Can I afford this rent?

[Star156]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Not sure how to quote multiple posts so I'll just put all of my responses here. My first year salary + guaranteed bonus is 60k. With performance bonus, it is around 65k. Yes, this is all pretax. I wouldn't mind a roommate but the problem is I don't have too many friends working/studying in Chicago (besides someone going to med school at UChicago and he will live in Hyde Park). Had some bad experience with random roommates in college so I really prefer to pay the premium and just live by myself. My thinking was if I could find a place in River North or West Loop, I can literally just walk to work (in the loop) in less than 15 minutes so I could save 90-100 a month for the CTA as well as time commuting. There is no way I will go for anything above $1200 though.

[marothisu]

River North is much better than West Loop, especially for a college grad who likes to go out, be social, etc BUT the food on average (and drinks) are more expensive than other parts of town.

If your only reason is saving money, then figure that if you can get a 1 bedroom for $1000 in another neighborhood versus say $1400/month for a RN studio, that the $100 you'd be saving in River North by not taking public transit...is moot at that point. You'd still be saving at least $250-$300/month in the other area. Your salary can afford you some good stuff, but there are alternatives for sure if your main concern is money. Plus, even if you live in Lincoln Park close to a train line, depending on where your office is, you could still be to work in around the same amount of time via train as it would take you to walk there.

Plus, with public transit...you'd probably want to get out of river north and into other neighborhoods... and thus that requires public transit. In that case, you wouldn't necessarily be saving $100/month by living in RN. If you lived somewhere that required public transit, the unlimited pass is $100/month so it becomes even more you'd be saving in another area if you can't comfortably afford RN.