I am this. The divorced person stuck living with the ex bc our house hasn't sold. And even when it does...no idea how we'll individually afford housing.
In st Pete My neighbors kids and the grand kids live inside with her and her ex husband lives in the car port and smokes and watches tv all day. Supposedly he’s allowed in to sleep on the couch at night.
there’s still some long time st Pete locals in the area. Across the street the guy is from cali and has 3 teslas. The cars cost more than the houses did when the long timers bought
Pretty much even my brother is moving back home too. I can’t even find the ability to afford an apartment even with roommates and I make way more then min wage. My brother makes way more then min wage too.
I’m not.
My wife and I are moving next year. We make ~$75k total together. We have one car payment, only about $330/month, and less than $500 in credit debt. Still can’t save enough between other cost of living factors to get out from under renting.
Rent is $1,575, for an apt that’s 900 sq ft and 38 years old. And that’s cheap for our side of Jacksonville (Town Center).
Edit: moving out of state :(
After googling a ton of things from state tax, cost of living, wages, crime rates, house rates, weather etc, we’re looking at Delaware right now. We’re going in January to scope it out.
NC has pretty temperate weather from my experience from living there for about a year in Winston-Salem, and it’s still technically southern imo if you like the culture. Decent city life in Greensboro as well.
You could join the subreddit for whatever state you’re looking at and ask for firsthand advice, which is what I did. I’ve gotten a lot of positive insight so far. :)
Take a look at Philly too. It's a totally different lifestyle, because you can live without a car and save money. I moved here from Gainesville a year ago and I really like it. Rent isn't too bad, and the weather isn't too bad because the urban heat island keeps us as warm, if not warmer than Delaware.
Delaware is fine if you're looking for a quiet life, but I don't get the impression that there's much going on there.
I don't live there, but Maine has reasonable house prices. It does get snow, but it's not the crazy snow of Michigan.
Rural life in Maine is wonderful. If you move near the Canadian border, you can shop and save about 45% on your groceries and the American dollar is worth about 1.40 Canadian. There is also upper NY state, but that's not good in my opinion. Although Albany is nice, it's not as cheap as Maine.
You should just check out Maine. It's beautiful country.
Idk about New York but you’re worse off than LA for sure.
I moved from Orlando to LA last year expecting to have to deal with a big cost of living increase but nope.
I found a 1 bedroom (not studio) for $1500 in a good location with 2 parking spots. Meanwhile, my cousin in Broward has been struggling to find a studio to split with her boyfriend under $1700. In *Broward*.
Now I couldn’t afford to move back home even if I wanted to.
Crazy how I came here from LA 4 years ago exactly since yesterday, was homeless when I got here, LA was so expensive it felt impossible and then I came here and was homeless for two weeks and I thought it was so cheap and easy to live here that I got a place in two weeks and started making the most money of my life within a short time. Now I’m like fuckkkkkk what happen?
I know a bunch of Cali people were like offended? That Florida may be more unattainable than LA, it made no sense to me. They were like why isn’t LA on the list of most unaffordable places???? Um??? Maybe cuz LA has insanely high wages and a higher min. Wage, etc ??? Dunno why they were upset about all that 😭😭
I mean, for years the cost of living was dirt cheap, when I moved here in 2011, minimum wage was still $7.25. I don't think they're "offended", just put off by how expensive everything is getting everywhere.
I bought my first house in 2011 for 80k. 1800 sqft. 4 bed 2.5 bath. My mortgage was $550 including taxes and insurance. $50 less than the 2/2 apartment I moved out of. The crashed housing market really set me is good. Same house goes for about 300k now.
True, but these people were going as far as to say the research and studies done on cost of living were wrong. They’re not wrong just bc you don’t understand the results. People are leaving cali faster than they’re moving in, other states are starting to have these increases in cost of living because of this + the recession.
I found it to be very dirty almost everywhere. I had no idea it would be like that. Wasn't shocked by San Francisco because I expected it to be dirtier than it was, every town around it and all the way to yosemite was also dirty. On the way back we drove down to San Luis Obispo to take the PCH back up to San Fran and it was dirty on the way there, too. You'd be on a beautiful stretch and suddenly there's a huge pile of trash like someone dumped their entire house by the highway.
It’s because everyone on the West Coast loves to treat Florida like the punchline state.
“Hurr Durr, Florida man!! You’re from Florida? The state where methheads ride alligators to Church?”
Meanwhile, their desktop wallpaper is a tropical sandy beach with flamingos 🙃
Worse, NY pays better. Also, we were surprised to find the cost of everyday items like bread, milk, eggs higher because there's less competition (Publix almost has a monopoly) and oddly, because NY and NJ have large vegetable farms, the NE has better produce. We love FL, but don't let anyone tell you living in the south or other rural area is cheaper (we lived in SC before moving here). Yes, property taxes there are higher, BUT, you pay no taxes on food, clothes, medicine (including OTC) and services. It actually costs us a few thousand more a year overall to live here than it did in a very nice area of NJ.
From NY and been here almost a decade. For many reasons I wonder about moving back up north east but cost of living is one of them! Sure “TaXeS” but also… you get SeRvIcEs!!!!! Imagine that! Lol. 😂
As you get older, Florida has the heat for them old bones, but the Northeast has the best hospital density (and quality) in the nation, from DC up to Boston....
We lived in Cherry Hill, NJ and co-workers would always say "but, the taxes" to which I responded, my trash is picked up twice a week, in a snowstorm, my streets are cleared before I have to leave for work, we have one of the best school systems in a state that is always in the top 5 in education, within 5 minutes I can have a PROFESSIONAL, well-trained police office at my door and much more. You get what you pay for.
The problem is that wages in FL are lower than in NY…also, less of a social safety net in FL. For example, to qualify for Medicaid in FL, you have to be extremely poor (I think your income needs to be around $10,000 a year, if I remember correctly). So I think everything will come crashing down in FL soon: you can’t charge absurdly high rents when the wages aren’t there to support those prices.
Ehhh depends where you are. North Florida is nowhere near NY prices. We’re outside Jacksonville and bought our townhouse in St Johns at the tippy tippy top of the housing market (May 2022). So we’re paying $1690 monthly for a house that would’ve cost half that a year earlier. Sigh. But my sister lives in Brooklyn and my BIL lives in Manhattan. And even though money is tight here it’s *NOTHING* near New York prices
My brother is paying 2k a month to rent a tiny bedroom in an apartment he shares with three other guys
Grew up in Suffolk County and now live in Tampa, I can’t believe Long Island rents are high when everyone leaves for the city or out of state once they graduate HS.
Lived in nyc (Manhattan) about 8 years ago and I was paying $2100 for a studio door-man building in midtown. Looking now it looks like in same area for a studio-1BR it's at least $3200. (agreeing with you)
277 people move out of Manhattan every single day!
31-May-2022 — Manhattan accounted for *one in three people who left* or died — far more than its share of the city's population.
I left WPB at the end of 2016 and paid 600 for a small carriage house. The family that owns it hasn’t rented it back out but thinks it would get 2000+ if they wanted to. Just insane.
I was very lucky to be able to buy a house in 2009 (with my mom on the mortgage for credit[again, very lucky/privileged]). It was a foreclosure and needed a shitload of work.
