Moving to NoVA on $54,000. What area? Apt suggestions? Please help.

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by JfromReston

My comment about the extra commuting cost got me thinking about running a few calculations. Considering the difference between living in Manassas (about 20 miles from work) versus Reston (about 5 miles from work), the 15 extra miles twice a day for five work days and 50 work weeks totals 7,500 miles per year. If you consider only the cost of gas at $2.50 per gallon that would work out to be an extra $78/month. If you consider the governments car rate of $0.55 that would be an extra $344/month. Alternatively if you consider the rate that AAA indicates for a small sedan driving 20K miles/year of $0.374 that would be an extra $233/month. I think these calculations make an excellent point to decrease the distance between home and work even if you have to pay a little more in rent cost.

Here is the link for the AAA cost per mile.
AAA Exchange (http://www.aaapublicaffairs.com/Main/Default.asp?CategoryID=3&SubCategoryID=9&ContentID =23 - broken link)

I disagree. Your $78 figure is the only one that's really accurate since folks have and maintain cars regardless of the distance of their commute - and the rent in Manassas is substantially cheaper than $78/mo over Reston. That's not to say that the convenience of Reston doesn't have its own merits, or that folks' time is worth money (not calculated above), but to say that your gas costs are going to even come close to wipe out the difference in Manassas/Reston rent is wishful thinking.

To wit - Archstone Landing in Reston is about $1370 for a 1BR. A good equivalent in Manassas is Ravens Crest, which is running about $900 for the same.

[StOrM666]

Check out Skyline Towers

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by KTuner

Yes. Right now I spend about 252/mo on full coverage insurance (brand new car coupled with being a single 22 year old male). Taking it from being used for commute to being used for pleasure takes about $100 off the cost of insurance.

Dang, your insuarance is really high! What kind of car do you have? When I was 23, I had a brand new SUV (MSRP 35k) and was only paying about $85 a month for full coverage with State Farm. I'm 29 now, truck has been paid off but still have full coverage and it's approximately $73 a month for it, $25 a month for a beater pickup and $30 for a motorcycle. I've got some discounts since my house and other vehicles are also with SF though...

[akorosdc]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

Dang, your insuarance is really high! What kind of car do you have? When I was 23, I had a brand new SUV (MSRP 35k) and was only paying about $85 a month for full coverage with State Farm. I'm 29 now, truck has been paid off but still have full coverage and it's approximately $73 a month for it, $25 a month for a beater pickup and $30 for a motorcycle. I've got some discounts since my house and other vehicles are also with SF though...

^^ Same here. I'm 24 and I think I pay about $50/mo in insurance (liability only) on my Hyundai....in DC. It was a little cheaper in Virginia. I'm only not completely sure because I just pay it all at once every 6 months (about $280, so it would actually be less than $50). $252/mo is like paying Philly car insurance!

[anonymous703]

Originally Posted by athousandlogins

But to be fair to ScranBarre, he's paying a *lot* more in rent than most people do their first year out of college. I'm not deriding his choice - his to make - but if he was in a roommate situation he'd be spending a lot less on rent and he would have more wiggle room in his budget.

That is quite true... but then how does one define "struggling"? Is there some minimal living standard that one has to meet with some comfort to not be struggling? (Ie, if one moves back in with his parents to skip paying rent, can he legitimately claim he's not struggling?) If one's budget is tight enough such that he can't make his retirement contributions, save for an emergency, or save for anything, by definition he is living paycheck to paycheck. To me, that's pretty tight.

[Claire2900]

I work for a gov't contractor in No VA and that salary strikes me as extremely low although I don't know your experience/education