How much do you need to make to be comfortable where you live?

[MercuryLS]

I live in the GTA and make around 65k per year with a 10% bonus. Own a two bedroom condo and for the most part I'm doing ok, can't save a bunch. My wife contributes to the monthly expenses so that helps.

I'd say with my cost of living and wanting to save a decent chunk of money, I probably need closer to 80k.

Based on where you live what would be a comfortable wage? Not just pay check to pay check.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

Apparently more than I currently make.

 

[SixtyFourBlades]

If I made about 2.5K USD per month, I'd be doing quite well for myself.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

My wife and I, combined, make about 70k a year before taxes. We do okay. We both have cars and have our own apartment and don't have any debt. But it doesn't always feel like easy living. We could always be more comfortable but we do okay.

 

[Melhadf]

£2k after tax would be nice

 

[MercuryLS]

My wife and I, combined, make about 70k a year before taxes. We do okay. We both have cars and have our own apartment and don't have any debt. But it doesn't always feel like easy living. We could always be more comfortable but we do okay.

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I wish cost of living wasn't so high where I live, it really puts a lot of pressure on people.

 

[ZackieChan]

I live in Bangkok, where it's hella cheap. So like $2000 a month or so to live pretty comfortably?
Business is in the US, so I make more, which works out well. The time zone difference sucks balls though.

 

[lt519]

Probably $50-60k (two minimum wage jobs) for a family to be comfortable but you wouldn't have a lot of disposable income for luxuries and wouldn't be saving a whole lot. But you'd have all basic necessities and a decent home. I live in one of the poorest cities in the country (9th), we're almost at half of the median income of the US average, so generally the housing market/rent is super low to compensate for that. But also it's NY so you get taxed to high hell on everything.

 

[Platy]

Confortable is complicated.

I share an appartment with 2 more people ... would confortable mean moving to live alone or can it be where I am? =P

 

[jon bones]

Comfortable in NYC? I'd say at least $100,000 single or $250,000 for a family. Even then, you're not owning a home or anything.

 

[BDS]

At least 65k to live comfortably in a one-bedroom apartment.

If you want to own a decent home in this area you need to be making well over six figures, probably closer to 200k, to live comfortably.

 

[MercuryLS]

Comfortable in NYC? I'd say at least $100,000 single or $250,000 for a family. Even then, you're not owning a home or anything.

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Jesus, that's nuts.

 

[BennyWhatever]

East Tennessee here.
It's probably about $60k/yr here for "comfortable" for a 2 person family. Probably half of that to live on your own and get by OK.

 

[Viewt]

I live in Chicago. For a single person with no kids, I'd say you can get by on $40-50K. "Comfort" is relative, but with that amount, you'll be able to pay your bills and stay above water. If "comfort" means living well, saving up, and buying the occasional luxury, maybe $60-75K?

My fiancée and I are very comfortable with a combined salary of $200K.

 

[lunarworks]

I live in the GTA and make around 65k per year with a 10% bonus. Own a two bedroom condo and for the most part I'm doing ok, can't save a bunch. My wife contributes to the monthly expenses so that helps.

I'd say with my cost of living and wanting to save a decent chunk of money, I probably need closer to 80k.

Based on where you live what would be a comfortable wage? Not just pay check to pay check.

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GTA = Greater Toronto Area

Housing is ridiculously overpriced here.

 

[Deleted member 17402]

Girlfriend and I want to move back to NYC. We have been in NJ for a year now. We're looking to go back to Queens. Our combined salaries equals $110k before taxes. We each have school loans and other bills. To us, living comfortably would be paying a rent of no more than $1600. It's going to be difficult finding a good place to live for that price in the areas we are looking into in Queens. Anything more than that and we don't think we'll be saving enough. I am not about to live paycheck to paycheck just to live in a nicer apartment. I am always preparing for the future and need to make sure that I have SOME money leftover to stash away in case of emergencies.

 

[bionic77]

My wife and I, combined, make about 70k a year before taxes. We do okay. We both have cars and have our own apartment and don't have any debt. But it doesn't always feel like easy living. We could always be more comfortable but we do okay.

