Not sure how this is going to be received.....Follow

I only make around 38k/year atm. In the Columbia SC area, that's not too great.

I keep getting promises of more, but I've noticed that those don't pay the bills too well. The upside of all the extra things I do at work earning that measly 38k is that I'm managing to build a hell of a resume. A couple of more years and I'll actually be so overqualified for my current line of work that I'll have to change jobs.

I manage my money pretty decent, so I don't live hand to mouth. I don't give a damn for designer clothes, new cars, etc.....fortunately.

Even though I'm a single income household, I'm leaving the renter's market and purchasing a house at the beginning of next year.

I make 75K as an IT manager, while my husband makes around 35K as a realtor assistant. For a gay couple in Milwaukee we actually are on the low end. Most of my friends are at least triple this.

DC or SSF is neck deep in fog so yes, millbrae is much better...

The BART extension kicks major ***.

i take that for my commute...

**** only millionares live in Hillsborough and im far from that....

Between my wife and myself we'll do high six figures this year. Last year, when I was working more we took in ~$750k, if you inculde investment income. It'll be less than that this year but probably not by more than $100k or so. Consulting pays well.

If you're talking about pure income from "work" we'll probably be around ~$350k. We had a good year investment-wise last year and this.

My wife brings in around ~$150k from her main "job" and probably $100k consulting for various "special intrest" groups. Mostly enviormental lobbying orginizations. I'll probably end up around ~$100k from consulting.

This doesn't mean I'm out of touch with the poor, though.

~35-40k /year as an Non-Union Ironworker in north Florida.

Not great, but enough to own my house, and afford a new truck. Being single, with no kids helps.


*Edit* Pointed out that I am a non-union ironworker.

Edited, Thu Jul 15 16:26:22 2004 by Frederick

~35-40k /year as an Ironworker in north Florida.


You're getting jobbed. Iron workers in MA make almost $100k.

Are they Union?


YEah, of course. Ahh, you're a NON UNION iron worker, that would explain it.

Well, the union down here does pay more, however, they work less.
Spend more time sitting on a bench, than working. Although I have never tried, I am pretty sure the overall yearly salary would work out to around the same.

Around 40k, in Colorado, in IT.
I'm single but looking for a Sugarmamma to support me.
I don't own a home or anything. I'm pretty ****** with money as well.

Hey, hookers cost alot.

What is it?

That IS a big project. I've never been to Massachusetts but lived in LA for 2 years and I understand traffic, at least they're doing something about it back East.

True. I work in the mortgage industry, so I get a broad view of people's financial information, coupled with property information from all across the U.S.

It tends to balance out. If you're in an area with lower wages, chances are property prices are lower as well. Most of us end up spending around the same percentage of our income on housing.

I assume this holds true in areas other than housing.

I live in Mississippi, and I made about 25k last year working two jobs and 60 hours a week while going to school full time. I worked for Thrifty Car Rental and got screwed out of my benefits, and also for Beau Rivage and got screwed out of my benefits. After a year of arguing over it, I decided my schooling was suffering too much and quit. I didn't much like driving an hour and a half to work ever day anyway. I will probably make about 6-8k this year working part time as a contractor, but I get to participate a lot more in my first love, Theatre. BTW, an relatively new apartment across the street from the University of Southern Mississippi (which, unlike the majority of Mississippi public universities, is smack dab in the middle of the city of Hattiesburg) costs $400 a month for two bedrooms, and $500 a month for three bedrooms. Both have two bathrooms and W/D connections.

Wal-Mart obviously doesn't price things any cheaper here than elsewhere, but we do get some goods cheaper owing to lower gasoline prices and shorter hauling distances, while others are higher owing to less competition among the middlemen. As the product of a long line of people in the transportation industry, I can honestly tell you that very few small time trucking companies haul freight into or out of LA, for the simple reason that the whole area is a huge vacuum which sucks in far more tangible goods than it produces. Because of the intense competition among the larger trucking companies for guaranteed income going into LA, the rates on freight destined for LA are roughly half what they are to virtually any other location in the country. At the same time, trucks are usually forced to deadhead for considerable distances before they can pick up another load. Going all the way to The Dalles (in Oregon) for a load of onions is not uncommon. Traveling such distances empty is unheard of pretty much anywhere East of the West Coast.

I currently live with my parents, and for good reason, too. We have 25 acres here, which cost 22k for the whole spread in 1997. The home I am typing this from cost 80k to build, for 2050 square feet, and was completed in February 1998. I am willing to wager that there are few places in the country where you could build a thoroughly modern home for under $40 a square foot. Considering that most homes in this country take thirty years to pay for, mortgages tend to make up a considerable amount of the monthly budget for most families. The mere fact that we could acquire a property that is more than adequate for our needs at such a price gives us back a signifiacant portion of income that is now available for use on our other needs, such as food and transportation.

When it comes down to it, I come from working class roots. There are plenty of people within this county who are better off than my family is. There are also those who are worse off, and these tend to be the ones who give Mississippi such a bad name. That problem is largely one of misunderstanding, tho. Consider this: where else in this country can you buy 2 acres for 3k, and a home (albeit "premanufactured") for 25k? You get to own it all by yourself, too. As long as you have a decent credit history, you qualify for a mortgage, too.

TO answer both Smasharoo's and Yanari's points, the cost of housing has a huge impact on how well you can live the rest of your life. Perhaps even more so in Mississippi than in other parts of the country. THe price of such necessities as food and fuel do fluctuate, but not necessarily in a favorable direction for those who have less.

I do like to think my home counts its wealth in ways other than dollar bills. WE gave the world our music, our athletes, and Oprah. Who else can say that?