How fast can you REALLY pay your loans? Forum

[Old Gregg]

The "you'll live live longer eating out less" shtick is silly. Nobody cooks in NYC. Are you saying they die early? A lot of the simple cheap easy to prepare meals you might cook at home really aren't all that good for you, being centered on getting most of your calories from carbs.

Yes, because everyone eats microwavables when they cook at home...

The principle behind it being healthier to cook is that you control your portions and you know exactly what's in your food.

It's not really shtick. It's common sense.

[XxSpyKEx]

If I had to make a more detailed budget for a semi cost conscious, but not homelss person in DC big law.

Rent: 2100. Sorry, you aren't going to live in the ghetto unless you have to.

Utilities: 300

Commuting costs: 100

Weekday Lunch: 250

Ordering in 2 times a week: 250 ~= 60 x 4.3

1 Dinner out a week = 125 ~= 30 x 4.3

1 bar trip = 150 ~= 35 x 4.3

Groceries = 200

Misc. shopping (paper towels, razor blades) = 50

Furniture = 200

Electronics = 100

Medical/Dental = 50

gromming = 50

Clothing = 200-400

Fun activities = 100

Hobbies = 50

Laundry dry cleaning = 30

Vacation = 170 ( 3 flights per year and 10 days in a hotel ~ 2k per year)

Healthcare = 200

= 4575 a month.

Monthly income 8100

So we are talking 3500 a month. That's going to be a pretty tight budget.

$2400 per month for an apartment with utilities is not semi cost-conscious. It's probably about right for 2 people (e.g. a couple) sharing a 1 bedroom apartment, but not for 1 person. A studio or living in the burbs, but within a half hour commute via metro, would cut $1k /month. $825 /month is a really large food/eating budget. I think $500 /month is pretty reasonable factoring in a good amount of eating out (not to mention it would allow you to live longer than the next 10 years). Just knocking those two costs down would drop you to $3200 /month. There are definitely other places that you could save money as well (e.g. who spends $400 /month on clothes?) while not living like a homeless person.

You aren't going to keep it much under 2k near the metro even in the burbs. Price Virginia square or crystal city. You certainly aren't going to find one with utilities for 1400. Utilities include cable and cell phone.

Crystal city is pricey (and I don't even know what Virginia Square is). But you can definitely do around $1400 with utilities in Silver Spring, Bethesda, or Alexandria (near Van Dorn, not King St). A studio in Cleveland park and Columbia heights might get you there in DC, but probably won't be a greatest unit at that price ($1500-1600 w/ utilities would be more reasonable at those locations and near the metro). Cell phone is not an apartment utility. I forget how much people pay for cable- it's true that's almost never included in rent. I hate cable anyways. It's costs a ton and there's never anything I want to watch on. Netflix and bittorrent FTW. If you bitch enough Comcast will give you really fast internet for $20-35 /month for life lol.

[El Pollito]

The "you'll live live longer eating out less" shtick is silly. Nobody cooks in NYC. Are you saying they die early? A lot of the simple cheap easy to prepare meals you might cook at home really aren't all that good for you, being centered on getting most of your calories from carbs.

Yes, because everyone eats microwavables when they cook at home...

The principle behind it being healthier to cook is that you control your portions and you know exactly what's in your food.

It's not really shtick. It's common sense.

Yup, and everyone needs to get a food scale.

[XxSpyKEx]

The "you'll live live longer eating out less" shtick is silly. Nobody cooks in NYC. Are you saying they die early? A lot of the simple cheap easy to prepare meals you might cook at home really aren't all that good for you, being centered on getting most of your calories from carbs.

I never used to look at nutritional facts until I had my cholesterol measured recently. You'd be surprised by just how insanely bad most restaurant food is for you. It's always loaded with saturated fats, sodium, and/or sugar. The goal for restaurants is to make things taste good, not to make them healthy. (Although, I could possibly see living off eating out in a place like LA where everyone is super health conscious.) When you cook, you can easily make stuff that's a shitload healthier than the crap they sell at restaurants. It also helps that you can get nutritional facts on everything that you buy and eat.

