Can you live comfortably on 60k a year?

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SBaker34

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Jun 16, 2010
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Freshmen in college, majoring in biology, planning to go into graduate school for physical therapy, finding I am hating biology, questioning if I wanna be broke for 8 years and come out with huge debt.Thinking of changing my major but I am honestly curious, is 60k a year enough to live comfortably and have some money for toys? Not talking 3 new cars, a 5 bedroom house and drinking every week. Just one nice vehicle, renting or owning a small but nice place, and with enough money for guns and knives. Assuming I am single.

Last few years I have been thinking I need to make 100k a year to not live in near poverty but I am honestly curious.
 
Depends a lot on where you live, your debt, and desired std of living.

$60k in NYC would not be fun. In many parts of the country $60k is doing rather well.

Don't think I would stick with biology if you're already hating it. Plus, I don't think there are many good bio options unless it is through a grad school path.
 
It really depends on where you want to live. Arkansas or some parts of Texas sure, Southern California not so much.
 
My thoughts exactly, I would have to go to grad school if I kept my mjaor.

Probably KY, TN, somewhere thereabouts, While the lack of education in some parts bothers me I like you actually have freedoms.
 
It all depends on where your live, my mom bought a house in CO for $8,000, put another $3,000 into it then sold it for $25,000, turned out that it used to be an old house of ill repute that Wild Bill used to frequent, the people that bought it found this out.

Poor guy got burned when they turned it into a historical site and put all kinds of limitations on what they could do with it or how they could sell it.
 
As a single guy, you can but as stated it depend on location. In central Iowa I was around $60k supporting wife and kiddo pretty well.
 
Like others have said, It really depends where you're going to live or if you plan on having a family. If you're single and live in a state that isn't crazy to rent, or maybe buy a place, yeah $60K will do.
 
Do something that you like, and just worry about money for the basics. Also, don't assume you will be single forever! But a tip from someone who learned this the hard way: choose your mate carefully because a wrong choice there will ruin you financially for years!!!!!

And to answer your question: I have a nice life in Texas on about 60k, it's a decent living wage with toy money and an average car. I am married to the right person now and we keep money seperate:)
 
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Yes in most parts of the country you can do quite well on 60k. Throw in a couple of kids and that changes quick.

If you dont want to completely jump ship I would consider a Nursing degree or maybe specialize in something like a nuclear medicine tech or echo tech.

Consider most nurses are not the kind that wipe asses and run IV lines all day. Huge field with many opprotunities for advancement.

If you go to work for the feds or agree to work in the boonies for a few years you can even have your student loans forgiven or paid for you.
 
That is substantially more than the median income for a family in my area. I think that you could do it but there would be no private schools, big houses, etc. If you were on your own without a lot of debt it would be pretty good depending on where you live.

Don't give up on the physical therapy thing. If I could do it all over again that's what I'd do. I even looked in to it but because of my college major, I'd have to go and do all of the core science classes not just the PT program. PT folks are awesome. They've helped me out a lot with a couple of injuries. You life would be helping people which has got to feel good in the long run.
 
Around here 60K will get you established. I run my household with the wife and kid for around 2K/month. We live ok, have a nice house in a nice neighborhood and drive average vehilces. We do have money for toys and such, but don't take week long vacations.

Living single can either be a strain or a blessing financially, really depends on your mindset. I know some people who eat out everyday, go to the bar 3 times a week and are just pissing their money away. Others eat at home, stay active with their hobbies rather than buying toys, and are sitting on good savings. These friends of mine work in the same field and make roughly the same income.

It's not hard to live on 60K.


-Xander

To clarify, our income is above 2K/month, it's just that is roughly our average expenses. Cars are paid for, I don't have any credit cards, the wife does though, and our health insurance isn't outrageously expensive.
 
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60 grand a year?
I don't even get 20 grand.
If you can't live on 60 grand, you're doing it wrong.
 
stabman said:
60 grand a year?
I don't even get 20 grand.
If you can't live on 60 grand, you're doing it wrong.
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What he said.

In the Mid-West, $60K is smack dab in the middle of Middle class, for a single person. If you plan things right, your future wife could double that, and then (if chosen correctly) you'd be livin' the life. This is coming from a Gov't worker with a stay-at-home wife, and 4 kids. Then again, a $60K job on the East, or West coast will also bring in a significantly lower salary in the Mid-West, so there's that.
 
In Belize or Costa Rica or even Mexico you can live a very affluent lifestyle on 60K a year.--KV
 
kvaughn said:
In Belize or Costa Rica or even Mexico you can live a very affluent lifestyle on 60K a year.--KV
Click to expand...

Well yes, location matters.
In Windsor, on 60 grand a year I'd be living large.
In Toronto, I'd just be living.
 
I know it's not what anyone wants to hear and I'm not trying to discourage you, but you need to be realistic. Remember that the $60,000 is an average salary. You may be starting out with less than part time hours and making nothing close to that, if you're lucky you'll have a job that doesn't involve cheeseburgers. With a graduate degree you're probably looking at major debt unless you got some big scholarships, especially if you took out private loans. Your lenders are not your friends, they can and will use any means at their disposal to screw you out of every penny of your paycheck leaving you with nothing to support yourself. That said, therapists make decent money, even starting out, and you'll probably be able to make ends meet but you need to realize that a degree is not a magic tablet that shoots out money and rainbows, you're not going to be able to afford everything, or possibly anything, you want right away. You're in for a rough ride to pay loans and make ends meet.

That do what you love and let the money follow idea is great, until you graduate and can't find the leprechaun. This is from experience, it doesn't matter how much effort you put into it, it doesn't work that way.
 
If you stay with biology or not you need to find out where the jobs are in your field and then decide if there cost of living is within your salary and what area you want to live in.
 
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