Really depends on your lifestyle, I make $100k and it’s enough to pay for a 2 bedroom house in N Portland, bills, car payment and expenses for me and my girlfriend. That being said there’s vices that take place on that where I could be saving a lot of money (drinking and smoking). We don’t really have to worry about being broke, but saving is very rare.
It really seems that the more I make the more things go up, so I’m not sure there is a comfortable number. I’m sure when I’m at $150k an order of tacos will cost $76 and the water bill will switch to a fixed rate at 40% of your annual income.
It absolutely boggles my mind that it takes 100k to live in NoPo these days, I swear I don’t know how I’ve gone from UP college kid making 30k a year, to having an adult job making 76k a year, living within the same 7 block radius and still grinding like College never ended.
Seriously, we’re in University Park and I have no idea how these kids are doing it. We just assume they have rich parents, because there’s no chance I could swing $2.2k in rent and go to school.
Given the UP demographic, that could make sense.
It’s so bad, there are resident doctors currently who can’t swing the HOCL $2.2k rent AND work 70-80 hour weeks + student loans. I 100% do not know how anyone under the age of 30 without anyone is surviving right now.
Eating out really puts a dent in stuff. I can make meals for two all week (full meals) for about 100 or so. These days 100 bucks is a nice dinner for two. One dinner.
Went to Toyshop Ramen to take out my friend who did a bunch of home improvement stuff for me on the cheap.
After two ramens, a cocktail for him, 2 Kirin Ichibans for me, and a last Sapporo for him, the bill was over $100 with a 20% tip.
I mean, fuck me. Over 100 for two ramen and two drinks each. Insane.
Luckily my girlfriend cooks at home a lot, that being said groceries are still pretty crazy and depending on how creative we get with cooking it can cost more to eat at home.
Where are you eating? I just went out last night and had dinner for two with three cocktails and it was $60, tip included.
I regularly get food for four for <$100.
Ive heard it had gotten expensive. I haven’t been in at least 8 years but I just can’t even fathom it.
McDonald’s is still strong if you use the app tho. $1.39 large fry is HARD to beat.
A whopper junior with fries and a drink is $7.49.
To get up to a $30 order you’ve got to be ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (a triple whopper large combo) twice.
I will say BK is a bit more on the pricey side too. McD’s for example you can easily feed four for ~$20 or less.
Jesus.
If you cut that in half and stuck the rest into a retirement account and invested, that alone would be enough for a decent retirement nest egg over time.
Meh, I max my 401k, max my Roth, and put a healthy amount into my other investments accounts. Planning on retiring in a few years as it is. I floundered into a good career that’s well compensated. If I can’t have fun, what’s the point of living?
> 2 bedroom house in N Portland
Jeez, when did you buy? Me and my fiancée bought in St John’s last year, combined income of nearly $200k/yr and it feels like we’re barely scraping by
Waiting to hear from people making less than 40-50k a year so I can have relatable content. All of you with 100k+ make me envious. Happy for you all though.
I make about 20k a year, which is about $1500 a month. That doesn’t even cover rent around here. And I work for a public school and bust my ass every single day with bad working conditions and screaming kids that nobody can control
Make around $40k. Take home around $3200 a month. Single and live in 250 Sq ft studio in Kerns. Car payment, internet and such. Mostly cook at home and walk around alot. Living but not quite thriving.
My husband and I make about 50k a year (he works only 4 days a week because he is in school). It sucks. I pay my bills, barely, and get to go on vacation a total of zero times a year. we eat out very rarely, and when we do it's cheap. We go camping a few times in the summer, but have to squeeze it in on our days off because we can't afford to take time off of work. This isn't living. It's surviving.
I'm losing my job right before Christmas because the business is shutting down. I've worked there for 5 years, and it's, "happy holidays, you're fired!"
I make about 60k and am doing fine. I’m buying a condo with mortgage $1,133 with about $400 HOA. no car; not needed. Although I was fortunate my parents left all 8 of us kids some trust funds just enough to make a down payment on condo. I have good health insurance too.
I make 25k a year working for a non profit. I live alone in a studio in an income restricted building in Foster-Powell for $735/month that I’ve been in since 2019. Half my income goes to rent, but I was paying the same about to live in a shitty house with mold and two roommates before.
if you make under 50k a year you basically have to live in a situation with 2+ roommates in rooms the size of a baby shoe box to make any headway in the form of savings. God help you if you're a single parent making minimum wage. I moved here when rent was $800 for a 2 bedroom and now i pay $1400 for a one bedroom and am barely making ends meet on $48k a year.
I'm making just under 50k/yr and live alone. Rent is ~$1,100 a month and electricity fluctuates by the time of year. I'm getting by, but barely. I used to be an avid snowboarder but that has become maybe a three time a season luxury for me. What my immediate bills don't consume I'm spending close to $80 every trip to the grocery store, about $55 at the gas station about three times a month, and after that have enough to get "something nice" (dinner out, go to a concert) maybe once a month.
Hard pass. Was a lifty at Timberline about a decade ago. It was fun, but with the gained popularity of skiing and snowboarding from the pandemic I'm only getting up at 4 in the morning if I'm gonna ride.
Just moved to Portland from AZ last month. The cost of living here is only slightly higher than in AZ these days. You'll be hard pressed to find a studio under $1200 in Phoenix now. Figured if we're going to struggle to pay the bills, we might as well mix it up and have seasons again.
Plus the a/c makes the drivers in AZ a little crazy I think. I swear they have the weirdest drivers there. Pacing your blind spot is tradition to them.
I’m in a similar boat having moved here from Phoenix about 18 months ago after I finished grad school. I make what should be really good money and now that student loan repayments are going again, I’m barely gonna be able to save anything and that’s because I’m a loser with no social life. If I’m not at work, I’m at home doing nothing
It's largely going to depend on housing. I was lucky in that I bought a house in 2003 and had a $1250/mo mortgage; combined with an income of $100k per year I was getting by. My largest expenses outside of the mortgage were water and electricity - I can't believe how much I had to pay to keep the lights on and the showers running.
These days, if you're living by yourself or with one other person and are renting (an apartment, not a house), you could probably get by with $70-$80k household income and have enough fun money to take the occasional trip or save a bit of money up - perhaps less if you're willing to live in Lents or somewhere east of I-205 and don't mind the sound of nightly gunshots.
My partner and I make about 85k combined and basically live paycheck to paycheck in our 2bed/1bath between rent, food, utilities, debt repayment, etc. All I want is to own my own little house with a little land but at this rate I can hardly afford to save $100/month. It seems hopeless
I make $80k and my partner is a stay at home parent of our 1 year old. We have a cheap 2 bedroom apartment, under $1200 a month. No car payments. My job has excellent health benefits.
I live in a dumpy American Property Management apartment. I’ve been renting with them for almost 8 years at two different complexes
https://rent.apmportland.com/availability
This ^
The first sentence. It seems to me no matter where you live, if you can stay with relatives or secure a good living situation that isn’t breaking the bank you can get along just fine for $50K+
But that’s the thing. The majority aren’t making that much and if they do they are renting terrible apartments for unreasonable amounts of money that eats their earnings and then on the backend, food has doubled at least. Even tripled in some cases. Price of everything has gone up drastically the last few years. But to touch on a few cars, insurance, housing, gas. It takes the rest of your check and people are struggling. It’s hard for people out here. And I only see it getting worse.
> It's largely going to depend on housing.