[rayiner]

The "you'll live live longer eating out less" shtick is silly. Nobody cooks in NYC. Are you saying they die early? A lot of the simple cheap easy to prepare meals you might cook at home really aren't all that good for you, being centered on getting most of your calories from carbs.

I never used to look at nutritional facts until I had my cholesterol measured recently. You'd be surprised by just how insanely bad most restaurant food is for you. It's always loaded with saturated fats, sodium, and/or sugar. The goal for restaurants is to make things taste good, not to make them healthy. (Although, I could possibly see living off eating out in a place like LA where everyone is super health conscious.) When you cook, you can easily make stuff that's a shitload healthier than the crap they sell at restaurants. It also helps that you can get nutritional facts on everything that you buy and eat.

Saturated fats/sodium is flame. E.g. http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ar-on-salt.

[hdunlop]

Crystal city is pricey (and I don't even know what Virginia Square is). But you can definitely do around $1400 with utilities in Silver Spring, Bethesda, or Alexandria (near Van Dorn, not King St). A studio in Cleveland park and Columbia heights might get you there in DC, but probably won't be a greatest unit at that price ($1500-1600 w/ utilities would be more reasonable at those locations and near the metro).

I think that I have to go back to what DF was talking about earlier which is the disparity between where certain people are and where a single big law dude might be. I can't imagine paying sticker rent for a place by myself in a metro area. I did it for a while and still kick myself for how stupid it was, though it worked out. I feel like roommates or a SO are basically essential, in which case $1250 anywhere in the city feels like high end.

[09042014]

If I had to make a more detailed budget for a semi cost conscious, but not homelss person in DC big law.

Rent: 2100. Sorry, you aren't going to live in the ghetto unless you have to.

Utilities: 300

Commuting costs: 100

Weekday Lunch: 250

Ordering in 2 times a week: 250 ~= 60 x 4.3

1 Dinner out a week = 125 ~= 30 x 4.3

1 bar trip = 150 ~= 35 x 4.3

Groceries = 200

Misc. shopping (paper towels, razor blades) = 50

Furniture = 200

Electronics = 100

Medical/Dental = 50

gromming = 50

Clothing = 200-400

Fun activities = 100

Hobbies = 50

Laundry dry cleaning = 30

Vacation = 170 ( 3 flights per year and 10 days in a hotel ~ 2k per year)

Healthcare = 200

= 4575 a month.

Monthly income 8100

So we are talking 3500 a month. That's going to be a pretty tight budget.

$2400 per month for an apartment with utilities is not semi cost-conscious. It's probably about right for 2 people (e.g. a couple) sharing a 1 bedroom apartment, but not for 1 person. A studio or living in the burbs, but within a half hour commute via metro, would cut $1k /month. $825 /month is a really large food/eating budget. I think $500 /month is pretty reasonable factoring in a good amount of eating out (not to mention it would allow you to live longer than the next 10 years). Just knocking those two costs down would drop you to $3200 /month. There are definitely other places that you could save money as well (e.g. who spends $400 /month on clothes?) while not living like a homeless person.

You aren't going to keep it much under 2k near the metro even in the burbs. Price Virginia square or crystal city. You certainly aren't going to find one with utilities for 1400. Utilities include cable and cell phone.

Crystal city is pricey (and I don't even know what Virginia Square is). But you can definitely do around $1400 with utilities in Silver Spring, Bethesda, or Alexandria (near Van Dorn, not King St). A studio in Cleveland park and Columbia heights might get you there in DC, but probably won't be a greatest unit at that price ($1500-1600 w/ utilities would be more reasonable at those locations and near the metro). Cell phone is not an apartment utility. I forget how much people pay for cable- it's true that's almost never included in rent. I hate cable anyways. It's costs a ton and there's never anything I want to watch on. Netflix and bittorrent FTW. If you bitch enough Comcast will give you really fast internet for $20-35 /month for life lol.

Van Dorn, Silver Spring, and Bethesda are 45 minutes door to door. That's a long time for someone with long hours. While you might find 1400 with utilities near SS or Bethesda, it wont be right on the metro, which increases travel time to nearer to an hour.

