New job, single, $31,000 a year. Will I be comfortable in Indianapolis? (affordable apartment, renting)

[nique15]

I'm 23 years old, fresh out of college and I am starting my first job making $31,000 a year! I know that my being comfortable depends on how I budget my money; however, I just want to know if this salary would allow me to live in a decent area, pay my bills, and still have money left to have some fun. I'm am single so I'll only be supporting myself. I've been broke my whole life lol so I'm looking forward to being financially stable and being able to live in a nice area. Also, I'll be working at the Juvenile Detention Center at 25th and Keystone so if you guys could suggest a nice, affordable apartment complex not too far from that area (not in it lol), I would appreciate it very much! Thanks in advance for your responses!

[sheerbliss]

I think Old Northside would be a good area for you. Close to work, downtown, Mass Ave, short drive to Fountain Square. Not too spendy, either.

http://www.city-data.com/neighborhoo...apolis-IN.html
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7884...8i6656!6m1!1e1

A long time ago, I was making less than $31,000 per year and had a mortgage payment of around $550 a month and made I made it. Apartments.com shows some small apartments in that area for that price.

[Serious Conversation]

Maybe - do you have student loans or other auto debt?

Indy is cheaper for a major, but $31k is a small salary. Look into roommates and keep your eyes open for better work.

[Campfires]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

Maybe - do you have student loans or other auto debt?

Indy is cheaper for a major, but $31k is a small salary. Look into roommates and keep your eyes open for better work.

Roommates are a great idea. I had roommates for a number of years. I started off renting a room out of someone's house and then ended up renting out rooms in a house I bought. The roommates paid the majority of my mortgage. Be picky about who you choose to live with and you can end up with a life long friend.

With $31,000/yr, you should have around $24,000 in net income if you're renting. That's only $2000/mo. Put a budget down on paper. I just revised mine today. I highly reccomend making a detailed budget on a piece of paper so that you can see you're minimum incoming vs minimum outgoing cash flow.

For example:

Outgoing columns:

Union dues
Cellphone
Utility (electric)
Utility (gas)
Gasoline for car
Groceries (including toiletries)
Internet
Cable TV
Mortgage/rent
Insurance
Loan(s)
Credit card(s)
Trash collection
Retirement contribution

Incoming
(Net income)

Savings

Retirement.



I track every single column on a monthly basis. If you have debt, it feels awesome writing in a new lower number every month. If you have savings, it even better watching your net worth grow. Congrats on the new job. Be careful you don't fall into the "nouveau riche" mindset where you suddenly have money to blow on crap.

[sheerbliss]

Mint.com is good for helping you keep track of your spending. It's free, too. You link your accounts and all your transactions show up on one site.

Personally, I've always used the false scarcity method: pay bills, add to savings, then, and only then, live on the rest.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by nique15

I'm 23 years old, fresh out of college and I am starting my first job making $31,000 a year! I know that my being comfortable depends on how I budget my money; however, I just want to know if this salary would allow me to live in a decent area, pay my bills, and still have money left to have some fun. I'm am single so I'll only be supporting myself. I've been broke my whole life lol so I'm looking forward to being financially stable and being able to live in a nice area. Also, I'll be working at the Juvenile Detention Center at 25th and Keystone so if you guys could suggest a nice, affordable apartment complex not too far from that area (not in it lol), I would appreciate it very much! Thanks in advance for your responses!

If that's $31,000 a year before taxes and other deductions, you'd probably bring home about $24,000. That will give you about $2,000 a month to live on and pay your bills including your food, rent, electricity, telephone, TV, Internet, automobile insurance, gas, car paynents, and entertainment. It might be rough and you may not have a whole lot of fun, but you can make it if you live very modestly and learn to budget really good. The longer you work at a place the more money you will make so it will get easier to get by as time goes on.. Until you start making more money, you might wanna consider a roommate or 2, so then you could really save some money, and have more and better options after a couple of years. I wouldn't blame you though for not wanting to sacrifice your privacy. But the more money can save, the more options you will have. If you can get ahead of the game, and not develop any expensive habits, you can have the world by the tail when you're still young.

[Humboldt1]

I made 32k salary out of college with first job in Indy 15 years ago and was able to make it but lived at home, no college debt and no car or credit card debt.

You will be able to get by on 31k but you will not be dining out at nice places or going on nice vacations, especially if you have debt.

We start our associates in Indy at 55k.