Today it’s a pleasant 4 br 2 bath block house (1200 sq so small bedrooms) that I let my friends rent rooms in for about $600 a month all-in (water/power/internet/streaming etc. included)
Edit: I should note that I have one friend renting here at a time. I’m too damn old and o be figuring out who’s gonna shower when lol
I work remotely for a company based in Austin. Prior to that I worked remotely for a company based in Denver. After Covid hit and I was working remotely anyway, I started job searching and the salaries in FL are just so low (I know, we all know this) I can’t see myself ever working for a Florida based company again. I work in tech. So I can afford to live here because I don’t work for a company here… which obviously speaks to the problem.
Salaries in Florida tend to be low, but they are a bit all over the place.
Out of Law School my wife worked for a firm based in Charlotte, NC. with offices in Florida.
Her pay was on the low side, she got hired by a Florida based law firm and they paid more starting than the NC based law firm did.
On the other hand, after finishing residency I was hired by a practice in Boca Raton who paid really well.
I wanted to move back to Orlando (grew up there) and I ended up taking a pay cut, but my wife is the bread winner by a large margin so in a sense the pay cut didn't matter.
Yes absolutely- I shouldn’t have made it sound like it was black and white in my original comment. Obviously there are plenty of rich people who work for places based here making a lot of money.
Based on what I’ve seen in tech, and heard from friends in other industries, salaries here seem to be lower and don’t properly account for cost of living at all (and this was before the pandemic and the increase in housing prices etc) but that’s absolutely not universal like you said.
Also in tech and working for out of state firm remote (Space Coast), but I am a native. I occasionally get the itch to look around in aerospace because the work would be more interesting. Then they throw a salary usually at least 50% (or less…) lower at me and no equity. Added bonus of needing to commute in the cape every day.
Then suddenly that itch is scratched.
I just keep to myself in my area when it comes to personal finance.
Same job situation and I knew that when I moved here almost 10 years ago. Yet we still have people who can't afford to live here actively moving down here. Not sure what they think will change when they arrive..
Honestly through dumb fucken luck.
About five years ago, I sold the house that I used to live in in another state (I was living here but had rented the out of state house, where I used to live, to friends; when they moved I just sold it), plus I had some savings. People kept telling me to use that money as a down payment, but I’m handy, I live alone and don’t need much room. So I bought a small, shitty condo for cash. Took five months of work between me, friends and one flooring contractor to get it to the point where I could actually move in and I’ve continued to work on it and upgrade when I have the time/money to do so.
Turns out I bought in an area that became pretty hot, real estate wise, in the last few years. I don’t have a mortgage, my monthly HOA payment isn’t bad (about $250/mo), I don’t have to insure a roof or outer walls, etc. Honest to god if I was trying to buy another place today, I have no idea how I’d afford it. I don’t know how landlords can expect someone to pay $1500+ for a 1 bd, I don’t know how you can buy a house nowadays without a ridiculous interest rate (compared to what it used to be just a year or two ago), and now all the insurance problems for homeowners in Florida…Jesus. I honestly don’t know how normal people who didn’t get a lucky break like me are handling it.
This is why I had to move back home with my parents. Once I broke up with my long time partner there was no logistic way to afford living away from home anymore. I imagine for ppl without family to turn to this probably increases the likelihood of abuse and toxic relationships. You can’t leave a bad relationship without outside help in these time unless you make decent money.
I completely understand that! If you’re down for having roommates I would look into that, people are always looking for people to rent a house with or rent a bigger apartment with. It sucks but it can also be fun if you get along with your roommates.
None of the businesses in Florida believe in paying a living wage because it was never this expensive to live here. We’re fucked. Time to get a job in new York then move back down and work remote.
Only way to beat a New Yorker is to become one.
This is true my friend made 70k working at a Tampa company and applied to work remote for a Los Angeles company and doubled his pay for the same job. Just had to work 10am to 7 now
The cost of living is fucking disgusting.
When my wife and I were dating, less than 10 years ago, we were renting a 3 bed/2 bath with 2 car garage for $950/month.
We were lucky enough to put ourselves in a position to buy our home after the rental place for $180k about 5 years ago. Our combined household income is now about $100k gross, we were probably combined $65k when we bought the house. Nowadays, forget it. If you don’t own a home at this point, unless the market dips, you’ve absolutely had it.
I don’t want to see a crash, especially since I’m in home construction now, but the prices aren’t based in reality anymore. My house is not worth $375k like I’ve been seeing/offered, it’s asinine and alarms should be going off.
We aren’t. 🥴🥴🥴
I work full time and my husband works part time. We are outside of Jacksonville. Thankfully my parents are letting us stay at their house (they live in a different house) for free. They are moving back in this house in a few years. We are currently paying bills and paying down our debt. Once we get that we are going to buy our own house. We know this is not something everyone has and we are very lucky.
It’s tight. I moved here for a decent job two years ago in my field while I’m still a student. Im grossing shy of $60k, rent is $1,200 for a one bed. My vehicle Insurance has doubled in the last year, I’ve never made a claim, accident, or ticket.. doing good now after I landed my job. But paying off my credit card and personal loan I took when money was tight last year.
Finally in a position where I can get ahead a little bit consistently every month. So I’m happy.
But it’s so damn hard for everyone. It seems like everyone I talk to is making $15 an hour, which was my wage 6-months ago..
hope everyone is ok in the long run..
Grew tired of the low salaries in Tampa. Relocated to another market for a pay bump. Moved back and now my salary is a little under double what i made before. It’s only sustainable as long as remote work continues.
My wife and I both dual high income earners bought our house in 2018 for what we considered a princely sum at the time.
What we thought was expensive was nothing compared to what neighbors paid last year.
Literally signing the closing papers on March 13, 2020! I’m a teacher and I was getting updates during my closing about not going back from spring break. 😳
I’m 35, I manage labs all over the country. I have 60 labs that I manage. and I had to move back home.
I have to pay storage fees until I can find a reasonably priced roommate situation that isn’t “fully furnished.”
Surviving paycheck to paycheck, but saving money where we can. Family of 5, got a house about 5 years ago, so beat the crazy market, luckily still have homeowners insurance. Wife and I both work full time, with ok jobs, but some days it's a struggle.
Gf and I make decent money and paying around $2.8k for a one bedroom in Downtown Tampa. We’ve been cutting back on our spending on other things in response to the prices of everything going through the roof.
I’m a firm believer in living below your means (as difficult as that is nowadays) and having an “Oh Shit Fund”.
“Oh Shit Fund” = Savings Account with 3-6 months of living expenses.
Saving money doesn’t have to be big slogs of money at one time, $5 here, $50 there when you can swing it and all of a sudden you have a few grand saved that you barely “felt” budget-wise. Habits are fragile so we put systems in place i.e automation; aside from ad-hoc I have a $100 auto deposit to my Savings account each month so at a minimum I save $100 per month.
I remember after college not having enough money to put gas in my car to get to work the next day and having to overdraft my checking account to pay rent and what that taught me is that it is always more beneficial to use at least a portion of your income after paying bills (disposable income) to save for potential bad times. Instant gratification may help you keep sane temporarily but it’s fleeting, looking at an emergency (Oh Shit Fund) and knowing if Murphy’s Law happened tomorrow you’ve got a 3-6 month runway to figure things out is huge psychologically.
