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Old 04-09-2008, 12:31 PM
 
Location: San Fernando Valley, CA
1,720 posts, read 6,711,159 times
Reputation: 812

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Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00 View Post
If neither you or your girlfriend are making much money, why on EARTH do you have ONE new car, much less two! To save money, I'd ditch the cars and get something used as well as look for an apartment with roommates. If anything happens- a lost job, medical emergency, car accident, etc- you two will be up the creek.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer or give unsolicited advice, but I'm getting financial disaster red flags.

She had a 65 mustang...was totalled...got $10k and got a new car. I sold one of my cars that was sitting for $5k.
I had another car that was costing me A LOT for repair, so I got a new car. Was spending around $200-250 on gas per month, plus a hundred or so on repairs it seemed. In Los Angeles we need cars, so we have new cars. Lots of people in L.A. are in financial disaster, being an Economics major and knowing how to be financially responsible I am not one. Unfortunately, my job doesn't pay me too well when reflecting the COL out here. Plus I still have my other car, so we will not need a car for the next 10 years. We have new Honda Civic and Scion TC. Getting a degree this summer and will for sure be making a few bucks more, so we're good, or as best as we can be for now.
I have 401k, stocks, savings and am moving once I get my next degree, to Texas or somewhere cheaper.

We're young and have family, so that helps in case of emergency. We have medical coverage, a loss of car is nothing since I have 2, and a job loss is nothing since we can easily get jobs to replace them. If I wanted a roomie, I'd get one in the classifieds, no thanks.

I'm finding some nice places for $1200-1300 with parking, and only elec/gas paid, free internet.
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Old 04-10-2008, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Maryland's 6th District.
8,358 posts, read 25,160,992 times
Reputation: 6540
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hungry For Cheese View Post
That's why as soon as I graduate college I'm leaving Cali and moving to an area where rent is about $600, combined would be $300/mo from each person.
I am assuming that by 'is about' you mean 'average'. Rent is generally consistent with the economic state of the particular area. Not in every case, but enough so that it could be considered a good way to measure local economy. Basically, a location with an average rent of $600 a month will have lower paying jobs (average salary around $30,000) than a location with an average rent of $1400 a month. Look at LA or Manhattan. Rent is extremely high in both places, but in both places it is not uncommon for the average person to make over $100,000 a year.
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Old 04-10-2008, 03:05 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,494,009 times
Reputation: 3798
I actually think that's hooey.

In LA the "average" person hardly makes 100k ... in fact:

The median income for a household was $36,687, and for a family was $39,942. Males had a median income of $31,880, females $30,197. The per capita income was $20,671. 22.1% of the population and 18.3% of families were below the poverty line. 30.3% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those aged 65 or older were below the poverty line.

Whereas in St. Louis, MO (where one could find a place to rent for $600)

The median income for a household in the city was $29,156, and the median income for a family was $32,585.

The difference in income def. doesn't make up for the difference in COL.
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Old 04-10-2008, 08:24 PM
 
Location: Maryland's 6th District.
8,358 posts, read 25,160,992 times
Reputation: 6540
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
I actually think that's hooey.

In LA the "average" person hardly makes 100k ... in fact:

The median income for a household was $36,687, and for a family was $39,942. Males had a median income of $31,880, females $30,197. The per capita income was $20,671. 22.1% of the population and 18.3% of families were below the poverty line. 30.3% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those aged 65 or older were below the poverty line.

Whereas in St. Louis, MO (where one could find a place to rent for $600)

The median income for a household in the city was $29,156, and the median income for a family was $32,585.

The difference in income def. doesn't make up for the difference in COL.
There are millions of people that live in LA, so the descrpencies in salary are going to be great. Maybe I should have said instead that it is not uncommon for people to make $100,000 in LA. It's obviously not the case for everyone in that city, but it is also not that rare, either.

The term 'median' means directly in the middle. So, there is an equal amount above and below it, but there is no way of knowing what the true average is without showing all the numbers.

11,12,15, 23, 98, 1001, 20000, 20045, 60017--in this sequence the number 98 is the median. But the mean-the true average of the numbers-is 11,247 (rounded up).
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Old 04-11-2008, 11:18 AM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,494,009 times
Reputation: 3798
Well that's why it's hard or impossible to do averages- because it's too labor intensive and not a particularly useful tool, however it's clear the average even still is no where near 100k. I agree that it's not entirely uncommon however. But the fact is, most people can happily make a living in other parts of the country and while they my make less money, the COL difference is often more than enough to still make moving worthwhile.

That's not a knock on LA (or any other expensive city) they have a lot to offer, but when one is working class or lower middle class I think ti often makes more sense to live in a less expensive locale.
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Old 04-12-2008, 03:24 PM
 
Location: Maryland's 6th District.
8,358 posts, read 25,160,992 times
Reputation: 6540
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
Well that's why it's hard or impossible to do averages- because it's too labor intensive and not a particularly useful tool, however it's clear the average even still is no where near 100k. I agree that it's not entirely uncommon however. But the fact is, most people can happily make a living in other parts of the country and while they my make less money, the COL difference is often more than enough to still make moving worthwhile.

That's not a knock on LA (or any other expensive city) they have a lot to offer, but when one is working class or lower middle class I think ti often makes more sense to live in a less expensive locale.
Ok, I am not saying that a hundred grand is the average in LA. All I am saying is that a lot of people make that amount or more. How much is a lot of people? I don't know. However, I am willing to wager that the percentage of people in LA who make over $100,000 a year is higher then the percentage of people who make over $100,000 in St. Louis.

I agree that there are plenty of places through out the US in which a person can earn a (lower) salary, but yet still have a high quality of life due to the COL. I am not disputing that in anyway.
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Old 04-24-2008, 01:05 PM
 
Location: San Fernando Valley, CA
1,720 posts, read 6,711,159 times
Reputation: 812
DFW...we COULD find jobs for $12/hr...........together, that's what we make hourly here in L.A. (around $25/hr)

Decent place here would be $1500 with utilities, not including food, cars, gas etc.

DFW....$25/hr....rent around $1000 w/ utilities in a nice new, poss. bigger place....cheaper gas, etc....

I'd rather make $50k in a place that allowed me to save more and live better, than in a place where I made $100k, but couldn't live the way I wanted to. I'm not into saying "I make six figures"...but neglect to share how much I'm in debt and unhappy(not saying this is everyone), but I mean, c'mon...single moms with more than one child driving brand new vehicles on 20"+ rims, living in an apartment while working in the "medical field" as an assistant or receptionist. Let's get with reality here a bit.
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