$1,000 or less per month

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by Merrida

Then stop whining and move over here (LEGALLY) and let's see how far you get. If you can afford $7,000 plus extras all by your onesies, then you'll probably, if you can find the same job, same pay ratio/grade, you'll be doing just skippy.

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It is something I have contemplated.

I dont think by qualification is directly recognised in US though

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by Maxgain

My point is simply your cost of living is actually lower for the basics.
Food is a huge expenditure for me about e200 ($300) a week. I have seen the costs in your costcos and walmarts it would be less than 150 for same in US.
Supplements clothes etc, I try to but from US on net. Even with huge carriage charges and if i get hit for 33% customs and tax (yet to get hit thank God) it still works out cheaper than buying in Ireland.

Before the recent slump in housing which still is only about a 10% priced reduction its $450,000 for an house $750,000 for anything half decent.

My tax rate is 46%.

We have free public health yet i like 53% of people pay for insurance which for me only covers hospital. still pay doc fees and over $1500 year on meds.

My car cost $30,000 which Im paying off. In the US an equiv would be sig less

Petrol at mo here is $1.80 per litre. What do ye pay?

Then all the bills, electricity is dearer, phones dearer,

Its an incredibly expensive country.

Why do ye thin every Christmas people pack planes with empty suitcases and go over to US cases brimming when coming back

But what do you make for a salary? Becuase it's usually all proportional...

I mean, I could move south in the US and make less, but housing is less...that's usually how it works.

And I'd just like to say that we may have HAD (past tense) it good for quite awhile, but we're catching up now with the rest of the world...

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

But what do you make for a salary? Becuase it's usually all proportional...

I mean, I could move south in the US and make less, but housing is less...that's usually how it works.

And I'd just like to say that we may have HAD (past tense) it good for quite awhile, but we're catching up now with the rest of the world...

My salary if I work the full year is >$100,000 . This is obviously deceiving as it gets ripped apart before I get it.
It seems to be pretty much in line with pharmacy wages in US 95-130 grand depending on area and houses etc are much cheaper than Ireland.
Also in US you get a contract signing fee 5-20 grand depending on area ie cost of living.

So its not really proportional from what I can see. I have also seen monthly wages after tax from different states and its still more favorable than here

[Firehawk]

I'd rather get a higher salary than a big bonus, the govt loves to tax bonus money...whew.

I got a Christmas Bonus from my job for a gross of 1500 and I swear to God I only netted just over 50% of it. Seriously...

Now I'm not complaining, it was a nice extra check, but come on!

[Maxgain]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

I'd rather get a higher salary than a big bonus, the govt loves to tax bonus money...whew.

I got a Christmas Bonus from my job for a gross of 1500 and I swear to God I only netted just over 50% of it. Seriously...

Now I'm not complaining, it was a nice extra check, but come on!

you sound surprised. over here you would lose about 46% of that.

[Maxgain]

just saw my car on us website $17000. I paid $30,000. Need more be said?

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by Maxgain

just saw my car on us website $17000. I paid $30,000. Need more be said?

No, I pretty much believe 100% your an idiot now...LOL.

just kidding

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by Maxgain

you sound surprised. over here you would lose about 46% of that.

I think that's what I lost over here...I think I netted about 768$, which is about 52% of it...

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by Maxgain

It is something I have contemplated.

I dont think by qualification is directly recognised in US though

Max, I don't understand, what do you mean?

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[Merrida]

I am going to admit this up front because after reading the posts, I sense so many contradictions and discreptancies.

Here is the US, our tax bracket is also in the 40%'s so please don't think that somehow you're getting a tad more gyped than we are. Bonuses? For one thing depending on your job, not everyone gets bonuses. I've seen people get bonuses around $20k and I've seen bonuses around $500. Yep, all good and fine until you walk away with coins jingling in your pocket.

I have family (yep and friends) all across this country (lots on NE of course, VA,FL. TX, IL, AL, CA--several--WA --where for 3 years I lived half in WA state, half in MA -- HI -- particularly when I lived on Maui -- and yep, even good ole Alaska). The point is, you are making some generalizations without research behind it.

We are all getting our pants pulled down grabbing our ankles and preparing for a giant jar of Vaseline.

What's always confused me (different country approaching so don't be alarmed). My very, very best friend moved to Scottland. She rented a medium sized apartment here outside of Boston (45 miles out of Boston), paid $1700 for that apartment and while quasi comfortable, she did okay. She moves to Scottland,....only there could she open her own business (she did not have a lot of capital), and she purchased two houses,- one in the country and one stately beautiful stone multi-level home in Edinburgh (which of course brought all her American "friends" out to self-invite themselves for visits).

Anyhoo, I'm sincerely, genuinely baffled on how you're comparing the cost of living.

Here, $100k income (minus bonus),...will not get you a house unless you fancy Tornado Alley and being miles away from everything.

Most (please accept I say this with some degree of trepidation) people, at least that we all know, do end up "acquiring" their houses through their family, which DOES make the price of living cheaper, to a degree.

But man, from the ground up solo, I cannot get your meaning.

