What is a liveable salary in Phoenix?

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

I just buy new and run them into the ground. That way I’ve controlled all variables. My truck is 10 years old now and no end in sight.

The depreciation curve makes sense for luxury cars and quickly depreciating Marques like Hyundai (although you lose out on the warranty).

Your approach works. Partially because used trucks are in high demand. I have an 8 year old SUV. I bought it with 18K miles (in warranty) for $10K off or $18K. It's worth $5K. I have 88K miles. Next year, it is worth $4500. Then $4000 etc. My itch is the newer technology. Marketing works. I predict I will push out the want. Partially because I can convinced I can get down to one vehicle. But I love driving the XTS. I will get it out of my system for a year or so.

Maybe buy a used Corvette C7 now as they will overshoot in depreciation. If history repeats itself, the will pop back up some. The goal is like always; $4K depreciation a year max. It's why I have not bought one yet.

[newtoaz20172]

It is hard to explain to people how cheap Phoenix is.

The bay area, my wife and I would be stretched to afford a decent house on $500,000. I work in tech leadership, and most tech guys are on 200k base + 250k restricted stock unit 3 year programs with 10%-15% bonus and they're renting. Most of our friends have 1200 sqft in the Bay for what a house in Paradise Valley costs. Here, we managed north scottsdale, 2 bmws/maserati a pool and gardeners + dog walker + cleaners for what a the rent on a 3br 2 bath in downtown San Francisco is (~$7000). This would be probably be around $4,000,000 - $5,000,000 in the Bay and only early tech workers in Uber/Google/etc or executive tech leadership would be buying it.

it really is astonishing. We've had some SF friends over and they're like THIS COSTS HOW MUCH WTF.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by newtoaz20172

It is hard to explain to people how cheap Phoenix is.

The bay area, my wife and I would be stretched to afford a decent house on $500,000. I work in tech leadership, and most tech guys are on 200k base + 250k restricted stock unit 3 year programs with 10%-15% bonus and they're renting. Most of our friends have 1200 sqft in the Bay for what a house in Paradise Valley costs. Here, we managed north scottsdale, 2 bmws/maserati a pool and gardeners + dog walker + cleaners for what a the rent on a 3br 2 bath in downtown San Francisco is (~$7000). This would be probably be around $4,000,000 - $5,000,000 in the Bay and only early tech workers in Uber/Google/etc or executive tech leadership would be buying it.

it really is astonishing. We've had some SF friends over and they're like THIS COSTS HOW MUCH WTF.

In all fairness, it's infinitely more affordable in 95% of the country. The outliers are NYC, the Bay area, and Honolulu (urban areas). The prime areas around LA are also spendy. But you are right, the laborers competing against illegals are not making much $$'s (cleaners, landscapers, dog watchers, pool boys, etc).

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by newtoaz20172

It is hard to explain to people how cheap Phoenix is.

The bay area, my wife and I would be stretched to afford a decent house on $500,000. I work in tech leadership, and most tech guys are on 200k base + 250k restricted stock unit 3 year programs with 10%-15% bonus and they're renting. Most of our friends have 1200 sqft in the Bay for what a house in Paradise Valley costs. Here, we managed north scottsdale, 2 bmws/maserati a pool and gardeners + dog walker + cleaners for what a the rent on a 3br 2 bath in downtown San Francisco is (~$7000). This would be probably be around $4,000,000 - $5,000,000 in the Bay and only early tech workers in Uber/Google/etc or executive tech leadership would be buying it.

it really is astonishing. We've had some SF friends over and they're like THIS COSTS HOW MUCH WTF.

The Bay Area is like the most expensive metro in the US, so not a good basis of comparison, especially considering wages here are significantly less here. The median individual income in Maricopa County is $27k/year. If you make just $60k/year here, like I do, you're doing much better than the median

[Returning2USA]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

Gross should be minimum $3k, so probably net $2,400/month

With $0 debt, no car payment, but only paying for the fixed expenses (car insurance, food, 1-bedroom)

I'd hope to save $1,400 per month.

With the increased rents in Phoenix now I'm not sure that's possible.

Although I do understand it's my responsibility to earn the income necessary to save that amount.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

With $0 debt, no car payment, but only paying for the fixed expenses (car insurance, food, 1-bedroom)

I'd hope to save $1,400 per month.

With the increased rents in Phoenix now I'm not sure that's possible.

Although I do understand it's my responsibility to earn the income necessary to save that amount.

I only gave the amount that would make a median 1 bedroom 1/3 of your gross pay

[Returning2USA]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

I only gave the amount that would make a median 1 bedroom 1/3 of your gross pay

Got it, thanks.

[kent_moore]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

My wife and I make combined $205k and I wouldn't want to raise a family of 5 on much less than that. We have a $1600 mortgage and two car payments is our only debt. We don't take vacations other than visiting family once a year which is cheap. Taxes eats a huge portion of it so the OP will do better there since he/she has kids.

With the cost of everything these days, money doesn't go as far as it once did. Even in Phoenix the cost of living is going up.

I would say the OP needs $100k to cover the basics and there won't be a lot left over.

Reading this, I feel so poor

[Prickly Pear]

I make 48k as a single individual in the public sector (meaning my net is much, much less than private sector at the same hourly rate). No student loans. I have a car payment which is my biggest hinderance, but I had an suv for free before and I drive my personal car for my job in the field, so I had to get a new car in order to not lose a bunch of money on gas. Assuming I had a reasonable insurance (which I currently don’t bring under 25) and no car payment, I could probably afford a $900/month apartment by myself with no utilities, (as utilities can add another couple hundred or so depending on electric company and if you choose centurylink or Cox). This is about market rate for apartments here, depending on where you are looking.

I rent a nice house in Tempe with roommates for a total of $1900/month (no utilities). With my roommates, I put roughly $700/month after utilities. I couldn’t afford this house on my own, because I net approximately 2100/month (sometimes a bit more when mileage reimbursement kicks in).

My budget could definitely be improved, as I eat out too much and I spend more stuff on electronics than the average person. I think I put more into retirement and savings than most too (my net is after retirement and savings) with 12% in the pension, 10% in deferred compensation, and 10% in personal savings.

If I wanted to afford the house I rent on my own (since I love this house and neighborhood, a couple houses on my street are for sale but I don’t know what price they are at) I think I’d have to increase my income by 50%, or roughly 75k. But I also don’t have a family. I think if I did though, doubling my income (100k) would cover this house and a couple of kids. But it also depends on what you’d like to spend your money on.