Originally posted by: Chiropteran
Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
I agree you should afford yourself a nice place to live if you can. However, spending 50% of your income on housing is not affording it. That my friend is house poor, or should I say apartment poor. If you are a young professional and foresee alot of job/income growth in the near future, then go right ahead and suffer for a little bit. If you are already matured in your career and paying that kind of rent, then you are living to work, not working to live.
I get what you are saying but maybe you don't understand my exact situation. I feel like *now* I am working to live. I am living out in the sticks with family. It's nice that my rent is low, but I have to drive 40 minutes to work and 40 minutes home every day, and that is working off hours to avoid traffic. I don't have the option to cook whatever I want or do laundry because there are family members here I need to share the house with. I am thankful for having this place to stay and being able to save a little money here, but it's not what I want.
This is not living life.
With the new apartment, I'll have at least an extra hour a day, if not more. I'll come home without being stressed out from driving behind idiots on the interstate. I'll be able to cook/clean/whatever without worrying about other people. I could care less about spending a little bit more money a month, I'll be happier and what else really matters?
Originally posted by: sjwaste
So what places are you looking at, anyway?
In the $1500-$1900 range, Rosslyn apartments within about a .5 mile radius of the metro stop. Rosslyn Heights, Gallery at Rosslyn, Park Georgetown, Bennett Park sound promsing based on the information I have found online, I'll have to take a look at each of them in person to really make a decision.
Other than that, I'm checking various sites for shared rooms and roommates, under the right circumstances I'd be worth sharing a room to save $500-$600/month.
I don't want to compromise for a small benefit, though. It's not worth saving $200 if it means I have a 20 minute commute instead of a 5 minute commute.
Originally posted by: poncherelli2
Originally posted by: HyTekJosh
In NYC many people pay 50%+ of their take home pay
To be fair, many people have no cars and therefore no car payment, no car insurance payments, and don't need to buy gas.
I buy a monthly subway ticket (pretax) and spend 20-50 bucks a month on cabs probably.
I might fall into that category. My car is almost paid off, if I have no need for it I might just sell it after a couple months of making sure I can live without it.