Whats the least amount of money your household could live on?

[madison2000]

Poll question: Whats the least amount of money your household could live on?

-and still meet everyone's basic needs

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madison2000]

2. Good for you- I am sure a lot of people have to do it for a year or two

here and there. Especially if you lose a job or are going to school. There may be a lot of leeway here on what people think their basic needs are!

Edit: Some households may have a lot more people than others though.

[benny05]

3. Depends where you live

Some folks live around NYC or Chicago..etc. Apartments aren't going for $400 unless it is rent controlled and they have lived there for 30 years. Also, some folks pay $400 a month just for a garage.

If I didn't have to support my family and my mother, I could live on less.

[madison2000]

4. $400 a month for a garage

is a terrible thought when you think of how much food it can buy.

[LynneSin]

5. Let's not be so judgement why someone needs so much

or assume that he/she is white

:grr:

First, I figured I'd need about $15k/year but that couldn't be my salary - I need to pay all those taxes and what not so I figured it would be about $30k/year.

But I'm a single gal.

Remember we have families here on DU that not only have themselves to think about but their kids, signficant other and maybe even a parent they are taking care of.

It's fricking rude you just assume someone is a "rich white liberal" because they need $85k. To be honest - a family living in an area like SF or NYC would probably need that much to survive

[Kahuna]

6. You'd starve and go without lights in NJ on 12K a year.

nt. Try a decent two bedroom for $1200 a month and UP.

[LynneSin]

8. I know what it's like in New Jersey

and I wouldn't even try to survive with less than $24k/year and that's net income: the actual money I'd see in my bank account.

[1monster]

7. $400.00 a month won't get you one room with bathroom privileges in my

little part of the country. Even in the low rent (ha ha ha, as if that existed here) area. And the $700 to $800 price range for rental is rather seedy,

[Kahuna]

9. That's right. Rooming houses where I live are more than $100

a week. And you'd have to share a bathroom and have no kitchen privileges.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Considering I live in one of the most expensive metro areas

Maybe I am one of those 'rich white liberals' you stereotype. You can't rent a parking space here for $400, let alone a garage. If you have children, mortgages, and debt, you'd be hard pressed to exist on less than $85K. My electric rates just went up, and my bill last month was $78-and that is only for lights and appliances, not heat.

That was pretty judgemental of you-and you're perpetuating a RW stereotype of 'elitist/rich liberal' :wtf:

[LynneSin]

13. Amen sister!!!

I'd love to live in Philadelphia but with my salary I could ALMOST get away with living in the city but I wouldn't be able to save any money or enjoy a few nice simple extras in life.

[leftyandproud]

14. ok ok...I may be wrong, but tell me

$85k = $7,083.33 per month.

Break it down for me...

How much is your rent?

Lets forget the $400-450 I can find, and do a (crazy) worst case scenario...

rent $2,000
food $1,000
gas $400
utilities $500

That's $3900 for necessities.

Leaving $3,183.00...

[LynneSin]

15. Car Insurance: $200-400 a month

Parking space for cars: about $200-400 month
Children: You think they are free?
Health Insurance: $1k-2k a month depending on how many kids
And you're assuming people are renting - mortgages could be alot more and those mortgages include about $100-$300/month on insurance and of course - property taxes

But I suppose in you're bizarro world if someone was forced to survive on $12000 we'll just tell them to get rid of the spouse and children and move to some place in the middle of nowhere where they can work at Walmart and survive on $1200 a year


Get your head out of your butt and stop thinking of what YOU need and realize that it's different for everyone. Even us "rich white liberals" :puke:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

17. Good post!

:thumbsup:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

16. 7K BEFORE Taxes

Rent? 2K? for a small apartment with no utilities and no parking here in the city. where the hell do you live anyway?

-I have two mortgages
-I have a car loan
-I have high property taxes
-My state has the highest car insurance rates (tied with NJ)
-I have other debt that I acquired when a former employer didn't pay my expenses. I never had any debt prior.
I was unemployed on and off for 3 years, and am just beginning to get back on my feet
-Food is expensive here compared to other parts of the country
-Gas is over $2/gallon
-I can barely save for retirement

And why the hell should I justify any of this to someone who is out of touch with most people's realities, or who has never lived in a big city? :eyes:

[madison2000]

11. I lived in Chicago for many years before moving to Madison

I get a lot better housing for the same price in Madison. However, I was able to live comfortably in Chicago without a car for about 5 years- I saved a lot of money by using public transportation and renting a car occasionally.

Its impossible to do that in many other places because the public transportation just isn't good enough. Now I have insurance and car payments that actually make my "basics" more expensive than in Chicago.

[Susang]

18. It all depends on where you live in the city

Rich areas have better mass transit service and this is from a recent internal study of the matter. If you live in a poor area, you pretty much are screwed. And it's only going to get worse as they plan even more service cuts in the summer.

I live on the west side, in Humboldt Park and it takes me between an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half get to work on the two buses I have to take. That's assuming they show up on time, which is rarity. The fare is $2.00 each way, or I can buy a 30 day pass for $75. The beater car my husband drives to work costs him less, and that includes gas, taxes, fees and insurance all averaged together.

I'm all for public transit, but unfortunately the CTA has really screwed the city of Chicago with the organization's corruption and their track record of poor service.

[madison2000]

22. Wow, thats more than I was paying when I left 5 years ago

I lived in Hyde Park and I could go to work in 45 minutes during the busy time. My employer would pay for a taxi if I worked late. The monthly pass was much cheaper - under $50 the last time I bought one.

[jdots]

12. get real our morgage is 85 K a month

doen't everyone here live in a moated community like most neocons ?

[madison2000]

19. No one here can live on $16-$25K - but some can live on less!!

[Kahuna]

20. Snarf!

:7

[loudestchick]

21. ok, I'll break mine down monthly.

mortgage(includes taxes and insurance)--1000
1 car pmt--170
car insurance--180
gas/electric/water--310
roadrunner (needed for our livelihood)--35
2 cell phones (no land line)--50
groceries/toiletries--600
clothing/shoes (3 kids)--60 (if annual cost is divided)
monthly--2405
yearly--29k

This assumes that employer is picking up bulk of healthcare cost--if not?

bump the whole shebang by about 800/mo