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You rarely feel comfortable. Even if you made 3 times that you generally just find a way to spend 3 times the money. Often times for the same shit just bigger or with more options.

That said I live in a PA suburb and the cost of living in PA is pretty low compared to the rest of the east coast and a family would be comfortable at probably 60-80k and a single person 40-60k depending on the level of Tabrisity your life requires.

 

[MercuryLS]

GTA = Greater Toronto Area

Housing is ridiculously overpriced here.

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Tell me about it, my condo cost 350k in 2012. Thank god I locked that it before it was built. My place is now going for 550k.

This is for a 900sqft place.

 

[jon bones]

Jesus, that's nuts.

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It certainly is. My wife & I were comfortable in the city, thankfully, but we opted to move to the 'burbs and buy a home so the kids can have a yard. I'm fully aware at how hard that is to do - saving money, even with a six figure job, can be very hard while living in NYC.

Girlfriend and I want to move back to NYC. We have been in NJ for a year now. We're looking to go back to Queens. Our combined salaries equals $110k before taxes. We each have school loans and other bills. To us, living comfortably would be paying a rent of no more than $1600. It's going to be difficult finding a good place to live for that price in the areas we are looking into in Queens. Anything more than that and we don't think we'll be saving enough. I am not about to live paycheck to paycheck just to live in a nicer apartment. I am always preparing for the future and need to make sure that I have SOME money leftover to stash away in case of emergencies.

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Even in Queens we were paying almost $3,000 / month for a 2 bedroom (needed a nursery) - and that was out in Forest Hills, not even Astoria.

 

[Deleted member 17402]

It certainly is. My wife & I were comfortable in the city, thankfully, but we opted to move to the 'burbs and buy a home so the kids can have a yard. I'm fully aware at how hard that is to do - saving money, even with a six figure job, can be very hard while living in NYC.



Even in Queens we were paying almost $3,000 / month for a 2 bedroom (needed a nursery) - and that was out in Forest Hills, not even Astoria.

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Yeah that's way over budget for us. We can't do that. We're fine with a studio or one bedroom. We're looking around Ridgewood.

 

[Doober]

I made about $106k this year and live in a small town outside of Houston. I have a mortgage and a car note and I contribute about 14% of each paycheck to my 401k, with an additional $300/mo going into a mutual fund.

After all of that and bills I still have at least a few hundred left over every paycheck. I don't live in a mansion or drive a Porsche, but within reason I have plenty of disposable income.

 

[mhayes86]

My wife and I were doing fine in Northern Virginia (Prince William County) with a combined $70-80k five years ago in a one room apartment with student loans, car payments, dog/vet bills, etc. We were still able to put some money away as long as we didn't travel. We probably would have struggled in Fairfax or Alexandria.

 

[Piston]

Miami.

I'd say in the 50-60k at minimum if you live in a cheaper part of the city or suburbs. If you want to live in Miami Beach, Brickell, Downtown, etc.. I couldn't imagine less than 80k being able to save much money at all, rent is between 1400-2000+ a month alone.

 

[Yasuke]

Comfortable is such a subjective term.

Personally, to be comfortable in Houston, I'd be good around 75K, I imagine.

 

[captmcblack]

Define comfortable.

If I was single and was happy and fulfilled with the bare necessities - a cheap room or studio, maybe some takeout and a video game or movie sometimes, I could do it on 40k in NYC (it's what I did, lol).

The more you want and the more you need to feel comfortable - maybe you want to have retirement savings, maybe you want some base health insurance, etc - the more bread you'll need.

NYC is stupid expensive.

 

[Kuro]

~$70k a year for a single person where I live if you don't want a roommate, max out your 401k every year, have some savings left over, etc.

 

[____]

Miami.

I'd say in the 50-60k at minimum if you live in a cheaper part of the city or suburbs. If you want to live in Miami Beach, Brickell, Downtown, etc.. I couldn't imagine less than 80k being able to save much money at all, rent is between 1400-2000+ a month alone.

