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Location: Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
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My husband and I are both city teachers, but who knows what the future holds for us teachers with the corrupt educational system...that's why we started a network-marketing business just in case for the future.
So, I am 32, born and raised in Ronkonkoma earning $45,000/yr and after 5 years of renting apartments I have come to the realization years ago I will not be able to afford to purchase a home here. I am out as of November 2010. Any other Generation Xers in the same boat as me?
A decent apartment on Long Island is now in the >$1500 range. How can anyone save for a down payment on a decent home with prices like we are seeing? I figure with my salary of $45,000 with 30% going to taxes gives me $31,500/yr take-home or about $2,625/mo.
$2,625(pay)-$1,500(rent)=$1,125.
Average first home L.I. home price: $300,000
Down payment (20%): $60,000
So if I was to not eat, not pay gas, not purchase utilities, etc. I can save $1,125/mo.
Year to accumulate down payment with savings: 4.4 years
That would be the best case scenario. We all know one must eat, pay car loan, student loan, buy clothes, etc. So that number drastically increases. So what is everyone else doing? What will happen to L.I. after we all leave as prices continue to escalate?
Rant over.
Sorry pal, no offense but 32 is not young,if 45k is the best you can muster here at that age, youre either not trying or have a criminal record.
What have you been doing for the last decade or so? Assistant Managers at Taco Bell make that.
If you flee I suspect your 45k will be significantly less.
If you are single and making $45k, it is going to take a long time to get into a house. You'll have to start "small" with a starter home. If you are married and have a second income, the possibilities are better. I was personally lucky to get a good job out of college and my salary increased pretty quickly, plus my wife was doing fairly well too. So we were able to get a decent house - not my dream house by any means, but it's not too shabby either. If there was nothing holding me to Long Island, I'd move in a heartbeat. We have seen a number of friends move away and they have purchased magnificent homes for about 300k and their takes are 4k or less. Very frustrating living here...
I like the Atlanta area personally.
I have recently spent time in Charlotte and fell in love. Very much like Long Island USED to be with trees and all. I have been here 32 years and it's my home and I have a lot of family history here, but Long Island is becoming NYC prices and it's just not worth it.
Sorry pal, no offense but 32 is not young,if 45k is the best you can muster here at that age, youre either not trying or have a criminal record.
What have you been doing for the last decade or so? Assistant Managers at Taco Bell make that.
If you flee I suspect your 45k will be significantly less.
Good luck.
Crooks
BTW I think youre a Y not and X.
Actually I have no criminal record. The real criminal is the industry I work in. Look up Regional Pilot pay and you will uncover a world of unjust. Thanks for the harsh assumptions tho...PAL.
Actually I have no criminal record. The real criminal is the industry I work in. Look up Regional Pilot pay and you will uncover a world of unjust. Thanks for the harsh assumptions tho...PAL.
Sorry, Im not trying to be harsh but 45k at 32 sucks. You ought to get on your employer ...thats not a living wage here (or really anywhere).
LI isnt the problem....your paycheck is. And I agree you guys are overworked and WAY underpaid.
Good luck
Crooks
Last edited by Crookhaven; 05-22-2010 at 08:57 PM..
Sorry, Im not trying to be harsh but 45k at 32 sucks. You ought to get on your employer ...thats not a living wage here (or really anywhere).
LI isnt the problem....your paycheck is. And I agree you guys are overworked and WAY underpaid.
Good luck
Crooks
No problem. Unfortunately we are bound by the rates set for the industry we work in and it will take a lot of effort to improve what 9/11 has taken from us. My union as well as our brothers at USAir, American etc. are working hard to get back what we deserve from greedy CEO's and an tough industry.
No problem. Unfortunately we are bound by the rates set for the industry we work in and it will take a lot of effort to improve what 9/11 has taken from us. My union as well as our brothers at USAir, American etc. are working hard to get back what we deserve from greedy CEO's and an tough industry.
If 45K is all you can make then I suggest you find some place outside of the island. No matter what anyone says, it is brutal here on that salary, and it will get worse in the next few years.
If 45K is all you can make then I suggest you find some place outside of the island. No matter what anyone says, it is brutal here on that salary, and it will get worse in the next few years.
That's not ALL I can make. Like I was trying to explain to Crooks about my screwed up industry, if and when the economy rebounds and a Captain position opens my pay doubles overnight. However they should not be hiring jet first officers at $20K/yr in the first place, but it's the only way at the time a pilot can accumulate experience to move onto a major airline. So in the meantime, leaving Long Island is the choice I will be making.
I was just curious outside of my own situation what others starting out are doing? Working 3 jobs to survive, relying on a spouses income...etc. My family had worked in warehouses their whole life on Long Island, but my Dad was laid off in 1994 by Grumman then worked as a machine mechanic until he retired then moved to AZ and my mom barely missed a layoff herself. It seems as real estate gets more expensive these "warehouses" are relocating leaving thousands of workers unemployed, such as a certain cosmetic packaging company.
I understand a college education is a basic requirement these days which I have but not everyone is going that path and there seems no way that any of these "blue collar" workers have any choice but to leave. Even Wyandanch is way overpriced if you ask me.
A couple of things to think about when you move (which I think keeps more people in the NY area even if the costs are bankrupting them). Of course this depends on your views/politics:
1) If you're politics are fairly liberal, or even just "moderate with a left bent", you may be a little uncomfortable, particularly if you leave the Northeast (California is just as expensive as here so I'm not counting that). Many of the "cheapest" places have the most conservative constituents.
2) If you're not fairly religious (or if you are of a non-Christian religion) you may have a bit of a comfort level issue too. I see lots of posts here about how when you "move in" in the South, you are often asked by neighbors what church you plan to attend or belong to. Much as I was kind of shocked reading this I was even more shocked when I saw that a significant number of posts were in the Atlanta area or the big Texas cities, which I thought would not be so like that.
Of course, neither of these may apply to you so it may not be the case here.
But good luck! I'm an upper Gen X'r (early 40s, I think in response to someone who called you "Gen Y" I think at 32 you're actually a "lower Gen X'r") who feels the same way that you do about the NY area in general (it's not just LI).
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