Living well on 20,000 in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (rent, buying)

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

Well, I posted my bit because you said "under 40K is poverty". I think under 40K ain't easy, but around here, for a young single person, it's not the end of the world. ~20K....well, that's not easy, but at least if you're young and single and it's temporary....

I know that for reduced price school lunches, the cut-off for a family of 3 is ~34.5K. And at my daughter's school there are a LOT of kids who are eligible. Now THAT'S tough.

-synchronicity

I posted that bit in response to the 26k single earnings. Nation wide the proverty level is around 40k. Either way the OP is earning roughly 20k a yr which is a very tight living in Dallas. It's not impossible but I would follow the money.

[talkispoison]

I lived very very tightly with 2 roommates on $32K a year when I left. We had a 3 bedroom that was $1200 split 3 ways. I also had a $360 car and insurance payment each month. I still had money to party a bit but my savings account always looked pathetic.

[**NoodLes**]

You can only live decent on 20K if you get section 8 or have no mortgage for a single person, otherwise its near impossible. Heck even $15 to $17 an hour after taxes is rough.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by talkispoison

I lived very very tightly with 2 roommates on $32K a year when I left. We had a 3 bedroom that was $1200 split 3 ways. I also had a $360 car and insurance payment each month. I still had money to party a bit but my savings account always looked pathetic.

$32k is 50+% more than OP's $20k question.

Agreed that $32-37k range is prob the minimum needed to live decently and have a bit left over.

[talkispoison]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

$32k is 50+% more than OP's $20k question.

Agreed that $32-37k range is prob the minimum needed to live decently and have a bit left over.

Yeah, Im just saying that it wasn't easy on $32K so I can't imagine doing it on $20K

[Pete53FR]

The fact is people can live on 20,000 and be happy and than there are people who are unhappy and earn 2 million

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by talkispoison

I lived very very tightly with 2 roommates on $32K a year when I left. We had a 3 bedroom that was $1200 split 3 ways. I also had a $360 car and insurance payment each month. I still had money to party a bit but my savings account always looked pathetic.

(emphasis added)

Ok, I'm not sure how helpful it is telling the OP "gee, I think it's impossible", and I don't know how helpful my post here will be, and this is really more of a response to everyone saying "you really need at least low to mid thirties to eke out a living" but FWIW....

The bolded bit above about the $360 car and and insurance payment monthly...that's the rub (I'm assuming that's CAR insurance and not medical insurance). Heck, my wife and I are currently earning...well, more than 32K/yr, and we have no car payment and our insurance on 2 cars COMBINED is under $100/month. If you're earning 32K and paying 360/month on car & insurance, then there's a reason your savings looks pathetic, and it's not because you're living "very tightly".

If you're young, healthy and single you can certainly live a perfectly respectable life on 32K/yr, and you can get by for a year or two on 20K/yr. Again, right now I'm typing this message sitting in a $635/month apartment that is certainly large enough for two people. One of our cars we purchased used at 11 years old with 89K miles - over 6 years and another 80K miles better it's still running just fine, even though it won't win any awards for aesthetics. I know a single mom of a teen who bought an even older car recently for ~$1,500. If you HAVE to have a car, that's the type of car you get when you're earning 20K. (Heck, my first car was a REAL beater purchased from friends for $500, it lasted only two years, but it got me from point a to point B in the interim). On 20K/yr you're shopping at Aldi's rather than Central Market or Whole Foods, "dining out" is the Dollar Menu at McDonald's rather than Pappadeux or Ruth's Chris, and your Major Kitchen Purchase will not be granite countertops and a Viking gas range, but rather a toaster oven on sale at Wal-Mart. So be it. You can make some darn good food in a toaster oven.

At 20K/yr, which is the what the OP is apparently earning, it's considerably more difficult than at 32K, but less so here than in other cities thanks to low housing costs. And we're not talking about a family trying to raise 2 children over many years, we're talking about one person who likely will be earning considerably more within a few years.

The one caveat to that is health. At $10/hr I'm guessing there ain't no health insurance coverage (and if there is any offered it's likely prohibitively expensive). If the OP suffers an accident or serious illness that requires hospitalization then all bets are off. But other discussions on that topic are for a different time and forum.

[talkispoison]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

(emphasis added)

Ok, I'm not sure how helpful it is telling the OP "gee, I think it's impossible", and I don't know how helpful my post here will be, and this is really more of a response to everyone saying "you really need at least low to mid thirties to eke out a living" but FWIW....

The bolded bit above about the $360 car and and insurance payment monthly...that's the rub (I'm assuming that's CAR insurance and not medical insurance). Heck, my wife and I are currently earning...well, more than 32K/yr, and we have no car payment and our insurance on 2 cars COMBINED is under $100/month. If you're earning 32K and paying 360/month on car & insurance, then there's a reason your savings looks pathetic, and it's not because you're living "very tightly".

If you're young, healthy and single you can certainly live a perfectly respectable life on 32K/yr, and you can get by for a year or two on 20K/yr. Again, right now I'm typing this message sitting in a $635/month apartment that is certainly large enough for two people. One of our cars we purchased used at 11 years old with 89K miles - over 6 years and another 80K miles better it's still running just fine, even though it won't win any awards for aesthetics. I know a single mom of a teen who bought an even older car recently for ~$1,500. If you HAVE to have a car, that's the type of car you get when you're earning 20K. (Heck, my first car was a REAL beater purchased from friends for $500, it lasted only two years, but it got me from point a to point B in the interim). On 20K/yr you're shopping at Aldi's rather than Central Market or Whole Foods, "dining out" is the Dollar Menu at McDonald's rather than Pappadeux or Ruth's Chris, and your Major Kitchen Purchase will not be granite countertops and a Viking gas range, but rather a toaster oven on sale at Wal-Mart. So be it. You can make some darn good food in a toaster oven.

At 20K/yr, which is the what the OP is apparently earning, it's considerably more difficult than at 32K, but less so here than in other cities thanks to low housing costs. And we're not talking about a family trying to raise 2 children over many years, we're talking about one person who likely will be earning considerably more within a few years.

The one caveat to that is health. At $10/hr I'm guessing there ain't no health insurance coverage (and if there is any offered it's likely prohibitively expensive). If the OP suffers an accident or serious illness that requires hospitalization then all bets are off. But other discussions on that topic are for a different time and forum.

Well, as I said before. I did it. My car was a 2007 Honda Accord. Before that I had a 2003 Jetta that broke down all the time. I then went 6 mos carless. I decided that it was important to me to have a reliable car which cost more. I also said I had roommates so that $1200 was split between 3 people, but our bills were probably a little more than average. I'm not sure how old you are, but it is a little pricier to start off a new life on your own in the 2000's. We now have other bills that weren't around 10-15 years ago (and who ever says internet and cell phone are not needed in 2012 is full of ****). Gas prices and rent prices have increased dramatically while working wages haven't increased much in the past 20 years.

[Pete53FR]

My Brother is a disabled Veteran and he lives ok on 1100 a month by himself. If he wants something he saves up for it. He does get free health care if you want someone who is training to do it for you.

[Squirl]

As married colleges students many, many years ago weekly we bought a 10 lb. bag of potatoes, a couple of dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, peanut butter, oatmeal, tuna, milk, macaroni, bread, carrots, canned green beans & peas, a chicken and a few lbs. of ground beef. We ate our meals at home and packed lunch. We had so many versions of recipes with just those ingredients. We ate lots of waffles & pancakes, lots of baked,mashed & hash brown potatoes! I made all kinds of loaf breads and biscuits!