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  1. #1
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    Default All the single ladies...

    For those of you who rent and live alone, what percentage of your monthly income do you spend on rent? I'm seeing a few places that I would love to live in and could technically afford, but I'm not sure if I'd be over stretching myself.

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  3. #2
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    I spend 25% of my monthly income on rent which includes gas for heating/cooking, hot water, washer and dryer.
    ps. i live in a small town.

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  5. #3
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    My rent is 36% of my monthly take-home pay (28 % of gross pay). I live in Washington, DC.

    When I was looking for an apt. I foolishly set my budget while focused more on my gross salary and just chopped off about 20 percent for taxes. I did not take into consideration things like being new tax bracket, insurance, and retirement, as well as that fun little decrease that came with the 1st pay check of 2013.

    I have a pretty good salary but the combination of rent and student loans can be overwhelming at times, especially since I grew up in the South and was used to dirt cheap rent (my rent in the Carolinas was 1/3 of what I pay now).

    In a few months I am moving into a small studio, which will decrease my rent to 18% of my take-home pay and allow me to meet my goals of being debt free in 2 years and save up a down payment to buy a home.

    I highly recommend keeping your rent as low as possible, but of course with safety in mind.

    Best wishes on finding an affordable place!

    ETA: My rent does include utilities and my building has a 24 hour front desk/security. I also live within walking distance of my job so I have minimal transportation expenses.
    Last edited by RighteousFire; 02-01-2013 at 02:39 AM.

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  7. #4
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    Sigh. I was afraid of that. I guess I'll keep searching. Thanks for your replies, guys. I think that maybe I'd be comfortable going up to 30 - 35%, but not much higher. I'd love to be able to find something at 18% or lower, but with my salary I'd probably be in something like this, lol...



  8. #5
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    I agree that you should pay as little as possible in rent while keeping safety in mind. Especially if you live alone, really ask yourself how much space you actually need. I've been living in two-bedroom spaces for the last 15 years and yet I barely used all that space. In most cases the second bedroom (home office) wasn't really necessary.

    Until last month I was working 2 jobs, and my rent and utilities was 30% of my take-home pay. Now that I'm down to one job, it's up to 75% which is one big reason why I'll be moving in the next couple of months.
    Hello, 2021. Glad to see you. Hope you're bringing us goodness and light this year!

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  10. #6
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    My rent is about 28% of my current net pay. I could go lower but like llbell mentioned my safety and peace of mind is quite valuable. My neighborhood is quiet and people are friendly.

    I don't plan on moving anytime soon and I'm doing well for myself. :-)

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  12. #7
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    depending on the city you live in and your willingness to have multiple roommates then paying over 50% of your salary to rent is unavoidable.

    when i lived in NYC my rent was 56% of my salary with my first job. with the 2nd job and better pay that went down to 47%

    i live in downtown oakland now and my rent is 30% of my salary. i could probably go lower (same goes for when i lived in nyc) as well but
    a) i'm not moving out to the middle of nowhere
    b) i refuse to have roommate(s)

    so i'm more than happy to pay a little more to not have to deal with crazy roommates, a long commute or being in a location where there are no social outlets

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  14. #8
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    I live in a big city and my rent is 43% of what I take home, granted I live in a nice area. Its unavoidable in Philly unless I want to live in a not safe neighborhood. However I am trying to move to save a little bit of money, I'm trying to get it down to at least 37% of what I take home or either get a higher paying job.
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  16. #9
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    Wow you guys, I cannot do that. My rent is about 20% of what I let myself live on. It's far cheaper than that of my peers and that of my professional status but for the most part it provides the amenities I need and a comfortable environment. It's actually ~ 12% of my take-home but I do funnel half my paycheck to aggressive student loan repayment hence I live on less.

    I recently moved and did consider increasing my allowance but knowing that my loans could be paid off by date X is far more enticing.

    If I were renting to own or if this was a mortgage I would be willing to pay upwards of 30% on housing by decreasing loan payment but I'm not throwing money away at rent if I can help myself. If that means room-mate situation or different neighbourhood, or budget differently, so be it.

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  18. #10
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    My deal is that I don't like driving and I don't want to have to rely on lengthy bus trips (or other people) to get around. So I need to live in the city, preferably in a nice neighborhood and within a 10 min walk to a train station. Apartments in these areas are popular, though, b/c there's a large college population here and more people are starting to embrace the ideas of "walkable communities" and "urban living".

    Sometimes, I think that I should just give in and buy a car...the rent is definitely cheaper the further you travel from the city...but they come with their own money woes. Besides, I'm pretty sure that if I ever go to jail, it's going to be for vehicular something or the other. It's better for my sanity to be a passenger, lol.

    I guess what I really need is more money coming in...I'm working on that.

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