Living in Miami with $40,000-$45,000 a year, how is it ? (Fort Lauderdale: apartments, rental)

[Wonderful Jellal]

I'm a student from France, and after my studies in 2 or 3 years (bachelor's degree) I'll be translator or interpreter (I'll speak French, English, Spanish and Russian) at the beginning.Miami area is one of the best for this kind of jobs, and the salary = about 40,000-50,000$ a year.
It's possible to live correctly and happily in Miami with that ? I don't know really the cost of living problems and I don't know if it's a good salary.
Thanks for your answers

[ace587]

If you have no family, single. and just live a simple lifestye, Its possible.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by ace587

If you have no family, single. and just live a simple lifestye, Its possible.

What is a simple lifestyle for you ?
It's pretty scaring to have a bachelor's degree and not having a lot of money !

[jasper12]

I was in a part of the urban sprawl of Miami today, Miramar. New definition of "ghetto", there are no places to stop for a drink, fast food, or to go to the bathroom within 15 minutes of driving time. Also, there were more offices to apply for FS and Medicaid, than fast food resturants. The apartments in this area, rent for $500 a month, for a studio. Not a place I would want to live, but it is a place to live.

I did not even see any stores in this area, no food stores, just some small bodegas. No Jiffy Lube, it was like a whole other planet. Planet ghetto.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

I'll be translator or interpreter (I'll speak French, English, Spanish and Russian)
the salary = about $40,000-50,000 a year.
It's possible to live correctly and happily in Miami with that ? I don't know really the cost of living problems and I don't know if it's a good salary.

... What is a simple lifestyle for you ? ...

Thanks for your answers

In my opinion, Miami is only worth it if you can live somewhere along the metrorail corridor - downtown, Brickell, Vizcaya (Roads), Coconut Grove, Coral Gables (U of Miami), South Miami, Dadeland - or Miami Beach.

In these neighborhoods, a 1 bedroom apartment can cost from around $800 to $1,500 per month, depending on such factors as year of construction, state of maintainence, and amenities.

In your case, you should probably not spend more than around $1,250 per month on rent, ideal would be $900-$1,000, but be careful about quality of building and neighborhood.

Therefore, you should try to know these neighborhoods well and in relation to grocery shopping (e.g. Publix), bus service, metromover service, metrorail service, and the above rental figures.

You may be able to survive without a car, or at least minimize gasoline and insurance expenses. Gasoline is currently around $1.80 per gallon. Car insurance rates can vary widely depending on a large number of factors. I would venture a guess that car insurance in your case could be as high as $3,000 per year, but maybe $2,000.

There are ways to shop and eat out economically, though there may be a trade-off between shopping for the best deals and minimizing car expenses.

Telephone and internet could cost around $50-$80 per month, depending on long-distance service.

The biggest factor in the electric bill is your temperature setting. If you feel comfortable at around 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit, your bill for a 1 bedroom will probably be on average less than $100 per month, water bill around $50 per month, maybe half that.

Assuming that you can translate from home and that your interpreting jobs are in downtown, Brickell, Coral Gables and possibly Miami Beach itself (Russian), it may be a good idea to live on Miami Beach, which is walkable within, including the beach itself, has bus service across the intercoastal to downtown and links to the metromover and metrorail, and rents on average are cheaper than in Brickell, for example.

Furthermore, being within walking distance to the beach allows for good entertainment at a low price, unless you splurge on ocean-side restaurants and clubs. In any case, if you're lucky, you may even find some nice girls to hang out with.

If you follow the foregoing outline, you may be able to save enough for a nice trip somewhere once a year, back to France or Latin America or elsewhere in the US, such as San Francisco.

You don't say whether you have a specialty within tranlsation/interpreting, but going forward you may consider adding Portuguese and specializing in foreign trade, insurance, taxation, and legal related to those. If you are good and efficient at what you do, strike out as an independent and build up a portfolio of core customers in a niche area as listed above: you could double your revenues over what you make as a salary, maybe even a bit more, within 2-3 years.

Hope this helps, and ...

Good Luck!