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I live in Miami and make just under 80k. Probably 80 after my bonus. I've lived on my own comfortably in Edgewater, (2 mins from Downtown) making significantly less (around 64k). Admittedly wasn't able to save a TON but was still saving every month with my rent at around $1700/mo and car note at $500/mo, plus other bills like food, cell, internet, etc. Once I got a bump in salary earlier this year, my savings exploded but I also pay about $500 less in rent now as my brother moved in with me in April and we found a 2/2.

 

[zzz]

There isn't really a "comfortable" around here. You just try to earn what you can to reduce the discomfort.

Bay Area

 

[Prax]

I live in the GTA and make around 65k per year with a 10% bonus. Own a two bedroom condo and for the most part I'm doing ok, can't save a bunch. My wife contributes to the monthly expenses so that helps.

I'd say with my cost of living and wanting to save a decent chunk of money, I probably need closer to 80k.

Based on where you live what would be a comfortable wage? Not just pay check to pay check.

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How much combined?

Husband and I also in GTA and have two bedroom condo (but a cheap one--we got it for a good price lol). I think we make around 90k combined and it's enough to save around 20k/year, but we're also pretty low maintenance people.

So from my perspective, any couple in the GTA making near 100k is going to be fine. And for single people, 55k is pretty good. Maybe not be able to take 4 week getaway vacations every year, but otherwise comfortable.

There's research that says whatever you make, people always think "20% more" would be perfect lol. But happiness doesn't really go up after about $80k, so after that amount it's diminishing returns.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

175k

 

[Deleted member 279]

$120k

Boston

 

[Deleted member 4367]

We would be quite comfortable living in a nice neighborhood in a walkable part of Denver with a household income of $100k. Not owning in walkable areas, but who cares about that anyway.

 

[Jarmel]

120k, upstate NY

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

A lot depends on lifestyle and how you want to spend your 'extra' money.

DC is expensive, and I love space. My wife doesn't mind small places, but I grew up in the suburbs of Northern VA, and lust love having a nice sized place and not feeling cramped. That being said to live in a decent part of the city and not live in a box will prob. set you back around a million or so. My base salary is around $155,000 and have a bonus somewhere around $20,000. My wife will make around $185,000 this year (she owns her own law practice so this can fluctuate by year.) That being said, we own a house outside of DC that we treat as investment property, but are still trying to figure out buying a place in DC that's not a shoebox. So I'd say to be comfortable in DC you prob. need a combined income of around $500,000 or so.

 

[Clear]

New Haven area in Connecticut.

As comfortable, i view it as you pay your Needs and still have some for saving and disposable income. So I would say for an individual $65k.

If you have kids it goes up. My wife and I make around $180k and cheap daycare is ~$240 a week. I'm paying $430 a week for my 2 boys. (small discount for 2 kids) We are comfortable but $23k a year stings.

 

[Futureman]

My wife and I make ~$90k combined in Pittsburgh. We are comfortable. Baby coming next year so things will get tighter.

 

[tr1b0re]

I live in Trinidad in the Caribbean, currently I make about $500 (USD) a month (about 6K annually)

To be comfortable here though I'd need to make at least double that, luckily I don't pay rent at the very least...

 

[MechaMarmaset]

Ohio. I make 70k, husband makes 30. No kids. It's very comfortable. We pay an extra $1000 a month on our mortgage and still have $2500 left after that.

You can live comfortably here on 30K if you have no kids and are fine with a studio apartment. It's ridiculously cheap.

 

[Jarmel]

A lot depends on lifestyle and how you want to spend your 'extra' money.

DC is expensive, and I love space. My wife doesn't mind small places, but I grew up in the suburbs of Northern VA, and lust love having a nice sized place and not feeling cramped. That being said to live in a decent part of the city and not live in a box will prob. set you back around a million or so. My base salary is around $155,000 and have a bonus somewhere around $20,000. My wife will make around $185,000 this year (she owns her own law practice so this can fluctuate by year.) That being said, we own a house outside of DC that we treat as investment property, but are still trying to figure out buying a place in DC that's not a shoebox. So I'd say to be comfortable in DC you prob. need a combined income of around $500,000 or so.

