70 k/a salary: alot of money?

[John_96]

I'm not even sure how much exactly I was making for the last 4 years, but I estimate that it was around 120K net each year. From this year on it's 120K gross. For all that time I was spending only 1-2K per month. I have a crappy old car, that I'm ashamed to drive (with rust all over, but still drives well). With the money I only started to see escorts more often and almost stopped dating regular girls since I don't have that much free time, my time is real money now, so it's cheaper to visit merb once in a while (I also ended up getting freebies from top reviewed escorts here :eyebrows
That's the way it always was in my life: when I was making $400/week I would buy spaghetti, chicken tights on specials would never spend a dollar without a reason. I was saving maybe 1.2K a month. When I started better job, savings that I generated over a couple years by living low suddenly became pale compared to what I was making in just a couple of months. Basically, I realized that whatever I saved by working real hard and living low suddenly became pennies in my pocket. Now, when I started to make more I didn't really change my life style that much. Now I'm on my way to make real big, and all the money that I wasn't spending in the last few years might have the same fate that my hard earned cash from the 400$/week days. I started to feel like an idiot in the last of couple years because of that. So, I bought a 500K condo, planning to get a really nice car (maybe ppl here can even help me make the decision on what to chose), started to look for some serious relationship (this part doesn't work well so far). Many people could say I'm rich, but honestly, I could probably live exactly the same way as today back a the $400/week time except that it was kind of fun; my apartment was a hangout place for my friends, now at best I talk to my friends on the phone once a month.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

All these budgets don't even talk about having a car .So making 70k a year and being on foot,really?? Just your car is 500$/month in payments 500/a month in gas,100/month in insurance thats 11,000$ a year.70k after taxes is about 40k .Rent 1200$ a month is another 11,000$ Food another 150/week 8000$ then Hydro/phone/internet/tv package/cell etc another 450$ a month 6000$ a year.I don't think 70k in Montreal is really a big income anymore

These numbers are WAAAY out of whack.
$500 a month in payments? Yeah, if you're driving an Audi.
$500 a month in gas? Yeah, sure if you're driving 6,000 km per month
$1,200 a month for an apartment? Not where I live. You can get a nice 4.5 in the heart of the Plateau for $900.
$450 a month for hydro/phone/internet/tv. Wow. I get all that for $200 and am about to knock out the cable to take it back to $160.

You're right, $70,000 isn't very much if you want to live like a Yuppie.

 

[John_96]

I still have a hard time with the Quebec way of apartment sizes. How many bedrooms would a 4.5 be? Why do you not call it a 1 or 2 bedroom? Is the .5 a 1/2 bath? How many times does a humming birds wings flap in hover mode?

you need to know the formula. Basically you subtract 2.5 to get number of bedrooms.
Can't really help with hummingbird hover mode, sorry

 

[tiannas]

$500 a month in payments? Yeah, if you're driving an Audi.

Actually $500/month buys a fairly modest new car. A $25000 vehicle financed over 4 years at 5% will set you back $660/month.

 

[wasisname]

If I stay in the house I can live well for about 12 grand a year, an apartment a bit over 15K

Not counting the hobby of course.

 

[wasisname]

Actually $500/month buys a fairly modest new car. A $25000 vehicle financed over 4 years at 5% will set you back $660/month.

500 a month saved up for just one year will buy you a 5 or 6 year old car that you can problably keep on the road for at least 10 years.

 

[tiannas]

500 a month saved up for just one year will buy you a 5 or 6 year old car that you can problably keep on the road for at least 10 years.

I'm all for driving older cars, but I think 15/16 years is a stretch. My last car was 13 years old and was rusting bad enough that pieces were starting to fall off, plus it needed over $1000 in repairs...its wholesale value was only about $400 at that point so it didn't really make sense to put any money into it in my opinion, was better to trade into a newer model.

I didn't buy new however, chose a 3-year old car and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Actually $500/month buys a fairly modest new car. A $25000 vehicle financed over 4 years at 5% will set you back $660/month.

