Comfortable Lifestyle (apartment, renters, condo)

[rosemary1]

Hello, I would like to know if I could live reasonably well off of $2000.00 per month. If possible, I would like to rent a two bedroom home in a safe, quiet neighborhood that permits a small dog. I am a retired teacher who would consider substitute teaching, but would like to mainly just depend on my $2000.00 monthly income.

Thank you.

[Britishintown]

Originally Posted by rosemary1

Hello, I would like to know if I could live reasonably well off of $2000.00 per month. If possible, I would like to rent a two bedroom home in a safe, quiet neighborhood that permits a small dog. I am a retired teacher who would consider substitute teaching, but would like to mainly just depend on my $2000.00 monthly income.

Thank you.

It worries me that someone who claims to be an educator needs someone else to tell them if they can live within their budget, there are far to many unknown variables involved that only you can address.

This is like asking "if I jump out of an airplane what will happen?" Many people will say I will die or be injured, but the fact is there are a huge number of questions to ask to gather the information required to make any sort of answer that could be right.

[BobKovacs]

Well, seeing how rent for a two-bedroom house in a safe, quiet neighborhood will cost you $800-1,000 or more, the real question is- can you cover utilities, car payments, gas, food, entertainment, and everything else that comes along for $1,000-1,200/month? Me thinks not.

[atlantaATL]

You need to move in a 2 bedroom apartment

[StPaulEastSider]

Do you have any savings and a good credit rating? If so you MAY, with the help of a good agent, be able to purchase a small townhome or condo, or an itty-bitty single family home. I've seen such listings, but whether or not they would appeal to you would depend on your definition of 'safe' and/or how far 'out' you'd consider living. Fairly decent properties for under 80k are not unheard of thesedays. The advantage would be defacto 'rent control' (as long as you stay away from exotic loan terms. Of course, those are less prevalant thesedays), you would need to stash away an emergency fund for repairs.

My personal definition of 'comfortable lifestyle' includes stability... the rental market is not providing much stability to renters thesedays. This is why I strongly urge you look into purchasing a home of your own if at all feasible, and don't listen to naysayers who may say it's not possible on your salary. A SFH maybe a better deal than a condo or townhome when you consider association fees.

There is a federal matching-income savings program where they will match $3 for every $1 saved... check into enrolling in an IDA Savings Acct with your local credit union.

[atlantagreg30127]

Can you LIVE on that amount? Yes. Will it be "comfortable" as per your title? No - at least not my definition of comfortable, and I've been told I'm a lot more down-to-earthy in my expectations than a lot of people I know and associate with, too.

I ditto the above comment that an apartment is probably going to give you more spare money than a home. Utilities are generally much lower in an apartment as opposed to a home, plus apartment offices are (usually) better with maintenance than private landlords. Plus you could lease a 2-3BR and get a roommate for one of the bedrooms to give you more money per month. If the idea of a roommate doesn't appeal, then expect to settle for a 1BR apartment so you'll have enough money for all the other expenses.

[xavier132487]

Yeah, it's possible. Since you'll be retired, you'll spend more time at home and not need as much gas which is good. It'll be easier to justify living farther out. There are many homes in my neighborhood in West Cobb going for under 100K, even as low as 40K as someone pointed out earlier. We're renting a 2200 sq ft home, 4 bd/2.5 ba for 900/mo right now. The area's very safe, but requires driving.

Some may disagree, but they're usually folks with families and such. I don't have a family, so I'm more flexible with what I spend on or what I cut from my budget. Again, depends on what you want. I make ~1000/mo (live with roomates), it feels fairly comfy for me. Just prioritize what you want.