An income of 85,000 dollars would give me what kind of lifestyle in Atlanta for a single person?? (Buckhead: to rent, lofts)

[wildcat2009]

An income of 85,000 dollars would give me what kind of lifestyle in Atlanta for a single person??

[tomno00]

party like a rockstar!

[GaBison2007]

lol ^^^...here's a Cost of living calc you can compare 2 cities though to give you an idea..

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is against the tos

[Atlguy39]

Absolutely, you can live well on $85k, especially if you have no debt. You can date, live in a good neighborhood for a reasonable amount (hint: lots of people want out of their nice homes and are willing to rent them), and put money away if you're smart.

[Mishap]

Depends on where you want to live and if you have any level of debt to deal w/. If you have a bit of cash already to buy a decent home, then you can survive pretty well. If you're at zero (or less) and wanting to establish a yuppie lifestyle, it'll be tough to pull off quickly but 85k is more than enough to do just fine here.

If you want to buy tables at the club every week, have a German luxury car, thousands of dollars in your wardrobe, it won't go very far. Problem is as a single person, you get taxed pretty heavily so 85k isn't really all that much. I was a bit higher than that salary a couple years ago and my take home was in the mid-high 50k range (depends on what you put into your 401k). If you have reasonable tastes and minimal debt, things can just great though. The problem is that your costs increase w/ your income just as fast as you make it. One day that dream condo isn't cutting it and you start browsing SFH over in Buckhead or
trendy lofts. That starter luxury car isn't getting parked out in front and the latest/greatest Bimmer is always beckoning.

The critical thing to know in ATL is that the majority of people can't come close to affording the lifestyle they live. I know plenty of people making 25k/yr driving brand new 40k cars (amazed people can still get loans like that). I'm tinged w/a bit of jealousy when I look at my 4yr old car but then I realize keeping up w/ the Joneses was what possessed me to buy the thing in the first place brand new when I made 1/2 what I do now. If you can avoid that hamster wheel of materialism, you can settle down/raise a family on that income + minimal salary increases. Otherwise, you're going to need constant double digit raises to keep up w/ your lifestyle.

[DTL3000]

Originally Posted by Atlguy39

Absolutely, you can live well on $85k, especially if you have no debt. You can date, live in a good neighborhood for a reasonable amount (hint: lots of people want out of their nice homes and are willing to rent them), and put money away if you're smart.

Is this a commentary on the mindset of the typical Atlanta single woman?

[Atlguy39]

"If you can avoid that hamster wheel of materialism, you can settle down/raise a family on that income + minimal salary increases. Otherwise, you're going to need constant double digit raises to keep up w/ your lifestyle."

This is key. Just remember (and don't get caught up in it) that the women of Atlanta are very materialistic. So being a single male here isn't all its cracked up to be. Its not easy finding a down to earth woman to settle down with. All they seem to care about is what you do for a living and what kind of car you drive. Hence, me driving a Civic isn't helping my dating situation one bit. Its so bad that I would move if I had a job offer elsewhere (depending on where).

P.S. - OP, I'm assuming you're male. If you're a female, you will have it made.

[brownhornet]

Man for 85k realistically you can live VERY well in Atlanta. As a matter of fact im sure thats well above the average income here.

[SAAN]

You can have a very nice life style off 45-50k in ATL assuming you have no student loan or credit card debt, so live that lifestyle and put the other 35k in the bank a yr and your good.

[VJP]

At one point in time I was single with an income right around there. I bought my first house, maxed out my roth and 401k and took four or five vacations a year, and socked away enough for investments. As others said here, you have to temper your materialism. I like to go out, was a clubrat for a while, but I never bought "stuff". If you go buy "stuff" and start treating everyone to drinks and dinner, you'll mow through your paycheck.

You didn't mention if you have any debt, 85k in Atlanta and single with no kids is a good time to get rid of any albatrosses...I can guarantee it. Your quality of life should be pretty good, and if you care, it should set you up nicely for the future and all that fun stuff like compound earnings.