LOL at making 160k and not getting ESPN. What is this? Africa?

[Anonymous User]

My girlfriend pays $1200 for a great studio with metro access in Arlington. It can be done.

[09042014]

My girlfriend pays $1200 for a great studio with metro access in Arlington. It can be done.

What does "With metro access" mean. If it means pretty close to a metro, I don't really believe that is a realistic rent price. Not saying she didn't get it, but you cannot count on getting one at that price.

Also living in a studio when you are an adult sucks large cock.

Nobody is saying you can't live on 38k in DC. Just that nobody with 98k take home is doing it.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Summary: Paying huge amounts toward loans can be done. Most people don't. You may be the exception but probably not.

[POTUS2044]

Everyone ITT must be either skinny-fats, or just fat-fats.

Talking about living off quinoa, rice, miscellaneous other carbs... pls go.

If you're somewhat aesthetic (and a guy), your 200-250g protein is not gonna be $10/week. Even the CHEAPEST protein, lean chicken breast with zero seasoning/veggies is gonna run you like $10/day. Add in some broccoli/salad/garlic/onion/seasonings whatever, you're at least $12-15/day, for $4/pound chicken breast. Reasonable $6-7/pound meats increases this to like $15-20 per day plus veggies/carbs. Whey shakes are like 30-40 g protein per dollar, so you can cut off like $1-2/day from that but whatever not a significant difference

or are there just NO aesthetic bros in biglaw?

[Danger Zone]

Everyone ITT must be either skinny-fats, or just fat-fats.

Talking about living off quinoa, rice, miscellaneous other carbs... pls go.

If you're somewhat aesthetic (and a guy), your 200-250g protein is not gonna be $10/week. Even the CHEAPEST protein, lean chicken breast with zero seasoning/veggies is gonna run you like $10/day. Add in some broccoli/salad/garlic/onion/seasonings whatever, you're at least $12-15/day, for $4/pound chicken breast. Reasonable $6-7/pound meats increases this to like $15-20 per day plus veggies/carbs. Whey shakes are like 30-40 g protein per dollar, so you can cut off like $1-2/day from that but whatever not a significant difference

or are there just NO aesthetic bros in biglaw?

(calls people ITT fats)

(revises meal budget upwards)

[09042014]

Just do rice and siracha you stole from a restraruant you used the bathroom in. LOL at you fat cats spending more than 1 dollar a day on food.

[XxSpyKEx]

$2400 per month for an apartment with utilities is not semi cost-conscious. It's probably about right for 2 people (e.g. a couple) sharing a 1 bedroom apartment, but not for 1 person. A studio or living in the burbs, but within a half hour commute via metro, would cut $1k /month. $825 /month is a really large food/eating budget. I think $500 /month is pretty reasonable factoring in a good amount of eating out (not to mention it would allow you to live longer than the next 10 years). Just knocking those two costs down would drop you to $3200 /month. There are definitely other places that you could save money as well (e.g. who spends $400 /month on clothes?) while not living like a homeless person.

You aren't going to keep it much under 2k near the metro even in the burbs. Price Virginia square or crystal city. You certainly aren't going to find one with utilities for 1400. Utilities include cable and cell phone.

Crystal city is pricey (and I don't even know what Virginia Square is). But you can definitely do around $1400 with utilities in Silver Spring, Bethesda, or Alexandria (near Van Dorn, not King St). A studio in Cleveland park and Columbia heights might get you there in DC, but probably won't be a greatest unit at that price ($1500-1600 w/ utilities would be more reasonable at those locations and near the metro). Cell phone is not an apartment utility. I forget how much people pay for cable- it's true that's almost never included in rent. I hate cable anyways. It's costs a ton and there's never anything I want to watch on. Netflix and bittorrent FTW. If you bitch enough Comcast will give you really fast internet for $20-35 /month for life lol.

Van Dorn, Silver Spring, and Bethesda are 45 minutes door to door. That's a long time for someone with long hours. While you might find 1400 with utilities near SS or Bethesda, it wont be right on the metro, which increases travel time to nearer to an hour.

