I mean, you take this by pieces and it all sounds pretty reasonable. You run it all together and you're basically asking for somebody to cut the Gordian knot of US urban living for you and not have to pay through the nose for it.

Leaving aside that your characteristic choice of a 'young professional' occupation is I-banking, let's look at what we're asking for here. First of all, you're specifying a new building, or one that's been thoroughly refurbished. For the insane real estate prices you're going to find in America's 'grand old cities,' that is asking a hell of a lot - we never stop talking about our infrastructure problems and how we finished the East Coast around 1880 and haven't done **** since, etc etc. It is of course very difficult and expensive to gut older, occupied construction and rebuild it, so you're either living somewhere where they need to recoup those costs, or your living out in the new Sun Belt, e.g., cities without the super-vibrant cultural quotient of New York / LA / Chicago / DC / Montreal / SF.

Being able to live in a trendy neighborhood *and* where you work, outside of maybe three cities I can think of, just requires you to hit a grand slam in life and get really lucky even when prioritizing specifically to make this happen.

My old apartment in Atlanta, on Cheshire Bridge, a nice-but-not-nice-enough-for-this place, with modern construction / facilities in a semi-hip area semi-close to downtown, basically close but no cigar to what you're asking for, was $1300/mo. Atlanta is one of the best cities I can think of to make this kind of thing happen, and you'd have to be pretty lucky and pretty on top of your **** to get it done. On the Eastern seaboard or in the great cities of California what you are asking for is simply impossible.

So, if what you're saying is, 'the generations raised on TV are kind of bummed that their lives aren't like LA Law or The Cosby Show,' welp, welcome to the malaise of 21st century culture. We're all trying to work it out.

I can't remember what we were originally arguing about, but I'm sure this wasn't it. I'm pretty sure I was just fading you.

lol @ our generation

my grandparents fought in WWII, worked 15 hour days and were thrilled to be able to buy a small condo in florda to retire to

obviously skewed because people here are going to be richer than average, but just sickening how entitled ppl are

just curious, but if NYC is so damn expensive, why don't some of you just move elsewhere? I can't imagine living in a place where I need 100k to live comfortably, especially single. You can live like a king for half that in a lot of places. I realize I am almost contradicting myself, but 50k goes a long way in a lot of places.

yeah we are spoiled, by and large, but the tone of your posts are ridiculous tbh. It sounds like you think people need to live in shanty towns and eat beans every day, in order to feel what its like to live like that.

Um, no thanks, my parents went to college so I didn't have to.

Poverty, in the sense of the anxiety and uncertainty of not feeling like you have enough or having to make sacrifices based on what you're used to, is an entirely relative evil. Now, we have basic needs that are pretty absolute - keeping fed and warm and laid and sheltered and what not - but a hell of a lot of being poor comes down to expectations. 21st century malaise, paradox of progress, blah blah blah.

Also it sounds like your grandparents had **** for lives.

dude i love rich people

but what is ridiculous is people who can easily afford an extra bedroom, cable, internet, meals out on the weekend, a car, a few vacations a year, etc. crying "I JUST CAN'T MAKE ENDS MEET!" because they are simply ****ing idiots who do **** like get bottle service and buy expensive cars and get all their groceries at whole foods.

not to politard things up, but on a micro level its exactly whats going on with state and federal governments...everyone thinks they are entitled to a bunch **** they simply cant pay for.

A lot of people try to keep up a specific image, debt be damned. Its pretty pathetic, but its true. I know people that have filed for BK when they were in their mid 20's.

USC,

Canadians,

Please don't take this question as insulting. If you're just reading this thread and thinking 'wow food prices in the US sound sick lower,' are you making sure to correctly convert kgs to lbs?]

EDIT: Rechecking. No, $15, even CAN$15, is still a ****load for three chicken breasts.

My parents didn't speak English when they arrived in Canada and until I was in my early-teens couldn't even communicate in bad English. They have no formal education and I'm pretty sure neither even finished high school. Yet they managed over $100k a year mostly because my dad worked a hard physical job. This is true of my uncles and most of the people my family knew. Now with the benefit of growing up here and several university degrees if I can't do better than Dad there is something really wrong with me.

dude good for you

im happy you are making money, capitalism is working as labor is being rewarded as generations pass

again, im not saying anything about the ability of people to make money, im saying that people who make enough money to live a debt free comfortable middle class lifestyle but dont because they think they are entitled to a BMW and some blow on the weekends are complete ****ing idiots

and these people, whose mentality is very common, are exactly why the country is going bankrupt.

Yes. Most things here are actually priced in both. Our food is insane compared to the States. It is hard to get prices on stuff that is not on sale since fliers only advertise deals obviously but even our sale prices are worse than US normal prices.

I just asked because that's precisely the sort of ridiculous facepalm mistake I'm a threat to build a big shrieking argument with at any given time.

http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/econ155a-eng.htm

There use to be one just for chicken but I can't find it now.

Corn flakes 675 g -- never had corn flakes but so no idea if that is the normal size box but average price is $4.00

A dozen eggs $2.68

Butter $4.28

Prime Rib 20.21/kg

Now those are average and so include disgusting places like Price Chopper amd Food Basics.