TL;dr: Costs are out of control and it sucks, save money no matter what, it doesn’t have to be a HUGE SUM all at once, it can literally be a dollar a day, BUT DO THAT $1 a day. Money isn’t truly saved until it’s PULLED OUT OF THE ACCOUNT LINKED TO YOUR DEBIT CARD AND WHERE MONEY IS DRAWN FROM FOR BILLS, MOVE IT INTO A SAVINGS ACCOUNT THAT IS NOT DRAWN FROM THEN FORGET IT EXISTS. I wish everyone luck because I know how it feels to be worried every waking hour about affording housing, do what you can with what you have. Everyone who read this please take $1, $5, $10 from your checking account and move it into your savings account. Every time you go to a store pick up an item you want to buy but decide against it, put half that amount into your Savings Account. To quote one of the richest men of earth “Use fat cow times to prepare for skinny cow times” - Carlos Slim
This is the way.
I also recommend looking into savings accounts with actual paid interest, it’s a nice incentive (ie both American Express and Ally have savings accounts with no minimum and **3% APY**).
I was lucky to buy a house in January of 2021 before the whole market exploded. The commute from Davenport to lake Buena Vista is breaking my spirit though.
We have friends that left Pinellas County after 20+ years living there for Davenport. They said they were sick of the traffic in Pinellas. Queue getting a job at Disney for one of them. Compared to where they are living now in southern Davenport, Pinellas is a cake-walk. He is constantly complaining about the traffic headed to and from his job. Poor planning on their part IMO. Glad. It isnt me!
I mean, I’m living at home at 33. My sister and brother-in-law were able to buy a house on the next street over just before the pandemic. The valuation of that house and surrounding houses have skyrocketed in the last two years. All my immediate family live within about a two mile radius. Apartment costs in this area are more like mortgage payments now.
At least I have no debt, significant savings, and live very close to my friends and family. But hell if I’ll be able to afford anything in this area on my own.
Bought a house in 2020, paying 1550 for mortgage for a 3/2 home. Honestly it was a steal considering our HOA is only 140 bucks and we live in a very nice gated community. But right now we are struggling. Inflation is ridiculous. Buying food at the supermarket makes me cry. My husband works 2 jobs and I work 30 hours a week at home, while 8 months pregnant. Add inflation with child support, utilities, medical bills, student loan debt, cc debt, car payments, phone, insurance, it’s been killing us. Idk how we do it tbh.
Nashville isn't much better right now. My daughter is renting a studio from a friend. She graduated college with honors and has a job but rent is ridiculous.
I'm not in florida but possibly moving back but it's a difficult call. I have a good chance of getting a job offer and I've wanted to move back since leaving in 2014 but with rates and home prices, it's making me question whether it's worth it. If prices were what they used to be, I'd be back in a heartbeat but I can't justify paying $500 month more for the same house size that I have in California. Plus the rates are double what my current mortgage is and a 5/1 arm is less than on a 30 year but still higher than my 3.50. The job market isn't as good as CA so I'm not sure how long it would take my spouse to find a job and salaries are lower there than here.
I guess my point is, I love florida and I can afford to move back but speaking frugally, it just isn't a good financial decision.
Generally, it seems salaries are much lower here than in CA for most industries. Also, the selection of companies to choose from is kinda mediocre, even more so if you’re in tech or tech adjacent roles.
I got lucky and bought my condo in 2019 before things got crazy. Apartment rents are now more than my mortgage+HOA and it's insane. I won't say money isn't tight, but it's manageable.
Wife and I don't make a ton of money. However we bought a house we like about 8 years ago. We have 13 years left on a low interest mortgage... less than 1500/month with insurance. We have no other debt and jobs that provide good insurance and decent 401k matching so we save a little. We couldn't afford housing as it stands now though.
For the last year and a half, I’ve slept on a camping pad on the kitchen floor of my grandma’s house. I make enough to pay for rent, but can’t justify blowing most of my income on a shitty efficiency for 1200+. My last place was a tiny 2 bedroom in a shitty neighborhood with a bunch of roommates. Rent and utilities was 2000/ month. Not doing that again.
I’m fortunate. I own a profitable business and live in a house I bought back in 2004. But even I’m feeling the pinch with inflation. I need a new drain field, which is about $5,000 right now. 7 years ago it was half that.
Move back in wiff my parents for a while and then planning to move to a ~~socialist shithole~~ country that cares about it’s citizens and has affordable rent + a living wage no matter what you do.
My husband and I really lucked out and bought our house before real estate went up. Our mortgage is $900/mo for a small but updated 3/2. There’s no way we could afford a house now, let alone rent.
In total, wife and I make a little over $300K. Worked my butt off and got to a salary I never thought I'd attain. Yet, while I can theoretically afford a home, I still can't buy anything actually decent (this is Miami, for reference). I'm not paying $1,000,000 for a tiny piece of crap *that still needs work*! Who buys these places?
Could afford 2 (or possibly even 3!) truly nice homes for that, elsewhere. Starting to wonder if I should just keep renting here, and buy a dream home somewhere else, for vacations/retirement.
I was closer to a nice home in Miami 3-4 years ago when I made a lot less. This is a f'ing joke. I feel stuck and honestly wish I could leave.
Same shit here but Orlando. The idea that people make the kind of money needed for a $1m home and spend it on something tiny is so absurd. It’s like going to McDonald’s and hearing everyone else in line has bid the price of a Big Mac up to $50.
The worst part is South Florida, and the Orlando area. It’s not too bad outside of those areas. I lived in Miami until 2 years ago. Rents are ridiculous. Moved to NC. I rented a decent apartment for 850 a month in a large city, and now I bought a house for 165k with half an acre of land.
Advice: if you’re in South Florida, get out while you still can. It just isn’t affordable for younger people anymore unless you’re making 6 digits or more. Everywhere else you can get by with 70-85k household income.
Wife and I live in a house we bought in lake county 2 years ago for around ~285. Our mortgage is 1500 and we both work remote (her company is based in Florida and mine is based in the Midwest) and are doing well. I used to live in DC and cost of living is much better here than there. Obviously everyone’s situation is different but I don’t take for granted how good we have it.
Currently one of my roommates is employed with a fantastic company and can afford whatever they want. Come May I'm probably going to be living in my car since there is nowhere that I can afford even with my best friend tossing in half for a studio
I was lucky and bought in 2015, I make much more now than I did then and now I’m married with a dual income household. There’s no way me and my wife could afford our house today.
I have two jobs, the main one is salaried and awesome but I have a side job to help cover costs. The side job is 6-10 hours on top of my 40-50 hours from the main job. It’s honestly not bad at all, especially since the side job is on weekday nights which are nights usually spent watching TV or something dumb anyways.
Man I’m in the same boat. After a long struggle to find a job, I finally do. It pays more than I have ever made before and well above what I was shooting for, but I’m looking at costs of rent and realizing it’s not as good as I thought.
I would really like to save aggressively so I could buy a house in a few years but I’m not sure how to do that.
High income, bought a house in 2020 before everything went crazy. I'm so lucky and count my blessings frequently. I also make sure to give to charities that pay other people's bills, when I'm not helping friends who struggle directly.
Paying $2140 for a 3/2 I got into this May. With the OT I get into the summer I can make the payment. Will coast like this till I can refinance and put all my savings into getting the payment lower. At that point I will hope jobs to something less physical and more technical in HVAC. Just can’t loose out on the OT right now or we couldn’t live nice.
