Basic Life Math

Essentials:

• Food is something that everyone needs.  If you make your own food you are already in good shape because you can save a lot of money preparing your own food and eating leftovers.  Budgeting for food is easy, you eat three meals a day and you eat for an average of 30 days per month. Thats 90 meals in a month, and if your meals cost $5 then you spend $450 on food a month.  If you like to drink or eat out then your food bill will be a lot more expensive.  If you have someone else that you need to feed then you can double that.  What I do for a food budget is break it down to groceries and eating out.  Groceries should take up the majority of the food bill, and the budget for eating out is more a treat.  
• Rent is not something everyone has, but the majority of people out there aren't pretty enough or lucky enough to get a free place to live.  For my rent budget I went with a condo community since some of the essential bills are already taken care of.  In our complex we do not have to pay the water bill which can save $50 a month. Other communities you can also get free cable, water, trash, etc that can save you more money over having an apartment. 
• Clothing is another essential that almost everyone has to have.  Instead of buying the newest thing you can find, shop sale sites or big sales at stores.  I know I have found half my wardrobe at Banana Republic for very cheap.  6pm is also a very good site to find good clothing for less.  Knowing when to buy and being willing to spend the money can actually save you a lot in the long run.  I know I have a problem when it comes to the spending part.  I always think that it will get cheaper and it never does. 

Non-essentials:

• Transportation can actually be an essential for most people, I know it is for me, but for some people it isn't.  Buying a good road bike and biking to work if you live close enough can save you $100 in gas a month, meaning the bike will pay for itself very quickly.  If you live far from work you can actually ride a train and save yourself tons of gas. 
• Entertainment is not an essential in life but it can relieve stress.  Look for deals on Groupon, LivingSocial, or just look on regular websites.  If you like to go out and drink then try to find good happy hours.  Drinks are expensive and saving half off your monthly tab could be hundred of dollars. 
• Electronics are so integrated into every day life that we all have them.  From TV's to cell phones we all need these things.  If you do need a new phone, TV, or computer try logicbuy since they seem to have great deals on everything.  

Hopefully these little tid bits help out. 

Tricks of the trade

 Growing up in middle america, a person can have a different understanding of wealth.  We like to call it "ends meat" in small towns.  How much do we need just to get by?  That is the monthly thought process.

When you move from small town middle america you run into sticker shock all the time.  I know I did.  Gas is a dollar cheaper per gallon back home.  Rent is a third as much...a THIRD.  Food is cheaper, insurance is cheaper, everything is cheaper.



When you have a math degree and an insane amount of greed you look at everything in terms of dollars and cents.  It all adds up and quickly in the city.  If you use as little as 50 gallons of gas a month, you save $50 back home.  If your rent is $1500 in the city, back home you could have a great place for $750.  Or, if you want a house you can build a great one for $200,000, but if you live in a big city you can buy a crappy one for $600,000.

Those are the big things people think about when moving, but what about the smaller things.  Food is actually more expensive out here.  It has to be more expensive out here because everything costs more out here, but that's not the point.  Electricity is more expensive, not by much but it is.  Every single thing that you can think of is more expensive.  

A lot of this seems like complaining more than comparison and that's a fair point.  The city does have some things that a small town does not.  I mean there is always something to do in a city.  You can go to one of 50 theaters, go to shows, parks, sporting events, or one of a million hobbies.  If you like guns, they have gun ranges or archery ranges.  If you are lucky enough, some cities even have beaches.  This all adds to the allure of the big city, but for some it's not worth the price.

When you weigh the pro's and con's of your living situation, take into account how much more it is where you are moving.  I make 24% more out here than I would have in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn't cover the actual cost of living.  Also, if you aren't getting raises to the tune of 3% per year you are actually getting a pay cut because of inflation.  Perspective changes so much when you move, but the goals remain the same.

People love animals out here

  One thing you have to get used to in a big city are the vermin. These are a some very large rats that have curled up on this ladies hood.  

Everyone in this complex has to put towels on the hoods of their cars so they don't get ruined.  I'm not for the extermination of this rat population, but I am not for rats that sleep on cars.  

We do benefit from what the rats do, they eat bugs and small critters.  For that they do not get to sleep on the hoods of cars however.

This all brings me to one point.  Why doesn't anyone in this state have an actual garage?  I have seen so many houses that turned their garage into another room.  Why?  That makes no sense.  Your second biggest purchase is your car and you live near the ocean.  This all adds up to destroying your car if you leave it outside.

My recent house search has lead me down a narrow road.  The nice places don't have garages, and the middle of the road ones either sold their garages to the place behind them or they aren't available.  I mean, my dream as a young child was to have a garage as big as my house, here I get a house as small as a garage.  I will not stand for this insanity.