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Old 07-04-2015, 05:15 PM
 
89 posts, read 115,589 times
Reputation: 56

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I think person can live here for 30k. IT is not easy but doable. EBT (food stams) is hard to get. Not sure single person can get it unless homless. Even people with kids barely qualify of working full time. Key to make IT anywhere except maybe San Fran nad NYC, is no debt. Also cheap car. Bus is expensive here. Costs 5$ per roundtrip. You can try to get all done within 2 hrs and them transfer works so its only 2.5$. On free parking days is cheaper to drive. Mane places in Seattle are always free parking, with time limits. Kenmore is a nice city north that can have cheaper rent, if you know where to look. People here are less welcoming or willing to help. Freeze thing is real.
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Old 07-04-2015, 07:01 PM
 
Location: Independent Republic of Ballard
8,061 posts, read 8,284,170 times
Reputation: 6218
Quote:
Originally Posted by southwestW View Post
I think person can live here for 30k. IT is not easy but doable. EBT (food stams) is hard to get. Not sure single person can get it unless homless. Even people with kids barely qualify of working full time. Key to make IT anywhere except maybe San Fran nad NYC, is no debt. Also cheap car. Bus is expensive here. Costs 5$ per roundtrip. You can try to get all done within 2 hrs and them transfer works so its only 2.5$. On free parking days is cheaper to drive. Mane places in Seattle are always free parking, with time limits. Kenmore is a nice city north that can have cheaper rent, if you know where to look. People here are less welcoming or willing to help. Freeze thing is real.
You can get SNAP (food stamps) if under its income and asset limits and are not a student. Has nothing to do with whether you're single or not, although having kid(s) will raise the income limit. If 60+ or disabled, you can deduct medical expenses.

Metro's new low-income fare is $1.50 - many round-trips can be done on one fare+transfer. Senior/disabled fare is $1.00.

You can cut rental expenses by renting a room-share, apodment, or micro-apartment. Living without a car can save a significant amount of money ($500+).

There are food banks, charities that provide clothes, etc. Some people, of course, earn under the table income that they don't report.
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:02 PM
 
Location: Washington state
450 posts, read 544,557 times
Reputation: 643
I have quite a few acquaintances that make just a tad above minimum wage to about $55k and they manage to live *gasp* on the Eastside in Kirkland, Woodinville areas, many rent and some own a house by buying in Snohomish county. None live with parents although most have roommates or relatives (nuclear family for example). For low income people (those that qualify for Medicaid ) in Seattle they can and do live in areas like south Seattle, International District etc.

Things have gotten pricier in the last few decades here but there are still plenty of low to middle income folks managing to live here without needing to go Aberdeen or some other remote area of the state!
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Old 07-07-2015, 09:30 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,082 posts, read 80,118,318 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misscross View Post
I have quite a few acquaintances that make just a tad above minimum wage to about $55k and they manage to live *gasp* on the Eastside in Kirkland, Woodinville areas, many rent and some own a house by buying in Snohomish county. None live with parents although most have roommates or relatives (nuclear family for example). For low income people (those that qualify for Medicaid ) in Seattle they can and do live in areas like south Seattle, International District etc.

Things have gotten pricier in the last few decades here but there are still plenty of low to middle income folks managing to live here without needing to go Aberdeen or some other remote area of the state!
I met a single guy in his 40s the other day on the bus from Seattle that lives in Sammamish, and works as a cashier at a 7-Eleven in Seattle. He says his 1 bedroom apartment is about $1,500, but he has no car. He has lived there for 30 years, working before at convenience store just a block from his apartment (but that closed up in the 90s) and after that at a gas station convenience store within 1/2 mile.
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Old 07-07-2015, 06:53 PM
 
Location: West of the Rockies
1,111 posts, read 2,318,586 times
Reputation: 1138
If you are willing to live with one or more roommates, you can find a room on Craigslist for as low as $400 in places like Northgate. I've seen crapshacks on Capitol Hill and Wallingford (old style furnace heaters, 40+ yo windows, decrepit bathrooms) with 4 or 5 tenants renting out a room for about $300/mo, but those places usually get taken fast. Generally speaking, I'd say ~$600/mo is to be expected with one roommate anywhere in the city. I'm sure uber-poor people will find even better deals if they are willing to sacrifice a lot of space and live in a commune-style housing.

Then there are always the cheapskates who own very nice homes in Wallingford and Queen Anne - homes that they cannot afford, so they rent out a mother-in-law suite in their basement. I rented one of those from a couple for a few months, but I couldn't stand the feeling of living in someone else's home. There are always people in Bellevue and Kirkland who will rent out their basements for cheap too.

Really, if you don't have many demands in terms of comfort and privacy, you can find cheaper housing almost anywhere in the country. If you don't live an extravagant lifestyle and you can handle taking public transport everywhere, it can be done.

Also, many newcomers lookover the cheaper suburbs of Snohomish County like Mountlake Terrace and parts of Lynnwood. Mountlake Terrace has tons of cheap apartments, and a bus that goes to Seattle throughout the day. Don't know why people so insist on living in the city of Seattle.
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Old 07-07-2015, 10:56 PM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,004,212 times
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Originally Posted by skidamarink View Post

Also, many newcomers lookover the cheaper suburbs of Snohomish County like Mountlake Terrace and parts of Lynnwood. Mountlake Terrace has tons of cheap apartments, and a bus that goes to Seattle throughout the day. Don't know why people so insist on living in the city of Seattle.
You really can't find the types of views and amenities in either MLT or Lynnwood that you can find in Seattle. Neither of them even have waterfront aside from some tiny lakes, hardly any restaurants, no city culture. Neither of them really have neighborhood centers aside from malls and shopping centers. Taking a bus realistically adds 2 hours to a night out, assuming you can even catch a bus back. You have to have a car, sit in traffic, and probably aren't going to go into Seattle much at all over time.
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