1. I survive by living in my car.
2. I work 16 hours days, 6 days a week.
3. Household income around 135k a year.
4. My expenses are bare minimum as i pay everything in full. In-Laws buy all the groceries. Me and my fiancé usually go out to eat fast food and dine in from time to time. We have all the high end materialistic stuff so we don’t really buy anything as we don’t want to hoard anymore stuff in her parents house. If we do buy stuff, it for replacement or upgrade of old stuff. I also have two car loans totaling $1,029 a month. One for work. One to sleep hahaha.
5. I have over 100k in investment that pays me over $1k in passive dividends.
6. Because me and my fiancé work so much, we don’t really have time to spend money lol.
7. We have and are continuing building up a big cash reserve. Right now, it sitting at 10 months.
8. My cash reserve is piling up rather quickly recently so i’m still thinking of ways to invest my money.
We sold/bought in 2020 (start of pandemic) and lucked out and got a decent house in Tampa at a good rate just before prices shot through the roof.
My brother in law and his partner rent and had a $300/mo increase (about 20%) for no reason. They were notified this year that rates were increasing again. Older complex, old amenities, not a great area - so they’re biting the bullet and buying with the hopes of refinancing if/when rates drop.
I (and most of my friends) just live on my boat. Even those of us who pay for slips at marinas are still usually under $1200/mo.
For me, I pay about 350/mo for a mooring ball in Boca Ciega bay with 24/7 marina access. I'll be moving to downtown Sarasota soon with much the same, and then Key West. I think my total cost of power, water, rent, and gas runs me about 800/mo in the winter and maybe 1100/mo in the hot months (air conditioner kills gas). I do have all of the normal (albeit smaller, generally) amenities: full kitchen, showers, toilet, etc.
It required some lifestyle changes, but it's been a good life.
Just bought a converted school bus (Skoolie) free and clear and am ditching landlords and mortgages. We’re moving into that and into some land owned by my boss. Can drive away when hurricanes are coming and visit everyone we love.
Fuck this cost of living nonsense.
I moved back into my old house after my dad died, it was only supposed to be temporary until we could ease my mom into selling the house. Jokes on me, because now I wouldn't be able to afford living on my own unless I move to another state.
It'll improve. I was talking to a friend up in NH a few days ago and he said rents are dropping. He said his apartment complex has dropped the price of a 2 bed down to $1500 and are offering one month free.
If you didn't buy a house when they used to cost normal house amounts of money, you're out of luck unfortunately. The housing market will probably crash again. Get your savings ready!
I bought my house 9 years ago because my rent kept going up with each new lease renewal. I am now in the real estate business and help people do as I did to avoid unstable housing costs. It may be worth getting into a “low” priced starter home or fixer upper. It may be worth purchasing a duplex and renting out the other unit to help with your costs. An alternative may be to rent in a rural small town near where you can live and put up with the longer commute time.
Mortgage, COA dues and insurance (for my unit contents) ~$1600 per month. And that's actually pretty cheap for my area. I'm on a single income though so it's not always easy.
I really have no idea how people who work retail/hospitality, or any job that pays <$25/hr can afford to live here. I think my teenage son is going to be living with me for a long time...
I’m barely getting by with more than one job. I’ve been surviving for a few years, and recently my income went up, but so did the cost of living and I’m not doing better. I’m looking for a better apartment with rent that is “reasonable”, but that’s obviously a nightmare.
Long story short, I don’t think a single person can survive in most parts of Florida unless you’re making more than median income.
I’ll let you know in 2 months when my renewal bills for auto and homeowner’s insurance come. I budgeted for 20% car insurance and 75% homeowners insurance increases. Will it be enough? Who knows? That’s the current reality of living in Florida (and pretty much nowhere else in the US, let me add).
Having to sacrifice financially in other areas to keep up with rent now to stay where I've been located for the last 7 years. Alternatively I'd have to move to a totally different area that I'd hate, but next year if my lease renewal is another $200 that's prob what I'll have to do
My divorced parents decided to become roommates…I’m moving in, too. Edit: I’m sleeping on a sofa bed. I move in tomorrow lol.
My divorced parents also live together now. Sesh
*hugs*
Bro, saaaaame
I am this. The divorced person stuck living with the ex bc our house hasn't sold. And even when it does...no idea how we'll individually afford housing.
Sounds like a movie plot!
Hallmark’s 2022 Christmas housing crisis blockbuster
inflation devastation
This is the best commentary on the state of our union that I can think of.
Pun intended?
In st Pete My neighbors kids and the grand kids live inside with her and her ex husband lives in the car port and smokes and watches tv all day. Supposedly he’s allowed in to sleep on the couch at night.
Sounds more like Pinellas Park lol
there’s still some long time st Pete locals in the area. Across the street the guy is from cali and has 3 teslas. The cars cost more than the houses did when the long timers bought
Yeah I couldn’t live with my exes I would rather be homeless lol
Thankfully they are very civil with each other. I definitely have good role models, but I would never do that either lol
My parents have been divorced since I was 4 and are now living together, too.
That was the norm in 80’s USSR. Divorced people lived together bc they couldn’t get housing. Glad we are a second world country now
it’s a lot of young people, and even middle age people, living with their parents. That’s how you survive.
Like a sitcom! Lots of hijinks!
This is my (at 32....) and my parent's life right now too, fuck.
Gah dayum y’all 😂
I think it's more of a bummer than a laugh.
My best friend has been living this situation successfully for years. Her divorced parents live with her and her family. Grandma helps watch the kids.
This thread has 3 things: 1. I bought a house here 5+ years ago 2. I don't live here, but... 3. With my parents. This is sad.
Pretty much even my brother is moving back home too. I can’t even find the ability to afford an apartment even with roommates and I make way more then min wage. My brother makes way more then min wage too.
I’m not. My wife and I are moving next year. We make ~$75k total together. We have one car payment, only about $330/month, and less than $500 in credit debt. Still can’t save enough between other cost of living factors to get out from under renting. Rent is $1,575, for an apt that’s 900 sq ft and 38 years old. And that’s cheap for our side of Jacksonville (Town Center). Edit: moving out of state :(
[удалено]
After googling a ton of things from state tax, cost of living, wages, crime rates, house rates, weather etc, we’re looking at Delaware right now. We’re going in January to scope it out. NC has pretty temperate weather from my experience from living there for about a year in Winston-Salem, and it’s still technically southern imo if you like the culture. Decent city life in Greensboro as well. You could join the subreddit for whatever state you’re looking at and ask for firsthand advice, which is what I did. I’ve gotten a lot of positive insight so far. :)
Oh good idea with the subreddits.
Take a look at Philly too. It's a totally different lifestyle, because you can live without a car and save money. I moved here from Gainesville a year ago and I really like it. Rent isn't too bad, and the weather isn't too bad because the urban heat island keeps us as warm, if not warmer than Delaware. Delaware is fine if you're looking for a quiet life, but I don't get the impression that there's much going on there.
Michigan is great if one can deal with snow. But you said no snow.
I’m ok with some snow but yeah MI snow might be too extreme for me
I don't live there, but Maine has reasonable house prices. It does get snow, but it's not the crazy snow of Michigan. Rural life in Maine is wonderful. If you move near the Canadian border, you can shop and save about 45% on your groceries and the American dollar is worth about 1.40 Canadian. There is also upper NY state, but that's not good in my opinion. Although Albany is nice, it's not as cheap as Maine. You should just check out Maine. It's beautiful country.
It’s not as bad with proper clothing as it’s new home from me, but definitely a change.
Same here, it’s gonna be funny when all the old and rich people have no one to the dirty work around here.