$25,000 at 5% over 4 years runs $575 per month...with zero down.

I didn't buy new however, chose a 3-year old car and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

However, if you buy a three year old car for $15,000 with $5,000 down, you're at $230 per month.

 

[tiannas]

$25,000 at 5% over 4 years runs $575 per month...with zero down.

I was using $25000 before tax in my example, can't forget to pay the government!

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

I was using $25000 before tax in my example, can't forget to pay the government!

Oh, of course, so they can keep the roads in terrific shape.

 

[John_96]

I'm all for driving older cars, but I think 15/16 years is a stretch. My last car was 13 years old and was rusting bad enough that pieces were starting to fall off, plus it needed over $1000 in repairs...its wholesale value was only about $400 at that point so it didn't really make sense to put any money into it in my opinion, was better to trade into a newer model.

I didn't buy new however, chose a 3-year old car and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

exactly, that's what I also want to do. 2-3 years old

 

[Merlot]

Hello all,

Actually $500/month buys a fairly modest new car. A $25000 vehicle financed over 4 years at 5% will set you back $660/month.

You're indicating buying a car with nothing down, which means increasing your financing charge significantly. If one is making $72K gross and does not have a down payment that's two poor decisions, failure to save and still buying new with maximum opening debt.

All these budgets don't even talk about having a car .So making 70k a year and being on foot,really?? Just your car is 500$/month in payments 500/a month in gas,100/month in insurance thats 11,000$ a year.70k after taxes is about 40k .Rent 1200$ a month is another 11,000$ Food another 150/week 8000$ then Hydro/phone/internet/tv package/cell etc another 450$ a month 6000$ a year.I don't think 70k in Montreal is really a big income anymore

I'm also curious about the cost of things in Montreal so I did some checking.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil107a-eng.htm

The first question was is $72K a lot for a single guy to live on. The median family income for Montreal in 2010 was about $67K....for a family. Surely a single guy without the extra costs for 3 other people (minimum) makes the situation a lot more comfortable.

I did some checking earlier and for $500/month a guy can lease almost any brand new BMW, and the low end Mercedes. But again it's about being rational without going cheap. Excellent cars can be bought or leased for a maximum of $300/month.

As for gas, are you saying you drive 30,000 miles (48,000 km) per year? Because that's what it works out to at current rates of roughly $5/gal (1.25/L) at a poor 25 mph/gal (40 kpg) based on your $500/month. That mileage is double the yearly average. Otherwise, you have to be driving one of those horrible big SUV gas guzzlers and still driving well over the average. Any very good car with decent gas use rates will cost you about $260 per month in Montreal at an average 28 mpg if you are driving around a max average 15,000 (24,000) miles per year. For 15,000-18,000 miles (24,000-29000 km) per year the cost is roughly $3,000-$3,600.

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/20...o-get-gouged-on-phone-internet-and-tv-prices/

Concerning tv, internet, and phone the Gazette reports Canadians are being gouged at a rate of of $185 per month. So you are saying adding "hydro" and a cell connection costs you another $315 per month. Really?

We are talking about a single person living comfortably, not trying to live like $72K is $100K. If you want to go premium on everything then the answer to the original question is no. But YES...if you're rational without being cheap.

I'm not even sure how much exactly I was making for the last 4 years, but I estimate that it was around 120K net each year. From this year on it's 120K gross. For all that time I was spending only 1-2K per month.

It can be hard to break the habit of being extremely careful when you have had to live without much money, and it sounds like you have not quite been able to allow yourself to feel more comfortable about spending. But it is better than feeling you now have so much that you can go spending crazy any time you wish and put yourself in a position where your debt is now more than your income.

If I were you I'd have a little more fun, but use what I could for good financial investments.

