College Grad relocating with $41K (Baltimore, Towson: apartment, lease, student loans)

[Dakara413]

Recent college grad here starting a new job in Aberdeen for 41K and looking to relocate. I've lived in Maryland all my life Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf, etc etc.. but I know nothing about the areas or cost of living past baltimore. All those counties up north are foreign to me honestly but anywayssss I've done a little research but Im looking for more advice tailored to me specifically.

Long Story short, Can I rent a 1bedroom apartment & live comfortably in Aberdeen or anywhere relatively close off $41K if I am completely independent?

I dont have student loans nor am I in debt.
I have a fairly old car; 04 Camry with no car payments.
Will be paying all my expenses (TV, food, internet, rent, utilites, gas, blah blah)

[starfighter]

Can you afford to move out of state? MD is expensive and dirty, why stay here? There are safer, cleaner, and friendlier places to live in the US. I almost moved to CT where housing was cheaper and much much prettier. Oh yeah, and the locals were more attractive. But if you insist on staying in Baltimore, my favorite part of town would be Towson. Not very cheap to live, but it's probably the most convenient.

[kharing]

Originally Posted by Dakara413

Recent college grad here starting a new job in Aberdeen for 41K and looking to relocate. I've lived in Maryland all my life Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Waldorf, etc etc.. but I know nothing about the areas or cost of living past baltimore. All those counties up north are foreign to me honestly but anywayssss I've done a little research but Im looking for more advice tailored to me specifically.

Long Story short, Can I rent a 1bedroom apartment & live comfortably in Aberdeen or anywhere relatively close off $41K if I am completely independent?

I dont have student loans nor am I in debt.
I have a fairly old car; 04 Camry with no car payments.
Will be paying all my expenses (TV, food, internet, rent, utilites, gas, blah blah)

It might take 50% of your take home pay, but yeah you can do it.

[goodlife36]

Originally Posted by starfighter

Can you afford to move out of state? MD is expensive and dirty, why stay here? There are safer, cleaner, and friendlier places to live in the US. I almost moved to CT where housing was cheaper and much much prettier. Oh yeah, and the locals were more attractive. But if you insist on staying in Baltimore, my favorite part of town would be Towson. Not very cheap to live, but it's probably the most convenient.

Where would you go if you could? CT does not sound appealing to me.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Dakara413

Long Story short, Can I rent a 1bedroom apartment & live comfortably in Aberdeen or anywhere relatively close off $41K if I am completely independent?

I dont have student loans nor am I in debt.
I have a fairly old car; 04 Camry with no car payments.
Will be paying all my expenses (TV, food, internet, rent, utilites, gas, blah blah)

I think you should be find, and I commend you for not having a car loan or student loans.

If you allow 25% to 33% of your salary for rent, you could afford to pay $850-1125/month. Just looking on Craiglist for places around Aberdeen, there are many places in that range. You could probably afford a 2-bedroom place, a small townhouse or SFH if you wanted it. I think the TV, internet, gas etc will be about the same as you pay in Southern Maryland. If you are concerned you could run a cost-of-living calculator to compare Bowie with Aberdeen. At Sperling's Bestplaces, Aberdeen is 12% cheaper than Bowie, and the housing is 24% cheaper.

Good luck on the new job.

[emmiesix]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

I think you should be find, and I commend you for not having a car loan or student loans.

If you allow 25% to 33% of your salary for rent, you could afford to pay $850-1125/month. Just looking on Craiglist for places around Aberdeen, there are many places in that range. You could probably afford a 2-bedroom place, a small townhouse or SFH if you wanted it. I think the TV, internet, gas etc will be about the same as you pay in Southern Maryland. If you are concerned you could run a cost-of-living calculator to compare Bowie with Aberdeen. At Sperling's Bestplaces, Aberdeen is 12% cheaper than Bowie, and the housing is 24% cheaper.

Good luck on the new job.

Yeah for $41k you should be more than fine unless you have some expensive hobbies or something. I would recommend starting out with a lease on the low-end of the recommended range ($850) as long as you feel comfortable with the area, and build up some savings if you don't have any right now. You should always have 6 - 8 months of living expenses on hand for emergencies (some people say more). If you find that you'd like to upgrade after a year, you can do that. If you find that it's too much of a grind, then at least you didn't go for the more expensive place.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by emmiesix

Yeah for $41k you should be more than fine unless you have some expensive hobbies or something. I would recommend starting out with a lease on the low-end of the recommended range ($850) as long as you feel comfortable with the area, and build up some savings if you don't have any right now. You should always have 6 - 8 months of living expenses on hand for emergencies (some people say more). If you find that you'd like to upgrade after a year, you can do that. If you find that it's too much of a grind, then at least you didn't go for the more expensive place.

This is good advice.

[cdmoore125]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

I think you should be find, and I commend you for not having a car loan or student loans.

If you allow 25% to 33% of your salary for rent, you could afford to pay $850-1125/month. Just looking on Craiglist for places around Aberdeen, there are many places in that range. You could probably afford a 2-bedroom place, a small townhouse or SFH if you wanted it. I think the TV, internet, gas etc will be about the same as you pay in Southern Maryland. If you are concerned you could run a cost-of-living calculator to compare Bowie with Aberdeen. At Sperling's Bestplaces, Aberdeen is 12% cheaper than Bowie, and the housing is 24% cheaper.

Good luck on the new job.

I thought is was 1/3 of take home pay?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by cdmoore125

I thought is was 1/3 of take home pay?

Which expert do you believe? Here's someone recommending no more than 35% of gross: What Percent of Your Income to Spend on Rent | Bad Money Advice

Since the OP had no car debt or student loans, I thought he would be fine spending up to 1/3 of gross. However, I agree with the previous poster who suggested the more conservative 25% would allow for saving for an emergency cushion.