Living on one income in PDX

MrsJRD23

With the wonderful economy, is anyone living on one income right now? I visit the money matters board frequently and there are SO many people who live on one income ALL the time and bank the second income in savings and I'm wondering how this is possible.  What do you think a reasonable amount for a single salary would be to live here in portland? just curious and knowing that every situation is different.  I'm talking enough for mortgage payments and a little bit of fun now and then but nothing crazy.  Money is always such a big stresser for me.

PDX_GAL

It depends on so many factors, but I'd guesstimate somewhere between $60-$80k single salary for two people. I don't know anyone who lives on a single salary and banks the other salary....great in theory, but not something I could do...I work hard so I can spend!

estherandgeoff2

We don't do it, but it is possible if like PDX_GAL said you made between $60-80k. I don't know if I'd buy a house though, unless you already had one. If you were to buy a house it'd have to be between $180-240k (3x your annual income). You might be able to find something like that on the east side if you're looking for a small 2-bedroom place that you want to stay in for several years. ?It's easier to find an apartment where rent is less than say $1000 a month.?

zelda25

I don't think the demographics of the Nest in general, and MM specifically, are a fair representation of most people in this country.  A lot of those posters live in very LCOL areas and have mortgages WELL below $1000/month (I've seen several of them mention mtg payments in the $500-$700 range).  And a lot of them just make a lot more money than average (lots of lawyers and at least one doctor over there).  Anyway, my point is just that you shouldn't let the nest skew your perspective.

 I agree with the PP; you'd need an income of around $80K+ to be comfortable around here.

LisiLynn

Personally I think you could easily live on way less than $80k. We have lived very very well on $60k owning a home, having two car payments and eating out quite a bit. If we only had one car payment or perhaps lived in a condo vs. house and/or didn't have student loans and credit card debt we would have had tons more fun money. When you need to, you find tricks to saving money so you can still have a great time on one income. Right now is a great time to buy a house thats in Short Sale and get so much more for your money.

chardonnay24

We were living off H's income of $60k last year while we used my income to pay down debt. It was definitely doable. We took a couple vacations, lived in a really nice apartment in the Hollywood area, and had a sizeable "entertainment" budget. It might have been difficult to do that if we had a mortgage because all the houses we like are upward of $350,000. H was laid off in November and unemployment is the equivalent of $25,000/year. Unemployment plus my measley income means that we're living on less than $2600/month. Yikes. We are struggling on that and I've had to have my parents take over a student loan payment that I was unable to defer. Our rent is currently half our take home, so that could definitely be reduced and then I don't think it'd be too bad. We wouldn't live like kings, but we'd survive. I would say that to afford a home here on a single income and live comfortably, you'd need $75k/year.

The_Jen626

We lived very comfortably on DH's income during the 14 months that we were engaged (4 years ago).  He made about $60k annually, we paid $600 for rent for a very cute brand new townhouse in SE Portland, we had a $300 a month car payment, and went out to eat every night, went shopping all the time, etc.  My full time paycheck was direct deposited into a "wedding savings account" and we just saved it all for wedding expenses.  I was making about $24k at that point, and we saved it all to pay for the wedding and honeymoon.  It was great.

Now... it seems like it's impossible to do all that on TWO great incomes!  The economy sucks.  But we also have a huge mortgage, huge car payment, small boat payment, and are trying to buy all kinds of baby stuff and prepare for paid and unpaid maternity leave...

It just depends on your lifestyle, and what you like to buy and spend your money on.  If you like to shop in Thrift stores and have an older car (or no car), you need less money.  If you want a brand new car and a big house in a nice neighborhood, you're going to need more money to get by.

kristinamarie81

We're living on one income now, not exactly by choice though! We live 25 miles outside of Portland and we make it on my 35,000 teacher's salary. Mortgage, bills, car payments, groceries sucks most of it up. Another 500/month or so would be great for a little fun. Money is a big stresser for me, too.

mudpdljmper

It is possible to live in Portland on one income.  My family and I did it for a couple of years and I was making less that 35K.  Of course we rent, own our cars, and don't have any credit card debt, but we lived comfortably.  If you want to own a house in the Portland Metro area, then look outside Portland Proper and head to the suburbs.  Right now you can find really nice houses for under 215k.  Otherwise it is possible to live and be comfortable for around 50k a year.  You just have to smart about it.

MrsBenG

We're living on one income of about $70K, but we have to really stretch to make ends meet right now. Our problem is that we pay a lot in student loans every month (almost $700) and about $400 in credit card payments thanks to trying to pay for my DH's school out of pocket for a semester ($1400 a month on top of our rent and everything!). So, right now we're trying to juggle our finances, have some of my student loans deferred for a few months, and pay off our CCs and car (we have 4 months left) so we can finally start putting some money in savings every month. It would be nice to get ahead a little every month instead of barely breaking even.

We've cut back a lot. We only go out to eat about once every week or two and have almost completely stopped shopping for anything other than necessities (which stinks - I just lost 20 pounds and I want to buy new clothes so badly!!). We used to spend our date nights having sushi and watching a movie, now we're baking a Papa Murphy's pizza and playing cards at home.?

We're renting right now and pay $1150. I think we could swing a mortgage, but maybe not everything that comes with the upkeep of a house (taxes, repairs, water, electricity, etc.). It's really nice to not have to worry about how to pay for something if it breaks. ?

Once we get our cards paid off I want to start using a cash budgeting system. We tried it briefly with grocery money and I really liked it. I used to think that "if I have cash, I'll spend it so that wouldn't work" but when I looked in my wallet saw exactly what I could spend, I really thought about my purchases.?

This economy is so tough right now. The other day I was really feeling stressed and was crying in the kitchen with my DH but he reminded me how blessed we are even in the midst of this tight time. I'm so thankful that we're learning how to be responsible with our finances early on in our marriage before we have a couple of kids depending on us.?

MovingToOregon?

There's a link on my blog to something called the Prosperity Planner (look under the Employment heading) that might help you figure out what's possible for your family.