If you worked/are working before starting law school.... Forum

[Scurredsitless1]

When I first graduated college I was making about $40K. I paid $700/month for rent. It was SO much more money than I was used to having. I really had no problem living comfortably and saving a bunch of money with $40K. I was in Va Beach, so the cost of living was considerably less than NYC, but it wasn't appalachia.

[Mr. Pablo]

Unless you have some outrageous debt, you should be just fine on 40k. IIRC 40 is just about the average income. Welcome to the middle class.

[eternallearner]

Thank you all for your wisdom!

It is nice to know that I can get by with $40K while doing something I love. Still a little shocked that I will be saving only around $900-1000/month though.

[Mr. Pablo]

Thank you all for your wisdom! It is nice to know that I can get by with $40K while doing something I love. Still a little shocked that I will be saving only around $900-1000/month though.

Don't be shocked when your savings is actually quite a bit lower. Life is really fucking expensive, and its always the stuff you don't/can't plan for. I know.

[d34d9823]

Thank you all for your wisdom! It is nice to know that I can get by with $40K while doing something I love. Still a little shocked that I will be saving only around $900-1000/month though.

Don't be shocked when your savings is actually quite a bit lower. Life is really fucking expensive, and its always the stuff you don't/can't plan for. I know.

Seriously. My Dad told me that you can always expect to spend $300 more than you make per month. It's pretty true.

[Mr. Pablo]

Which is why people gun for the 160k/year. You can actually save money if you earn that much.

[rdcws000]

Which is why people gun for the 160k/year. You can actually save money if you earn that much.

You should be able to, except the exponential tax burden you take on, and the inconvenient fact that as people get richer, they tend to increase their cost of living at exactly the same rate. Raise, new car, raise, ridiculous 5 karat ring for wife, raise, boat, raise, mansion. Then they get to the point where they are just as broke as they were when they got out of college making 40k. So many people say "I will never do this" but I would venture to guess (and our recent housing collapse supports) the the majority of Americans live beyond, or at least the limit of their means.

I make decent money right now, and my plan is to live on what I make now (adjusted for inflation) for the rest of my life. Additional money goes to land, retirement fund, and kid's college, etc. I have already done this for my last 2 pay increases, just upped my stock purchase and 401k.

[MC Southstar]

40k/yr is for poors.

[03121202698008]

I live in a place where a safe, decent housing is around $1000/month. That leaves $1333 for everything else. Food is around $400/month. Thus, finally leaving us with $933 as monthly saving.

I just find it hard to swallow that my monthly saving will be around $900.

Life has substantially more costs associated with it than "decent housing" and "food." HTH

Seriously. OP, have you ever paid your own bills before? Also, where are you living?

Uh, what about electric, gas, cell phone, cable, car insurance, Life insurance, renters insurance, etc?

[paratactical]

.

[380yarddrives]

You haven't put any consideration into entertainment either. What's a life worth if you don't get to go have some fun after you're done working your ass off.

[Mr. Pablo]

Which is why people gun for the 160k/year. You can actually save money if you earn that much.

You should be able to, except the exponential tax burden you take on, and the inconvenient fact that as people get richer, they tend to increase their cost of living at exactly the same rate. Raise, new car, raise, ridiculous 5 karat ring for wife, raise, boat, raise, mansion. Then they get to the point where they are just as broke as they were when they got out of college making 40k. So many people say "I will never do this" but I would venture to guess (and our recent housing collapse supports) the the majority of Americans live beyond, or at least the limit of their means.

I make decent money right now, and my plan is to live on what I make now (adjusted for inflation) for the rest of my life. Additional money goes to land, retirement fund, and kid's college, etc. I have already done this for my last 2 pay increases, just upped my stock purchase and 401k.

Oh, I agree that people tend to live up to or above their means, but those things are luxuries and are beyond the (ever increasing) basics. I would say that reasonable, fiscally responsible people who are buying boats also have managed some level of savings that outstrips the savings of a 40k earner by a significant amount.
edit: which is not to say that all people who buy luxury goods are saving money, but I would say that is irresponsible.

[motiontodismiss]

Thank you for your helpful link.

Can one live comfortably with $40K? I am trying to come up with a budget, but find it hard to do so.

No. Median income (GDP/Capita) is about $44k and the average credit card debt is $10k.

[Mr. Pablo]

Thank you for your helpful link.

Can one live comfortably with $40K? I am trying to come up with a budget, but find it hard to do so.

No. Median income (GDP/Capita) is about $44k and the average credit card debt is $10k.

Oh stop it. Just because there is an average cc debt of 10k does not mean that one can't live comfortably on 40k. Sure, if you're 10k in the hole to cc companies, then yes, you will have a problem. I make 40k and I am just fine, I save some money (not the 1k/month OP was hoping for, but enough for now) and can go out and enjoy myself.

[quishiclocus]

I lived quite comfortably on less than $30k for quite awhile. That said:

Get yourself to a financial literacy course IMMEDIATELY. Like, yesterday. Financial Peace University is solid but kinda religious. Something, anyway. I'm not a Dave Ramsey fan in a big way, but you've already shown that you are totally financially illiterate. Which is a hard thing to hear, but seriously. Rent and food as your only major expenses? It doesn't work that way. The list of other things you need to spend on and be prepared for is huge. Part of those expenses are incurred just for the privilege of working: Gas, often parking, vehicle wear, clothing, laundry, haircuts, lunches, health insurance so you don't miss tons of work for every minor ailment... etc.

$40k is in most of the country plenty for a single person without debt to live on comfortably, but not if you don't know what you're doing. My brother and his wife make like $70k between them, and they're declaring bankruptcy because they didn't have the least idea how much money they really had to spend, and thus spent it in really unsound ways. Don't just ask people on a random internet forum how to do this stuff. There are whole books written about this. And classes. Go to the experts. Not random internet people who probably have considerably more debt than income!

[eternallearner]

Thank you for your words. I am grateful.

I don't have any debt. None.

My potential employer will cover insurance, though I am sure I have to make co-payments.

Can you recommend some book titles and/or authors I should read about to help with my financial illiteracy?

[wadeny]

Thank you all for your wisdom!

It is nice to know that I can get by with $40K while doing something I love. Still a little shocked that I will be saving only around $900-1000/month though.

OP, $40k won't go as far you might think. You should be fine since you're single and have no debt, but your quality of life will really depend on where you're exactly living, as will your savings. NYC, DC, Boston, SF, and many other cities have a very high COL for housing/food...not to mention taxes, utilities, transportation, insurance, and other incidental expenses along the way.

FWIW, I lived in DC for a while and initially made around $40k/yr after graduating UG, but it was very difficult to save much money at all. If you can save around $1k/month on $40k/yr, you will have to be very conservative with spending and will be curbing many, many expenses. You better get used to eating a lot of Ramen too.

[MrKappus]

OP: $90k plus bonus. I'm not sure how this helps you.