the money.

dude, you are spending $900 on your car every month!!!!

What kind of car do you guys have??? A 400 and a 500 dollar car payment. Good god. That had better be two cars.

I have no wife.

I have no kids.

I have no expensive car.

I have no expensive house.

I spend about $100/month on food.

I bike everywhere so minimal gas cost.

Current rent is $300/month, and that's with utilities.

Life IS cheap if you don't have a lot of BS (mainly wife, kids, big house).

You live somewhere very cheap. It is difficult to find a one bedroom in my town for less than 500. That does not include utilities.

Life is cheaper if you are single.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Life is cheaper if you are single.

Exactly. I think this thread shows that having a wife raises monthly expenses by a factor of around 4.

Whereas you can watch porn on the Internet for free. So why spend all that money on a wife?

you just need to find a woman with the same views on expenses as you, then when she moves in it's just economies of scale

Who pays for your tuition?

cheap little bastard wrote:

I have no wife.

I have no kids.

I have no expensive car.

I have no expensive house.

I spend about $100/month on food.

I bike everywhere so minimal gas cost.

Current rent is $300/month, and that's with utilities.

Life IS cheap if you don't have a lot of BS (mainly wife, kids, big house).

he does with the money he makes over the summer. read the thread before acting like a smarty pants.

trirunner wrote:

Here are my basic expenses of my to help you out. Of course I could do with out some of them. But I thought like you when I was in college but reality hits you hard when you are our out of college. Remember the wifey wants certain comforts.

550 Rent

120 Cable/internet

25 water

75 power

500 Car payement

100 car insurance

700 college loans (Masters for both of us)

250 food

300 gas

200 pension (Me and my wife both have a pension so the 200 is extra into index funds)

you spend 250 a month on food? is that for both you and your wife? i'm single and i think i spend almost twice that on food.

joe mcblow wrote:

you spend 250 a month on food? is that for both you and your wife? i'm single and i think i spend almost twice that on food.

You eat out way too much.

My Month Expenses:

Mortgage/fees 1600

Food 175

Running (races, shoes, nutrition) 100

Gas 140

Health Ins 80

Car Ins 120

Utilities 50

Cable/Inet/Cell 150

401k inv 150

Monthly Total: 2565

Annual : 30780

Single male, out of college 4years with a condo. Obviously, I could live a lot cheaper if I found a cheaper place to live, but I can afford my condo and like it. No car payment or school loans.

"you spend 250 a month on food? is that for both you and your wife? i'm single and i think i spend almost twice that on food."

I'm an old single guy and I spend $153/month for food and eat very well. 3 meals/day with fresh fruit, veggies and meat. And, that includes toiletries and any household items such as papertowels, cleaners, etc. Shop at my local supermarket but plan very well. AND, get this, usually my GF is here 10-15 nights/month so she also eats, amoung other things...

Some of you guys aren't getting what I'm saying. I said I can live on $15k a year max NOT COUNTING school expenses like tuition, books etc. Anything that does not directly relate to my education I count (food, housing, entertainment, travel, etc). I figure that if I was not going to school, I could support myself (and ONLY myself) on $15k a year.

Yes I do live in a cheap area, but I live in a cheap place, i.e. small two-bedroom apartment with a roommate. Having a roommate is the key.

Looking at my current situation, I think I could live on less than $10k a year. I have no car, so my only expenses outside of school are rent, food, and extras (clothes, entertainment, etc). $300/month rent, $100/month food, $100/month extras (very liberal estimate here) = $6,000 a year.

yes, you can live like this but what happens when you need health insurance or need a car to get to work (or anywhere), or want to spend time with a woman, etc? That's when the expenses start to go up. So, for the time being, enjoy what you have!

0 DOALLARS. I WANTZ MOARS.

What do you guys eat? I eat out once a month, that is it and my wife and I spend about $700 a month on food. We shop at Trader Joe's or Publix, nothing too fancy. We buy a lot of fruits and veggies, everything is made from scratch (even our cookies and baked goods). How do you do it?

Jogger to be wrote:

joe mcblow wrote:

you spend 250 a month on food? is that for both you and your wife? i'm single and i think i spend almost twice that on food.

You eat out way too much.

actually i hardly eat out at all. i like to cook. but i'm never satisfied with mac n cheese or heating up a pizza. now that i think about it, though, i actually spend about 250-300/month on food. i think of things in terms of pay periods, which for me are two weeks, and so i think i mistakenly doubled my total the first time.