Is 850 for rent okay for 45k salary? (apartment, rental)

[masterori]

Just as the title says. My take home income after tax is ~2700, so that's about 32% of my income. I've read it's better to have between 25-33%, or would it be better to target something lower.

This place would be maybe 10 minutes from work. My current place is about 40 minutes going to, and 1hr coming from.

[skelaki]

If you can find a safe decent place 10 minutes from work at that rent, I'd say grab it, especially at that rental rate.

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by masterori

or would it be better to target something lower.

Its always better to target something lower....then there is reality

[hitman619]

You will live better with a roommate imo.

[RosieSD]

On the surface, an $850 rent on a $45K salary sounds do-able, BUT the rent isn't the whole story; it's just part of the picture.

Don't forget to include utilities in your figures. If you want/need cable and internet, add that in as well. Adding those two things in will probably bring you closer to $1000 a month just for the apartment.

But that still won't tell you whether this is do-able for you.

Do you have any other monthly expenses, such as a car payment and insurance or student loans? Do you have credit card debt that needs to be paid off? What does your phone cost you each month? Add all of those into the apartment cost.

Then, if you don't have much in savings, add in at least a small amount each month to go directly to savings to cover emergencies, like your car breaking down or you losing your job.

Now, subtract the total from everything above from your take home. How much is left over?

The leftover is what you'll have to pay for everything else: food, clothing, gas, entertainment, etc.

That "leftover" after you add up all of your "must pay" monthly expenses is the number you really need to look at to decide if this is do-able.

Be honest with yourself about your spending habits and lifestyle as you consider that "leftover" amount. You may be willing to scale some spending habits back, but again be brutally honest with yourself about whether you'll truly follow through.

Only you can decide whether living the life you want to live is do-able or not on that leftover amount. If you look at the big picture of all of your expenses, and are honest with yourself about how you spend money and what you may be willing to give up, you'll make a much better decision about whether this apartment makes sense right now.

Good luck with your decision!

[JohnAlt]

Originally Posted by masterori

Just as the title says. My take home income after tax is ~2700, so that's about 32% of my income. I've read it's better to have between 25-33%, or would it be better to target something lower.

This place would be maybe 10 minutes from work. My current place is about 40 minutes going to, and 1hr coming from.

$850 would be about 23% of gross which is a decent ratio. It's about what I paid when I made 45k. Unless you have some large debt to pay off there shouldn't be a problem. Lower is always better but $850 is pretty low.

I would love to be 10 minutes from work. My commute times are about the same as yours. The commute home sucks.

[LuvSouthOC]

Pointless thread.

[JohnAlt]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Pointless thread.

Yet you bump it to the top.