Cost of living in Austin, 800$ a month?

[cmaxmor]

Don't forget to include maintenance on the car. Oil change, inspection, registration. Say- $20 for the oil every three months. $50 a year for the registration. $20 for the inspection. Also, gas. That is where I get caught.

[1mintjulep]

$300 a month for 2 people, plus pets isn't all that much. For 1 person with no pets...it seems really extravagant to me. When I first moved to Austin, I pretty much lived on tuna fish & water for about a year.

And when I was living really cheaply, things like oil changes and car registration simply didn't happen. You just hope you don't get pulled over (I never did).

[cmaxmor]

It's way more expensive to pay for a ticket for driving illegally than to take care of your car. Also, if you want your car to keep working well you have to get the oil changed.
But as far as the OP's question.....You can do it, it just would be really tight. I, personally, wouldn't want to eat tuna fish, beans and rice for every meal. But I suppose that you could.

[TunedPortZ28]

No way! Fo-get about it! "Anything is possible" but honestly, most apartments here go for $800, 2BR 2bath... so spend another $100.00 for rent with a room mate is more probable. As much as I hate to put this out there, a lot of Austins coolness is with a price for living, but at more expense comes less space in some homes near the central area. It pays to pay for something like that, as it will save you gas, and you WILL be close to a lot of fun places... if your a fun kind of person.

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by gsbkv

Estimated cost of living (monthly)

Rent : 300$ (I don't mind living with roommates)
Food : 300$ (two meals a day, no eat out)
Others : 100$
Car : 100$

Total : 800$

I don't drink, I don't smoke. I don't like snacks too.
I know it's tight but, is this plan possible? What do you think?

One thing you never told us is why your budget is so low in the first place. What are you earning right now?

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by gsbkv

Estimated cost of living (monthly)

Rent : 300$ (I don't mind living with roommates)
Food : 300$ (two meals a day, no eat out)
Others : 100$
Car : 100$

Total : 800$

I don't drink, I don't smoke. I don't like snacks too.
I know it's tight but, is this plan possible? What do you think?

If you dont eat out you should be able to eat for about $2/day by focusing on eating about 1/4 of meat, 1/2 pound of carbs and 1/4 pound of veggies at each meal.

Chicken runs about $1/pound, you can get deals on pork at 1.50/pound. Beans and rice are almost free.

I lived on about 11K/year and saved about 2k/year and paid about 1.5K/year in tuition about 12 years ago. Prices are higher but not too much worse. The key would be gas which is at least double. I didnt drive much at all which helped.

I had health insurance from my employer (the state) which helped a lot. I dont think car is 100/month. Insurance alone will prob be 800/year. I think the car will run you at least 200/month.

rent may be 300, but then you will have utilities which will probably be another 50/month

Can you give more details as to your situation?

min wage is around $8 now so it seems like you should be able to make at least 16K working full time.

[eileenkeeney]

Maybe the OP is a college student, and still on a Parent's medical plan.
Could be retired (maybe from the Military) with a fixed retirement pay. In this case Medical is provided.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by eileenkeeney

Maybe the OP is a college student, and still on a Parent's medical plan.
Could be retired (maybe from the Military) with a fixed retirement pay. In this case Medical is provided.

His other posts suggest that he is simply a musician trying to get his career off the ground. He has posted similar threads in the Nashville forum. He has stated that he is 23, so I don't think he is a college student.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

I must be totally stupid, because $300 a month in groceries seems rather cheap to me. Perhaps I buy expensive food? .

We spend about $250/week on food for 5 people. We don't eat much at all- perhaps twice a month. Does that $100 for 'car' cover gas only? Remember, the farther out you live, the lower the rent (usually)- but the more the transportation costs. That $800 is pretty tight.

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

His other posts suggest that he is simply a musician trying to get his career off the ground. He has posted similar threads in the Nashville forum. He has stated that he is 23, so I don't think he is a college student.

If you're a musician just getting started, you've gotta find another source of steady income until the music thing pans out. I have a day job that pays the bills and allows me to focus on music without worrying about when the music is going to be profitable.