Good salary for Santa Clarita/LA area (Culver City: rent, college)

[Elle2015]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

I make $80k, I have a child, my wife doesn't work and we live in Glendale which is more expensive than Santa Clarita. We have no problem living debt free with everything we need/want and saving and investing plenty of money. With that said, I want to get the hell out of Dodge before my kid reaches school age

I admire your discipline and achievements. I always wonder how folks actually make that work. May I ask if you have any private tuition payments, car payments, etc? Do you have regular family vacations? There is no right or wrong answers I was just curious and it certainly is not my business anyway. I have friends who have similar stories and they have chosen a, "no frills" lifestyle. All of which goes towards individual choices and at the end of the day I wonder how much this rat race matters. I wonder what other folks think about this......

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by Elle2015

I admire your discipline and achievements. I always wonder how folks actually make that work. May I ask if you have any private tuition payments, car payments, etc? Do you have regular family vacations? There is no right or wrong answers I was just curious and it certainly is not my business anyway. I have friends who have similar stories and they have chosen a, "no frills" lifestyle. All of which goes towards individual choices and at the end of the day I wonder how much this rat race matters. I wonder what other folks think about this......

Neither my wife or I have student loan dept. Our daughter hasn't started school yet so no cost there. We share one car that does have about $10k at 3% but that is our only dept. No credit card debt, etc. We rent and pay way too much in my opinion ($1800/mo) but that's the rental market. We can't afford to buy a decent place in this area. We enjoy the outdoors and all of our vacations are usually camping trips that cost little beyond gas money and food.

I'll also add that we never go to concerts or sporting event and rarely go out to the movies so our entertainment budget is very low. We don't do a lot of shopping other than for food and necessities. We buy new clothes when we need them but we also shop for bargains all the time. We do eat out maybe 2-3 meals per week but it's usually fast casual/ethnic etc where our meals are usually around $10 each. We don't have cable (but we do pay for internet). I get my phone through my job and my wife uses a cheaper prepaid cell plan so our total phone expense is about $70/mo. And probably the biggest thing is that neither of us drinks. I have friends that go out 2-3 days a week to bars and can easily spend $100/night on drinks and if you add up the rest of the alcohol budget it's probably $500/mo.

I don't think we are super savers like others but I am a follower of Mr Money Mustache for example and try to leave within our means without completely depriving ourselves. We do plan on eventually moving out of CA to someplace with a lower cost of living and good public schools before our daughter hits school age

[Dunbar42]

^Interesting, I'm single and make a bit more than you (10-15%) and pay a bit more in rent ($1950). My monthly out-of-pocket bills are not a lot different than yours and I typically eat out only when I'm on an expense account. What's your take home pay after taxes, insurance and 401k? I'm guessing you pay less in taxes being married with one dependent but your health insurance premiums are probably higher too (they are 4X higher at my employer for married families.) Even with what you've described I still think you'd be spending most of your take home pay every month. Feeding and clothing three people is not cheap. I always like to have at least a few hundred bucks saved at the end of the month to go towards long-term savings.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

^Interesting, I'm single and make a bit more than you (10-15%) and pay a bit more in rent ($1950). My monthly out-of-pocket bills are not a lot different than yours and I typically eat out only when I'm on an expense account. What's your take home pay after taxes, insurance and 401k? I'm guessing you pay less in taxes being married with one dependent but your health insurance premiums are probably higher too (they are 4X higher at my employer for married families.) Even with what you've described I still think you'd be spending most of your take home pay every month. Feeding and clothing three people is not cheap. I always like to have at least a few hundred bucks saved at the end of the month to go towards long-term savings.

About $4200/mo take home. Expenses (rent, car, car ins, gas, groceries/supplies, phone, internet, dining out, utilities) avg about $3500 so that's $700 left over per month. I put $100/mo into Roth IRA and $100/mo into college fund.

My next goal is to actually make less money and stop paying taxes all together. If you can get enough into a Roth account and get a job for under $20k per year you can live without having to pay any taxes

Never Pay Taxes Again - Go Curry Cracker!Go Curry Cracker!


Sounds crazy but the more I think about it, the more I think I could end up with the same amount in my pocket but much more free time and much less stress

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

About $4200/mo take home. Expenses (rent, car, car ins, gas, groceries/supplies, phone, internet, dining out, utilities) avg about $3500 so that's $700 left over per month. I put $100/mo into Roth IRA and $100/mo into college fund.

OK, that sounds more like it. My take home pay is very close to that. I would think if you went on a vacation or two and, had to pay for medical/dental contingencies, or god forbid bought a new phone or laptop it would swallow up most of the rest of that monthly income.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

OK, that sounds more like it. My take home pay is very close to that. I would think if you went on a vacation or two and, had to pay for medical/dental contingencies, or god forbid bought a new phone or laptop it would swallow up most of the rest of that monthly income.

probably. We have a good chunk of cash saved in the bank that we could use for emergency. But this is also why we are actively looking to get out of LA and CA all together in the near future to someplace with lower cost of living and better schools

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by sownman

California taxes are very high as is real estate and rent. I lived in a modest house and drove mediocre cars and was able to save a little money on a $120K income. Now as I hit retirement I can't afford to stay in my own home. California has only three groups of people that are important. Pro politicians, public sector union workers and retirees, illegal aliens. The rest of us are just here to be taxed into oblivion to support those groups.

Two bedroom apartments in Santa Clarita will run $1800. Houses will run $2600. I've been a Santa Clarita resident since 1991.

Do you think a 2400 square feet house (no pool/no spa) can be rented in SCV for 3k?

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by c.diddy

Is it just me that doesn't have this problem? I make 56k a year and I live just fine in Culver city. Granted its just me but reading these forums as I did when you're considering moving to L.A. you would think you gotta be bill gates to lice here lol. I make enough to pay my bills, save and spend some. I live in Culver city as well. Is it really that hard for people to live here or am I just not doing it right lol.

(Not saying it isn't expensive it absolutely is).

Either i smell a lot of black money (cash/gold/druglord etc) or you are one of the lucky ones who inherited stuff for free...sorry but that's how the modern world assumptions are for a 56k/year living in Culver City

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by tcmtcm

I'd love to hear from more people like you. I think so many people exaggerate on these forums. It had me scared to death as I started to plan my move back to LA, despite salary potentials of close to $200k.

My sister lives in Huntington Beach, 2 blocks from PCH, and scratches by at less than $30k a year - her choice to live like that (I wouldn't). She doesn't have a fancy car, party, smoke, go to the movies or eat out...all she cares about is the beach. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Is she section 8 or a master at exploiting all the single mother benefits ? I read an article the other day where a single mother gets free college, lower rent, free food stamps and what not whereas a married housewife gets not even a dime from the government.

[varanj_16]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

About $4200/mo take home. Expenses (rent, car, car ins, gas, groceries/supplies, phone, internet, dining out, utilities) avg about $3500 so that's $700 left over per month. I put $100/mo into Roth IRA and $100/mo into college fund.

My next goal is to actually make less money and stop paying taxes all together. If you can get enough into a Roth account and get a job for under $20k per year you can live without having to pay any taxes

Never Pay Taxes Again - Go Curry Cracker!Go Curry Cracker!


Sounds crazy but the more I think about it, the more I think I could end up with the same amount in my pocket but much more free time and much less stress

Wow, i didn't know the taxation rules can be twisted the other way too, being highly ambitious and a hard-worker, my goal is to always hit that 7 figure mark even though what it may eventually mean is getting taxed at 45% and then figuring out other means to take care of that.