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sephiroth3650 t1_iy44cxk wrote

You'd probably need to break out your entire budget in order to know if this is OK or not. On the plus side, you indicate you're already contributing a lot to retirement. So $2k in rent against $4261in net income could work. But what do you spend on food? Car payment? Insurance? Gas? Cell phone? What will utilities be? Do you have any other loans or debt? With no other debt and reasonable expenses? It's probably affordable. If you have a $600 car payment, $150 car insurance, spend $500/month on gasoline, and have student loans? And you might spend $1000 on groceries and going out to eat? Suddenly it's not so affordable.

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CapitalMission8486 OP t1_iy46f9s wrote

I'll try my best to estimate, since this will be my first time living alone. I had 3 roommates in college, so I'm basing some stuff off of that.

  • No car payment, though my car is at 200k miles, but still going strong (knock on wood)
  • No debt
  • $800 annual car insurance
  • $70 gas per week commuting 60 miles at the moment
  • On parents cell plan at the moment, but I'll start helping them pay that
  • Utilities is hard to say. I was paying ~200 for my share with 3 other roommates, who all used utilities like mad (gaming, 4 separate private bathrooms, stuff like that)
  • Groceries was about $200 a week, and eating out was about $50 a week

Yeah writing this out makes me realize how prices can add up quick. Getting a roommate would make that a lot more comfy, especially if I wanna travel and stuff

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Humble_Signature_993 t1_iy4a0io wrote

Good for you - no debt! Download a budget template spreadsheet online and start putting in your costs to make sure you’ve covered everything and use as a reference whenever changes to your spending/income changes. Works well.

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Ok-Sea-4273 t1_iy4o15t wrote

While you don't have a car payment today consider making a payment to yourself. Within a few years you will have cash for the next car and will never be stuck with a payment other than the one to yourself which you can vary if you ever get in a tight spot.

Regarding rent, I'd lean towards a room mate for the next year, make sure you enjoy the part of town you think you want and then can decide after that regarding location, roommate, etc.

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sephiroth3650 t1_iy59sfx wrote

Yeah, my numbers were intentionally a bit inflated. I was more or less making the point that when you sit down and really add up everything you pay for, it can be shocking. But when you're thinking of moving out, you have to account for all those "other" costs. Too often, when asked "what are your bills", people only think of rent and loans. They don't think about gas, or car insurance, or food, or whatever.

In your case, if we just assume utilities stay at $200, and you spend the same on food/eating out, you have about $3506.67 in bills with the rent. So right now, you're at $600 extra per month. But that also doesn't have your cell phone in it. Or any car repairs, or potential car payments. Or saving any money, outside of your existing retirement contributions. Or saving money for travelling. So it feels like it'll be a bit tight w/o a roommate.

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