What's a good salary?`

bastomatic wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: I will never understand "gourmet" pet food. Any pet of mine will get leftover human food for treats at best. I know they'll happily eat any critter they ran across and fatten themselves on cheap kibble, they're not fooling me

On a related note, my vet friends say that without fail, it is the people who pay for gourmet pet food who cannot afford an emergency $1000 procedure on their animals, and who are declined for care credit. More expensive food also makes no difference in pet quality of life for 99% of animals.

Curious what is considered gourmet pet food?

I honestly don't know. I have heard the brand blue buffalo thrown around with derision among the vet crowd.

if a 10 pound bag of cat food costs more than $10, it's "gourmet"..

i kept a pair of siamese cats (mother and daughter) alive for 13 years on about a 20 pound bag (right around $20) of Iams cat food every month.. it cost more than the really cheap stuff, but they ate less and crapped less (less money spent on Tidy Cat) while having more energy..

our vet kept insisting that we give our cat caned food as opposed to dry … said it helped the cat stay hydrated …

my opinion (as uninformed as it is) was that if the cat was so stupid as to not drink enough water to stay hydrated, then so be it … dumb berkeleying cat

oh and now they say that the dog food available from the grocery store is crap … that I need to at least get the "better" stuff from Tracker Supply …

millions of dogs have lived long and healthy lives on grocery store dog food … doubt that I'm going to cause Molly's food costs to double/triple just because the vet needs her kick-back

Adrian_Thompson wrote: People keep relating this to cars. Is there a difference between someone who drives a brand new car a five year old car or a ten year old car in your view?

No, but I see so many people with new a Merc and a new BMW in the driveway, or a $50,000 pickup and a Cadillac, and I wonder how much they must make to afford the monthly payments? I mean, I'm doing OK but my car payments are like $250 a month max because that's what I can afford. $1200 a month for cars is like insanity to me!

I believe the correct answer to the question posed is: Yes.

pinchvalve wrote: I mean, I'm doing OK but my car payments are like $250 a month max because that's what I can afford. $1200 a month for cars is like insanity to me!

When people ask me why I drive a $900 Ford ZX2 back and forth to work everyday, I tell them:

• because it gets me to work cheaply and safely.
• because I could buy a similar used car every month for an entire year for what some people pay for their used car that isn't anymore reliable.

I like having a nicer car that requires nothing but normal maintenance for a while. It gives me a "break". Hell, it's why we got rid of the Accent. Sure, it was dependable, but it needed a lot of little E36 M3 and I was tired of working on it.

Datsun1500 wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: No, but I see so many people with new a Merc and a new BMW in the driveway, or a $50,000 pickup and a Cadillac, and I wonder how much they must make to afford the monthly payments? I mean, I'm doing OK but my car payments are like $250 a month max because that's what I can afford. $1200 a month for cars is like insanity to me!

The people that can actually afford them, don't have payments.

Or, like us, they have payments for a short period of time. we may hae a 60 month loan, but we typically pay it off in less than 24.

pinchvalve wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: People keep relating this to cars. Is there a difference between someone who drives a brand new car a five year old car or a ten year old car in your view?

No, but I see so many people with new a Merc and a new BMW in the driveway, or a $50,000 pickup and a Cadillac, and I wonder how much they must make to afford the monthly payments? I mean, I'm doing OK but my car payments are like $250 a month max because that's what I can afford. $1200 a month for cars is like insanity to me!

You must live in a VERY nice neighborhood, then again I purposefully live in a lower-middle class neighborhood so I can spend money on traveling and race cars.

The only difference between me and them, is they have more zeros at the end of their problems.

mtn wrote:

rotard wrote: I think your quick calculations are incorrect. Think more like $1.5-3k on your end for health insurance if your company is paying for most of it. Let's say that dental, vision, long term disability, and stuff are only like $500/year, together. My understanding is that you can only be on their insurance if you're still a student or unemployed. A dumb phone line would probably cost $20/month or so if that's all you had. $240ish. Car insurance can vary a lot by state. I'd guess somewhere between $700-1000/year for liability only with a decent driving record. That's what I was paying when I was 23 (7 years ago.) You wouldn't be paying the low rates your parents are. Let's say that you only pay $500/month for rent and utilities (unlikely, but doable in some areas.) That's still $6000/year. That means that you have $11/day to pay for food, gas, racing, parking, beer, hookers, blow, other entertainment, and everything else you do. Life gets expensive in a hurry.

I'm already paying for dental, vision, and long term disability. As well as life insurance. And there is no student or employment qualifications, only "under age 26". I would only be getting catastrophic injury insurance. We'll call it 2k on that one. Cell phones: Republic wireless. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/rw_plans.jpg. $300 a year. If my parents made me pay for auto insurance, my chunk is $400 a year. When I turn 25, and assuming I'm married by that point (I am engaged), it will be about $600 a year. So we're at $2,900. I am currently paying $550 a month for rent and utilities. When I move in with my fiance in about 6 months, that will go to about $475-$525, but spending about $50 more a month on gas, so we'll call it a wash. So... No, I do not think that my 1k to 3k estimate was far off. EDIT: And $11 a day for food, entertainment, etc? That is $77 a week. Not that hard. When it comes time for autocross, I eat PBJ for that week.

I think what others are saying is that you're taking your parents' cost (lower because of multiple people on a given plan) and pulling them straight over into your estimation.

When you're just one person with health insurance, the cost goes up dramatically. Same with everything else, from car insurance to cell phones. So, you're likely underestimating the impact of "their" spending of $1,000 on you. Them removing that help will likely cost you a lot more.

But, in the end, who cares. As long as your eyes are open to how your lifestyle changes to accommodate higher or lower incomes, you'll be fine. And from your post above and the previous one, you're pretty much there. The rest comes with experience.