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-   -   What's the minimum income to live comfortably in your city? (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166445)

ikerrin Mar 14, 2009 11:13 PM

What's the minimum income to live comfortably in your city?
 
Ok, I'm not talking about living in a Park Avenue Penthouse, but just to rent an apartment with no rodent roommates with a grocery store, a pub and a cafe within walking distance.

Basically, if someone moved to your city, didn't want to have a roommate, rented a one bedroom, got basic cable, high-speed internet, a blackberry for their home phone, a transit pass, bought groceries and had some money to go to a pub and the movies and take the odd vacation, how much would it cost?

For Ottawa, my estimate is:
$1000/mo rent
$300/mo food
$200/mo utilities
$120/mo transport (transit pass, bike repairs, the odd car rental)
$100 clothing
$300 enterainment
$450 fed/Provincial taxes/sales taxes
----------
$2570/mo or about $31,000 a year.

How does it compare with you cities?

Top Of The Park Mar 15, 2009 2:55 AM

Manitou Springs/ColoradoSprings Colorado
 
Rents on a 1,000 sq ft apartment....between $550 and $790. Average about $675

Winter utlilties ............$100-$120 Summer- about half
Groceries......$250-$300 per person

wages....$20K to 30K avg about 25K

ginsan2 Mar 15, 2009 2:58 AM

My god, I don't even want to know.

FREKI Mar 15, 2009 3:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikerrin (Post 4140447)
Basically, if someone moved to your city, didn't want to have a roommate, rented a one bedroom, got basic cable, high-speed internet, a blackberry for their home phone, a transit pass, bought groceries and had some money to go to a pub and the movies and take the odd vacation, how much would it cost?

For Copenhagen some 130.000 DKK should do it..

US: $22.500
Can: $28.600

But if you want to live close to the inner city or a university the price will rise drasticly the closer you come.. and it depends on where the travel destination would be..

Copenhagen isn't really that expensive as many think ( and it's not even posible to make make under $35k with a full time job here )

tayser Mar 15, 2009 5:20 AM

I currently budget:

Rent: $1192pcm
"Living" budget (Food/entertainment/etc): $1000pcm
$250pcm misc bills (priv health insurance (not necessary, but I want it), gym, mobile bill (cap plans = the best), internet bill).
~$150 every quarter for Electricity and Water bills.
No transport costs other than I have to buy shoes more frequently than most people as I'm a 3km / 30 min walk to work.

$2500pcm will cover what I currently pay, but that's JUST to live - you need a fair bit more if you want to put money away for other things.

$35k AUD p/a (gross) would be the minimum to live in the inner city - any lower and you'll practically live on the poverty line.

AUD/USD: 0.6574
AUD/CAD: 0.8360

R@ptor Mar 15, 2009 5:47 AM

Rent (incl. water, electricity, internet): €1,000-1,200
Groceries: €300
Transport (monthly 2-star pass): €65
Entertainment, Clothing, etc: €350

= €1,715 / US-$ 2,230 per month

add insurance, savings, vacations, other things and pretty high taxes and you have to earn at least €50k ($65k) to live quite comfortable.

Krases Mar 15, 2009 5:52 AM

I really can't say. The only thing I know is that nice condo's and hotels in Vegas go for around 700$ for 1 or 2 people.

As my brother said, its amazing how an extra 100$ in rent can be the difference between living in a nice neighborhood and getting shot at.

BTinSF Mar 15, 2009 9:38 AM

San Francisco:

Rent (decent studio apartment); $1200

Food: $500 (unless you enjoy a steady diet of burritos and assuming frequent lunches and occasional dinners with friends at restaurants--it can probably be done for less and there's lots of cheap ethnic restaurants)

Transportation: $45 (Muni Fastpass)

Clothing: $100 (that's very subjective--I go many months without buying ANY clothing. Also, SF has lots of discount--Ross, Marshall's--and used clothing stores)

Utilities: Maybe $50 for electricity, $35 for cable TV, $20 for DSL, $45 for cell phone plan, water/sewer usually included in rent

Entertainment: Up to you--movies are $10.50, plenty of cheap dive bars and clubs without covers, good seats at the Opera $200 each (standing room $10), symphony around $35 - $75

Total: Approx (and leaving a little leeway) $2500/month; $30K a year.

JordanL Mar 15, 2009 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTinSF (Post 4141150)
San Francisco:

Rent (decent studio apartment); $1200

Food: $500 (unless you enjoy a steady diet of burritos and assuming frequent lunches and occasional dinners with friends at restaurants--it can probably be done for less and there's lots of cheap ethnic restaurants)

Transportation: $45 (Muni Fastpass)

Clothing: $100 (that's very subjective--I go many months without buying ANY clothing. Also, SF has lots of discount--Ross, Marshall's--and used clothing stores)

Utilities: Maybe $50 for electricity, $35 for cable TV, $20 for DSL, $45 for cell phone plan, water/sewer usually included in rent

Entertainment: Up to you--movies are $10.50, plenty of cheap dive bars and clubs without covers, good seats at the Opera $200 each (standing room $10), symphony around $35 - $75

Total: Approx (and leaving a little leeway) $2500/month; $30K a year.

