OT: Can You Live On?

[gregebowman]

With my 2 jobs and my wife's, we barely make double that $1000 a month. Well, maybe a little more than double, it just depends on my wife's income, which can fluctuate depending on how many hours she works a week. Fortunately, I don't have any car payments, or I'd really be screwed. But I do have a mortgage, with built-in insurance. But I don't have insurance on the contents of my home. I barely have enough to afford car insurance, which is mandatory in Florida. Then my electric bill, which runs around $125 (until winter, when it goes up). Then my phone and cell-phone bills, and my satellite bill is around $100. then a couple of credit card payments. And I took out a home equity loan on my house awhile back, and that's around $250 every 2 weeks. And besides all that, I still need money for food, gas, and whatnots. So we squeek by, but barely.

[parabolize]

Loser said:
I live on less than that now and consistantly add to my savings. My car was paid off, and insurance only ran me $250 every six months. The mortgage runs around nine, I have a three-hundred-dollars-a-month personal note, and all the stadard services (phone, water, power, gas, broadband) only run around $250.

I have filled my five-bedroom house with roommmates, so things are exceedingly tolorable. When I finish school and get a job, rather than relying on the unemployment insurance checks, I'll be putting away a lot of money. Even a crappy $9/hour job will allow me to really stack up the bank.

No credit cards (though I just picked up a few for emergencies), no health insurace (every now and then I have to go to the doctor's, and that's about $70 for the visit and they give me 'samples' for medication), somewhat expensive eating habits (Atkins, more or less), no eating out, no movies, no new games (still playing D2:LoD, SE IV, and SMAC), no television, no real problems.

Here in Colorado unemployment is paid by your former employers through an insurance system. I know there is welfare, but it isn't any way to get by.

I don't know what's running you up so bad, man. But once again I invite you to move to Colorado. It's nice here.

(I didn't vote, CC bills, auto note and whatnot just out of my paradigm)

Not in the citys. $1000 isn't what you need to make it in Colorado Springs let alone Denver.

[kerensky]

I live in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area of Virginia, so the living costs aren't all that bad. About a year ago, my dad went on disability pay for nearly eight months which meant he only got 66% of his normal paycheck. take that into effect that we are buying our house and i live in a family of four kids...

[Thermodyne]

Not here, no way. Studio Apt. is $825 a month. Buy a crappy town house you say........$175,000. How about a bare lot to put a mobile estate home (sic) on? $250,000 and there is a law against houses with wheels. 35 year old split level 4brm 2bath, $485,000.00 Nice big new house.....more than a million.

I have a conservative house and my property tax is $285 a month.

[Baron Munchausen]

That's not so difficult to live on where I am (small town/rural Midwest), but I'm sure it's very difficult to live at that level on either coast where the cost of living is so much higher. It would be tight here, but it's doable for a single individual. I bet both unemployment and welfare benefits are less out here, though.

Edit: Hmm, I ended up responding to Loser. Now why can't you change who your message replies to?

[Baron Munchausen]

And yet that's fairly cheap for Europe from what I hear. What about living away from Dublin, in the western and more rural parts of Ireland? Would it be lots cheaper or does it not make much difference anymore?

[Loser]

parabolize said:Not in the citys. $1000 isn't what you need to make it in Colorado Springs let alone Denver.

Nonesense. I've lived on less than that for years at a time, putting money away even.

Of course when I lived on <$800 I was living in squallor: no car, no broadband, shared appartment, ate at work.

Seriously, though. Downtowners don't even need a car here in the Springs. They live downtown in small apartments that are part of what used to be the homes of millionares (1890s), they work downtown in the resurants, shops, and hotels, they party downtown at their friends houses or on CC campus (real downtowners apparently never go to the clubs downtown). They can live on less than a grand.