With respect to the chicken breast price that is for boneless and skinless at Loblaws which is the biggest chain and I think if you are going to look at prices it has to be either Loblaws or Metro. No discount places and no fancy high-end places.

Agreed, people saying money is tight, but don't bring lunch to work and smoke a pack a day. Don't really for bad for them, think about things first.

for the guy who wanted a shopping list, here is mine (excluding grooming/toiletries), I eat 6 meals a day, 6 days a week, so I probably eat smaller portions than most of you guys


18 eggs (3 hard boiled egg whites per day)
precooked breakfast sausage (2 per day)
5/20$ meat (deal at sav a lot, 5 packages of various meat for 20$) packages are usually:

3 or 4 lbs of hamburger
6 chicken thighs
6 chicken legs
2 7oz strips
pork steaks (a st louis thing, but its like a pork chop)
6 or 7 cans of veggies (usually spinach or green beans)
head of lettuce (I make taco salad usually)
a couple jalapenos
a couple tomatoes (during winter, during summer I have a garden)
apples, oranges, pears
garlic, onions, artichoke hearts
eggplant (usually grill it)
mushrooms
zuchinis (sautee in some olive oil with onions/garlic)
thats like 30$ of stuff

I have the staples on hand (olive oil, etc and buy them in bulk once every two months)

I go to a fish monger for fish, and spend 10$ on 3 or 4 whole fish, and once a month, I smoke a whole pork butt or brisket (like 1.30$/lb @ 10-12 lbs) and freeze the leftovers

produce list isnt static, just depends on what i want to make for the week, and Im lucky during the summer I have access to a massive garden with fresh produce, carrots, garlic, green onions, any herb you can think off, eggplants, artichokes, all kinds of peppers, tomatoes, peaches

I feel like everyone is missing the big picture here.

Sure, the OP could save a few bucks by changing his grocery shopping habits. But while $800/month in groceries may seem high, $400/month/person for food doesn't sound high to me at all. I spend like $200/month just getting lunch at Panera Bread, and I make much less than the OP! If the OP wants to buy higher quality groceries in lieu of going to restaurants, that doesn't seem unreasonable. Neither does $1600/month rent for two people in NYC.

What is making the OP feel poor is $500/month in credit card payments. As described, he was so financially irresponsible earlier on that he nearly had to declare bankruptcy. Now he is paying for his earlier irresponsibility. As described, it sounds like this payment is going entirely toward principle and is incurring no additional interest. If this is true, he just needs to pay off the debt as planned, and he will be in much better shape. If this is actually an interest payment, he should definitely be cutting back on everything else and paying off the principle.

So it does not surprise me that the OP feels poor despite spending reasonably month-to-month. But it is not the $65K income that is causing this, but rather the large debt he already accumulated. Three years in relative poverty is just penance for past sins.

He probably should just default on the credit card debt.

I shop at Loblaws in a suburb of Toronto every week. Boneless, skinless chicken breast is $4/lb.

I used to live in one of the higher income areas of North York (I was in a ****ty apartment next to the highway, obv), and the chicken was the same price (also at Loblaws).

Either they breed super chickens in Ottawa, or Henry is smoking some serious crack.

lol canada

http://www.loblaws.ca/LCLOnline/flye...egoryId=400012

$8.31/kg or $3.77/lb for a club pack that is on sale for less than 1/2 price according to the ad.

No, you're simply wrong on this. I would LOVE to live in a house in Iowa that I was paying 1600 a month on. It would be an awesome house. I can't currently afford such a thing, but damn it would be a nice house.

You can trash talk Iowa all you want, but I would WAY rather live in a nice house in the country than a small dorm room in the city for the same price. For the love of god for 1600 a month I feel like I could have a piece of land with a pond I could fish on.

I'm about 90% that Henry is an incredibly elaborate gimmick account. There's simply no way that a person exists who derives so much of his value from what he spends on things.

You might want that but you are by far in the minority. The vast majority of people do not want that.

I find it funny that people still say **** like this despite multiple confirmations by other posters who know me in real life.

Just grunching, semi-serious answer, semi-not. 65k/year for a single person is no problem. I think you're forgetting about taxes, so you're only really making like 52k/year.

Which means, you have about $4400/monthly (1100/week). I'm looking at your pay rate, you're saying 900ish/week or 18xx/bi-weekly.
Rough math is $862/week for your spending. So, you're blowing $75/week somewhere. If you only have $75 left out of your check per week, then you are over-spending and living outside of your means.

A quick skim of the first quote, you have $800/month in groceries and $1600/rent AND THEN you have Cable/bills utilities?
Get a cheaper place, or lose cable/phone? Cut back on what you're buying?

First of all, as a single person, I can out eat everyday(not saying $15-20/meal) and not spend $600/month. I know I can buy groceries(and have) for about $100/week and still not run out of food. So, if you're spending $800, you're doing something wrong.

Also, why is beer/wine/cologne in your grocery list? These are luxuries. Why are you buying $30/week in seafood?

I think the main thing is, OP just needs to get a clue. $65k/year is a good job, especially with benefits. Most people would kill for this kind of job.

Henry,
You honestly think that if I posted the house that 1600 a month would buy in Iowa VS the apartment you could rent in NY the majority would choose the apartment?