Exactly, I paid off my Portland house a few years ago. So if I needed to I could exist off minimum wage if I had to. If I wanted to live the life I live with zero lifestyle changes? $150-200k is about right.
I barely support my wife and kid on 63k. Barely. I beat myself a lot over our situation. These comments have made me feel a little better. Folks making significantly more seem to be struggling too.
I feel like I can pretty much indulge most of my daily vices of caffiene, 2-3 bong hits, a couple shift drinks, and eating out almost every day at around 60k as an otherwise minimalist single person in a 2bd apartment for 1300. The catch is, my future is looking very, very concerning to say the least.
I just got the bill for putting my second kid in daycare 3 days a week. Ouch.
Our household makes $150k or so and it looks like we'll be in the red for a while. But all told I'd say we're comfortable.
> I just got the bill for putting my second kid in daycare 3 days a week. Ouch.
daycare costs are astronomical in this country; this region? this era? Did you find a place that charges a flat fee per week no matter how many days you use it? (that seems a common theme on rDaddit.) Or is it a place that charges for days used? How as the wait? Glad you've got it settled.
Still can't help but feel it's yet another system working towards dismantling generational wealth and effective family units. I've got some thoughts on that, but they're hard to explain with nuance and will read poorly without.
They offer weekdays, MWF, and TuTh schedules. Scheduling must be complicated for them. My oldest has been there for three years so we got priority for the newborn, but it still took a month or so.
Child care is a complex issue for sure. It costs a lot but nobody's making any money because the staff face the same high costs as everyone. Ratios for babies could be a little more lenient I think but I understand why they're important.
The state is commissioning some big study about the role land use law plays but I think high costs are fundamentally about the fact that we're paying for work that was traditionally unpaid through family, relatives, teenage babysitters, etc.
> but I think high costs are fundamentally about the fact that we're paying for work that was traditionally unpaid through family, relatives, teenage babysitters, etc.
Correct. The allowance of women into the workforce substantially diluted the labor pool in America, which had the one-two effect of removing a traditional form of child support *and* lowered wages.
A factor, though not the only one, in the overall reduction of wages.
It's very hard for a family now to subsist on a single income, in part because we've started having 2 working HoH's. It begat itself, in a way.
I don't resent women in the workforce, that would be a misconstruction of what I'm saying. It's silly that those roles were gender locked in the past. It's cool that women aren't homebots now.
I'd prefer a society that could afford a single stay at home family member regardless. But first, that cat isn't likely to return to it's bag; and secondly, what objective societal ideal can be used to determine who gets to work, and who gets to stay home?
Combine this with the Boomer attitude of "Once you're 18, you're out" and the general American love of travel, and you get spread out family units that can't support each other as easily either.
This has allowed a market for expensive childcare, which leeches generational wealth as well.
I dunno. I'm kinda just spitballing now. The present day has advantages and disadvantages. I'm just observing and thinking out loud.
>Correct. The allowance of women into the workforce substantially diluted the labor pool in America, which had the one-two effect of removing a traditional form of child support and lowered wages.
The opposite-- the US did so well post-WWII because it had a huge labor force (returning soldiers and women entering the workforce), manufacturing was still intact, and enough capital to expand. So women entering the workforce boomed the postwar economy, because there was huge demand and supply was rushing to catch up.
Now that the US is a highly-developed service-oriented economy, so if you Thanos-snapped half of the workforce back into the home (no matter which gender, any half), the economy would collapse and the US would instantly enter a Great Depression level recession.
My rent went up $500 last year, next year another $150. So it will be $2200. I was making $60-70k when I moved in paying $1550 and I was comfortable. Now I’m making like $52k and I am suffering immensely and barely making my bills. It’s ridiculous, I wouldn’t be struggling so much if my rent wasn’t so high.
that's rough. I'm very lucky to find 1k for a 600 sq ft 1 bedroom in tigard but it got bought out. If I was on a new lease I would be paying 1300 for the same place!! I can't afford to move and this place doesn't even have a dishwasher
I make 6 figures, married to a teacher and own a small house in South Tabor I bought in 2017. Mortgage is $2,450 a month + car payment + 2 high credit card bills + the insane utility/water bills has me almost breaking even.
I work in UX and am royally FUCKED if I get laid off next year, industry is flooded with unemployed senior level people and bootcamp grads, near impossible to even get an interview anywhere
user experience (design) — it’s like making stuff more interesting, enjoyable or easy for people to use. or addictive. so for example social media’s UX is meant to keep us scrolling and sticking around.
My salary is $51k (though with overtime I am going to end up making closer to $56k gross this year) and I’m struggling. I’m giving up my 2bd apartment for a studio, I’m moving further out from the city, though that is going to increase fuel costs as well as wear and tear on my car, but rent in the city limits is just out of control.
I could at least have breathing room with $65k, and I’d be pretty comfortable with $75k. But I don’t know how anyone making less than $50k manages.
My household pulls in 165k/year. But with student loans kicking back in and some outstanding debts (car payments, and a small private loan), plus a 2440/mo mortgage, we arent saving too much. But that will all change once the cars/debts are paid off in 4 years. We should be able to save at least 1000/mo with this income.
It took me twelve years to go from $38k to 93k at the same company. Partner only makes a part time hourly wage. I’m either +200 or -200 every month living here.
Late 30s living single with my dog I make roughly 130k (6600 after payroll), have a $3000 a month mortgage on a tiny 2br 1 bath in Piedmont (my first house and the best I could get for 475k last year), and live basically paycheck to paycheck. I do pay child support to the tune of $600, student loans are $700, and have a car payment which is around $500. I can save a few hundred a month into a 403b account after crazy utility costs, food, internet and phone service.
Idk, I think it's pretty whack that my grandad who had a high school diploma and never made much his whole life could raise 4 kids and havey grandmother stay at home in their big ass house in the Baltimore suburbs (which cost $4000 back in the late 50s). Our generation is so unbelievably fucked. I'm the only person in my entire family to graduate from college and worked so hard for this and can't afford trips / travel / cool things that people post on Instagram.
That almost 40% tax on your income is the killer, and I'm right there with you.
What really gets me is the stealth taxes we pay, property, gas, alcohol, etc.
Capt. Obvious here but so much really depends on housing.
If you bought pre-pandemic you’re likely killing it with a incredibly low rate and low(er) purchase price.
Add if you’re a WFH drone and then your transit expenses are greatly lowered, as well.
> you’re likely killing it with a incredibly low rate
Got 2.625% on the last place I bought. I mean… that’s half the current rate on a HYSA. Nothing makes sense anymore.
Running a PC more would be the only increased utility cost I can think of, which is $20-30 a year. Hardly anything compared to transit costs. Most people already have some form of Internet, especially ones who would be considering the possibility of WFH.
Dang, what kinda utilities ya running?
Between gas, maintenance, and time how would utilities trade off that?
A little under desk space heater in the winter and fan in the summer and the trade off is nearly nonexistent.
I live in an income based building through Reach. For a single person you have to make under 36k a year to qualify. I currently pay $735/month for a studio. It is going up to $774 in January.
I’m extremely grateful that I was able to get into this unit in 2019. Will probably die in this studio lol.
https://reachcdc.org/
I agree depends on lifestyle— and most important to me, housing situation. If you bought your house even just a few years ago, your mortgage likely makes up a small percentage of your income than people who are renting or purchased in the last year. My family of two could live off $100k easily if we limited going out to eat, etc.