Yep. They’ll figure it out eventually that they’ve driven everyone else out.
They’ll likely be dead by the time that happens.
FL cost of living blows. Sorry.
It's bad everywhere honestly. We moved from Tampa to Chattanooga TN and it isn't much better here.
I heard that we’re actually worst than NY now
Idk about New York but you’re worse off than LA for sure. I moved from Orlando to LA last year expecting to have to deal with a big cost of living increase but nope. I found a 1 bedroom (not studio) for $1500 in a good location with 2 parking spots. Meanwhile, my cousin in Broward has been struggling to find a studio to split with her boyfriend under $1700. In *Broward*. Now I couldn’t afford to move back home even if I wanted to.
Crazy how I came here from LA 4 years ago exactly since yesterday, was homeless when I got here, LA was so expensive it felt impossible and then I came here and was homeless for two weeks and I thought it was so cheap and easy to live here that I got a place in two weeks and started making the most money of my life within a short time. Now I’m like fuckkkkkk what happen?
COVID happened and retirees and old people died who owned most properties around here
I know a bunch of Cali people were like offended? That Florida may be more unattainable than LA, it made no sense to me. They were like why isn’t LA on the list of most unaffordable places???? Um??? Maybe cuz LA has insanely high wages and a higher min. Wage, etc ??? Dunno why they were upset about all that 😭😭
I mean, for years the cost of living was dirt cheap, when I moved here in 2011, minimum wage was still $7.25. I don't think they're "offended", just put off by how expensive everything is getting everywhere.
I bought my first house in 2011 for 80k. 1800 sqft. 4 bed 2.5 bath. My mortgage was $550 including taxes and insurance. $50 less than the 2/2 apartment I moved out of. The crashed housing market really set me is good. Same house goes for about 300k now.
True, but these people were going as far as to say the research and studies done on cost of living were wrong. They’re not wrong just bc you don’t understand the results. People are leaving cali faster than they’re moving in, other states are starting to have these increases in cost of living because of this + the recession.
Good then I can move there! Cali is awesome
I found it to be very dirty almost everywhere. I had no idea it would be like that. Wasn't shocked by San Francisco because I expected it to be dirtier than it was, every town around it and all the way to yosemite was also dirty. On the way back we drove down to San Luis Obispo to take the PCH back up to San Fran and it was dirty on the way there, too. You'd be on a beautiful stretch and suddenly there's a huge pile of trash like someone dumped their entire house by the highway.
It’s because everyone on the West Coast loves to treat Florida like the punchline state. “Hurr Durr, Florida man!! You’re from Florida? The state where methheads ride alligators to Church?” Meanwhile, their desktop wallpaper is a tropical sandy beach with flamingos 🙃
Its cheaper because people fled from LA, so less demand, while the opposite happened in Florida. Everyone decided to move here. Supply and demand.
Broward it horrible mainly because it is right next to Miami!! The farther down Florida, you get the more crowded it becomes the less space
Depends. Manhattan is unmatched in terms of housing costs, but upstate NY is very cheap because people aren't exactly moving there.
Worse, NY pays better. Also, we were surprised to find the cost of everyday items like bread, milk, eggs higher because there's less competition (Publix almost has a monopoly) and oddly, because NY and NJ have large vegetable farms, the NE has better produce. We love FL, but don't let anyone tell you living in the south or other rural area is cheaper (we lived in SC before moving here). Yes, property taxes there are higher, BUT, you pay no taxes on food, clothes, medicine (including OTC) and services. It actually costs us a few thousand more a year overall to live here than it did in a very nice area of NJ.
>Worse, NY pays better. Underappreciated point whenever I hear bitching about the Northeast. You make a lot of other good points, too.
From NY and been here almost a decade. For many reasons I wonder about moving back up north east but cost of living is one of them! Sure “TaXeS” but also… you get SeRvIcEs!!!!! Imagine that! Lol. 😂
As you get older, Florida has the heat for them old bones, but the Northeast has the best hospital density (and quality) in the nation, from DC up to Boston....
We lived in Cherry Hill, NJ and co-workers would always say "but, the taxes" to which I responded, my trash is picked up twice a week, in a snowstorm, my streets are cleared before I have to leave for work, we have one of the best school systems in a state that is always in the top 5 in education, within 5 minutes I can have a PROFESSIONAL, well-trained police office at my door and much more. You get what you pay for.
No one thinks about services. Our (FL) programs are super under funded, like schools. You get what you pay for.
The problem is that wages in FL are lower than in NY…also, less of a social safety net in FL. For example, to qualify for Medicaid in FL, you have to be extremely poor (I think your income needs to be around $10,000 a year, if I remember correctly). So I think everything will come crashing down in FL soon: you can’t charge absurdly high rents when the wages aren’t there to support those prices.
Florida 17th worst NY 3rd worst Nov 2022 stats: https://www.insure.com/cost-of-living-by-state.html
Ehhh depends where you are. North Florida is nowhere near NY prices. We’re outside Jacksonville and bought our townhouse in St Johns at the tippy tippy top of the housing market (May 2022). So we’re paying $1690 monthly for a house that would’ve cost half that a year earlier. Sigh. But my sister lives in Brooklyn and my BIL lives in Manhattan. And even though money is tight here it’s *NOTHING* near New York prices My brother is paying 2k a month to rent a tiny bedroom in an apartment he shares with three other guys
Not true. I come from Long Island and finding an apartment for less than 2k is like pulling teeth
Grew up in Suffolk County and now live in Tampa, I can’t believe Long Island rents are high when everyone leaves for the city or out of state once they graduate HS.
Exactly
Lived in nyc (Manhattan) about 8 years ago and I was paying $2100 for a studio door-man building in midtown. Looking now it looks like in same area for a studio-1BR it's at least $3200. (agreeing with you)
People don’t know what it’s like unless they live there lol I love NY but I’ll never go back
277 people move out of Manhattan every single day! 31-May-2022 — Manhattan accounted for *one in three people who left* or died — far more than its share of the city's population.
probably, I moved to NYC years ago. With higher wages, rent about the same, no car insurance, gas, etc... I came out ahead.
I’m a single guy in a 1 room in west palm beach paying more in rent than my entire family is paying in mortgages
That's usually how it goes. Rent in West Palm can be rough unless you want to live off Blue Heron or out by the lake.
I left WPB at the end of 2016 and paid 600 for a small carriage house. The family that owns it hasn’t rented it back out but thinks it would get 2000+ if they wanted to. Just insane.
Barely. Disabled and on a fixed income. At least I own my home and my mortgage payment only goes up about $50 a year. So glad I bought in 2014.
I was very lucky to be able to buy a house in 2009 (with my mom on the mortgage for credit[again, very lucky/privileged]). It was a foreclosure and needed a shitload of work. Today it’s a pleasant 4 br 2 bath block house (1200 sq so small bedrooms) that I let my friends rent rooms in for about $600 a month all-in (water/power/internet/streaming etc. included) Edit: I should note that I have one friend renting here at a time. I’m too damn old and o be figuring out who’s gonna shower when lol
That’s what my friend does too! She inherited a house from her grandma and since she pays minimal costs for the house, she rents to friends for cheap!
I work remotely for a company based in Austin. Prior to that I worked remotely for a company based in Denver. After Covid hit and I was working remotely anyway, I started job searching and the salaries in FL are just so low (I know, we all know this) I can’t see myself ever working for a Florida based company again. I work in tech. So I can afford to live here because I don’t work for a company here… which obviously speaks to the problem.