$50 electric bill? What in the world?

Do you like have a single bulb and a radio?

VivaLFuego Mar 15, 2009 1:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JordanL (Post 4141157)
$50 electric bill? What in the world?

Do you like have a single bulb and a radio?

My electric bills are about $25-35/month, except when I run the air conditioner from about May-September and pay around $60-70/month. 800sq ft, my computer is always on, plus all the usual appliances. And... I use incandescent bulbs, too.

Heat, on the other hand...

miketoronto Mar 15, 2009 1:58 PM

I would say atleast $50,000 a year. More would be better.

JordanL Mar 15, 2009 3:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego (Post 4141238)
My electric bills are about $25-35/month, except when I run the air conditioner from about May-September and pay around $60-70/month. 800sq ft, my computer is always on, plus all the usual appliances. And... I use incandescent bulbs, too.

Heat, on the other hand...

I guess I'm used to living in a multi-person household... I've never seen an electric bill below $120, and Oregon is in the lower third as far as cost of electricity...

niwell Mar 15, 2009 6:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto (Post 4141255)
I would say atleast $50,000 a year. More would be better.

No.

I live comfortably in central Toronto for less than $2000 a month. For $2500-$3000 I could live much better.

Rent on a 3 bedroom house: $1800 a month (split between 3 people, so $600 each). Bills are an extra $100 or so a month.

Metropass: $97 (City/University discount, normal price $109)

Food: $500 or so, including going out to eat fairly often

Entertainment: $400 and thereabouts. I don't go out too often anymore, and when I do there are plenty of cheap bars in Toronto if you know where to find them.

All other expenses are paying interest on lines of credit/loans. When I make $50,000 I plan to live at roughly the same level and pay all of these off ASAP.

Strange Meat Mar 15, 2009 6:52 PM

I don't even need $20,000.

volguus zildrohar Mar 15, 2009 7:08 PM

To live that way in any part of this city with those amenities you'd have to pull at least $30k-$35k a year.

initiald Mar 15, 2009 10:05 PM

In Charlotte it all depends on where you live. In urban, walkable hoods along the light rail line, 2 bedroom (1 br hard to find) start at between 1,000 and 1,500 a month. Around university area 1 br start around 650 to 700. I found a steal of a 1 bedroom in an area along a bus line not too far from downtown (yet relatively safe) for 500 a month. Many of the nicer apartment complexes include highspeed internet, some include cable, and most include water.

Water - $12
Electricity - $50 to $75
TV/highspeed internet - $100
Monthly bus/rail pass is $60, but monthly parking downtown starts around $80 and goes way, way up from there.

I'd say $20,000 should be enough to make it on your own. A couple can make it on $35,000 easily with money for dining out, movies, concerts, etc.

BTinSF Mar 15, 2009 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JordanL (Post 4141157)
$50 electric bill? What in the world?

Do you like have a single bulb and a radio?

No. I have the full complement of American appliances--all electric kitchen including dishwasher and microwave, 2 flat screen TVs with DVRs and cable, two computers (laptop and desktop) etc. I do use compact flourescent bulbs in nearly every outlet and never need to turn on heat (plus don't have A/C--any temp above 70 degrees F is considered an unendurable heat wave in SF). As with most apartments, my hot water comes from a boiler in the basement so that's covered in my condo fee (it would be included in rent in a rental unit).

I have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo on two levels. But your disbelief prompted me to go back and look at my electric bills for the months last year when I was there. I got back the last week in April, left for Tucson the first week in October:

May (paid in June): $52.58

June (paid in July): $46.79

July (paid in August): $42.96

August (paid in September): $49.79

September (paid in October): $39.72

So it seems the electric bill for a studio might well be more like $35 or $40.

mhays Mar 15, 2009 10:31 PM

My electric bills were about $5 in the summer in my old place with no air conditioning. That's Seattle's cheap hydro rates, and probably because a public agency runs our power. Not sure about my new place, because this building hasn't reached its sales plateau yet, which means they're not charging power (or dues) yet.

SpongeG Mar 15, 2009 10:37 PM

Vancouver:

Rent: 1 bdrm $1200
Food: $300+
Utilities: $50 (hydro - i don't pay it its included for me but I am guessing thats about average for a typical apartment)
Cable: $100 Range
Telephone: no idea i only have a cell
Cell: $30 & up
BC Medical: $54/month at the most - varies according to your income
Bus Pass: 1 zone = $73 2 zone = $99 3 zone = $136
Entertainment: $300 or so ?? it depends what you do
Car insurance: $1100/annually seems to be what most pay - they is cheaper and more depends
Parking: $50+ per month - most rentals charge extra plus if you drive you have to pay depending what is available
Other stuff: well it all depends on what you want - clothes, music, DVD's whatever

The Chemist Mar 15, 2009 10:43 PM

Shanghai:

My budget
Apartment: 2700RMB (could find one for less)
Transportation: ~250RMB
Food: ~1000RMB
Utilities: 450RMB (Electricity, Gas, Water, Internet, Cable)
Cell Phone: ~100RMB
Entertainment: ~1000RMB (would be a lot more if you like going to clubs, etc)
Total: 5600RMB (~US$800)


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