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by jasper12

I was in a part of the urban sprawl of Miami today, Miramar. New definition of "ghetto", there are no places to stop for a drink, fast food, or to go to the bathroom within 15 minutes of driving time. Also, there were more offices to apply for FS and Medicaid, than fast food resturants. The apartments in this area, rent for $500 a month, for a studio. Not a place I would want to live, but it is a place to live.

I did not even see any stores in this area, no food stores, just some small bodegas. No Jiffy Lube, it was like a whole other planet. Planet ghetto.

Miramar is Broward and a suburb of the city of Fort Lauderdale.

[StilltheSame]

Miramar also runs east to west with a wide range of homes, neighborhoods and prices - I would guess anywhere from $30K for condos on the east side to $800K-900K far west.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by bale002

In my opinion, Miami is only worth it if you can live somewhere along the metrorail corridor - downtown, Brickell, Vizcaya (Roads), Coconut Grove, Coral Gables (U of Miami), South Miami, Dadeland - or Miami Beach.

In these neighborhoods, a 1 bedroom apartment can cost from around $800 to $1,500 per month, depending on such factors as year of construction, state of maintainence, and amenities.

In your case, you should probably not spend more than around $1,250 per month on rent, ideal would be $900-$1,000, but be careful about quality of building and neighborhood.

Therefore, you should try to know these neighborhoods well and in relation to grocery shopping (e.g. Publix), bus service, metromover service, metrorail service, and the above rental figures.

You may be able to survive without a car, or at least minimize gasoline and insurance expenses. Gasoline is currently around $1.80 per gallon. Car insurance rates can vary widely depending on a large number of factors. I would venture a guess that car insurance in your case could be as high as $3,000 per year, but maybe $2,000.

There are ways to shop and eat out economically, though there may be a trade-off between shopping for the best deals and minimizing car expenses.

Telephone and internet could cost around $50-$80 per month, depending on long-distance service.

The biggest factor in the electric bill is your temperature setting. If you feel comfortable at around 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit, your bill for a 1 bedroom will probably be on average less than $100 per month, water bill around $50 per month, maybe half that.

Assuming that you can translate from home and that your interpreting jobs are in downtown, Brickell, Coral Gables and possibly Miami Beach itself (Russian), it may be a good idea to live on Miami Beach, which is walkable within, including the beach itself, has bus service across the intercoastal to downtown and links to the metromover and metrorail, and rents on average are cheaper than in Brickell, for example.

Furthermore, being within walking distance to the beach allows for good entertainment at a low price, unless you splurge on ocean-side restaurants and clubs. In any case, if you're lucky, you may even find some nice girls to hang out with.

If you follow the foregoing outline, you may be able to save enough for a nice trip somewhere once a year, back to France or Latin America or elsewhere in the US, such as San Francisco.

You don't say whether you have a specialty within tranlsation/interpreting, but going forward you may consider adding Portuguese and specializing in foreign trade, insurance, taxation, and legal related to those. If you are good and efficient at what you do, strike out as an independent and build up a portfolio of core customers in a niche area as listed above: you could double your revenues over what you make as a salary, maybe even a bit more, within 2-3 years.

Hope this helps, and ...

Good Luck!

Thank you for your detailed answer
About portuguese maybe one day because I have to become better in english, spanish and russian, it's already much !

[hurricaneMan1992]

Don't worry. Assuming you are single and relatively debt-free, you could easily afford to live in a South Beach studio without a car, as public transportation up and down the beach and to/from downtown is very convenient, and Metrorail from downtown can connect you to most of the US1 corridor down to Dadeland Mall. However, If you have to get around other parts of the city for work, you need a car and South Beach wouldn't work as well due to parking. You only live once, go for it!

[uriel20]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

Thank you for your detailed answer
About portuguese maybe one day because I have to become better in english, spanish and russian, it's already much !

Hey mate

don't flame me, but I'd really appriciate if u'd have posted some sound clip/video of u speakin in english - u know why I'm askin? I 've met gazilion of french people - and that accent of EVERYBODY is just somethin very interesting in this way -> (I've been to Paris as well) , but I never met anyone who's caliming himself as an intepreter - I'd love to hear some french guy doing this.. thats it... (don't take it as an offence, it'S just my "friendly" curiosity)