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Not bragging or putting anyone down. I am just wondering how anyone can survive now a days on that? Back in 2012-2014 I was making around 30-40k a year, but things seemed a lot cheaper. I was renting a apartment for 900 a month and eventually a house for 1200.
I make a lot more now and look back and just wonder how people now a days get by on that. I would find it almost impossible to do so with the current inflation. Sure, I guess if your single and have no kids it could work.
But by the time you add insurance, gas, housing, etc... you cant have anything left. I really feel like the next generation is really screwed on the American dream of home ownership. Some cities you will be needing a minimum of 150k a year to buy a house.
I thought it was bad being a millenial and going through 08 (i was jobless at the time and couldn't find any work), but now a days ....
I cant imagine how hard it will be for kids entering the labor force in this decade... inflation and a upcoming recession is really going to make it hard for them to get on their feet.
I’ve started to wonder the same and I’m in what was not long ago a very low cost of living area in the SOUTH.
$40k was very recently considered good money around here. That’s about what a teacher or cop with 5 years experience would make.
Decent apartments are now around $1400/month.
A decent used car can easily be $20k — that’s $300/month.
That’s over $20k/year just for housing and a car payment!
If a person making $40k brings home $35k they have less than $15k left over.
Now figure in about $300/month for utilities and a cell phone.
That leaves $11,400 left over.
$150/month for gasoline leaves $9,600…maybe $8,500 after paying car insurance for the car.
Now you’ve got to buy food which keeps going up…let’s say $400/month. That’s $8,500 - $4,800 = $3,700 left over.
Now you’ve got to buy clothing….which is also more expensive now.
What about car maintenance like repairs, oil changes, tires, wiper blades…all that stuff costs more now too. An oil change on my 12 year old econo car is $60.
Married Couple- mid 50's married couple-Income 20k a yr.
He has schizophrenia, I am Bi-Polar.
Met DH while we were confined to a mental facility in our early 20's.he had spent 2 years in jail for attempted murder in his teens. After forced medicated, he got better. We worked in the facility kitchen. Normally men and women are segregated. We became very close. Somehow released at the exact same day and time but my parents felt it was planned.
Married soon after which cut our SSI disability by $200. No way to afford a rental and food at once. My parents bought us an RV and we moved to a small tourist town where they owned land and a very small home, population 160. Parents came up weekends for half the year, weather permitting (unbelievable snow here). Federal campgrounds, rivers, lakes, fisherman, cyclists, all kinds are drawn here.
My husband lost his SSI disability by then, which made him loose his health insurance. He told his worker he earned $100 a month that month. My parents paid for his medication the first 2 months but could only afford half the month so we rationed it giving him half. Now he was off couch and had energy to do stuff. He was prescribed way too much medication but the alternative was he could hurt someone
We knew how to work in a kitchen from the mental facility so started working at a restaurant. My husband couldn't do it due to stress and after a short time, i started having episodes. A job at the city dump came open. Word must've got around he helps people. Many are retired here and in the snow, there isn't much laborers. He would do it for free then go check on them. We also joined Search & Rescue. No one else wanted to work at the dump for min wage/ 3 days a week for just 4.5 hrs a day. Wealthy people live here. Mostly retired. They were shocked to learn of his criminal background (he says) so explained he had schizophrenia. Later they suggested that I work there. Llearned it to do most of it unless it was labor intensive. It worked out well and there came open a program by the manufacturer to apply to receive expensive medication for free for a while. DH was now taking about 75% his medication he once had taken. Rationed 25% to stretch it out. The psychiatrist over-prescribed him knowing we had limited funds so we could make it last
I got pregnant. His vacectomy didn't take. We lived in An RV on my parents land still. Befriended a great guy who owned a hobby Nursery which was open just 2 months a year in an adjacent town. He sold what he grew on his property all year. Retired military guy. We had so much in common! Helped him for free and he traded with vegetable starter pants and fruit trees. Soon we were digging up a seep making a pond on my parents land. He still visits once a week to fish or use a net to take them out or comes for dinner. Within a few years, fish pond stocked (they would fish together) with plentiful vegetables. Fruit trees took longer. Lived near cattle ranchers, a seasonal horse riding stable with plenty of manure. Eventually raised chickens & goats. Eating so well, he cut his meds by 50%.
