Geist13 wrote:I don't know what I made before taxes, after taxes was around the 17000 mark though. I paid 400 a month in rent for a shared 2 bedroom; it wasn't shitty, just a good deal. (I've never paid 500 in rent and have always lived in 500,000+ cities). I only had to pay for one meal a day because one of my jobs was in food service with lax food policies; I spent very little money on food. As far as emergencies, fuck I had no money for those; and that was a constant worry. It was rough, I'm lucky nothing happened. It was also the middle of the recession and there were no jobs. I know I had some uncommon circumstances (god free food is so awesome). The point is that you don't need 35k just to get by. I mean, this year my school allotted me 13K for cost of living in loans and I'm not exactly living super frugally (though I no longer have a car, those things are expensive).
edit: also 17000/12 does not equal 1307 . . .
You might be able to live in the present on 22k, but you know you wouldn't be able to buy a home or set aside any money for investments.