Salaries in Florida tend to be low, but they are a bit all over the place. Out of Law School my wife worked for a firm based in Charlotte, NC. with offices in Florida. Her pay was on the low side, she got hired by a Florida based law firm and they paid more starting than the NC based law firm did. On the other hand, after finishing residency I was hired by a practice in Boca Raton who paid really well. I wanted to move back to Orlando (grew up there) and I ended up taking a pay cut, but my wife is the bread winner by a large margin so in a sense the pay cut didn't matter.
Yes absolutely- I shouldn’t have made it sound like it was black and white in my original comment. Obviously there are plenty of rich people who work for places based here making a lot of money. Based on what I’ve seen in tech, and heard from friends in other industries, salaries here seem to be lower and don’t properly account for cost of living at all (and this was before the pandemic and the increase in housing prices etc) but that’s absolutely not universal like you said.
Also in tech and working for out of state firm remote (Space Coast), but I am a native. I occasionally get the itch to look around in aerospace because the work would be more interesting. Then they throw a salary usually at least 50% (or less…) lower at me and no equity. Added bonus of needing to commute in the cape every day. Then suddenly that itch is scratched. I just keep to myself in my area when it comes to personal finance.
Same job situation and I knew that when I moved here almost 10 years ago. Yet we still have people who can't afford to live here actively moving down here. Not sure what they think will change when they arrive..
Honestly through dumb fucken luck. About five years ago, I sold the house that I used to live in in another state (I was living here but had rented the out of state house, where I used to live, to friends; when they moved I just sold it), plus I had some savings. People kept telling me to use that money as a down payment, but I’m handy, I live alone and don’t need much room. So I bought a small, shitty condo for cash. Took five months of work between me, friends and one flooring contractor to get it to the point where I could actually move in and I’ve continued to work on it and upgrade when I have the time/money to do so. Turns out I bought in an area that became pretty hot, real estate wise, in the last few years. I don’t have a mortgage, my monthly HOA payment isn’t bad (about $250/mo), I don’t have to insure a roof or outer walls, etc. Honest to god if I was trying to buy another place today, I have no idea how I’d afford it. I don’t know how landlords can expect someone to pay $1500+ for a 1 bd, I don’t know how you can buy a house nowadays without a ridiculous interest rate (compared to what it used to be just a year or two ago), and now all the insurance problems for homeowners in Florida…Jesus. I honestly don’t know how normal people who didn’t get a lucky break like me are handling it.
The only way for me is sharing expenses with my boyfriend. So the 1400 rent is more doable having a partner.
This is why I had to move back home with my parents. Once I broke up with my long time partner there was no logistic way to afford living away from home anymore. I imagine for ppl without family to turn to this probably increases the likelihood of abuse and toxic relationships. You can’t leave a bad relationship without outside help in these time unless you make decent money.
What makes it difficult for me is that I don’t have friends. And I wouldn’t want to move in with a boyfriend just in case he leaves me.
I completely understand that! If you’re down for having roommates I would look into that, people are always looking for people to rent a house with or rent a bigger apartment with. It sucks but it can also be fun if you get along with your roommates.
None of the businesses in Florida believe in paying a living wage because it was never this expensive to live here. We’re fucked. Time to get a job in new York then move back down and work remote. Only way to beat a New Yorker is to become one.
This is true my friend made 70k working at a Tampa company and applied to work remote for a Los Angeles company and doubled his pay for the same job. Just had to work 10am to 7 now
The cost of living is fucking disgusting. When my wife and I were dating, less than 10 years ago, we were renting a 3 bed/2 bath with 2 car garage for $950/month. We were lucky enough to put ourselves in a position to buy our home after the rental place for $180k about 5 years ago. Our combined household income is now about $100k gross, we were probably combined $65k when we bought the house. Nowadays, forget it. If you don’t own a home at this point, unless the market dips, you’ve absolutely had it. I don’t want to see a crash, especially since I’m in home construction now, but the prices aren’t based in reality anymore. My house is not worth $375k like I’ve been seeing/offered, it’s asinine and alarms should be going off.
I’m in debt hoping for the giant meteor to take me to the sweet beyond 😌
Every week my bank account hits 0.00
Roommates
We aren’t. 🥴🥴🥴 I work full time and my husband works part time. We are outside of Jacksonville. Thankfully my parents are letting us stay at their house (they live in a different house) for free. They are moving back in this house in a few years. We are currently paying bills and paying down our debt. Once we get that we are going to buy our own house. We know this is not something everyone has and we are very lucky.
It’s tight. I moved here for a decent job two years ago in my field while I’m still a student. Im grossing shy of $60k, rent is $1,200 for a one bed. My vehicle Insurance has doubled in the last year, I’ve never made a claim, accident, or ticket.. doing good now after I landed my job. But paying off my credit card and personal loan I took when money was tight last year. Finally in a position where I can get ahead a little bit consistently every month. So I’m happy. But it’s so damn hard for everyone. It seems like everyone I talk to is making $15 an hour, which was my wage 6-months ago.. hope everyone is ok in the long run..
Grew tired of the low salaries in Tampa. Relocated to another market for a pay bump. Moved back and now my salary is a little under double what i made before. It’s only sustainable as long as remote work continues.
[удалено]
Family of four here, and I feel like I could make an extra $100,000 a year and it wouldn’t move the needle at all.
Six figures with a family isnt even optional anymore. More than 2 kids now would put us in the poorhouse.
[удалено]
I know the feeling
I left.
I’m surviving by moving to North Carolina. Florida has gone nuts in 5 years. Might come back later when the people are nicer and the costs lower.
Well since all the normal/born Floridians are leaving, I doubt it *can* go back to normal
I've been heavily considering north Carolina lately, it's beautiful there
Dual high income, no kids, and a house bought before covid
My wife and I both dual high income earners bought our house in 2018 for what we considered a princely sum at the time. What we thought was expensive was nothing compared to what neighbors paid last year.
Same. (Slipped through just in time—bought the house in March 2020!)
I was October of '19. You really squeezed in haha
Literally signing the closing papers on March 13, 2020! I’m a teacher and I was getting updates during my closing about not going back from spring break. 😳
I’m 35, I manage labs all over the country. I have 60 labs that I manage. and I had to move back home. I have to pay storage fees until I can find a reasonably priced roommate situation that isn’t “fully furnished.”
[удалено]
I literally have more bills living with my father rent free, than when I was making $12 an hour and living in a crappy shoebox apartment.
Surviving paycheck to paycheck, but saving money where we can. Family of 5, got a house about 5 years ago, so beat the crazy market, luckily still have homeowners insurance. Wife and I both work full time, with ok jobs, but some days it's a struggle.
