GMan2819

Here’s How Many Hours You Need to Work to Pay Rent in Every State

Troy Stiffler

That's hard to leverage state-by-state. It's more about where you live in the state.

stevevt

What do the asterisks next to some states' numbers mean? I figured they'd be explained in the article, but nope.

slop101

Surprised Virginia's so high. But yeah, why should someone making minimum wage be looking at the average apartment? They should be looking at the cheapest, or thereabouts.

GMan2819

The asterisks indicate the states where the State's minimum wage rate is higher than the Federal's.

The map came from here http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2016.pdf.

That document shows data collected for metropolitan areas and at the State's county level.

cultshock

That's for sure, the rent in NYC might be a tad higher than it is in Buffalo.

Troy Stiffler

For a more down to earth example, Phoenix 1-bedrooms are $1000. But I could move to a small town and rent for $600 or maybe less.

Why So Blu?

Yeah, when I was in Idaho all the small town spots 1-2 bedrooms were from $350-$600. All except Boise. They were slightly higher but nowhere near L.A. high.

cultshock

Oh yeah, I'm sure there are a lot of examples like that, it's just that for New York it's seemed especially ridiculous to break it down just by state.

stevevt

Gotcha. Thanks.

cultshock

Hawaii is pretty nuts but I'm guessing it's more uniform, is there such a thing as a reasonably priced place to live there? (I've never been, so just curious)

The Bus

If a lot of people here were saying "At first we thought our $9,000 two-bedroom in TriBeCa was going to be a lot, but once you factor in royalties and passive income, it's only 6% of our take-home" then I would agree.

Btw, the <i>average</i> price for a 2-bedroom in TriBeCa (which is on the southern end of Manhattan) is just under $8,000.

http://www.mns.com/manhattan_rental_market_report

Goat3001

I'm guessing rent in Northern Virginia is jacked up because it's so close to DC.

RichC2

All of these "living wage" and FMR things seem off slightly, almost like they're skewed to make a point.

The Bus

What "seems" off about the Fair Market Rent data? Is there some specific part of the methodology you don't agree with?

It's here in detail: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html

cpgator

Has there ever been a time when someone could rent their own place making minimum wage? FMR was much lower 30 years ago, but minimum wage was just over $3 an hr.

Timber

I think there was a time when 2 people making minimum wage could afford an apartment. In most of those states you'd need 3 full time incomes (and minimum wage jobs are rarely 40 hours a week anymore) to afford it now.

The Bus

A 1-bedroom in Seattle (county) was $412 in 1989. Minimum wage in WA was $3.85 at the time. That's higher than the statewide number in the map above, but it was also Seattle only.

rw2516

Ralph Kramden only took home 42.50 a week. There was even enough left over to go bowling once a week.

GatorDeb

I think it's crazy moving out of a rent-controlled apartment because of having too much junk. We recently got new carpeting on half the house and uHauled an almost-filled 20-footer uHaul truck of a relative's furniture that was given to use. We have thrown out over 20 bags of trash mostly consisting of said junk, paper, etc.

1. Will I use it?
2. If not, can I sell it?
3. If so, WILL I sell it?

If the answer to those three questions was/is No, I threw/throw it out regardless of value. There's such a thing as emotional cost. Whether you keep the item or not, if the answer to those three questions is No, you already lost the money.

We each have 0.05% each, or 0.10% total, of our monthly take-home salary that we use for "play money." Eating out, clothes, gym memberships, etc. Anything else is bills or savings or stuff for the house (i.e. vacuum) or such.

So it's not how much you make, it's living well below those means. We save 20% of our monthly salary (although we do take vacations from that).

So what we jointly use for both of us that is not a "responsibility" is half what we put into savings each month.

I used to be an Alan, although not as bad, but I used to spend way too much money on junk I never used and I never saved a penny until I was in my late 30's (other than 5% of my salary into the 401k which my company matches 100% so I guess I've been saving 10% of my pre-tax salary since I was 23).

It can be done. He doesn't have to move. He has to throw away 50 bags of DVDs (i.e. laserdiscs, VHS, Blu-ray, etc.). Or just dump it all at a pawn shop and get 50 cents each. Then pay $65 a month for Amazon+Showtime+HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and SlingTv.

I just got an HDTV antenna and was playing around the idea getting the $400 Tivo Roamio OTA. Then I started thinking I never watch TV, and I have Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu along with tons of BDs I've never seen. So even if I record it, I'll never actually watch it. It plays into my hoarder personality. AND I already have a Tivo although I'd have to manually schedule recordings like a VCR. (the antenna was $23 and came with an amplifier and I get about 24 channels). Whenever I get something I make sure I will use it and I will have a place to put it at.

TomOpus

If it was this simple this thread wouldn't be 2.5 years old. He's a hoarder. He's psychologically tied to everything he owns. He's mentally invented a reason to keep each item. He's Capt Kurtz and these are his people.

The Bus

The entire thread is a harrowing account of one man's mental illness.

slop101

And it's scary to think that, as far as hoarders go, he's not that bad.

rw2516

If someone hoards, can't throw anything away, yet keeps all their junk organized and catalogued, are they still hoarders? Or do they have two illnesses, hoarding with a neatness compulsion?

Why So Blu?

Hoarding/OCD?

Is Hoarding a form of OCD or is it beyond that?