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nani the fuck

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Ohio. I make 70k, husband makes 30. No kids. It's very comfortable. We pay an extra $1000 a month on our mortgage and still have $2500 left after that.

You can live comfortably here on 30K if you have no kids and are fine with a studio apartment. It's ridiculously cheap.

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Yea I'm in NY and yea the kiddo definitely dents the wallet, lol.

 

[Freakzilla]

7-8k after taxes would be nice. It would allow us to buy a house.

 

[Piston]

I live in Miami and make just under 80k. Probably 80 after my bonus. I've lived on my own comfortably in Edgewater, (2 mins from Downtown) making significantly less (around 64k). Admittedly wasn't able to save a TON but was still saving every month with my rent at around $1700/mo and car note at $500/mo, plus other bills like food, cell, internet, etc. Once I got a bump in salary earlier this year, my savings exploded but I also pay about $500 less in rent now as my brother moved in with me in April and we found a 2/2.

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I'm in Midtown by Target and my rent is around 1400 split in a 2/2. I looked at a few places in Edgewater but the cheaper places I didn't like and the nicer places by Margaret Pace Park were really expensive.

Sounds like we about agree on what you need to get by though, like I said, 80k in the city to have a bit of savings as well.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

nani the fuck

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Yeah it's ridiculous. I wouldn't mind leaving the DC area all together, but its difficult to do now that my wife had established her business here. I'd love to live in Pittsburgh which is much cheaper. Would also like to live in Colorado.

 

[shox]

I live in a part of the UK where a 2 bedroom house is at least £400k and banks will lend you 3.5x your income. So a lot.

 

[captive]

in houston metro i would say combined household income of 80-140k and your doing pretty good.

 

[PeskyToaster]

A lot depends on lifestyle and how you want to spend your 'extra' money.

DC is expensive, and I love space. My wife doesn't mind small places, but I grew up in the suburbs of Northern VA, and lust love having a nice sized place and not feeling cramped. That being said to live in a decent part of the city and not live in a box will prob. set you back around a million or so. My base salary is around $155,000 and have a bonus somewhere around $20,000. My wife will make around $185,000 this year (she owns her own law practice so this can fluctuate by year.) That being said, we own a house outside of DC that we treat as investment property, but are still trying to figure out buying a place in DC that's not a shoebox. So I'd say to be comfortable in DC you prob. need a combined income of around $500,000 or so.

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Yeesh. If I made what just one of you is making, I could about buy a decent house on an acre of land in cash.

 

[Pockets]

Not much, but living large in a depressed area ain't exactly living.

Stuck in a rut for eternity.

 

[Aranjah]

Probably about $45-50k if you want to live comfortably while renting. If you want to own a home or rent a nicer/bigger place then probably $65-70k. That's more for this town, though. Average for the state overall is probably -$15k from both of those ranges.

 

[pj-]

For me, "comfortable" is owning a home, saving for retirement, having a hobby or two, taking a vacation once in a while.

My wife and I have a pretty hefty combined income, but it's still kind of not enough to own a home in Brooklyn.

We are casually looking at 1br + office condos and places in the 600 sq ft ballpark are around $650k (these are older buildings, not the fancy new ones, in decent but not amazing areas), plus $800-$1200 a month in condo fees.

I think $300k for a family of 2 in Brooklyn would be very comfortable.

 

[____]

I'm in Midtown by Target and my rent is around 1400 split in a 2/2. I looked at a few places in Edgewater but the cheaper places I didn't like and the nicer places by Margaret Pace Park were really expensive.

Sounds like we about agree on what you need to get by though, like I said, 80k in the city to have a bit of savings as well.

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Neighbors! And yeah, pretty aligned with cost at this point. But yeah, Edgewater wasn't my favorite community - the area is fantastic, but the buildings can be hit and miss. I was in Bay Parc which was SUPER expensive for the crappy (refurb) building it was, and the management was some of the worst I've ever seen. I've known someone in Opera Tower and they didn't even finish their lease. Aria is brand new but extremely expensive, and then I have a ton of friends in Quantum on the Bay and they seem to love it, but they're also a bunch of young professional women that share a 3 or 4 bedroom apt, so I doubt they pay very much.