Good luck,

Merlot

 

[John_96]

It can be hard to break the habit of being extremely careful when you have had to live without much money, and it sounds like you have not quite been able to allow yourself to feel more comfortable about spending. But it is better than feeling you now have so much that you can go spending crazy any time you wish and put yourself in a position where your debt is now more than your income.

If I were you I'd have a little more fun, but use what I could for good financial investments.

Good luck,

Merlot

I failed badly with financial investments. When it all went down in 2008 I had shit load of cash and I was sure that if I buy just about any stock in 2009 I'll triple my money in 3-4 years max. You know what I did? I did whole nothing about it, was too lazy to take care of that shit
500K condo decision was well influenced by pro advice about area that should increase in value. For a car I'm thinking to get 2-3 year old A7 or S5.

 

[simonpaul]

Best advice will be quit Merb and think about the reel life and work hard .

 

[John_96]

Best advice will be quit Merb and think about the reel life and work hard .

Was that said to me? I work really hard, even if started to use merb more often, still I don't hobby more often than once a week. Usually once in a couple of weeks.

 

[malboro_man]

Thanks guys and gal for your input, esp. dude79 (I didn't know how low they pay for software when you start out). In the end, I let the application deadline passed by. If I get the offer and I don't take the job, I think they'll get mad at me.

In the end, I estimate I need 80k/a. Simonpaul is right...stay away from merb and 70k/a might have been ok.

I hope I won't regret this in the future...would have been good to come back to Mtl.

 

[dude79]

No problem man.

Yeah IT is really harsh for starters but is rewarding for hard workers and those with ambition. Lots of room to grow both in income and career paths.

I remember starting at 30k, now making 5 times that in less than 15 years. Cant imagine where it'll bring me in the next 15 years!

Good luck.

 

[2tuff2quit]

Thank you Tiannas ----all these guys watch too much tv with ads at 199$ a month for a car but forget the 3500$ cash down and the 17% taxes .I own a very clean Ford f150 2005 with 120,000km and went to see 2013 models at 1200$ a month rent or own!! I will keep my truck !!!

 

[erotq]

Thats is a decent salary and above average. you should be ok.. until you get married heheh

Someone mentioned in another thread (maybe the Doc) that 60k/a of salary is considered "rich" or "middle class". I've been away from Mtl for quite some time, although I visit often. There might be an job opportunity around 70k/a.

For a single guy, how much savings can I expect?

I'll pay rent up to 800/month (can I find a 1.5)....I remember the good old days of < 400/month in a prime location in downtown for a 1.5.

Thanks for any comments you can offer.

 

[2tuff2quit]

Ok Ill take my son's example,35 and bus driver making 68k a year ,bought a little house for 275k last year 40k down Cost him 2750$ taxes de bienvenue.Mortage payments are 1300$ for a small bungalow (not talking about 400-700k houses) then taxes are 3200$,then insurance is 1400$ therfore ....just the house is 20k a year AFTER TAXES.His take home pay is 40k. Thats 50% just on housing. His car payments are 440$ a month (insurance 100/month,1 tank a week of gas is 80$ times 4=360$,tire rotation twice a year@ 85$,maintenance is almost 60$ a month .So just the car is 960$ a month (Not a Hummer and not a Echo just a regular Chevy Impala.His girlfriend is at school with a part time job.Food is 200$ a week therfore 200x4.3=860$ a month Lets just put ONE resto a week @ 100$ oups another 400$ a month.His cell is a SMART phone @ 80$/month,,internet@39$/month,,hydro budget plan is 188$/month,,tv is 68$/month
These are real facts
68k net is 40K
housing is 20k balance 20k
car is 12k balance 8k
Food with resto and utilities is 19k so 7k is missing,and yea he didn't take a vacation anywhere or take 8000$a year in rrsps like some of you would!!!!
So you guys are saying what 275k for a house is too much and an Impala is tooo expensive or he should live in my bsmt for 800$ a month
I dont't know where you guys shop but give me some info please!!!!

You see this is not some bla bla bla but real numbers and facts