URGENT HELP! $50K - How much left after taxes?

[StinaTado]

My BF and I have a combined income of a little less than $100K and have great life.

Here is how we do it-

Cabs- We almost never take them. Like maybe once every two months if the weather is bad and it's really late at night.

Apartment- We are paying significantly less than market rate for a small one bedroom in a nice doorman building. We are subletting from a family friend who no longer lives in the city and got a great deal. There are also two of us splitting the rent.

Washer/Dryer- There's a laundry room in our building

Eating Out- I like to cook and we clip coupons and buy things that are on sale, and that covers most of our meals. We will buy lunch at work maybe twice a week (usually less than $10). We'll get pizza once a week and eat in a nice restaurant once a week.

Entertainment- We have the most basic of basic cable and internet. I work in theater so we get plenty of free or discount tickets to things and we go to the movies once every few weeks.

We save a lot and take a couple of trips a year. We're not living large, but we have a really fun life. If you learn to use the trains, you will save TONS of money. You can still take cabs occasionally, but they are a waste of time and can be slower than the trains. Finding a roommate or settling for a studio will help as well, as will learning to make your own coffee/breakfast.

[Veve0308]

50k in Manhattan is a no, no. You definitely need a roomate or you have to end up living some where you dont want to go home to and it will not be updated in any way or form.

[NYC_Rose]

www.paycheckcity.com is a great tool that will help you figure out what you paycheck will look like based on the state where you live and the expemptions you will have.

don't forget that pre-tax deductions are key!!!!!!

[EconGirl]

To be honest I find some of the comments regarding the need for an income of $150k+ to live a decent lifestyle in NYC really odd and exaggerated.

I'm a Londoner who happened to live in NYC for a while. I was interning for a major FX house downtown. I lived in Jersey City right on the Harbour one PATH ride from the City, 20Mins door to door from my apartment to my place of employment. My rent was paid for, I lived in a three bedroom apartment with 5 other interns [the joys of interning] and I got $1000 stipend to live off of. I had to pay for food, utilities, travel, Comcast, washing, PATH and subway tickets, entertainment and so forth. In shorty I was paid $12k a year which had to cover everything aside from rent. I also had savings, but used that for frivolous things like buying shoes and clothes and a lot of other silly stuff. Granted it wasn't a jet set lifestyle but it was enough to get by and have a good time. It wasn't enough to go on vacation etc [I used my savings to fund travel opportunities] but it was enough for the basics and a lot of partying and eating out and getting cabs when I was being lazy. Considering I could get by on such a small amount I'm flabbergasted to hear people say you need $150k+ to live a decent-ish lifestyle. And by decent I mean, live in an apartment where I have my own room, go out to dinner in relatively mid-priced restaurants several times a week, get some nice clothes, go on vacation a few times a year etc etc. I think that is wholly untrue and I do honestly believe you can live a good life on less a lot less.

My apartments market rental value was about $2000 per calendar month. Which would be $24k per year. If I earned $50k and took home about $3k after tax and lived on the Harbour in Jersey City I could live a comfortable life. I've seen 2bed apartments for $2k a month in Manhattan. I think it's excessive to say that you need $150k. Not a lot of people earn that much combined let alone individually, not here in London and not in NYC either.