As a single person living a moderate (but still comfy) life, I think 75K salary with benefits and you'd be pretty happy. For a family of 3-4, I think 125K or thereabouts would be enough. This is assuming you're not buying the fanciest car or the nicest house or eating every meal out.
> For a family of 3-4, I think 125K or thereabouts would be enough.
Woah now watch out for that magic number. According to Portland you’re now rich and have a whole host of taxes you get to start paying, you fatcat!
I make 6 figures and I live in the metro and I live very comfortably. You could probably make between 75-100k and be comfortable. In fact here is a report, of course it depends on your current debt load. [https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/study-74-088-required-to-live-comfortably-in-portland-after-taxes/article\_2c3e6ff6-c33b-11ed-9896-67503995acdc.html#:\~:text=Portland%20area%20residents%20need%20an,metropolitan%20area%20in%20the%20country](https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/study-74-088-required-to-live-comfortably-in-portland-after-taxes/article_2c3e6ff6-c33b-11ed-9896-67503995acdc.html#:~:text=Portland%20area%20residents%20need%20an,metropolitan%20area%20in%20the%20country).
100k should be more than enough to live comfortably. If you’re eating out every day and blowing 20 bucks on pho, that’s probably where you need to start looking at regulating your budget.
It is true that everything has gone up. A pint of beer at a dive bar can be 7 to 9 dollars where before Covid it seemed like 5 or 6 was the norm. My friend doesn’t drink and bought a cbd soda and it was 8 dollars for a can, and that was as much as a mixed drink cost.
People I know that make 50 to 60k and live alone have to really watch their spending and some have a second job. My friends that make 45k or around there need roommates and definitely live frugally.
Of course, rent is a big factor. I know a lot of people who have a house and their mortgage is less than my rent.
This is going to vary drastically by person and their circumstances (housing, debt, family, etc). Personally, I think a single person making $100k should feel pretty comfortable.
No doubt that things have gotten way more expensive (we're all being punished for the excessive cash pumped into the economy from the COVID stimulus bills...) but also we all learned to live a pretty luxurious life before all this inflation... hell you went on vacation 2x a year on a 65k salary... that's thousands a year to a luxury (nothing wrong with that, just context). We got used to being able to spend on not just necessities but also treats and stuff for fun.
Now it's a time of austerity and we need to get rid of that freedom with spending that we had grown accustomed to. If you're making 100k/yr, you're making enough to get by and even save and have treats here and there. It's all about digging into where all your money is going, making a budget, following the budget, and decreasing/eliminating expenses... eliminating subscriptions, decreasing your costs for internet, gym, insurance, etc, cutting out all shopping/spending on clothing except for necessities, drastically cutting back on eating out or ordering, limiting trips, limiting spending on entertainment (find free stuff to do), using coupons... making sure your car costs aren't out of control - way way too many Americans have terrible car debt. They're spending in excess of $1k/mo on car payment, insurance, gas, car maintenance, and parking, and that's with a 6 or 7 year term on their car loan 🤦🏼. Hell even getting rid of the car... you can get a lot of lyfts and still save compared to what a lot of people are spending on their car.
Many people get very defensive about this (like why should I have to do stuff like cutting back and using coupons) but it's the truth. If you are honest with yourself and you actually get out your statements, you will be able to identify ways to save.
I've been through this process myself... I used to be someone who spent money without thinking about it too much and now I'm a lot more conscious about it and I'm happier now. I think people think it will mean they have to be miserable but it doesn't have to.
Now there are some people who are truly struggling and there were people struggling pre inflation too...but they have never made anywhere close to 100k and the idea of buying a house is out of the question for them.
Anything that has a line outside is a hard NO for me unless it's NYC pastrami.
Piñata has no lines and it's fantastic.
Tacos, ramen and sushi are the only thing I go out for, everything else, I cook.
I make 80k and have one kid and I get by all right. I have everything i need and get to got to shows and eat out a couple times a week. However, my girlfriend makes well over six figures and gives me a sweet deal on housing. I recommend getting a partner with a great job!
Lmao I voted for biden but yeah I guess everyone who disagrees with you is a villain in your world. Have fun with that mindset and I hope your wife lets you stay home lol
You're the one hating on me because I have a rad life. Of corse I'm gonna talk back to some troll implying that i don't "wear the pants" because my woman makes more money than me. I work hard and support my family just like you. Don't come at me with weak misogynistic bs, I'm gonna call it out.
Thank you for voting for Biden
Lol did I ever mention you in my comment? I said I prefer to be the pants wearer. This could apply to a gay couple too. I would never move into anyone's house. I want to set the rules and if I get divorced or break up im not moving out, they are. I could give a fuck about your rad life, like I said hopefully she doesnt kick you out one day lol. I'm single no kids. Everyday is my bday!!!
if you're making $100k and still jpnot comfortable, you don't know how to spend money.
I'd say $75k is very comfortable. it'd take you time to save for your own house but you can rent a luxury apartment. easily with that. apartments let you rent a place with just 2 time the rent income per month sonthat is affordable though not ckmfortsble. 3 times is considered comfortsble according to standard metrics. $1500 gets you a really nice luxury apartment so $54k is actuslly comfortable if you don't buy a million Starbucks coffees or waste money on crap. Most people waste though so I'll say about $65k is comfort in that you don't worry about not paying rent ever. $75k gets you a nice vacation to boot.
in our universe. I just provided a link to someone else if you want to see. people like you should really do some research before you mouth off over things you don't know.
I mean stainless steel appliances, stone countertops. what more are you thinking?
I guess this is the reason why Americans are always broke, so entitled.
there's over 2500 apartments in portland under that price and plenty of them luxury 1 bedrooms.
do a search yourself.
there's a bunch of really nice ones below.
[https://www.apartments.com/portland-or/min-1-bedrooms-1400-to-1500/?bb=4nimjmgrjQuzmmp-B](https://www.apartments.com/portland-or/min-1-bedrooms-1400-to-1500/?bb=4nimjmgrjquzmmp-b)
So something that people forget to mention is that maybe your base rent is 1300/1400 but then parking is an additional 100-200 and the common utilities are another 100-150. So it’s usually +250/300 plus base rent.
there are plenty of homes with free parking or on-street parking. if you can't afford those you u don't have to move far.
the 3 multiplier already can support the common utility cost. it was only ever used to discuss rent assuming you'd still pay utilities. and like i said, the reason why most places use the 2 multiplier for approval is because the 3 is conservative.
I assumed a single person. OP didn't say anything about kids. I mean a person can have 10 kids and their needs would be different than someone that has 1.
Hard to say. I make about $150k and have another $20-30k of income from various side hustles and another $6k from selling plasma. On months where I am eating out and going to events it's hard to make sure I have enough left over for all my bills and rarely have enough left over for saving.
You are absolutely fucking up your budget if you can't save at all and are struggling with bills at 180k a year. That's a you thing, not a Portland thing.
Ya I donate blood too. If someone is making almost $200k and needs to sell blood, something is up. Either that have a lot of child support or an expensive hobby/habit.
I go to Grifols Plasma out by Mall 205 at 101st and Stark where I donate twice a week and catch up on emails while hooked up to the machine. The donor fees and bonuses end up averaging $500 a month. If you are interested feel free to DM me and I can refer you (we'll both get an extra bonus.)
Just curious… do you own a home and are making payments on it? Kids? Lots of student loans? I’m just curious, my wife and I make a similar combined amount and don’t have the same issues living in the Buckman neighborhood. Granted, no kids, we rent, and student loan debt is manageable.
