How much should I pay in Rent?
drumcmanus47 asked:
I’m looking to rent a 2 bedroom house with all utilities included (gas, water, electric, cable tv and high speed internet) for $1000 a month. currently I bring home after taxes $1800 a month. I have zero debt, I don’t have car payments or credit card payments, my health insurance at work is free and I don’t have to make payments for that. I spend about $200 a month on food/misc/ent expenses. $80 on gas and $77 on insurance.
I’m looking to rent a 2 bedroom house with all utilities included (gas, water, electric, cable tv and high speed internet) for $1000 a month. currently I bring home after taxes $1800 a month. I have zero debt, I don’t have car payments or credit card payments, my health insurance at work is free and I don’t have to make payments for that. I spend about $200 a month on food/misc/ent expenses. $80 on gas and $77 on insurance.
After all this I calculated that I would have about $410 left over every month.
I feel this would work for me but I just wanted a second opinion.
Also forgot to mention that my longtime girlfriend will be living with me and will be able to contribute about $200-$300 monthly.
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July 3rd, 2010 at 10:27 pm
sounds like a good plan to me. i’d put some of that $410 into a savings account or investment though.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Whenever you do an analysis like this be darned sure you will underestimate your current expenses – its just human nature. Still, with the gf tossing in 200-300 per month it seems quite workable. I’d nonetheless be very conservative on what I thought I could do (but even then I think yo are fine).
July 5th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
It is great that you are making sure your monthly income is enough to cover the expenses and leave you a little something left over. But remember that alot of landlords and property management companies required that you have income (before taxes) of at least 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent. Your girlfriends income would not be counted towards that if she was not on the rental agreement.
July 8th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
cost of living must be low in your area, 500-600 a month is affordable for you.