I don't know if you guys will be able to tell me anything I don't already know but I guess it's worth a shot, that's what the sub is for, right?
Anyway, I currently take home about $2,400/mo (actually less than that because my health insurance is deducted, but I'll explain that later).
So my completely non-negotiable expenses are as follows:
rent + utilities $1050 (about the average for my city, I've looked around)
car insurance $300 (yep, I know my car insurance is insanely overpriced. I'm under 25, male, and live in a major metro area. Yes I've shopped around, yes they're all about the same price. Not having a car really isn't an option either.)
gas ~$100 (I drive a Toyota corolla so trading it in for something more fuel efficient isn't really an option)
no car payment, I own my car
food $250 (I eat out like maybe once or twice a month. Yes I eat lentils, beans and rice and still spent $250/mo on food).
Student loan payment $200/mo (I still owe $24k, this wont be paid off for a very long time at this rate)
Health insurance $80/mo (It's actually like $400 but my employer pays most of it. This is also taken out of my check so I actually get $2,300/mo, I just wanted to do it this way for the sake of the list being comprehensive)
total: $1,980
leisure expenses:
Cell phone $50
Internet $70
total: $2,100
This leaves me with about $300/mo for savings, emergency fund, leisure (which I basically do nothing but browse the internet and play games because I can't afford anything else). I have about $1,200 in my checking account which I consider my "emergency fund", no investments, and $24k in debt (student loan).
I've been lurking here a long time, I imagine the advice is going to be something along the lines of:
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Get a better job. I really can't without shelling out a ton of money for graduate school. I have a very specific vocational training and work in a field that skills don't really transfer to anything else. I would very much like to get my master's degree but I can't see how I can afford it.
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Sell my car. I've strongly considered it but I don't think it's realistic for my circumstances.
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Move somewhere cheaper. Again because of the nature of my work, I would very likely take a pretty significant pay cut if I worked anywhere else if I could even find work at all in a smaller city. At that point the pay:CoL ratio would probably put me in about the same situation. I also don't really want to leave my friends and family behind.
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Move in with my parents - not gonnna happen
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Get roommates. I honestly don't feel like as a grown man with a college degree and gainful employment I should have to live with roommates like I'm a college student in order to survive. I guess this is a pride thing, maybe I'm being an asshole. I also just really don't want to.
I guess this is more a vent/rant because I'm at my wits end. Like I said I don't know if there's any magical advice you guys could give me but it's worth a shot I guess.
edit: yeah, I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and move in with roommates. Doesn't really seem like there's any other option. Thanks guys for the support.
Submitted June 13, 2017 at 04:13PM by Dietly http://ift.tt/2s7J5PL