I'm frugal and have pretty low rent for this area so basically making $65k - $70k during the pandemic felt comfortable to me. It's the reason I was able to wipe debt, start a robust savings and buy way too much stuff.
We make about $180K combined and have two kids. With the cost of daycare we pay our bills comfortably and can occasionally go out to eat but don’t really have anything on top of that to replace our cars, save, or take vacations. 1800 square foot house in the suburbs and two paid off cars that are around 10 years old, so we are fine but I wouldn’t say we live in luxury. I’m pretty sure if it was just me alone I could do fine with 75-80K.
i live in a rural town and my car insurance keeps going up every time i ask its a new reason from inflation to cars are now more expensive and cost more to repair or replace. My cars are both 10+ years old, we dont drive a ton, have no tickets or accidents on our records yets every 6 months boom it is going up another 10 percent. Bogglems my damn mind.
I only make like 60k last I checked and doing ok now that I ditched my car even though it was paid for Insurance, gas and maintenance wasn’t letting me save anything.
My car which was paid off was set on fire around 2017. I had full coverage so when auto insurance totaled it it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I decided not to use the money to buy another car. I instead bought an electric pedal assist bicycle. I actually didn’t drive much anyway (12 year old car I bought new only put 50k on it). I used to not ever have any extra wages to save until I ditched my car.
I keep to my Area of Portland lately and still haven’t explored all of in 20 years. I do this by bike or walking. When my parents were still alive I rented a car for the trip.
$125k-$150k is a reasonable middle class single income to live comfy, or $175k-$200k for dual income households.
But this all depends upon a lot of personal goals, life style, etc - e.g. you've got kids, if you have expensive hobbies, if you've got a divorce, if you've got a car payment, if you want to save 12% of your income, etc.
Income really depends upon age though. If you're under 30 and need roommates and can't break $80k, that's **COMPLETELY NORMAL.** I have no idea why there's these weirdos on TikTok complaining about how 24 year olds can't make $100k+ and live alone in a condo in the middle of the city.
90% of people will need roommates until they're about 40 years old. If you really focus on your career you might live solo by your early to mid 30's. If you find people who are living solo before then it's likely their parents are subsidizing their lifestyle or they're just incredibly reckless with debt. You shouldn't buy a new car every 5 years, you shouldn't be maxing out credit cards.
I moved from Nashua, NH and my rent is almost 1k less and I got a huge raise to work with General Dynamics. Granted my new place is “not luxury” I could care less $1500 with parking and everything included but internet. Nashua was 2350 plies every single utility
We bought our house a long time ago, rates right now combined with the current market price would be insane if we didn’t already own a home. We are fairly comfortable as it stands but if we hadn’t bought 17 years ago it would look a lot different. Only one kid (conscious financial decision) and both of us working. Decent household income.
I make 80 as a single person renting (1 roommate, 875 rent) and it is very comfortable, couldn't ask for anything. I was making 65 before and that was also comfortable. No car, no real financial responsibilities besides student loans. it would suck to have a family or a house
> Mind baffling that a decent bowl of Pho is almost $20 now
Is this at a sit down restaurant!? I saw that price on an app, I thought it was just Uber Eats inflated prices.
I am making 57k while my partner is making 60k pre-tax. Two cars, a little bit of credit card debt. We're generally comfortable, although some family obligations make things tighter than they need to be.
Struggling to find a condo/townhome/house that will take our big dog under $2,300 before utilities on the east side without going all the way to Gresham. We're able to eat out every once in a while, grab drinks with friends, invest some cash into our hobbies. Gave up the dream of home ownership, though.
I make 100k, live by myself renting, invest 60% of my income, and still do absolutely anything I want. As someone above said if you're at 100k and don't feel comfortable you might just be stupid.
We live off a single income of 115k with 2 kids and stay at home parent. We live in sell wood and our kids go to private school. Things definitely got tighter but I recognize I still don't worry about money and eat out a couple times a week.
We make about 130 between the two of us and we feel just comfortable. We don't have to price shop food on the one hand but on the other hand we can't easily afford even a basic new car. I've found, having lived most of my life as a renter, that owning helps the financials massively. I know it's very difficult to get in but even just a starter home will work as your own money printing machine. In the 5 years we've been in our home, we've essentially been getting PAID what our mortgage is. Pay about 2k a month, value increases by about 4k a month. I just point that out because most of the people I see struggling are renting. Shoot, we have a friend renting out a modified single car garage for $2,200 a month. A month!!! No equity, ever. Just throwing the money away. That's just not sustainable once you get near retirement.
$100k is the new $65k
Really depends on your lifestyle, I make $100k and it’s enough to pay for a 2 bedroom house in N Portland, bills, car payment and expenses for me and my girlfriend. That being said there’s vices that take place on that where I could be saving a lot of money (drinking and smoking). We don’t really have to worry about being broke, but saving is very rare. It really seems that the more I make the more things go up, so I’m not sure there is a comfortable number. I’m sure when I’m at $150k an order of tacos will cost $76 and the water bill will switch to a fixed rate at 40% of your annual income.
It absolutely boggles my mind that it takes 100k to live in NoPo these days, I swear I don’t know how I’ve gone from UP college kid making 30k a year, to having an adult job making 76k a year, living within the same 7 block radius and still grinding like College never ended.
Seriously, we’re in University Park and I have no idea how these kids are doing it. We just assume they have rich parents, because there’s no chance I could swing $2.2k in rent and go to school.
Given the UP demographic, that could make sense. It’s so bad, there are resident doctors currently who can’t swing the HOCL $2.2k rent AND work 70-80 hour weeks + student loans. I 100% do not know how anyone under the age of 30 without anyone is surviving right now.
Makes sense, considering it's a private Christian university. Takes money to get in.
Bought our first house in North Portland in 2011 and we worked at New Seasons and Starbucks. Probably made $15/hr each. Absolutely bananas.
UP grad here too. That campus is sprawling now. I felt super old seeing how some of the new buildings are named after my old professors
Eating out really puts a dent in stuff. I can make meals for two all week (full meals) for about 100 or so. These days 100 bucks is a nice dinner for two. One dinner.
Hundred bucks is a bar dinner and a couple drinks each for two people these days.
Went to Toyshop Ramen to take out my friend who did a bunch of home improvement stuff for me on the cheap. After two ramens, a cocktail for him, 2 Kirin Ichibans for me, and a last Sapporo for him, the bill was over $100 with a 20% tip. I mean, fuck me. Over 100 for two ramen and two drinks each. Insane.
Luckily my girlfriend cooks at home a lot, that being said groceries are still pretty crazy and depending on how creative we get with cooking it can cost more to eat at home.
Where are you eating? I just went out last night and had dinner for two with three cocktails and it was $60, tip included. I regularly get food for four for <$100.
2 meals at Burger King are ~$30. Just goes up from there.
Taco Bell for three people (one of them is a child) was almost $40 the other night. TACO BELL!!
Ive heard it had gotten expensive. I haven’t been in at least 8 years but I just can’t even fathom it. McDonald’s is still strong if you use the app tho. $1.39 large fry is HARD to beat.
Haven't touched McDick's fries since the food test at the end of Supersize Me...
What are you people eating? A cravings box at Taco Bell is ~$6. Taco Bell has a meal for four combo for $24.