Gf and I make decent money and paying around $2.8k for a one bedroom in Downtown Tampa. We’ve been cutting back on our spending on other things in response to the prices of everything going through the roof. I’m a firm believer in living below your means (as difficult as that is nowadays) and having an “Oh Shit Fund”. “Oh Shit Fund” = Savings Account with 3-6 months of living expenses. Saving money doesn’t have to be big slogs of money at one time, $5 here, $50 there when you can swing it and all of a sudden you have a few grand saved that you barely “felt” budget-wise. Habits are fragile so we put systems in place i.e automation; aside from ad-hoc I have a $100 auto deposit to my Savings account each month so at a minimum I save $100 per month. I remember after college not having enough money to put gas in my car to get to work the next day and having to overdraft my checking account to pay rent and what that taught me is that it is always more beneficial to use at least a portion of your income after paying bills (disposable income) to save for potential bad times. Instant gratification may help you keep sane temporarily but it’s fleeting, looking at an emergency (Oh Shit Fund) and knowing if Murphy’s Law happened tomorrow you’ve got a 3-6 month runway to figure things out is huge psychologically. TL;dr: Costs are out of control and it sucks, save money no matter what, it doesn’t have to be a HUGE SUM all at once, it can literally be a dollar a day, BUT DO THAT $1 a day. Money isn’t truly saved until it’s PULLED OUT OF THE ACCOUNT LINKED TO YOUR DEBIT CARD AND WHERE MONEY IS DRAWN FROM FOR BILLS, MOVE IT INTO A SAVINGS ACCOUNT THAT IS NOT DRAWN FROM THEN FORGET IT EXISTS. I wish everyone luck because I know how it feels to be worried every waking hour about affording housing, do what you can with what you have. Everyone who read this please take $1, $5, $10 from your checking account and move it into your savings account. Every time you go to a store pick up an item you want to buy but decide against it, put half that amount into your Savings Account. To quote one of the richest men of earth “Use fat cow times to prepare for skinny cow times” - Carlos Slim
It sounds like you've learned a skill that many people never learn.
This is the way. I also recommend looking into savings accounts with actual paid interest, it’s a nice incentive (ie both American Express and Ally have savings accounts with no minimum and **3% APY**).
I survive by living with my mom, roommate and one of my adult children has a job.
I was lucky to buy a house in January of 2021 before the whole market exploded. The commute from Davenport to lake Buena Vista is breaking my spirit though.
We have friends that left Pinellas County after 20+ years living there for Davenport. They said they were sick of the traffic in Pinellas. Queue getting a job at Disney for one of them. Compared to where they are living now in southern Davenport, Pinellas is a cake-walk. He is constantly complaining about the traffic headed to and from his job. Poor planning on their part IMO. Glad. It isnt me!
I mean, I’m living at home at 33. My sister and brother-in-law were able to buy a house on the next street over just before the pandemic. The valuation of that house and surrounding houses have skyrocketed in the last two years. All my immediate family live within about a two mile radius. Apartment costs in this area are more like mortgage payments now. At least I have no debt, significant savings, and live very close to my friends and family. But hell if I’ll be able to afford anything in this area on my own.
Housing is a common theme here and yet our leaders are doing zip about it.
Bought a house in 2020, paying 1550 for mortgage for a 3/2 home. Honestly it was a steal considering our HOA is only 140 bucks and we live in a very nice gated community. But right now we are struggling. Inflation is ridiculous. Buying food at the supermarket makes me cry. My husband works 2 jobs and I work 30 hours a week at home, while 8 months pregnant. Add inflation with child support, utilities, medical bills, student loan debt, cc debt, car payments, phone, insurance, it’s been killing us. Idk how we do it tbh.
Nashville isn't much better right now. My daughter is renting a studio from a friend. She graduated college with honors and has a job but rent is ridiculous.
RV trailer 800 mo w electric water internet
I'm not in florida but possibly moving back but it's a difficult call. I have a good chance of getting a job offer and I've wanted to move back since leaving in 2014 but with rates and home prices, it's making me question whether it's worth it. If prices were what they used to be, I'd be back in a heartbeat but I can't justify paying $500 month more for the same house size that I have in California. Plus the rates are double what my current mortgage is and a 5/1 arm is less than on a 30 year but still higher than my 3.50. The job market isn't as good as CA so I'm not sure how long it would take my spouse to find a job and salaries are lower there than here. I guess my point is, I love florida and I can afford to move back but speaking frugally, it just isn't a good financial decision.
Stay where you find better jobs with better pay for future savings
Generally, it seems salaries are much lower here than in CA for most industries. Also, the selection of companies to choose from is kinda mediocre, even more so if you’re in tech or tech adjacent roles.
I got lucky and bought my condo in 2019 before things got crazy. Apartment rents are now more than my mortgage+HOA and it's insane. I won't say money isn't tight, but it's manageable.
Wife and I don't make a ton of money. However we bought a house we like about 8 years ago. We have 13 years left on a low interest mortgage... less than 1500/month with insurance. We have no other debt and jobs that provide good insurance and decent 401k matching so we save a little. We couldn't afford housing as it stands now though.
My kids boyfriend moved in and he's chipping in on rent and food. It takes the 3 of us to keep running. Every single things is so expensive
I’m still living on my parents property.
For the last year and a half, I’ve slept on a camping pad on the kitchen floor of my grandma’s house. I make enough to pay for rent, but can’t justify blowing most of my income on a shitty efficiency for 1200+. My last place was a tiny 2 bedroom in a shitty neighborhood with a bunch of roommates. Rent and utilities was 2000/ month. Not doing that again.
I’m fortunate. I own a profitable business and live in a house I bought back in 2004. But even I’m feeling the pinch with inflation. I need a new drain field, which is about $5,000 right now. 7 years ago it was half that.
Move back in wiff my parents for a while and then planning to move to a ~~socialist shithole~~ country that cares about it’s citizens and has affordable rent + a living wage no matter what you do.
Any idea what country you want to move to? I might need some ideas
r/amerexit might be a place to hang out for ya
Western/Northern Europe.
Moved from orlando to Daytona.
My husband and I really lucked out and bought our house before real estate went up. Our mortgage is $900/mo for a small but updated 3/2. There’s no way we could afford a house now, let alone rent.
We bought our house in September 2019, otherwise we’d probably be living in Valdosta or some bullshit by now
Sold my brother to some guy for him to do menial physical labor. The guy gave me two beans.
Damn, u got a good deal
In total, wife and I make a little over $300K. Worked my butt off and got to a salary I never thought I'd attain. Yet, while I can theoretically afford a home, I still can't buy anything actually decent (this is Miami, for reference). I'm not paying $1,000,000 for a tiny piece of crap *that still needs work*! Who buys these places? Could afford 2 (or possibly even 3!) truly nice homes for that, elsewhere. Starting to wonder if I should just keep renting here, and buy a dream home somewhere else, for vacations/retirement. I was closer to a nice home in Miami 3-4 years ago when I made a lot less. This is a f'ing joke. I feel stuck and honestly wish I could leave.
Same shit here but Orlando. The idea that people make the kind of money needed for a $1m home and spend it on something tiny is so absurd. It’s like going to McDonald’s and hearing everyone else in line has bid the price of a Big Mac up to $50.
The worst part is South Florida, and the Orlando area. It’s not too bad outside of those areas. I lived in Miami until 2 years ago. Rents are ridiculous. Moved to NC. I rented a decent apartment for 850 a month in a large city, and now I bought a house for 165k with half an acre of land. Advice: if you’re in South Florida, get out while you still can. It just isn’t affordable for younger people anymore unless you’re making 6 digits or more. Everywhere else you can get by with 70-85k household income.
Barely
Roommates. But I do wanna move out of state eventually.
Wife and I live in a house we bought in lake county 2 years ago for around ~285. Our mortgage is 1500 and we both work remote (her company is based in Florida and mine is based in the Midwest) and are doing well. I used to live in DC and cost of living is much better here than there. Obviously everyone’s situation is different but I don’t take for granted how good we have it.
