What percentage of your income do you spend on rent? (student loan, expenses)
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I'm curious about how much of income is spent on rent. I've often heard that 25% of gross income is a good number to go by, but in reality when I look and see how much rent costs are in most non-ghetto areas, the numbers don't seem to reflect that. Or maybe I'm just a lot poorer than I think I am.
I'm curious about how much of income is spent on rent. I've often heard that 25% of gross income is a good number to go by, but in reality when I look and see how much rent costs are in most non-ghetto areas, the numbers don't seem to reflect that. Or maybe I'm just a lot poorer than I think I am.
How much of your income do YOU spend on rent?
With my post-candidacy raise, I'm sitting just under 30% of gross going to rent.
It has been higher in the past. When I lived in Grad Gardens, it was about 45% of gross going to rent. Made it difficult to save more than a little each month, though I still managed to save something but was contributing ZILCH to retirement.
Ideally ALL housing costs **including utilities** should not exceed 25% of your monthly NET
Meaning that one weeks paycheck will be enough to pay your monthly bills with.
Some will say a higher % and some will use GROSS ...but they are wrong.
Especially if you ever hope to own a home or retire.
Ideally ALL housing costs **including utilities** should not exceed 25% of your monthly NET
Meaning that one weeks paycheck will be enough to pay your monthly bills with.
Some will say a higher % and some will use GROSS ...but they are wrong.
Especially if you ever hope to own a home or retire.
Once upon a time I paid 15 percent of my income to rent a room. Today I pay 53 percent of my income to rent a room.
According to Mortgage News Daily 49 percent of low income renters spend at least half their income on shelter (rent plus utilities) as of 2010. With rents necessarily skyrocketing, today undoubtedly at least half are paying at least half their income on shelter.
The reason why I care what others are spending is so that I can figure out what the norm is. It helps me to generalize and know if things can be better or worse I guess. So I need to crunch the numbers and figure out how much I spend on my utilities and everything else associated with rent, and then I can compare that to my take-home pay. Right now I'm doing okay because I have a low rent, but that's only because my landlord is my friend, and gives me a good deal. Once I move I will be paying market rates again, and I need to find the limit of what I can safely spend on rent.
I like the idea of factoring the percentage of my net income, instead of gross.
The reason why I care what others are spending is so that I can figure out what the norm is. It helps me to generalize and know if things can be better or worse I guess.
At the present time the rental market does NOT favor tenants.
There have been far too many people who had no choice but to rent and too many choosing to
all of which has pressured rent rates (and terms/conditions and general LL a$$holery) upward.
At the same time wages have been stagnant at best; most are way down.
Don't confuse the concessions to reality that many are making in today's conditions
with any sort of recommendation for what is objectively proper; let alone fair or reasonable.
- If you you pull in 10k a month, spending 50% on rent is no big deal. If you bring home only 2k a month, then spending 50% is a big deal as it leaves you with only 1k for all other expenses.
- Some people pay a little more to be closer to work, which offsets other costs.
- Schools play a role for some people as well, meaning that to get into a good school district, they may have to pay more for rent.
- A person may not have other obligations, like a car and student loans, so they can up the amount they spend for rent to live in a nicer place.
- Some areas are expensive just because anything less puts a person into a less than desirable area to live.
So it is more than just "how much of your salary". Of course the landlords are going to have their requirements that put a cap on how much you can spend as well.
At the present time the rental market does NOT favor tenants.
There have been far too many people who had no choice but to rent and too many choosing to
all of which has pressured rent rates (and terms/conditions and general LL a$$holery) upward.
At the same time wages have been stagnant at best; most are way down.
Don't confuse the concessions to reality that many are making in today's conditions
with any sort of recommendation for what is objectively proper; let alone fair or reasonable.
I pay around 10% of gross. Tell those expenses to go to hell
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