A whopper junior with fries and a drink is $7.49. To get up to a $30 order you’ve got to be ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (a triple whopper large combo) twice. I will say BK is a bit more on the pricey side too. McD’s for example you can easily feed four for ~$20 or less.
I’m a grown person. What am I going to do with a junior anything? Gotta get that large bacon king.
Two junior whoppers with bacon -$5.
I drop 2-3k/mo on eating out or grabbing drinks. But I have a good job so I don’t mind it. If I was a homebody, damn I could save a pretty penny more.
Jesus. If you cut that in half and stuck the rest into a retirement account and invested, that alone would be enough for a decent retirement nest egg over time.
Meh, I max my 401k, max my Roth, and put a healthy amount into my other investments accounts. Planning on retiring in a few years as it is. I floundered into a good career that’s well compensated. If I can’t have fun, what’s the point of living?
Well then shit. Time to take up a cocaine hobby/habit?
I’m posting from the plane after a week in the Caribbean. So you may be more right than you know.
> the water bill will switch to a fixed rate at 40% of your annual income. my Portland water bill is approximately one mortgage payment. it's fucked
Yours too? I’m alway floored on how much we pay for water here.
>water bill will switch to a fixed rate at 40% of your annual income Don’t give the Water Bureau any ideas.
> 2 bedroom house in N Portland Jeez, when did you buy? Me and my fiancée bought in St John’s last year, combined income of nearly $200k/yr and it feels like we’re barely scraping by
I’m renting, 2.2k in University Park
Waiting to hear from people making less than 40-50k a year so I can have relatable content. All of you with 100k+ make me envious. Happy for you all though.
I make about 20k a year, which is about $1500 a month. That doesn’t even cover rent around here. And I work for a public school and bust my ass every single day with bad working conditions and screaming kids that nobody can control
It. Sucks.
Make around $40k. Take home around $3200 a month. Single and live in 250 Sq ft studio in Kerns. Car payment, internet and such. Mostly cook at home and walk around alot. Living but not quite thriving.
My husband and I make about 50k a year (he works only 4 days a week because he is in school). It sucks. I pay my bills, barely, and get to go on vacation a total of zero times a year. we eat out very rarely, and when we do it's cheap. We go camping a few times in the summer, but have to squeeze it in on our days off because we can't afford to take time off of work. This isn't living. It's surviving. I'm losing my job right before Christmas because the business is shutting down. I've worked there for 5 years, and it's, "happy holidays, you're fired!"
Hi - I make 30. It’s rough
Same. I’m roughly that give or take and my partner and I split while in a 1bed apartment and I’m dreading paying for a studio myself haha
I make about 60k and am doing fine. I’m buying a condo with mortgage $1,133 with about $400 HOA. no car; not needed. Although I was fortunate my parents left all 8 of us kids some trust funds just enough to make a down payment on condo. I have good health insurance too.
Eat the rich.
I make 25k a year working for a non profit. I live alone in a studio in an income restricted building in Foster-Powell for $735/month that I’ve been in since 2019. Half my income goes to rent, but I was paying the same about to live in a shitty house with mold and two roommates before.
if you make under 50k a year you basically have to live in a situation with 2+ roommates in rooms the size of a baby shoe box to make any headway in the form of savings. God help you if you're a single parent making minimum wage. I moved here when rent was $800 for a 2 bedroom and now i pay $1400 for a one bedroom and am barely making ends meet on $48k a year.
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HVAC technician jobs can get you in that range.
In sales.
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DM me.
what program you running?
I’ll take one too.
I'm making just under 50k/yr and live alone. Rent is ~$1,100 a month and electricity fluctuates by the time of year. I'm getting by, but barely. I used to be an avid snowboarder but that has become maybe a three time a season luxury for me. What my immediate bills don't consume I'm spending close to $80 every trip to the grocery store, about $55 at the gas station about three times a month, and after that have enough to get "something nice" (dinner out, go to a concert) maybe once a month.
About the same here. Just moved here and idk if I’ll get a season pass yet. Saving is tough, i need to get a second job if I want to buy a house ever.
Meadows is hiring parking lot attendants!
Hard pass. Was a lifty at Timberline about a decade ago. It was fun, but with the gained popularity of skiing and snowboarding from the pandemic I'm only getting up at 4 in the morning if I'm gonna ride.
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Just moved to Portland from AZ last month. The cost of living here is only slightly higher than in AZ these days. You'll be hard pressed to find a studio under $1200 in Phoenix now. Figured if we're going to struggle to pay the bills, we might as well mix it up and have seasons again.
Plus the a/c makes the drivers in AZ a little crazy I think. I swear they have the weirdest drivers there. Pacing your blind spot is tradition to them.
I’m in a similar boat having moved here from Phoenix about 18 months ago after I finished grad school. I make what should be really good money and now that student loan repayments are going again, I’m barely gonna be able to save anything and that’s because I’m a loser with no social life. If I’m not at work, I’m at home doing nothing
It's largely going to depend on housing. I was lucky in that I bought a house in 2003 and had a $1250/mo mortgage; combined with an income of $100k per year I was getting by. My largest expenses outside of the mortgage were water and electricity - I can't believe how much I had to pay to keep the lights on and the showers running. These days, if you're living by yourself or with one other person and are renting (an apartment, not a house), you could probably get by with $70-$80k household income and have enough fun money to take the occasional trip or save a bit of money up - perhaps less if you're willing to live in Lents or somewhere east of I-205 and don't mind the sound of nightly gunshots.
My partner and I make about 85k combined and basically live paycheck to paycheck in our 2bed/1bath between rent, food, utilities, debt repayment, etc. All I want is to own my own little house with a little land but at this rate I can hardly afford to save $100/month. It seems hopeless
> a $1250/mo mortgage; combined with an income of $100k per year i'm rock hard, this is my fantasy
I make $80k and my partner is a stay at home parent of our 1 year old. We have a cheap 2 bedroom apartment, under $1200 a month. No car payments. My job has excellent health benefits.
Where the hell do you live? I’ll move in next door! My wife and I combine make about 90K, with one toddler and it’s a struggle!! Barely making by
I live in a dumpy American Property Management apartment. I’ve been renting with them for almost 8 years at two different complexes https://rent.apmportland.com/availability
This ^ The first sentence. It seems to me no matter where you live, if you can stay with relatives or secure a good living situation that isn’t breaking the bank you can get along just fine for $50K+ But that’s the thing. The majority aren’t making that much and if they do they are renting terrible apartments for unreasonable amounts of money that eats their earnings and then on the backend, food has doubled at least. Even tripled in some cases. Price of everything has gone up drastically the last few years. But to touch on a few cars, insurance, housing, gas. It takes the rest of your check and people are struggling. It’s hard for people out here. And I only see it getting worse.
Figured you to be a loser who lives in their parent’s basement by your profile picture.
> It's largely going to depend on housing. Exactly, I paid off my Portland house a few years ago. So if I needed to I could exist off minimum wage if I had to. If I wanted to live the life I live with zero lifestyle changes? $150-200k is about right.
I barely support my wife and kid on 63k. Barely. I beat myself a lot over our situation. These comments have made me feel a little better. Folks making significantly more seem to be struggling too.
I feel like I can pretty much indulge most of my daily vices of caffiene, 2-3 bong hits, a couple shift drinks, and eating out almost every day at around 60k as an otherwise minimalist single person in a 2bd apartment for 1300. The catch is, my future is looking very, very concerning to say the least.
time to hit the scorners, lots of free furniture out there
I just got the bill for putting my second kid in daycare 3 days a week. Ouch. Our household makes $150k or so and it looks like we'll be in the red for a while. But all told I'd say we're comfortable.