I lost my SSI when I started working at the dump so had no health insurance. Enrolled in the same program by the drugs manufacturer so had medication for 4 yrs. Overprescribed so I could make it last. During pregnancy I had health insurance so could rinse and repeat for another couple years. We parked our RV on the dump grounds so we could alternate taking care of our baby while at work. A small town meant many would knock on the door wanting to see her. So free babysitting for 5-10 minutes able to help others.
Our daughter was home schooled like every kid in town. We utilized a medical discount program funded by the cigarette tax paying just $50 a month for her health insurance thru Kaiser Permanente. She was also involved in a school ski program at no cost (as P.E in school) and attending real classroom with Teacher 2x a week for 5.5 hrs a day.
At that point, we raised farm animals to help pay for my medication. We were eating so healthy my medicationwas reduced dramatically so it wasn't a huge cost burden. Medication decreased in price was most of it.The kids loved the farm animals. We also went to church together. My parents passed away so we inherited the small 600 sq foot house, the large barn and the 2 acre land. We missed them, and their support with our daughter. Coming up most weekends for half the year, they were turning into farmers
We moved into the house and rented out the RV seasonally. Our daughter learned farming, growing food, health, etc. She is bi-polar too yet got married to this autistic guy who isn't very friendly but a good guy. Major low stress as he doesn't say much and they don't fight at all. A solid marriage. He became a CPA and she does caregiving 2 weekends a month plus doing seasonal taxes. They live in a 800 sq foot rental condo about 1 hr from us.
keys to success
ᕯ Grow & raise what we eat
ᕯ Transport is E-Bikes & Mtn Bikes we ride 1/2 the yr.
ᕯ Uninsured shared 2015 pick up truck (used mainly winter months) Town is a little over a 1/2 mile long and walking distance.
ᕯ Do dishes, clean at a restaurant- End of May thru about March- 2 hrs a day or so. Paid in gift certificates.
ᕯ I work 3 days a wk/4.5 hr shifts at the city dump
*A retired 50 year old Veterinarian cleans our teeth bartering our chickens eggs. We see our real dentist every other year. We do not have cavities since we use an electric toothbrush and brush our teeth all day.
ᕯ Most of our diet is berries we ration to last all year. Late Aug-Middle of Sept we pick wild berries for hours at the river.
ᕯ Organic bananas for $1 a bunch, over-ripened, 1x a week.
ᕯ Our hobbies are exercise. Some of our food is foraged
ᕯ We volunteer for Search & Rescue
ᕯ No money donation to church. Instead we give our 3 Elder/Pastors $75 monthly gift certificates a local restaurant(s) we've acquired from barter. We head a yearly flea market for the church which is a donation to our missionaries. We also use the gift certificates taking our daughter and son in law out when they visit.
ᕯFederal campgrounds within 5-10 miles adjacent lakes/rivers. I use the leftover fire pit ashes to make soap.
ᕯ We give crafts, homemade soaps, jam & homemade maple syrup as gifts.
ᕯ We shop at thrift stores for clothing or any household needs.
ᕯ We sell a little on ebay to cover our technological needs when it's time to buy a new computer, phone, etc.
ᕯ Husband collects the dump freebies and fixes stuff then puts it on Craigslist. Sometimes Ebay. I estimate this pulls in about 8k a year. This IS reported INCOME. He contributes 2k a year to his IRA. The only un-reported income is our trades with the local restaurants.
ᕯ No health insurance. We pay about $40 a month for our medications.
ᕯ Socialization is mainly half the year. The weather is awful and we tend to go into hiding only seeing close friends for dinner 1x a month to keep in touch. We really don't leave much, eat whatever I've canned or dehydrated, or froze.
ᕯ We kill one chicken per month to make pots of soup, casseroles etc. Usually the one that stopped laying.