LOL at making 160k and not getting ESPN. What is this? Africa?

It all depends on precisely where you work and how slow you walk. If you live in downtown Silver spring near the metro, it's about a 20-25 minute ride. So probably around 30-35 minutes door-to-door. You can find find studios in downtown SS for $1200 month with utilities. $1400 /month is more like a nicer apartment a block from the metro station. Bethesda is obviously a lot closer (but you can definitely find a studio near the metro for $1400-1500 /month). Van Dorn has the rush express thing with the yellow line, so if your work is near the yellow line, it's probably like a 30 minute commute door-to-door.

What's the point of wasting money on cable when you're always going to be at work anyways? It seems like the more wasteful you need to be to justify the stress of biglaw, the shittier of a deal it becomes. If you're only going to be saving or putting $20k each year towards your loans, I really don't see why you need biglaw for that. You could work half the hours in fed government and still be saving the same amount or more (especially with PAYE and PLSF) because you wouldn't need to justify wasting $6k month on stupid bullshit that you aren't even able to enjoy since you're spending most of your life working anyways. Not to mention fed government can be more than a 3-5 year stint, unlike biglaw for most people.

My girlfriend pays $1200 for a great studio with metro access in Arlington. It can be done.

What does "With metro access" mean. If it means pretty close to a metro, I don't really believe that is a realistic rent price. Not saying she didn't get it, but you cannot count on getting one at that price.

Also living in a studio when you are an adult sucks large cock.

Nobody is saying you can't live on 38k in DC. Just that nobody with 98k take home is doing it.

Well, you're married and talking about 2 people living in a place. It's different when you're single and out at work and/or doing shit all the time. The place you live at matters so much less when you mostly only sleep there.

Summary: Paying huge amounts toward loans can be done. Most people don't. You may be the exception but probably not.

TITCR.

[09042014]

Big law doesn't take up literally all your time. And most DC firms let you work from home after 6 and on the weekends. So even if you are busy you are typically busy at home.

Living in a closet would fucking suck. I've lived in a sub 300 sqft place before, and it's pretty awful. Having a bed/coach isn't so funny when you are an adult.

I'm not saying it's impossible to do this, but only people who get off on being frugal can do this for years.

You've got scores of people sayings "yea 300k is NBD, I'll just live cheap!" It's a shitty plan.

[POTUS2044]

Everyone ITT must be either skinny-fats, or just fat-fats.

Talking about living off quinoa, rice, miscellaneous other carbs... pls go.

If you're somewhat aesthetic (and a guy), your 200-250g protein is not gonna be $10/week. Even the CHEAPEST protein, lean chicken breast with zero seasoning/veggies is gonna run you like $10/day. Add in some broccoli/salad/garlic/onion/seasonings whatever, you're at least $12-15/day, for $4/pound chicken breast. Reasonable $6-7/pound meats increases this to like $15-20 per day plus veggies/carbs. Whey shakes are like 30-40 g protein per dollar, so you can cut off like $1-2/day from that but whatever not a significant difference

or are there just NO aesthetic bros in biglaw?

(calls people ITT fats)

(revises meal budget upwards)

point of eating healthy isn't to save money

[DELG]

Everyone ITT must be either skinny-fats, or just fat-fats.

Talking about living off quinoa, rice, miscellaneous other carbs... pls go.

If you're somewhat aesthetic (and a guy), your 200-250g protein is not gonna be $10/week. Even the CHEAPEST protein, lean chicken breast with zero seasoning/veggies is gonna run you like $10/day. Add in some broccoli/salad/garlic/onion/seasonings whatever, you're at least $12-15/day, for $4/pound chicken breast. Reasonable $6-7/pound meats increases this to like $15-20 per day plus veggies/carbs. Whey shakes are like 30-40 g protein per dollar, so you can cut off like $1-2/day from that but whatever not a significant difference

or are there just NO aesthetic bros in biglaw?

I spent $180 on Saturday on probably 5 dinners of fish, vegetables and berries for 2 adults and a toddler (with leftovers for toddler lunches). Packing more of the same for lunch wouldn't be much cheaper than salad at the local deli. I guess leaning so heavily on fish isn't necessary but I also don't think it's crazy self-indulgent.