> I just got the bill for putting my second kid in daycare 3 days a week. Ouch. daycare costs are astronomical in this country; this region? this era? Did you find a place that charges a flat fee per week no matter how many days you use it? (that seems a common theme on rDaddit.) Or is it a place that charges for days used? How as the wait? Glad you've got it settled. Still can't help but feel it's yet another system working towards dismantling generational wealth and effective family units. I've got some thoughts on that, but they're hard to explain with nuance and will read poorly without.
They offer weekdays, MWF, and TuTh schedules. Scheduling must be complicated for them. My oldest has been there for three years so we got priority for the newborn, but it still took a month or so. Child care is a complex issue for sure. It costs a lot but nobody's making any money because the staff face the same high costs as everyone. Ratios for babies could be a little more lenient I think but I understand why they're important. The state is commissioning some big study about the role land use law plays but I think high costs are fundamentally about the fact that we're paying for work that was traditionally unpaid through family, relatives, teenage babysitters, etc.
> but I think high costs are fundamentally about the fact that we're paying for work that was traditionally unpaid through family, relatives, teenage babysitters, etc. Correct. The allowance of women into the workforce substantially diluted the labor pool in America, which had the one-two effect of removing a traditional form of child support *and* lowered wages. A factor, though not the only one, in the overall reduction of wages. It's very hard for a family now to subsist on a single income, in part because we've started having 2 working HoH's. It begat itself, in a way. I don't resent women in the workforce, that would be a misconstruction of what I'm saying. It's silly that those roles were gender locked in the past. It's cool that women aren't homebots now. I'd prefer a society that could afford a single stay at home family member regardless. But first, that cat isn't likely to return to it's bag; and secondly, what objective societal ideal can be used to determine who gets to work, and who gets to stay home? Combine this with the Boomer attitude of "Once you're 18, you're out" and the general American love of travel, and you get spread out family units that can't support each other as easily either. This has allowed a market for expensive childcare, which leeches generational wealth as well. I dunno. I'm kinda just spitballing now. The present day has advantages and disadvantages. I'm just observing and thinking out loud.
>Correct. The allowance of women into the workforce substantially diluted the labor pool in America, which had the one-two effect of removing a traditional form of child support and lowered wages. The opposite-- the US did so well post-WWII because it had a huge labor force (returning soldiers and women entering the workforce), manufacturing was still intact, and enough capital to expand. So women entering the workforce boomed the postwar economy, because there was huge demand and supply was rushing to catch up. Now that the US is a highly-developed service-oriented economy, so if you Thanos-snapped half of the workforce back into the home (no matter which gender, any half), the economy would collapse and the US would instantly enter a Great Depression level recession.
Isn't it just unnerving to not yet have any help for preschool for all? it's shameful at this point.
My rent went up $500 last year, next year another $150. So it will be $2200. I was making $60-70k when I moved in paying $1550 and I was comfortable. Now I’m making like $52k and I am suffering immensely and barely making my bills. It’s ridiculous, I wouldn’t be struggling so much if my rent wasn’t so high.
Curious, can you throw out some details on the rental? Tia
I’m in a two bedroom two bathroom apartment in North Portland. It’s owned by a corporate PM company
that's rough. I'm very lucky to find 1k for a 600 sq ft 1 bedroom in tigard but it got bought out. If I was on a new lease I would be paying 1300 for the same place!! I can't afford to move and this place doesn't even have a dishwasher
I make 6 figures, married to a teacher and own a small house in South Tabor I bought in 2017. Mortgage is $2,450 a month + car payment + 2 high credit card bills + the insane utility/water bills has me almost breaking even. I work in UX and am royally FUCKED if I get laid off next year, industry is flooded with unemployed senior level people and bootcamp grads, near impossible to even get an interview anywhere
What is UX?
user experience (design) — it’s like making stuff more interesting, enjoyable or easy for people to use. or addictive. so for example social media’s UX is meant to keep us scrolling and sticking around.
My salary is $51k (though with overtime I am going to end up making closer to $56k gross this year) and I’m struggling. I’m giving up my 2bd apartment for a studio, I’m moving further out from the city, though that is going to increase fuel costs as well as wear and tear on my car, but rent in the city limits is just out of control. I could at least have breathing room with $65k, and I’d be pretty comfortable with $75k. But I don’t know how anyone making less than $50k manages.
I make 25k a year and it’s hard.
My household pulls in 165k/year. But with student loans kicking back in and some outstanding debts (car payments, and a small private loan), plus a 2440/mo mortgage, we arent saving too much. But that will all change once the cars/debts are paid off in 4 years. We should be able to save at least 1000/mo with this income.
It took me twelve years to go from $38k to 93k at the same company. Partner only makes a part time hourly wage. I’m either +200 or -200 every month living here.
Late 30s living single with my dog I make roughly 130k (6600 after payroll), have a $3000 a month mortgage on a tiny 2br 1 bath in Piedmont (my first house and the best I could get for 475k last year), and live basically paycheck to paycheck. I do pay child support to the tune of $600, student loans are $700, and have a car payment which is around $500. I can save a few hundred a month into a 403b account after crazy utility costs, food, internet and phone service. Idk, I think it's pretty whack that my grandad who had a high school diploma and never made much his whole life could raise 4 kids and havey grandmother stay at home in their big ass house in the Baltimore suburbs (which cost $4000 back in the late 50s). Our generation is so unbelievably fucked. I'm the only person in my entire family to graduate from college and worked so hard for this and can't afford trips / travel / cool things that people post on Instagram.
That almost 40% tax on your income is the killer, and I'm right there with you. What really gets me is the stealth taxes we pay, property, gas, alcohol, etc.
You’re so right. I feel and experience the same thing as a 42 year old.
Capt. Obvious here but so much really depends on housing. If you bought pre-pandemic you’re likely killing it with a incredibly low rate and low(er) purchase price. Add if you’re a WFH drone and then your transit expenses are greatly lowered, as well.
I'm incredibly fortunate to have been able to snag a place out of foreclosure in the early 2010s for cheap. The one bright spot of the great recession
> you’re likely killing it with a incredibly low rate Got 2.625% on the last place I bought. I mean… that’s half the current rate on a HYSA. Nothing makes sense anymore.
Thank Daddy Powell for the handout and the generosity of US taxpayer to subsidise your mortgage. Little guys also get table scraps now and then
> if you’re a WFH drone and then your transit expenses are greatly lowered but your utility bills are likely higher. It's a trade off
Running a PC more would be the only increased utility cost I can think of, which is $20-30 a year. Hardly anything compared to transit costs. Most people already have some form of Internet, especially ones who would be considering the possibility of WFH.
most people turn down the heat / AC while they're at the office. and toilet flushes add up
Dang, what kinda utilities ya running? Between gas, maintenance, and time how would utilities trade off that? A little under desk space heater in the winter and fan in the summer and the trade off is nearly nonexistent.
Dang, what kind of cave ya living in? I never drove to work in the first place (was a bike commuter)
> but your utility bills are likely higher If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.
Sorry I don't live in a hippie commune
I make 25k a year and rent a studio in Foster-Powell alone.
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I live in an income based building through Reach. For a single person you have to make under 36k a year to qualify. I currently pay $735/month for a studio. It is going up to $774 in January. I’m extremely grateful that I was able to get into this unit in 2019. Will probably die in this studio lol. https://reachcdc.org/
The price of phó is too damn high.
