how much would you need for food and transportation in Seattle each month ? (2015)

[adham]

If you mostly cook at home and take the buses.

[Hemlock140]

For my wife and I, with a big freezer, we spend about $400/month on groceries, mostly from Costco. We do eat out at a restaurant every week or two.

My employer subsidizes the Orca pass, but if you pay cash and remain within Seattle it's going to be about $100/month now, going up in 2015 to about $110.

[Blondebaerde]

Who, me? $4,300 net/month is break-even. That is how much I "need" (more properly, need to spend based on choices I've made0 to cover the mortgage, food, utulities, transport, etc. Everything over-and-above is for investment and amusement.

You didn't specify any other parameters, so the previous is entirely arbitrary for a 15 year fixed home mortgage, home in a good area, plus other costs to live (live "well," I would say). Guess that's what you wanted, however.

Breaking down "transport," using IRS mileage rates for 2014, my vehicle costs are $44/week or $190/month, based on certain number of commute miles/week. Bus is free, with company-supplied ORCA pass, but usually doubles commute time so isn't always the best move. If "cost" were the primary constraint, it would be. Wasted "time" is more expensive, in my case.

(From other person's response, that free ORCA pass appears to be a $1,300/year perq. I'm grateful, and will use it more often spring-fall.)

IRS view on mileage is a complicated thing, that per-mile cost, some sort of smoothed seasonal average based on fuel costs, deprecation (perhaps), etc. Take with a grain of salt: I'm guessing at the previous. Depreciation on vehicles keeps on happening over time and with increasing mileage, regardless, so I'm betting that mileage rate needs to be personalized based on individual situation.

[Salmonista]

You can eat as cheaply as you'd like. You can find the staples at reasonable prices. When I was single and didn't have a lot of money, I spent about $250 a month for food. I'd go out to restaurants a few times a month.

Depending on what part of the country you're coming from, you might find food prices in the NW to be higher than you're used to. Check out this cost of living calculator to see how the prices compare Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Finally, if you are a drinker, don't forget to budget for the great array of microbrews and wines available in Seattle!

[Malloric]

Roughly $200/month. I spent about $5/month on transportation a month in Seattle. Lived/worked in downtown, so it was easy enough to walk. West Seattle or U District it was faster to bike than take the bus. I used meetup, Seattle bicycle club, etc so when I went out of town for a weekend I could often find a seat in someone's car in exchange for some gas money. Other times I split the cost of renting a car with the fellow carless or just forked out the cash. Cheaper than owning and paying for insurance/parking. Of course, that was only to leave Seattle so that wouldn't count.

[BATCAT]

Originally Posted by adham

If you mostly cook at home and take the buses.

It's really hard to pin this down... where would you be living? How much would you ride the bus? Where would you be shopping? Are you talking about a comfortable lifestyle or a frugal one? When you do eat out what kind of places?

A single, frugal person could probably eat reasonably well on $150 a month if they shopped carefully and kept the dining out very cheap and rare. It would take planning and discipline, though.

As for the bus, it just depends on whether or not you have an pass card and/or what kind of distances you expect to cover.