re: Married men , could you live by yourself on 35k a year?

The cost of living in Dallas is far higher than Lafayette. I don't think anyone who lives in a major city is going to comfortably live on 35K unless they're naturally frugal as frick.

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I do it with a wife and 2 kids

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Where do you live? That's the variable. You can ball out on 35k as a single guy in Montgomery. Seattle? Not so much.

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How often do you need to buy clothes and electronics? My clothes last years, I'm not worried about keeping up with the latest fashion trends. You also don't need the new iphone every 6 months. Paper towels, soap, razor blades, etc aren't that expensive either. Shop at Walmart, not Whole Foods.

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They still need to be factored into the budget. If you spend $600 on a phone every 2.5 years you still need to factor in $20 for the phone itself and $50 or whatever for the phone line. Need a case, extra charges, etc then bump that up a little.

I buy at least some clothes pretty much every other month. Clothes wear out. I get 5 years out of most clothes before they dull and yes that's true you technically can wait every 5 years and do a complete replacement but that's kind of dumb. Take the cost of your wardrobe and divide it by 60 and that's your monthly cost. That's if everything goes according to plan and you don't frick up ever 5 years or so and accidentally leave a pen in the wash and ruin an entire load.

Paper towels, soap, blades, toothpaste, mouth wash, detergent, duct tape, ski masks, etc are all items that add up and should be budgeted in. Walmarks isn't going to give it to you for free with the purchase of a case of ramen.

You left out medical and dental care. Do you not have copays? 6-month dental cleanings? If you get seriously injured is the bill paid for by the rest of us who actually pay for insurance? Oh, thankfully there's a fine for that now.

Do you not go on vacations? Whats the point of living? A normal vacation is going to run you $2,400 easy. Then a couple of weekend getaways at $400 a pop would get you at $3200 but let's put you at $2400 total for travel on the year. That's $200 a month, sport.

Do you not plan on going on dates ever? Outings with the guys? Buy your mom something for xmas and mother's day? That costs money as well. Gotta put it in the budget.

Oh, and please show me the house you'd buy and get a $750/mo note without condo fees or HOAs. I'd love to see where you have this person living. IF you have good credit that might get you a $100k home when you account for homeowner's insurance and property taxes. If it's a neighborhood prone to home burglaries you may want to invest in a security system or prepare to get robbed. Oops, more expenses to budget for.

Depends on where you live! In NYC... I don't think so.


I know a lot of areas that you could though. 650 for rent. About 100 for utilities, 35 per month for cell phone. Used car and INS about 250. Food..... depends on if you are a fit person.

But over all... yeah I could

I was making $32K (after taxes) right out college three years ago and I lived like a fricking king in Dallas.

I make more now, but I never needed to budget or anything else. If you can't live on that, and you're single then you're an idiot and just throwing money away in a trash can or something.

Did you own a house?

That's why I asked him. Owning a house, as the op specified, is a difficult proposition at 35k, in many areas.

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That's why I asked him. Owning a house, as the op specified, is a difficult proposition at 35k, in many areas

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Lol frick no.

I rented, bought a new truck and payed $250 a month in student loans and still had money to literally do anything I wanted. I also lived in uptown at the time, which is not a cheap area.

I feel like you're just trying to be contradictory.

I clearly said "many areas" not all.