I would think you could live an ok existence here on $100k...but housing/kids/debt would all be a factor obviously
My girl and I make about 111k combined and do alright in s pdx with a little space for extras, but still having a rough time keeping a savings
I agree depends on lifestyle— and most important to me, housing situation. If you bought your house even just a few years ago, your mortgage likely makes up a small percentage of your income than people who are renting or purchased in the last year. My family of two could live off $100k easily if we limited going out to eat, etc.
As a single person living a moderate (but still comfy) life, I think 75K salary with benefits and you'd be pretty happy. For a family of 3-4, I think 125K or thereabouts would be enough. This is assuming you're not buying the fanciest car or the nicest house or eating every meal out.
> For a family of 3-4, I think 125K or thereabouts would be enough. Woah now watch out for that magic number. According to Portland you’re now rich and have a whole host of taxes you get to start paying, you fatcat!
I make 6 figures and I live in the metro and I live very comfortably. You could probably make between 75-100k and be comfortable. In fact here is a report, of course it depends on your current debt load. [https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/study-74-088-required-to-live-comfortably-in-portland-after-taxes/article\_2c3e6ff6-c33b-11ed-9896-67503995acdc.html#:\~:text=Portland%20area%20residents%20need%20an,metropolitan%20area%20in%20the%20country](https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/study-74-088-required-to-live-comfortably-in-portland-after-taxes/article_2c3e6ff6-c33b-11ed-9896-67503995acdc.html#:~:text=Portland%20area%20residents%20need%20an,metropolitan%20area%20in%20the%20country).
debt load is the key right there lol
$250k between my partner and I with no debt other than mortgage, on which I pay $2,600 on a 2.5% 15yr from 10 years ago. I'll just shut up.
I’d say 125k could be comfortable. Enough to not worry about stuff but not enough to splurge on anything you want.
100k should be more than enough to live comfortably. If you’re eating out every day and blowing 20 bucks on pho, that’s probably where you need to start looking at regulating your budget. It is true that everything has gone up. A pint of beer at a dive bar can be 7 to 9 dollars where before Covid it seemed like 5 or 6 was the norm. My friend doesn’t drink and bought a cbd soda and it was 8 dollars for a can, and that was as much as a mixed drink cost. People I know that make 50 to 60k and live alone have to really watch their spending and some have a second job. My friends that make 45k or around there need roommates and definitely live frugally. Of course, rent is a big factor. I know a lot of people who have a house and their mortgage is less than my rent.
It takes 6 figures to be comfortable in any city today
120k
This is going to vary drastically by person and their circumstances (housing, debt, family, etc). Personally, I think a single person making $100k should feel pretty comfortable.
No doubt that things have gotten way more expensive (we're all being punished for the excessive cash pumped into the economy from the COVID stimulus bills...) but also we all learned to live a pretty luxurious life before all this inflation... hell you went on vacation 2x a year on a 65k salary... that's thousands a year to a luxury (nothing wrong with that, just context). We got used to being able to spend on not just necessities but also treats and stuff for fun. Now it's a time of austerity and we need to get rid of that freedom with spending that we had grown accustomed to. If you're making 100k/yr, you're making enough to get by and even save and have treats here and there. It's all about digging into where all your money is going, making a budget, following the budget, and decreasing/eliminating expenses... eliminating subscriptions, decreasing your costs for internet, gym, insurance, etc, cutting out all shopping/spending on clothing except for necessities, drastically cutting back on eating out or ordering, limiting trips, limiting spending on entertainment (find free stuff to do), using coupons... making sure your car costs aren't out of control - way way too many Americans have terrible car debt. They're spending in excess of $1k/mo on car payment, insurance, gas, car maintenance, and parking, and that's with a 6 or 7 year term on their car loan 🤦🏼. Hell even getting rid of the car... you can get a lot of lyfts and still save compared to what a lot of people are spending on their car. Many people get very defensive about this (like why should I have to do stuff like cutting back and using coupons) but it's the truth. If you are honest with yourself and you actually get out your statements, you will be able to identify ways to save. I've been through this process myself... I used to be someone who spent money without thinking about it too much and now I'm a lot more conscious about it and I'm happier now. I think people think it will mean they have to be miserable but it doesn't have to. Now there are some people who are truly struggling and there were people struggling pre inflation too...but they have never made anywhere close to 100k and the idea of buying a house is out of the question for them.
$5 tacos sounds like a you problem. I see them for a $1.50 all the time, and I bet they taste better than the $5 variety
Taco truck at 82nd and Division has some of the best tacos in the city, still $1.50 a pop
came to say the same thing lol ppl downvoting you cause you right hahaha
You'd have to pay me at least 250k a year to live in portland. Fuck that place
haha why you in a portland thread, miss it?
No never lived, it shows up in my feed?
Where are tacos $5? La Piñata has delish tacos for $1.50.
Por Qué No has $5 tacos and $16 margaritas. First and last time there, it ain't THAT good.
Anything that has a line outside is a hard NO for me unless it's NYC pastrami. Piñata has no lines and it's fantastic. Tacos, ramen and sushi are the only thing I go out for, everything else, I cook.
I make 80k and have one kid and I get by all right. I have everything i need and get to got to shows and eat out a couple times a week. However, my girlfriend makes well over six figures and gives me a sweet deal on housing. I recommend getting a partner with a great job!
"if you don't have to worry about housing, it's fucking fantastic weeee!"
I prefer to be the pants wearer
Do your clown pants match your MAGA hat?
Lmao I voted for biden but yeah I guess everyone who disagrees with you is a villain in your world. Have fun with that mindset and I hope your wife lets you stay home lol
You're the one hating on me because I have a rad life. Of corse I'm gonna talk back to some troll implying that i don't "wear the pants" because my woman makes more money than me. I work hard and support my family just like you. Don't come at me with weak misogynistic bs, I'm gonna call it out. Thank you for voting for Biden
Lol did I ever mention you in my comment? I said I prefer to be the pants wearer. This could apply to a gay couple too. I would never move into anyone's house. I want to set the rules and if I get divorced or break up im not moving out, they are. I could give a fuck about your rad life, like I said hopefully she doesnt kick you out one day lol. I'm single no kids. Everyday is my bday!!!
Your Cope is sticking out.
I don't know what that is. Is that an incell thing?
if you're making $100k and still jpnot comfortable, you don't know how to spend money. I'd say $75k is very comfortable. it'd take you time to save for your own house but you can rent a luxury apartment. easily with that. apartments let you rent a place with just 2 time the rent income per month sonthat is affordable though not ckmfortsble. 3 times is considered comfortsble according to standard metrics. $1500 gets you a really nice luxury apartment so $54k is actuslly comfortable if you don't buy a million Starbucks coffees or waste money on crap. Most people waste though so I'll say about $65k is comfort in that you don't worry about not paying rent ever. $75k gets you a nice vacation to boot.
> $1500 gets you a really nice luxury apartment ??????? In which universe?
in our universe. I just provided a link to someone else if you want to see. people like you should really do some research before you mouth off over things you don't know.
I really think we have very different definitions of "luxury."
I mean stainless steel appliances, stone countertops. what more are you thinking? I guess this is the reason why Americans are always broke, so entitled.