ᕯ Make our bread (breadmaker)
ᕯ Solar run 600 sq foot home. PG&E also
ᕯ Firewood for heat
ᕯ 2k a year contributed to each of our IRA's for the last 15 yrs or so.
Not having a vehicle is most challenging. We have one for emergencies and the winter but try not to use it. We are afraid of getting pulled over. We drive it just locally where there are hardly any people so it's not really a risk at all. Days pubic transport is available, it's pricey.
While relying on program funded by cigarette taxes is not a good long term strategy, there is a lot of good information. You should write a book. Maybe you already did, Lol.
While relying on program funded by cigarette taxes is not a good long term strategy, there is a lot of good information. You should write a book. Maybe you already did, Lol.
We qualified for a 25% ($12.50 a month) subsidy since it was based on income.
As stated, we paid $50 a month which I know we should've been paying 100%
Our son only got occasional colds which often came with severe sore throats. So we paid $8 for a strep test instead of $45 for a Dr. Visit. That saved a good amount of money because usually, it wasn't strep. If it's not strep, the Doctors will not prescribe anti-biotics. Now it's illegal to walk into a lab and request a test
In a small town of 16k, everyone knows each other and we belonged to the Chamber of Commerce where there is a ton of barter going on, well back then it was. My husband became a Contractor, though he never worked a whole lot (stress triggers schizophrenia and he needed a special diet to stay normal so we cooked at home) he did work and did trades occasionally. I got a value of 5k braces on my teeth with us trading services with an Orthodontist. I had a very small advertising business so also did trades which I could get credit for about $40 a month with doctors, dentists, restaurants, the newspapers (who advertised for free if I handed them out) lots of trades were happening
Only about 1/2 of my clients were billed. I always had to be careful too because when I took on too many clients, once I almost went bonkers. I needed to stay mentally healthy and eat right to cut the meds by 50% so I could work. Otherwise those anti-depressant meds will kill you, making you a vegetable unable to do much. Back then, they didn't have good anti-depressents, just first generation which well think of that movie with Jack Nicholson called One Flew Over the Coo Coos nest. I didn't want to just sit there all day drooling. We were both off disability by then so had no health insurance for much of that time
Last edited by PoorYetRich; 02-14-2022 at 10:18 AM..
I don't think $40K is all that bad for a young person starting out with a roommate or living at home. They're probably clearing about $2500 a month. That's not chicken feed compared to many seniors living on $1100 a month. I found a few Kia and Hyundai leases for under $200. Clothing is really not a major expense and not something you need to buy every week or even every month, perhaps only once each season. And as far as vacations not involving an airplane, that's not necessary anyway. In my area, most local young people drive to the beach which is within a 2 hour drive.
Really, I don't agree with the boo-hoo mentality that young people making $40k are to be pitied. All of us started out that way. I didn't have a fancy car or cell phone or take airplane vacations at first, either. Someone in their early 20's is not going to buy a house and really, none of us were able to do that.
You make it sound like the financial situation is so unusually bad for young people today. I have to differ with that. We ALL started out at the bottom. I think what's different today is that young people are coming from homes with parents who had accumulated some wealth and therefore had provided an upscale lifestyle with nice vacations, lots of brand new high tech gadgets and big SUVs. When they have to ratchet back their lifestyle to go out on their own, they don't see it as "normal" to ratchet down; they see it as deprivation because they had so much in their childhood. I came from a rather poor lifestyle in my childhood so when I went out on my own, I was used to frugality and a minimal lifestyle really wasn't a hardship for me, as I had lived that way in my childhood. I was just tickled to be on my own and I was willing to sacrifice those niceties like vacations, clothing, fancy cars and whatnot to have my own apartment. So I don't agree with the mentality that $40K is so bad for a young person.
I bought my first house with my brother at 23. At 29, I bought a second on my own. I guess I've always been a good saver. Houses are in the dc Metro so not exactly LCOL.
I'm now trying to instill the same mentality to my kids, when though they are growing up in a much better lifestyle compared to when I was a kid.
