Is 65K enough for a single person in LA? (Los Angeles: insurance, condo)

[woodsart]

I have happily lived in LA for the last 2 years on the Eastside in small but nice one-bedrooms. I paid $1400 for a guest house in Eagle Rock (1 bedroom, 650 square feet, including utilities) and now pay $1500 for a one-bedroom 650 square foot cottage with small garage in South Pasadena. Both places have had private yards and I was able to have a large dog. Both were in good desirable neighborhoods and highly walkable to shops and restaurants.

I did this on $62K before taxes. I pay $200/month in student loans and $800/month for having 2 horses and a dog (obviously, the horses live outside LA). I also have a car payment and pay union dues and a mandatory pension/retirement program. I do not go out a lot, but I'm not broke - I probably go out once or twice a week. I'm frugal but comfortable.

Provided your job provides health insurance and other benefits, and your premiums are low, you should be fine, even without roommates. You just have to shop around. I recommend Westside Rentals. Craigslist has a lot of scams and I found it wasted a lot of time.

[Dunbar42]

$800/mo. for the student loan payment is a pretty big cut of your monthly income but it looks like you can deduct up to $2500 of student loan interest on your federal tax return which should save you a few hundred bucks in taxes per year. I think it will be tough but doable if you can stay at, or below, $1400/mo. for rent. I say that because I lived on $50k/yr in the Inland Empire paying $1225/mo. for rent and it was not easy (and I had no student loans). That said, it will be much easier to find a place on that budget in the area east of downtown. You could start browsing westsiderentals.com to see what sort of places you get for that kind of money. It's free to browse but you have to pay to get the address and contact info of the listing broker. Don't expect anything posh on that budget.

[I_Love_LA]

If you want to live in LA, $65K/year is more an doable. I'll bet you half of the people or more living in LA right now make less than that per year.

What kind of student loan is it that requires you to pay $800/month? Seems pretty aggressive. The day I received my letter that my student loans were paid for was a happy happy day.

[JohnG72]

The $800 is a PITA, but people REALLY exagerate costs. $65K is plenty. Anyone that can't get by just fine on that as a single person in LA's eastside is...well... a moron.

If I'm correct, $800/mo means you'll be paid off in 6-8 years which is pretty decent. In the meantime, you should do what you can to mitigate costs, probably by having roommates. If you can't do that, expect rents in decent areas to run around $900-1100 for an older building...theres cheaper stuff if youd go for a small renovation in a rought area...maybe $700-800/mo.

[I_Love_LA]

There is a whole lot one can do to cut costs.

For instance the phone companies have persuaded us that we can't live without our expensive iPhones and the $75-$100/month plan. If you're willing you could easily be on a plan that's half that.

And eating out incurs a huge dent in the monthly budget. And Starbucks! Imagine the money you'd save by cutting off Starbucks and cooking most of your meals.

Plus if you can live without a car...wow. That's a significant chuck of cash saving there too.

[RobSac]

How sad that anyone has to ask this question today. Can you make it on 65k/year? We've woken up from the American Dream and are now in a two class reality.

[I_Love_LA]

Well, we've all gotten used to expensive habits and tastes. I guess if you ask the homeless person on Venice Beach how much money he needs to survive, you'd get a different number.

[jtamay3]

I know it's easier said than done if you're not used to it now, but you should be able to survive with no problem, even with Student Loans. Make it a point to eat in during the week, bring your lunch to work except maybe on Fridays, and only eat out on dates.

If driving isn't required for your job, try to live close to your job or somewhere where public transportation is viable. Heck, possibly buy a bike (if you don't easily break a sweat) and just bike it to work.

If you're really worried, skip cable television. I mean, you would be living in Southern California with beautiful weather. No reason to be locked inside. Walk around. Go to the beach, the Getty, the Griffith, visit parks, find a recreational sport to do to take up your time. If worse comes to worst, sign up for Hulu or Netflix if you really are jonesing for something to watch.

Also, if you don't need a smartphone, don't get one. You could get a basic flip phone for about $30 a month, if that. If you do need a smartphone, get the cheapest plan per month, even if that means data caps.

[ryanms3030]

It is plenty to survive and even have a comfortable lifestyle. As others said, as long as you don't buy into the lifestyle you will be fine. You don't need a BMW or Mercedes and you don't need to eat out at restaurants that cost $200 or get bottle service at clubs every weekend to enjoy your life here. There are endless amounts of activities that are free that you can't find anywhere else. There are plenty of reasonably priced safe neighborhoods to rent and even more if you don't mind a roommate (which might even be good if you are younger and don't know people here).

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by jtamay3

I know it's easier said than done if you're not used to it now, but you should be able to survive with no problem, even with Student Loans. Make it a point to eat in during the week, bring your lunch to work except maybe on Fridays, and only eat out on dates.

If driving isn't required for your job, try to live close to your job or somewhere where public transportation is viable. Heck, possibly buy a bike (if you don't easily break a sweat) and just bike it to work.

If you're really worried, skip cable television. I mean, you would be living in Southern California with beautiful weather. No reason to be locked inside. Walk around. Go to the beach, the Getty, the Griffith, visit parks, find a recreational sport to do to take up your time. If worse comes to worst, sign up for Hulu or Netflix if you really are jonesing for something to watch.

Also, if you don't need a smartphone, don't get one. You could get a basic flip phone for about $30 a month, if that. If you do need a smartphone, get the cheapest plan per month, even if that means data caps.

I ditched cable tv and only pay $30/mo for internet plus Netlix streaming. Plenty of other websites where you can watch streaming tv and sports if you look around. I ditched my $120/mo cell phone for a prepaid Android phone through MetroPCS for $50/mo and I have unlimited calls, text and data with 2 gb at 4g speeds and my service is as good or better around LA than Sprint which was my previous carrier. I have realized lately how much money I have been wasting for years because I didn't realize there were great alternatives.