Cost of living in Austin, 800$ a month? (Meadow: apartment, rentals)

[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?

[JayBrown80]

Anything is possible.

Your plan doesn't leave much room for error though. Are you not planning on carrying insurance on your car? You say "others" and list it at $100, but what are you including in that? Car Insurance, electricity, water? That's a lot for only $100, even if you get roommates. What happens if you get sick? What happens if you get a parking ticket? Where is the security deposit to get the apartment to begin with?

Like I said anything is possible, but I woudln't necessarily call it "living".

I have a friend that has not had a job in over 8 years. He lives off of friends and the kindness of strangers. I affectionately refer to him as "the bum". You can live for free, if you are willing to trade and barter and work for food. But, it's not really living.

Do you even have a job lined up? Or is 800 what you are metering out thru savings or parents? There are a lot of starving musicians in Austin, and you will be competing with all of them for jobs at bars and music venues.

If you are not afraid of the Bohemian lifestyle, I guess you could make it on $800. Just realize that you will be living in poverty, absolute poverty.

[cmaxmor]

I have to agree with JayBrown80. Are you thinking that the $300 for housing includes utilities? That seems pretty tight to me. Considering that a rental house or apartment with two bedrooms or more goes for at least $600 per month. Not including utilities. $300 for food seems about right. $100 for "other" is very vague. Is this for utilities and car insurance? $100 for "car" might work as long as you don't have to drive very much. That is barely enough to cover just gas for a month with a short commute.

[sinking]

I spend about $200 a month eating about 5 times a day and eating at restaurants 2-4 times a month.

Good luck with $300 rent. It is doable but rare.

[llkltk]

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?

That might be tough. If you don't mind a dump with roommates, I'm sure you can find something.

If you only eat twice a day and don't eat out, I think your food budget would be under 200 leaving you another 100 for rent.

[passionatearts]

$800/month is a completely unrealistic budget for anywhere in the United States unless you want to live in poverty (see this site for an official definition of poverty).

Let's do some math here: $800 per month X 12 months = $9,600 per year. Are you seriously telling us that you're employed and only earning that much per year? That would be the equivalent of $4.62 per hour which is less than the federal minimum wage. If you're unemployed, I can understand, but if you're employed, it's time to get a better-paying job.

I would double your budget, and you'll have a much more realistic number. $1,600 per month X 12 months = $19,200 per year, which is the equivalent of earning $9.23 per hour. This is still not a very good salary, but at least the number is within the realm of reason for Austin.

[jobert]

Totally doable.

Here are some listings for rentals in Oak Hill:

$950/3br
6105 Parkwood Dr, Austin, TX 78735 MLS# 9225384 - Zillow

$1095/3br
7303 Oak Meadow Dr, Austin, TX 78736 MLS# 9473240 - Zillow

or if you want to spend a little more and have a nicer house, you could look in SE Austin:

$1750/3bdr

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10...70343748_zpid/

The first two listings are in a neighborhood without an HOA (Oak Hill), so they would be willing to rent out to multiple tenants (4+). If you share bedrooms, then you could split it 6 ways if you find enough people.

Good luck, and welcome to Austin.

[CarnivalGal]

I don't think it's realistic. It may work for a while, but what if you get sick? I'm assuming you don't have health insurance. What if your car breaks down? Things happen. This doesn't leave you any room for unexpected expenses.

[1mintjulep]

I'd love to know what you're eating, if you're spending $300 a month for groceries for one person. Caviar for breakfast? lol

Yes, it's technically doable...if you had a couple of roommates, a paid-for car with liability insurance (I pay like $400 a year for insurance on my car), and didn't have a bunch of credit card debt. It would be tight, and if you got sick or your car broke down, you'd have to figure something out. I've lived on less than $1,000 a month for most of the last 2-3 years, but I live w/ my partner and pay half the utilities...other than that, I basically have no living expenses.

[JayBrown80]

I must be totally stupid, because $300 a month in groceries seems rather cheap to me. Perhaps I buy expensive food? It's me and Chris only. I do drink a LOT of diet dr. pepper, but that can't be the bulk of it. I like olive oil, what can I say? I eat a lot of fresh vegetables, that can be expensive.

Although, now that I think of it, Cleaning supplies, paper towels, dog food, cat food, rabbit food etc etc etc, all go under my grocery budget, because I usually get them at HEB, so maybe that is it.