IReally, I don't agree with the boo-hoo mentality that young people making $40k are to be pitied. All of us started out that way. I didn't have a fancy car or cell phone or take airplane vacations at first, either. Someone in their early 20's is not going to buy a house and really, none of us were able to do that.
It may not be as common now for cost and preference issues but I’m early 40s and bought my first house at 22 for 125k. It didn’t really seem all that uncommon a decade or two ago. The same house is in the mid 200s now
Not bragging or putting anyone down. I am just wondering how anyone can survive now a days on that? Back in 2012-2014 I was making around 30-40k a year, but things seemed a lot cheaper. I was renting a apartment for 900 a month and eventually a house for 1200.
I make a lot more now and look back and just wonder how people now a days get by on that. I would find it almost impossible to do so with the current inflation. Sure, I guess if your single and have no kids it could work.
But by the time you add insurance, gas, housing, etc... you cant have anything left. I really feel like the next generation is really screwed on the American dream of home ownership. Some cities you will be needing a minimum of 150k a year to buy a house.
I thought it was bad being a millenial and going through 08 (i was jobless at the time and couldn't find any work), but now a days ....
I cant imagine how hard it will be for kids entering the labor force in this decade... inflation and a upcoming recession is really going to make it hard for them to get on their feet.
Simple. Don’t buy a house . That’s how to live on 40k.
( okay, yes, it is more nuanced, but that is the TL;DR version, lol)
I lived with 2 roommates, walked 2 miles each way to work until I was diagnosed with cancer and had to buy a car, and then skipped medications and appointments because I couldn't afford to copays even with insurance. That's how I survived on 40K.
I didn't eschew roommates until I was 30 and hit 80K a year - and then I had to move an hour from work.
Income isn't cut in stone--get a 2nd job to bring in a few more hundred a month. A 20-30 year old is at the peak of their energy level and should be spending most of their days working, not in leisure activities. Delivering pizza, walking dogs, babysitting, moving furniture, cleaning out homes, waitressing, doing odd jobs. I know so many people who need help with odd jobs yet there isn't anyone around here to do it. A motivated 20-30 year old working a 2nd job can earn perhaps an additional $300-400 a month.
I don't see that utilities plus a cell phone comes out to $300 a month. I pay roughly $100 a month in warmer months for these 2 items, in winter maybe $200.
Someone earlier used the word, "decent". "Decent" apartment, "decent" car. Are we talking what you would spend if you had more than $40K a year to spend or are we talking what someone making $40K a year SHOULD spend? If someone has income constraints, they should toe the line on expenditures, and spend a MINIMUM for the cheapest thing they can get, not raise their expectations to spend to get "decent". "Decent" is a luxury.
My sister and I both had bare bones apartments in our 20's. Hers was in a not-so-great neighborhood in the city, the kitchen floor had bare plywood planks in one spot. I had a teeny tiny apartment without AC on a main street where the noise level from traffic was out of sight. It had no amenities or frills at all. Young people today have to be willing to start at the bottom, like we all did. There are apartments in my area for $800-900 if you look, and a car lease can be gotten for less than $200 a month. "decent" is not necessary, just get what you need to start out, work hard, get a second job, don't take expensive vacations for a few years, and you can do it.
How do people survive making 40k a year? (pay, million, rate).
Its nearly impossible unless you are still living at home, or living with roommate/spouse/significant other. I cant imagine how SINGLE people survive period. Of course, I say this as someone born, raised and still living in Los Angeles where the CHEAPEST one bedroom currently on the market in my area (per zillow) goes for $1700 per month.
Im guessing it'll be much much easier in places like Mississippi, Alabama or Arkansas to live on that amount compared to here, but still, it has to be difficult. Even if you live in a paid off home inherited from your parents, it'll still be difficult when you consider the true cost of living. You really need two incomes to make it work. Heck, I make six figures and couldnt imagine making things work on my own without the spouse who also make close to six figures.
You almost have to have some type of "side hustle" to make it work. Heck, most people I know have some type of side hustle. THREE times this past few months my Doordash driver showed up to deliver my food in a Tesla Model X. THREE TIMES!!! He said "Hey, if there is money to be earned, why not?".
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