It’s me, hi

I just heard Cathedral Station in South End is closing, what a huge loss

Ya exactly! Also not sure why you’d want to buy alone though, unless you’re taking advantage of a truly amazing deal (read super early Covid days when I should have bought)! What if you blow your savings on a place in the city and you end up with someone who hates living downtown and prefers the burbs? Or vice versa. Also just the simple fact that dual income gives you a million more possibilities, and same, I’d really only need the person to make a moderate living for my purchasing possibilities to be widely expanded.

Yep, I was going to say this. Kind of related but I was reading an article the other day about people in Hawaii, the state with the highest cost of living not just in real estate but across the board- utilities, groceries, shipping, even taxes. It was talking about how they live in what would easily be considered conditions of poverty here in the states. When I moved to Boston I made $40k and made it work, still being able to contribute 15% to my 401k so I could get the employer match, had student loans, etc. I lived outside of city limits in Brookline, had a roommate, and lived kind of frugal. 8 years later and I make $120k now not including bonus and I make it work, I now live in a small 1 bedroom near back bay station. I’ll live differently if I am dual income with someone one day or if I make a lot more in a few years. I think it’s just living within your means. Follow the typical rules- 30% or less on rent, etc. If you have a to live with a roommate or move farther away from the city, if your salary requires it, then that’s what it takes. If you don’t want to do that then you’d need to make the trade off of living in a cheaper state, but then you’d have to deal with the drawbacks of living in a cheaper state and possibly not in a large city (whatever those are for you- more driving, less liberal, no public transit, etc). Idk hope that helps!

Ya, landlords everywhere usually won’t let you pay more than like 40% of your income on rent, that’s pretty typical and both when I lived in Austin and here. Just curious though, there is a 401k you’re not talking about here right, I assume you only gave us the money you could potentially spend if push comes to shove for the purposes of this post. Just confused as to why you have 70k in savings and only 45k in Roth. I assume it’s because you have a fat 401k. I know this isn’t r/personalfinance but I’m curious.

They are coming here exclusively to visit the Market Basket in fact

Biden and the royals shop at Market Basket. They love the prices

The moon last night was incredible. That crane tho 😍

George Howell 100%