Can you live on $80,000 a year in Frederick or Howard County? (Germantown: low income, apartment complexes)

[checking out]

Originally Posted by tercel95

It is like this in a lot of places in MD... It frustrated the crap out of me that I had lived in MD my whole life and when I moved out at 18 I couldn't even get by... MD is for rich people... I felt like I did everything I could at that age, I had a job as a software developer for a defense contractor... After a few years I was just sick of skating by with nothing so I moved to FL and now I live comfortably...

It is a shame that people have to get forced out of where they grew up because they can't afford to live there...

Maryland is also for poor people. It's called Baltimore City and its a drain on the pocket of every wage in the State. Wish they could get their act together down there in the City.

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by checking out

Maryland is also for poor people. It's called Baltimore City and its a drain on the pocket of every wage in the State. Wish they could get their act together down there in the City.

I know it was immensely frustrating being 18,19 years old and paying $1100/month for a dumpy 1 bedroom apartment, then going to the grocery store buying 1 ply toilet paper and ramen noodle soup only to see someone twice my age buying name brand items with food stamps...

[Chris-Kim]

Maryland is also for poor people. It's called Baltimore City and its a drain on the pocket of every wage in the State. Wish they could get their act together down there in the City.

Absolutely! My office is in downtown Baltimore and the city is horrible. I've never seen more people begging for money on the street in my life. And so many adults (obviously unemployed) just hang around on the street during work hours.

[Chris-Kim]

Factor in real estate taxes, high energy bills, food prices are probably higher than you are used to, state taxes aren't cheap, etc.

I moved from NY and was very surprised by MD state taxes. In NY, there's no county income tax (I lived in Westchester) and now I pay Howard County tax + CA fee + MD state income tax on top of Federal taxes. My NY home is more expensive than my Clarksville home and I pay higher property tax here in MD. Will I ever save?

[clintsullivan]

This is why so many have decided to put up with a long commute and move west of the Potomac into WV. The cost of living is so much lower than MD (or VA). It's unfortunate to have to travel so far but sometimes necessary so that one person can stay at home to parent the children. It has gotten some better now that so many positions offer tele-commuting and High Speed internet is more widely available.

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by clintsullivan

This is why so many have decided to put up with a long commute and move west of the Potomac into WV. The cost of living is so much lower than MD (or VA). It's unfortunate to have to travel so far but sometimes necessary so that one person can stay at home to parent the children. It has gotten some better now that so many positions offer tele-commuting and High Speed internet is more widely available.

Maybe thats what I should have looked into instead of moving all the way to FL... I do like it down here though... It would have been nice to be closer to MD...

[mamaecho]

It always makes me laugh when people say over 50k isn't adequate.

We moved here three years ago, making 35k... living in MoCo.

Currently, we live in MoCo making 55k.. now are things tight sometimes? Sure.. but for the most part we are making it and are relatively happy financially.....


That being said, wanting to buy a house is completely different.. I don't want to buy in Montgomery Village, so we are off to Brunswick.. in Frederick County.. Prices are affordable.. schools are nice.. and I'm in love with the hometown feel..

That being said, it's entirely possible to buy a home almost anywhere in Frederick County for under 200k.. depending on what you are looking for (I say almost because you can't touch Urbana for that)

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by mamaecho

It always makes me laugh when people say over 50k isn't adequate.

We moved here three years ago, making 35k... living in MoCo.

Currently, we live in MoCo making 55k.. now are things tight sometimes? Sure.. but for the most part we are making it and are relatively happy financially.....


That being said, wanting to buy a house is completely different.. I don't want to buy in Montgomery Village, so we are off to Brunswick.. in Frederick County.. Prices are affordable.. schools are nice.. and I'm in love with the hometown feel..

That being said, it's entirely possible to buy a home almost anywhere in Frederick County for under 200k.. depending on what you are looking for (I say almost because you can't touch Urbana for that)

I don't see how you did anything making 35k a year... Making 80k with kids is going to be really rough any way you swing it...

When I was 19 I was making 42k/year and I had a really hard time getting by... My apartment was a dump and really expensive and after taxes there just wasn't a whole lot to spend... I could never go out to eat or go shopping at the mall... I had 1 ply toilet paper and ate ramen noodle soup at least twice a day... I had a 10 year old oil leaking beat up car...

My 600 sq/ft apartment was $1100/month...

[kjg1963]

I'm a single parent of 2 and have never made more than $45,000/year. I've always managed also. (Child support was never a factor either, it was practically non-existent.) I never ate ramen noodle soup. I could still afford meat. I think where I got lucky was my housing. Somehow, I always fell into great deals on rentals. To this day, I have a 3 bedroom duplex that up until this year, I was paying $750 a month for the last 8 years (now I pay $850). My kids also never wanted for anything (as a matter of fact, they are truly spoiled). It may be rare, but living under $50,000/year is doable in some areas.

[mamaecho]

Originally Posted by tercel95

I don't see how you did anything making 35k a year... Making 80k with kids is going to be really rough any way you swing it...

When I was 19 I was making 42k/year and I had a really hard time getting by... My apartment was a dump and really expensive and after taxes there just wasn't a whole lot to spend... I could never go out to eat or go shopping at the mall... I had 1 ply toilet paper and ate ramen noodle soup at least twice a day... I had a 10 year old oil leaking beat up car...

My 600 sq/ft apartment was $1100/month...

Well... we have two kids, and two dogs.. two cars.. we make it work
When we first moved here we lived in an apartment in Germantown.. it was really nice. It was considered for "moderate income" so you had to make income guidelines.. I think you couldn't make over 42k I believe with three individuals (we only had one child when we first moved here).. but they were REALLY nice apartments (The Fields Apartments)

And as far as 80k being rough.. I just don't see it... I mean, we live a relatively normal life.. we aren't eating raman noodles, etc.. we use coupons, shop for great deals. but we aren't stingy with our money.. we just have a budget that we stick to Perhaps it's where I'm from.. a very small town in Indiana.. I'm not used to McMansions and the whole deal.

But, we do what we do so that I can be a stay at home mom (working very, very part time for a friend who is a photographer)