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Merrida and Maxgain, I am sure there are people living in Boston and Ireland who live on far less then the amounts you quote in your posts. Maybe not as low as my client who gets by comfortably on $1,00 or less per month.

I'll see if my client (a very blue-color kind of guy) is available to give both of you some financial schooling. But you might have to move outside of life in the fast lane to do it.

You really don't need to be buying that cup of mocha blindly every morning. Make yourself a cup at home.

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by pierini

Merrida and Maxgain, I am sure there are people living in Boston and Ireland who live on far less then the amounts you quote in your posts. Maybe not as low as my client who gets by comfortably on $1,00 or less per month.

I'll see if my client (a very blue-color kind of guy) is available to give both of you some financial schooling. But you might have to move outside of life in the fast lane to do it.

You really don't need to be buying that cup of mocha blindly every morning. Make yourself a cup at home.

Helloooooo, knock knock, anyone home? Lights on?

Speaking only for myself, I do NOT, (repeat: N-O-T) live in the fast lane. Coffee, if I drink it, is Dunkin' Donuts or more often made at home (good ole Maxwell House, can't beat it). Lest you missed my previous posts I do not go on vacations, spend money on clothes (if I do shop, it's a consignment shops -- I hate shopping, shoes or otherwise).

I do not make a lot of money which means I DO have to pinch and scrape to get by, and buying my damned coffee at a Starbucks is something I do not have the pleasure of doing. Please take a precious itty bitty moment and re-read my previous post to see just how "skimmed" I am living my life.

RENTAL prices from MA to NH to RI (we've looked all over),...you cannot find a ONE, much less two bedroom apartment (usually with unusually noisy neighbors and landlords who don't give a crap) for anything less than $1400 and on average $1700. It is not unusual to pay $2400/month.

I don't live in a penthouse, I do not have a yard, a balcony, a Lexus (I drive a Jeep),....when my dog died the ONLY reason I did not get another (due to the fact I have not healed from him yet) is.....they are expensive.

I work my butt off to make the money I do, we scrape to pay this rent and oil and utilities and food, and we do nothing that you, Mr P. might call "extravagant."

So perhaps you and your friend may want to get out more and realize that not all the world can live for under $1000/month and in fact few can.

This is just way too off the charts....
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Darn, I tried to post this and then sign off before Maxgain and you got on. I wasn't fast enough. I am getting old.

Must be that high-priced high speed internet service you are paying for. My guy doesn't even have the internet. Another example of life in the fast lane!

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by pierini

Darn, I tried to post this and then sign off before Maxgain and you got on. I wasn't fast enough. I am getting old.

Must be that high-priced high speed internet service you are paying for. My guy doesn't even have the internet. Another example of life in the fast lane!

Lucky you DO have that high speed internet eh?

I was thinking:

Buy a trailer? Nope, can't afford it.
Rent a studio apartment 60 miles from work? Gosh who would I be lucky enough to bunk with to be able to pay less than my share of $250/month.
Gas? Well shucks, at $3.30 gallon (for the cheap stuff).....kind of washes that out.
New apartment? Nope, they want that blasted first, last and security.
Phone hookup? Dang nabbit, that won't work.
TV: Guess what? I don't get it.
Books: That's my downfall and I get them at Barnes & Noble on discount.

Then there's medical bills,-- something only one other person on this board has any idea of what I am going through which cost me over a thousand dollars a month. Oh but see, living in MA, we MUST have insurance and if we cannot afford it well heck, they'll charge us $1000/year for the penalty.

Car? Hmm, do I buy a 1979 Gremlin and pray nothing goes wrong with it and if it does they still carry the parts?

Car insurance? I could move to NH and skip it and pray I never get in an accident.

We DO live below our means all in effort to (what is it boys and girls?) SAVE money. What good is that SAVED money if we have to spend it trying to live your way to get into some God-foresaken position of trying to live under $1000/month?

Making $1000/month and then trying to live beneath it? People do that, huh? In good ole California?

Branch out pierini,....read some books, preferably financial and economical indicators.

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[Lady C]

$1400-1700 per month is the going rate for rents in my area as well. Mortgages are the same to considerably more. Personally, there are lots of people just like Merrida and Max. Some might think we are wasteful or frivolous. I don't.

My monthy bills consists of
a mortgage
utilities - natural gas, sewer, electricity, water, trash, internet and phone
car insurance
medical & dental insurance
gasoline for cars
food and supplies
own both our cars - one is 15 yrs old the other is 7 yrs old
We make our own bread and cook meals at home. Eat out on birthdays and anniversaries only.
We don't own a cell phone
We don't have cable TV just regular broadcast stuff. We haven't been to a movie theather in over 10 years.
We don't pay to go to a gym - workout at home
We take lunch to work EVERY day - rarely eat lunch out.
We haven't been on an official vacation in years. We do visit family back home but stay at relatives for free and we usually drive instead of fly.
We pay cash for everything we buy.
We even grow veggies in our yard.
Don't do sports or hobbies that cost lots.

It still takes two incomes to pay the bills. I would consider this more average than "in the fast lane".