[09042014]

And who the hell wants to eat the same thing every single meal.

[El Pollito]

Everyone ITT must be either skinny-fats, or just fat-fats.

Talking about living off quinoa, rice, miscellaneous other carbs... pls go.

If you're somewhat aesthetic (and a guy), your 200-250g protein is not gonna be $10/week. Even the CHEAPEST protein, lean chicken breast with zero seasoning/veggies is gonna run you like $10/day. Add in some broccoli/salad/garlic/onion/seasonings whatever, you're at least $12-15/day, for $4/pound chicken breast. Reasonable $6-7/pound meats increases this to like $15-20 per day plus veggies/carbs. Whey shakes are like 30-40 g protein per dollar, so you can cut off like $1-2/day from that but whatever not a significant difference

or are there just NO aesthetic bros in biglaw?

Dying @ "aesthetic bros"

[DELG]

And who the hell wants to eat the same thing every single meal.

Well, me. But there's no doubt that 1400 calories/day of fish, veg and berries is an expensive grocery bill. The line of reasoning "you must be overeating" doesn't really work if those are the kinds of ingredients we're talking about, which are staples at my house.

[09042014]

And who the hell wants to eat the same thing every single meal.

Well, me. But there's no doubt that 1400 calories/day of fish, veg and berries is an expensive grocery bill. The line of reasoning "you must be overeating" doesn't really work if those are the kinds of ingredients we're talking about, which are staples at my house.

Exactly, the people at my firm who eat healthy probably spend double what I do on homecooked meals. Two burgers and two buns is cheap as fuck. And terrible for yuo.

[rayiner]

My dad drove up today to see the baby. $53 on brunch, $3 for parking, $6 for coffee.

What was I going to do? "Thanks dad for paying for college, but let's split the check and by the way why don't you pick up the coffee?"

[El Pollito]

My dad drove up today to see the baby. $53 on brunch, $3 for parking, $6 for coffee.

What was I going to do? "Thanks dad for paying for college, but let's split the check and by the way why don't you pick up the coffee?"

I just took my parents to a $144 dinner last night. 10 year repayment it is.

[masterbrowski]

It's easy to say as a law student that you'll live at the same level you did in law school and pay your loans off in a few years. It's also pretty uncommon to see anyone actually doing that. There's merit to paying your debt down quickly. It's a very responsible and conscientious thing to do. But, I think the majority of biglaw juniors I know do not pay their debt down at $40k/year. You might disagree with this financially, morally, whatever ... but I'm just trying to be realistic.

The key is to have a budget that works for you, that you'll be happy on, and that you'll stick with. It may be that some people will voluntarily live a frugal lifestyle. You can have basic cable, brown rice, dried beans, canned tuna, PB&J's, $15 dress shirts from TJ Maxx, and dinner at TGIFridays once a month. You will pay off your debt VERY quickly making biglaw money and living that way! I just don't see very many biglaw associates who actually have that lifestyle. People you love have birthdays... you take advantage of a 3 day weekend to plan a trip somewhere ... relatives visit ... friends have weddings ... your favorite NBA team makes the playoffs and you want to watch all 7 games at your favorite bar. Shit, maybe you are trying to get engaged and drop $3-$4k on a ring. Life happens and it can get expensive. It takes a lot of will power to turn stuff down as much as you'd need to in order to spend only $1.5k/month on food, clothes, entertainment, and miscellaneous while you simultaneously make biglaw money.

Also, you guys are trying to make it sound like my girlfriend would make me go out for dinner. Are you kidding? You really don't have to twist my arm to get me to eat a steak, salad, and scalloped potatoes... or to drink a bourbon on the rocks for that matter.

[XxSpyKEx]

Big law doesn't take up literally all your time. And most DC firms let you work from home after 6 and on the weekends. So even if you are busy you are typically busy at home.

This is great if you're actually able to motivate yourself to work from home. I can't ever get shit done from home. Way too many distractions and other things that I could be doing.