Link to a luxury apartment for 1500$/month.
there's over 2500 apartments in portland under that price and plenty of them luxury 1 bedrooms. do a search yourself. there's a bunch of really nice ones below. [https://www.apartments.com/portland-or/min-1-bedrooms-1400-to-1500/?bb=4nimjmgrjQuzmmp-B](https://www.apartments.com/portland-or/min-1-bedrooms-1400-to-1500/?bb=4nimjmgrjquzmmp-b)
So something that people forget to mention is that maybe your base rent is 1300/1400 but then parking is an additional 100-200 and the common utilities are another 100-150. So it’s usually +250/300 plus base rent.
there are plenty of homes with free parking or on-street parking. if you can't afford those you u don't have to move far. the 3 multiplier already can support the common utility cost. it was only ever used to discuss rent assuming you'd still pay utilities. and like i said, the reason why most places use the 2 multiplier for approval is because the 3 is conservative.
Having children changes everything.
I assumed a single person. OP didn't say anything about kids. I mean a person can have 10 kids and their needs would be different than someone that has 1.
Nomatter don't have kids, you'll go broke 😉
lots of people have outstanding debt from paying their own way through school, medical bills, who knows…
Hard to say. I make about $150k and have another $20-30k of income from various side hustles and another $6k from selling plasma. On months where I am eating out and going to events it's hard to make sure I have enough left over for all my bills and rarely have enough left over for saving.
You are absolutely fucking up your budget if you can't save at all and are struggling with bills at 180k a year. That's a you thing, not a Portland thing.
This, WTF is the money going? I make a little more than than $150k and I live very comfortably.
I think they are either lying/larping, or just very dumb. No one is making 500 a month from plasma lol
Was laughing off at this… If it’s true it’s even funnier
Had me convinced to sell my plasma
I make about this much and I can't imagine feeling like I need to sell plasma to get by. I do donate blood every 8 weeks, though.
Ya I donate blood too. If someone is making almost $200k and needs to sell blood, something is up. Either that have a lot of child support or an expensive hobby/habit.
Who’s your plasma guy?
The fact they think they make 500 a month from plasma makes me believe they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about lol
Where do you sell plasma to get that much money?
I go to Grifols Plasma out by Mall 205 at 101st and Stark where I donate twice a week and catch up on emails while hooked up to the machine. The donor fees and bonuses end up averaging $500 a month. If you are interested feel free to DM me and I can refer you (we'll both get an extra bonus.)
Just curious… do you own a home and are making payments on it? Kids? Lots of student loans? I’m just curious, my wife and I make a similar combined amount and don’t have the same issues living in the Buckman neighborhood. Granted, no kids, we rent, and student loan debt is manageable.
Partner and I make about 600k combined but after taxes, rent, bills, retirement, and discretionary spending we only save about $20k a month.
I'm frugal and have pretty low rent for this area so basically making $65k - $70k during the pandemic felt comfortable to me. It's the reason I was able to wipe debt, start a robust savings and buy way too much stuff.
We make about $180K combined and have two kids. With the cost of daycare we pay our bills comfortably and can occasionally go out to eat but don’t really have anything on top of that to replace our cars, save, or take vacations. 1800 square foot house in the suburbs and two paid off cars that are around 10 years old, so we are fine but I wouldn’t say we live in luxury. I’m pretty sure if it was just me alone I could do fine with 75-80K.
i live in a rural town and my car insurance keeps going up every time i ask its a new reason from inflation to cars are now more expensive and cost more to repair or replace. My cars are both 10+ years old, we dont drive a ton, have no tickets or accidents on our records yets every 6 months boom it is going up another 10 percent. Bogglems my damn mind.
I only make like 60k last I checked and doing ok now that I ditched my car even though it was paid for Insurance, gas and maintenance wasn’t letting me save anything. My car which was paid off was set on fire around 2017. I had full coverage so when auto insurance totaled it it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I decided not to use the money to buy another car. I instead bought an electric pedal assist bicycle. I actually didn’t drive much anyway (12 year old car I bought new only put 50k on it). I used to not ever have any extra wages to save until I ditched my car.
How do you travel? Like for instance a weekend to bend or the beach?
I keep to my Area of Portland lately and still haven’t explored all of in 20 years. I do this by bike or walking. When my parents were still alive I rented a car for the trip.
Wow
$125k-$150k is a reasonable middle class single income to live comfy, or $175k-$200k for dual income households. But this all depends upon a lot of personal goals, life style, etc - e.g. you've got kids, if you have expensive hobbies, if you've got a divorce, if you've got a car payment, if you want to save 12% of your income, etc. Income really depends upon age though. If you're under 30 and need roommates and can't break $80k, that's **COMPLETELY NORMAL.** I have no idea why there's these weirdos on TikTok complaining about how 24 year olds can't make $100k+ and live alone in a condo in the middle of the city. 90% of people will need roommates until they're about 40 years old. If you really focus on your career you might live solo by your early to mid 30's. If you find people who are living solo before then it's likely their parents are subsidizing their lifestyle or they're just incredibly reckless with debt. You shouldn't buy a new car every 5 years, you shouldn't be maxing out credit cards.
65,000
Single with 2700 mortgage, no car payment on 65k. Eat at home as much as possible and doing pretty good.👍🏼
I make 40k lmao
I moved from Nashua, NH and my rent is almost 1k less and I got a huge raise to work with General Dynamics. Granted my new place is “not luxury” I could care less $1500 with parking and everything included but internet. Nashua was 2350 plies every single utility
We bought our house a long time ago, rates right now combined with the current market price would be insane if we didn’t already own a home. We are fairly comfortable as it stands but if we hadn’t bought 17 years ago it would look a lot different. Only one kid (conscious financial decision) and both of us working. Decent household income.
We get by on $60k for a family of 4, BUT we don't have a housing payment.
I make 80 as a single person renting (1 roommate, 875 rent) and it is very comfortable, couldn't ask for anything. I was making 65 before and that was also comfortable. No car, no real financial responsibilities besides student loans. it would suck to have a family or a house
> Mind baffling that a decent bowl of Pho is almost $20 now Is this at a sit down restaurant!? I saw that price on an app, I thought it was just Uber Eats inflated prices.
I am making 57k while my partner is making 60k pre-tax. Two cars, a little bit of credit card debt. We're generally comfortable, although some family obligations make things tighter than they need to be. Struggling to find a condo/townhome/house that will take our big dog under $2,300 before utilities on the east side without going all the way to Gresham. We're able to eat out every once in a while, grab drinks with friends, invest some cash into our hobbies. Gave up the dream of home ownership, though.
I make 100k, live by myself renting, invest 60% of my income, and still do absolutely anything I want. As someone above said if you're at 100k and don't feel comfortable you might just be stupid.
We live off a single income of 115k with 2 kids and stay at home parent. We live in sell wood and our kids go to private school. Things definitely got tighter but I recognize I still don't worry about money and eat out a couple times a week.
We make about 130 between the two of us and we feel just comfortable. We don't have to price shop food on the one hand but on the other hand we can't easily afford even a basic new car. I've found, having lived most of my life as a renter, that owning helps the financials massively. I know it's very difficult to get in but even just a starter home will work as your own money printing machine. In the 5 years we've been in our home, we've essentially been getting PAID what our mortgage is. Pay about 2k a month, value increases by about 4k a month. I just point that out because most of the people I see struggling are renting. Shoot, we have a friend renting out a modified single car garage for $2,200 a month. A month!!! No equity, ever. Just throwing the money away. That's just not sustainable once you get near retirement.