What percentage of your income should rent be?

Bruchibre · 2018-11-13T05:11:31+00:00

30% like you say is a silly baby boomer rule. And it should be a strict maximum. Historically my personal max was 25%. I target below 20. Depends on where you live I Guess.

Granite_Pill · 2018-11-13T05:40:11+00:00

25% or less is preferable. Personally, I think if you are paying more than $1,000 per month in rent, you are just pissing money away and you might as well save up to buy a house.

Here's what's changed. My father rented his first apartment for $75 per month back in the 1970's. My first apartment was like $600 in the late 2010's. And now my rent is like $1200 and it's not much bigger, but I also rent out the other rooms to cover it. I can afford a more expensive place, but it's not worth it. I'm saving up for stuff with better ROI.

You'll need to factor in bills and cost of living, transportation, stuff like that because even though a place is 30% of your net income, there's other hidden costs which make it a constant struggle. It helps to have roommates, but you better make sure you can trust them. Here where I live, the cost of living is so high there is this permanent underclass of under-skilled whites living a bohemian lifestyle with multiple roommates.

Don't worry so much about amenities and locality. Just live somewhere with easy access to highways or major roads so you can get to work/school easier. And a place that's in a relatively safe area, and is clean. Not a total dump. A place can be run down and still not be a total dump. Worry more about bed bugs and roaches than being close to downtown. Find a place you can park your car at night and not worry about it getting broken into. If that means you have to live a half hour away from downtown, so be it.

123undeuxtrois123 · 2018-11-13T07:06:36+00:00

As low as possible. There is not an exact ratio. For example a man who makes 600K$ a year (50K$ a month) can have it 10% but if someone makes 24K$ (2k$ a month) then it obviously should be higher.

It’s about your area/income and expectations.

evolveorwither · 2018-11-13T04:32:36+00:00

Yeah I'm in the same boat here. Really don't want to start spending a bunch of money on rent, but want to move out. I probably need to go the roommate route because I'm trying to spend as little money as possible

ThatCurlBro · 2018-11-13T07:10:33+00:00

And what about a car?

Achilles_Of_Reddit · 2018-11-13T11:24:05+00:00

You should try house hacking, man. Google “Set For Life” by Scott Trench.

infamous3238 · 2018-11-13T12:26:00+00:00

I roughly follow the rule: 1/3 of after-tax salary on rent, 1/3 on other expenses, 1/3 towards debt/savings. I also live in a HCOL area, so finding a place below 1/3 is challenging. So yes, 1/3 is fine.

dividingbrush · 2018-11-13T06:36:07+00:00

Check the sidebar bro

Title	What percentage of your income should rent be?
Author	DownyGall
Upvotes	5
Comments	13
Date	November 13, 2018 3:37 AM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/9wlfyu/what_percentage_of_your_income_should_rent_be/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/what-percentage-of-your-income-should-rent-be.53965 https://theredarchive.com/post/53965