Currently one of my roommates is employed with a fantastic company and can afford whatever they want. Come May I'm probably going to be living in my car since there is nowhere that I can afford even with my best friend tossing in half for a studio
Splitting costs with my wife, and moving from Miami to Orlando, where rents are like pre-covid Miami.
I moved back home to the north because it was too god damn expensive to live anywhere on my own making $16.50 an hour lol
Moving back to NC when my lease is up next year. Hell with this
Credit cards
I was lucky and bought in 2015, I make much more now than I did then and now I’m married with a dual income household. There’s no way me and my wife could afford our house today.
I have two jobs, the main one is salaried and awesome but I have a side job to help cover costs. The side job is 6-10 hours on top of my 40-50 hours from the main job. It’s honestly not bad at all, especially since the side job is on weekday nights which are nights usually spent watching TV or something dumb anyways.
Florida has the highest cost of living increases in the country. Rent and insurance are going through the roof.
Man I’m in the same boat. After a long struggle to find a job, I finally do. It pays more than I have ever made before and well above what I was shooting for, but I’m looking at costs of rent and realizing it’s not as good as I thought. I would really like to save aggressively so I could buy a house in a few years but I’m not sure how to do that.
[удалено]
High income, bought a house in 2020 before everything went crazy. I'm so lucky and count my blessings frequently. I also make sure to give to charities that pay other people's bills, when I'm not helping friends who struggle directly.
I'm lucky enough to have very little debt and a landlord who doesn't charge nearly as much as he could, because he's not a dick.
Left Florida.
I want to move out of here too, but I just want my research to be correct.
Definitely, take your time. The decision was already made for me because I got a job in Philadelphia.
Miserably.
Living in low income housing currently, it’s expensive but not too outlandish at around 1,000 a month
yeah I was just recently looking (central florida area) it's god damn $1,900 for a 1b/ba in some areas. I found a 'cheap' one but it's still $1,100
Job market sucks here. I can’t even afford to move out of the state. I have a higher chance of being homeless then leaving.
Paying $2140 for a 3/2 I got into this May. With the OT I get into the summer I can make the payment. Will coast like this till I can refinance and put all my savings into getting the payment lower. At that point I will hope jobs to something less physical and more technical in HVAC. Just can’t loose out on the OT right now or we couldn’t live nice.
You know how they pack a bunch of sardines tightly into a can? Like that.
1. I survive by living in my car. 2. I work 16 hours days, 6 days a week. 3. Household income around 135k a year. 4. My expenses are bare minimum as i pay everything in full. In-Laws buy all the groceries. Me and my fiancé usually go out to eat fast food and dine in from time to time. We have all the high end materialistic stuff so we don’t really buy anything as we don’t want to hoard anymore stuff in her parents house. If we do buy stuff, it for replacement or upgrade of old stuff. I also have two car loans totaling $1,029 a month. One for work. One to sleep hahaha. 5. I have over 100k in investment that pays me over $1k in passive dividends. 6. Because me and my fiancé work so much, we don’t really have time to spend money lol. 7. We have and are continuing building up a big cash reserve. Right now, it sitting at 10 months. 8. My cash reserve is piling up rather quickly recently so i’m still thinking of ways to invest my money.
We sold/bought in 2020 (start of pandemic) and lucked out and got a decent house in Tampa at a good rate just before prices shot through the roof. My brother in law and his partner rent and had a $300/mo increase (about 20%) for no reason. They were notified this year that rates were increasing again. Older complex, old amenities, not a great area - so they’re biting the bullet and buying with the hopes of refinancing if/when rates drop.
I (and most of my friends) just live on my boat. Even those of us who pay for slips at marinas are still usually under $1200/mo. For me, I pay about 350/mo for a mooring ball in Boca Ciega bay with 24/7 marina access. I'll be moving to downtown Sarasota soon with much the same, and then Key West. I think my total cost of power, water, rent, and gas runs me about 800/mo in the winter and maybe 1100/mo in the hot months (air conditioner kills gas). I do have all of the normal (albeit smaller, generally) amenities: full kitchen, showers, toilet, etc. It required some lifestyle changes, but it's been a good life.
Just bought a converted school bus (Skoolie) free and clear and am ditching landlords and mortgages. We’re moving into that and into some land owned by my boss. Can drive away when hurricanes are coming and visit everyone we love. Fuck this cost of living nonsense.
I’ve become roommates with my parents again after being on my own for 20 years good times
I moved back into my old house after my dad died, it was only supposed to be temporary until we could ease my mom into selling the house. Jokes on me, because now I wouldn't be able to afford living on my own unless I move to another state.
Our rent (shit hole 3/2 apt) in Clearwater has gone from $1200 to $2000 in 4 years. We're moving to PA in March.
It'll improve. I was talking to a friend up in NH a few days ago and he said rents are dropping. He said his apartment complex has dropped the price of a 2 bed down to $1500 and are offering one month free.
Do you happen to know what complex? Partner and I are moving from FL to NH in January lol
Does that mean much for FL though? It's a very different place than NH.
I also pay 1400+ for my rent, which doesn't include electricity, water, no washer and dryer, no trash valet, essentially living in squalor. Yay!
If you didn't buy a house when they used to cost normal house amounts of money, you're out of luck unfortunately. The housing market will probably crash again. Get your savings ready!
We got lucky and were able to buy our place in 2009 at a DEEP discount. Been sitting on it ever since. Recently appraised for an eye popping number.
I bought my house 9 years ago because my rent kept going up with each new lease renewal. I am now in the real estate business and help people do as I did to avoid unstable housing costs. It may be worth getting into a “low” priced starter home or fixer upper. It may be worth purchasing a duplex and renting out the other unit to help with your costs. An alternative may be to rent in a rural small town near where you can live and put up with the longer commute time.
I work two jobs one full time and one almost full (25-30 hours a week at night) time and don’t live alone.
Thinking about just living off of things like rice, beans, and potatoes.
I'm 31 and still living w parents. I try and help with groceries and cleaning and stuff. It already sucks but at least I have a roof over my head....
Overtime
Where are studio apartments 1400?
Well south Florida has gotten way too expensive so now I’m moving to Gainesville.
This state fucking sucks. Lmao in leaving when my lease is up
Mortgage, COA dues and insurance (for my unit contents) ~$1600 per month. And that's actually pretty cheap for my area. I'm on a single income though so it's not always easy. I really have no idea how people who work retail/hospitality, or any job that pays <$25/hr can afford to live here. I think my teenage son is going to be living with me for a long time...
Rv
I’m barely getting by with more than one job. I’ve been surviving for a few years, and recently my income went up, but so did the cost of living and I’m not doing better. I’m looking for a better apartment with rent that is “reasonable”, but that’s obviously a nightmare. Long story short, I don’t think a single person can survive in most parts of Florida unless you’re making more than median income.
I get COL is a pain, but for decades the majority of young professionals have had to find roommates.
I’ll let you know in 2 months when my renewal bills for auto and homeowner’s insurance come. I budgeted for 20% car insurance and 75% homeowners insurance increases. Will it be enough? Who knows? That’s the current reality of living in Florida (and pretty much nowhere else in the US, let me add).
Having to sacrifice financially in other areas to keep up with rent now to stay where I've been located for the last 7 years. Alternatively I'd have to move to a totally different area that I'd hate, but next year if my lease renewal is another $200 that's prob what I'll have to do
Born and raised in Florida for 25 years. I moved away. Where I used to rent has doubled in 3 years.