Ok. Car should be cash, not monthly payment. Cell phone should be <$50. That saves you some money.

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have kids (or don't have full custody ) and don't need to worry about school districts you could ditch the car which would give you enough to rent a nice 1br with den or an OK 2br in a central part of DC that won't require a car.

Plus a central DC location will be much more conducive to dating if that's something you're ready for.

My office is in Vienna so I need a car and to live nearby and all 1 bedrooms are around $2200.

Anonymous wrote:Do you need to pay child support? that can be a large factor

No kids

Do you need to pay child support? that can be a large factor

If you don't have kids (or don't have full custody ) and don't need to worry about school districts you could ditch the car which would give you enough to rent a nice 1br with den or an OK 2br in a central part of DC that won't require a car.

Plus a central DC location will be much more conducive to dating if that's something you're ready for.

Anonymous wrote:OP here I am working out on a possible budget to look like this:

Rent: $2200
Utilities: $100
Car payment: $450
Car Insurance $100
Gas: $100
Groceries: $600
Cellphone: $180

So total: $3780.

I will have to decrease my retirement contributions so I have more wiggle room.

Way too tight. I’d keep it under $1400 for rent. You have no spending money. Cell phone is way too high. Car insurance too low. You forget clothing, extras, going out, car repairs, hair cuts, etc

OP here I am working out on a possible budget to look like this:

Rent: $2200
Utilities: $100
Car payment: $450
Car Insurance $100
Gas: $100
Groceries: $600
Cellphone: $180

So total: $3780.

I will have to decrease my retirement contributions so I have more wiggle room.

I've always heard the 30% rule too. So $110k x 0.3 gives you your yearly rent, /12 to get monthly, $2800.

For cars, I've heard 10% for car payment, no more than 20% all in car expenses (insurance, maintenance, gas) which would be a car payment up to $916, all in at $1,833/mon. This seems REALLY high to me, but I drive an old paid off car lol.

If you're single you can likely get something well under these and throw more into savings/retirement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Housing should not exceed 30% of your income, and you should be making 2-3 x monthly rent in income, depending on credit score, to get approved.

30% of net or gross? I assume net? (This is not OP but I have a similar question)

Gross

Anonymous wrote:Housing should not exceed 30% of your income, and you should be making 2-3 x monthly rent in income, depending on credit score, to get approved.

30% of net or gross? I assume net? (This is not OP but I have a similar question)

Sorry, it depends on what your other costs are, so you'll have to budget it out. Do you have kids? Debt? There are people who live on $40,000. If you wanted to live like them, other than rent, you could spend 3/4 of your net income on rent, but I wouldn't recommend it. Or if you want to spend large amounts on dining and travel, then you have to spend a lot less on rent.

Housing should not exceed 30% of your income, and you should be making 2-3 x monthly rent in income, depending on credit score, to get approved.

Anonymous wrote:Landlord here. To determine whether someone can afford my rentals I figure out if their gross annual income exceeds 40 times the monthly rent. So nothing over $2800 in your case (if the ($112K is gross not net.)

112k is gross.

Landlord here. To determine whether someone can afford my rentals I figure out if their gross annual income exceeds 40 times the monthly rent. So nothing over $2800 in your case (if the ($112K is gross not net.)

Thinking about divorce and wondering what I can afford...how much rent should I be looking at with my income?

Currently 25% of my income goes to retirement so my monthly take home pay is $4550.

How much is an average car payment?