What percentage of your monthly income goes to rent?

Originally Posted by SirGrotius

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I had a significant jump in income and my mortgage is only 1% of my gross income.

It's actually something of a disaster financially as I have an issue looking at the excess money as investible and instead spend it on clothes.

Not that I'm complaining that much. To put things in perspective though, I don't live in a mansion so in SF terms I'm poor.
1% of your income ... but poor by SF standards. Do you live in a duck blind, a old VW bus, or something akin to either of these?

^I bet he figured out what his MONTHLY rent was compared to YEARLY income? Or else he is making bank.

Originally Posted by RSS

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1% of your income ... but poor by SF standards. Do you live in a duck blind, a old VW bus, or something akin to either of these?
Can we establish what 'SF POOR' standards are? Do we each get a rating?

Keep in mind that your poll doesn't say much since you didn't specify gross or net. I'm in my early 20s, and spend almost exactly 25% of my after-tax income on rent.

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

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Can we establish what 'SF POOR' standards are? Do we each get a rating?
A new thread?

what's 100% of 0?

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

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Can we establish what 'SF POOR' standards are? Do we each get a rating?

100k feels like the right number to me.

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

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Can we establish what 'SF POOR' standards are? Do we each get a rating?
It's been well established that you can not live comfortably in NYC with less than 150-300k income and no children. This is consistent with the 250k SF backup job. I suggest we start the SF poors from there.

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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It's been well established that you can not live comfortably in NYC with less than 150-300k income and no children. This is consistent with the 250k SF backup job. I suggest we start the SF poors from there.
Here here. Get in line peasants. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go service my harem.

I'm spending about 45% as a student, if I just consider my student loans and scholarship as income.
While I do work part-time, I'm only working from April to October (when it's warm enough to sail), so obviously during those months that percentage is lower.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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100k feels like the right number to me.

Sigh...

I am surprised a lot of people are this low (although I imagine many of them are in very different places than someone starting their first job) as people here tend to appreciate things like pretty apartments if you go by the SF Cribs thread

A general rule has always been something like don't go higher than 1/3 after tax or 1/4 before...
When I started working....I didn't really know how much I would be making since overtime and bonus were unknown at the time. Rent worked out to be maybe 20% pre tax of a low end estimate although I was prepared to go higher (that doesn't include electric/heat). It worked out to be lower, more like 16-17% with the final numbers and even though my rent has gone up a fair amount since then, I think it is now closer to 15% of what I plan to earn this year.

If I didn't have student loans, I might be more comfortable paying more...and honestly if my rent keeps going up in huge steps, I would be willing to go back to 20-25% pre tax if it meant getting a much nicer place and a land lord who is more likely to keep rent hikes to a low level (if I had not been promoted, I think my rent would have risen a lot more than my salary in the past year and a half).

edit: everything in this post is pre-tax because its 2AM and taxes are confusing (and depend on all sorts of **** like retirement contributions and student loan deductions that would also change how much rent I would pay)

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Sigh...

too low or too high?

I know that I still feel poor.

6.6666667 repeating %
im putting someone up in the house for the summer but that person is staying here for free

30%, though it is in an income based complex...