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Old 08-27-2010, 06:44 AM
 
12 posts, read 31,985 times
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What is the cost of living in LA, not including rent? Would $1000 a month be enough? (food, clothes, car down-payment, gym membership, everything else)?
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Old 08-27-2010, 07:10 AM
 
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Not a resident but been researching the move for the last year and visited 3 x last year.

Unless you plan to live VERY beneath your means then I would say no.
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Old 08-27-2010, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,569,402 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix92 View Post
What is the cost of living in LA, not including rent? Would $1000 a month be enough? (food, clothes, car down-payment, gym membership, everything else)?

How much do you spend a month on food? On clothes?
What is your car down-payment?
What does a gym membership typically cost?
When you add up everything else, about what does that cost?
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Old 08-27-2010, 08:21 AM
 
12 posts, read 31,985 times
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I'm not sure how much I spend on food, I'm going for college so it's my first time buying my own food etc.

monthly costs:
clothes: $100-$200 (at the moment. I can cut down if I have to)
Internet: $30
gym membership: $30
car downpayments: ??? (I have no idea how much to expect)
gas for car: ??? (I'll be driving at least 22 miles a day, 5 days a week for college (11 miles there and back). Plus driving elsewhere will and not a lot of weekend driving will probably amount to a maximum 25 miles a day on average...how much to expect to spend on gas?
healthcare: ???
food: ???

could someone living here help me with the "???"'s haha
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Old 08-27-2010, 10:36 AM
 
1,465 posts, read 5,137,262 times
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I would guess all of these are pretty similar for most US cities except gasoline is about $3/gallon.

Food is so variable. My friend Lumpy Rutherford spends 6 times as much on food as my other friend Maynard G Krebs and I would hate to try to guess where you fit in that range.
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Old 08-27-2010, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Full Time: N.NJ Part Time: S.CA, ID
6,116 posts, read 12,530,199 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix92 View Post
I'm not sure how much I spend on food, I'm going for college so it's my first time buying my own food etc.

monthly costs:
clothes: $100-$200 (at the moment. I can cut down if I have to)
Internet: $30
gym membership: $30
car downpayments: ??? (I have no idea how much to expect)
gas for car: ??? (I'll be driving at least 22 miles a day, 5 days a week for college (11 miles there and back). Plus driving elsewhere will and not a lot of weekend driving will probably amount to a maximum 25 miles a day on average...how much to expect to spend on gas?
healthcare: ???
food: ???

could someone living here help me with the "???"'s haha
Clothes ... i have no idea.
Gym $30 is about right for a lower level gym .. like 24 Hour Fitness. If you're coming for school, wont your school have a gym?

Internet - I pay $50/month for Time Warner

Car Payments - $200-$2,000 depending on the car, loan stipulations, etc.

Gas - Depends on the car

Healthcare - wont your school have some kind of healthcare? If not, i suggest some kind of "catastrophe" medical insurance, which will cover you if you get in an accident, major injury, etc. This is about $100/month.
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Old 08-27-2010, 11:43 AM
 
12 posts, read 31,985 times
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^school doesn't have a gym, unfortunately. not sure about healthcare (I'm not going until next year) but I'm going to assume not just in case. thanks for the info on healthcare costs.

I've looked around a bit and food shouldn't be more than $200 a month right? What about car insurance/registration and all that?

clothes: $100-$200 (at the moment. I can cut down if I have to)
Internet: $30
gym membership: $30
car downpayments: $250 (Mazda 4 door, 72 months)
gas for car: $50
healthcare: $100 (if not payed for by school)
food: $200
car insurance/registration: ???

is there anything else i've missed?
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Old 08-27-2010, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Full Time: N.NJ Part Time: S.CA, ID
6,116 posts, read 12,530,199 times
Reputation: 8685
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix92 View Post
^school doesn't have a gym, unfortunately. not sure about healthcare (I'm not going until next year) but I'm going to assume not just in case. thanks for the info on healthcare costs.

I've looked around a bit and food shouldn't be more than $200 a month right? What about car insurance/registration and all that?

clothes: $100-$200 (at the moment. I can cut down if I have to)
Internet: $30
gym membership: $30
car downpayments: $250 (Mazda 4 door, 72 months)
gas for car: $50
healthcare: $100 (if not payed for by school)
food: $200
car insurance/registration: ???

is there anything else i've missed?
I think you'll be spending more than $50 on gas every month. Just a hunch. Unless you never drive.

Food allotment sounds low to me, but I'm sure you can stretch $200 if need be.

If you're young, you'll probably have to set aside at least $100/month for insurance. But get quotes in advance.

Car finance/payments sound low as well ... unless you're looking used, in which case a 72 month loan is tricky. If you've never financed a car before, the interest is not going to be ideal.

Also, if you're moving from out-of-state, buy the car where you live currently, because you'll almost definitely pay less in sales tax.

Registration on a mazda 3 will be about $300/400 per year.
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Old 08-27-2010, 03:08 PM
 
12 posts, read 31,985 times
Reputation: 12
thanks 1200RT/

I'd have to drive 12 miles (6 there and back) to school 5 days a week, plus probably driving to the part time job, so I guess I miscalculated, bumped it up to $100, bumped up food to $250 to be safe.

clothes: $100-$200 (at the moment. I can cut down if I have to)
Internet: $30
gym membership: $30
car downpayments: $250 (Mazda 4 door, 72 months)
gas for car: $100
healthcare: $100 (if not payed for by school)
food: $250
car registration: $350
car insurance: ???
TOTAL: $1,400

not looking good...will probably have to take out a loan. will also need to look into a much cheaper car, no more than a few grand

and i'm guessing i've missed a couple of utilities as well?
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Old 08-27-2010, 03:14 PM
 
Location: Full Time: N.NJ Part Time: S.CA, ID
6,116 posts, read 12,530,199 times
Reputation: 8685
LA is not an inexpensive place to be ... it doesnt look like you accounted for other utilities either. Gas, electric, etc. Car maintenance. cell phone. personal items (maybe included in food?).

Have you already located an apartment? (you say 12 mile round trip). Maybe you can live closer without a car? What school are we talking about here?
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