this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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[–] NeptuneOrbit 106 points 5 months ago (4 children)

If we take out 7k of the gross $46,0000/yr for healthcare and retirement....

$5,700 for federal taxes, another k for state taxes...

That's about $2692 a month, net. Subtract the just over $2k a month listed, there's another $400 a month for.... Utilities, phone, transportation, entertainment, savings, emergencies.

Even as rent is under 25% of income, pretty tight. Doable. But very tighter. You will never retire saving $4000 a year. You can never get sick. You apparently walk to work.

Pretty much have to get a roommate until the student loans are paid off.

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[–] [email protected] 80 points 5 months ago (2 children)
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[–] brygphilomena 56 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Talk with the student loan provider. Get on income based repayment plans, you end up paying more in the long run, but less each month (or none at all) so you can at least eat.

[–] theo 24 points 5 months ago (14 children)

Is $1k/month student loan repayments in America usual?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (3 children)

This was nearly 20 years ago, but when I dropped out (two years in college, so don't even have a degree), it was all spread across 4 loans (something weird, I dunno, I was a kid, but it was like a new loan for each semester? That didn't even count the parent loans my mom took out for my schooling - thank god they just wrote those off entirely when she died). The repayment ticket book I received was $55 per week for each loan. That was $880 a month they wanted. For about a total of $50k of debt. With the sharp increase in tuition costs since I was in school, I wouldn't be surprised if $1000 total per month is on the low end if you just pay what they ask you to. They don't really tell you that you are taking out multiple loans by going to school, not just one big one.

I did as the above comment said and got on an IDR (Income Driven Repayment) plan, it basically refinanced my 4 loans into 1 and my monthly bill was now $57 a month, and it adjusts each year around tax time based on the previous year's income. I'm currently paying about $80 a month.

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[–] NotLost 21 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That's much higher than normal. A quick google suggests between $200-$500 is more in line with a normal student loan monthly payment, which is still a burden on someone just starting out.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Only speaking from my own experience, but that sounds in-line with what the monthly payment is for each loan, but when I came out I had 4 separate loans that they came collecting on.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 months ago (6 children)

I want a single bedroom apartment for 850.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (3 children)

You can get one a lot cheaper than that, but you're going to have to move somewhere you probably don't want to live.

[–] CrowAirbrush 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And lose the money you save on fueling your car?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

It kinda depends where you live, the cheaper apartments here are the same distance to work, just on a different side of town.

It's still not worth the grief to live there, for me personally.

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[–] Furbag 19 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The system has made it impossible to live alone. You pretty much have to pair up with someone and split finances, whether that's a romantic partner or a roommate or whatever. You have to be absolutely killing it to be younger than 40 and living alone right now.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 24 points 5 months ago

American Capitalists: "Communism doesn't work."

Also, American Capitalists: "Live in a large shared space, cook meals together, and maybe even do a little farming on the side to supplement your diet. Also, don't use the traditional professional trade system. Learn by doing! Become your own mechanic, have friends cut your own hair and do your own dentistry, home school your kids, and dig your own well for water. Basically, become a 1950s Maoist."

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago (9 children)

I'm realistically in the situation OP is trying to get at. I'm making over $30/hr, I've been in my career a few years. I pay $1500 towards my housing expenses each month (rent/mortgage, electricity, heat, etc). I pay something like $500 in insurance between my vehicle and home, probably a bit less... My debt repayments are well over $1000/month. I pay $100 each for my cellphone and internet....

I have a slew of other expenses I can't really enumerate. When I factor in food and gasoline, etc, I basically have no money left. I might have $200 left each month if I'm very thrifty with food.

You know what I'm doing? I'm in the process of getting my finances into a system that can help me visualize the spending and plan for my month over month budgeting. I'm trying to find where I can find costs I don't need, and cut costs where I can. My work requires me to have a car, and while my vehicle is older, it works great and is pretty good on gas; best of all, I've paid off my car. I'm trying to dig myself out of this situation I'm in, and get in the black eventually. I'm tired of worrying about debt, which I've been in for nearly 20 years, in some way, shape or form.

[–] kurwa 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I use ynab (you need a budget) to try and help me out. Emphasis on try.

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[–] Agent641 15 points 5 months ago

Thats the neat thing, you're not!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (3 children)

If anon is in the US, they can switch to a SAVE plan which would make their monthly payments zero and get the loan discharged after 20-25 years. It's not much, but it's something.

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[–] boatsnhos931 11 points 5 months ago

You pay whut on your student loans. You've been hosed Davy

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

numbers don't check out

lists $2250 expenses.... 100 hours of work per month would cover it

I know they have other expenses, but they failed to list them and failed to make their point.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 5 months ago (6 children)

100 hours of work if the money is tax free (it's not). Taxes take about 40% of your gross income so on $23/hr hr can't afford the listed bills.

[–] NeptuneOrbit 42 points 5 months ago (3 children)

By my estimation and IRS calculator, his tax liability is probably under 20%. Probably. This assumes about 15% is being taken out for healthcare and retirement however, so yeah, the net paycheck will be approximately 30-40% lower than gross.

I'd estimate OP has $440 a month left over after all the list expenses.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

$440 per month to pay for gas, utilities, phone bill, insurance, incidentals, etc. You can forget about savings completely.

I don’t think OP is too far off the mark.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

Spend less on candles.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Kids keep going to college with the promise of making 400k/year, but normies don't get that. College is good and all but employers generally don't care which college you went to, or your major (if not directly related), what matters is who you became friends with in college, and who their parents/uncles are.

Better off studying something specific, vocational schools, trade schools. Learn something specific, either no or small loan

[–] dejected_warp_core 13 points 5 months ago

employers generally don’t care which college you went to

It's a little worse than that. College provides a useful socio-economic barrier for unethical employers. They can hide in plain sight by requiring a degree, knowing it's going to cull out a whole class of people. Working to keep college unaffordable may be another part in this strategy; they're pulling the ladder up at the same time. Parents and students overcommitting on loans are doing all they can to bash back against all this, even if they don't know it at the time.

[–] ZILtoid1991 8 points 5 months ago (7 children)

You have nothing to lose, but your chains.

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