It seems like a consensus that even $120K TC is nothing in Bay Area. But it doesn't make sense to me. With 120K income, you take home about $7,000 per month after taxes. It's not difficult to find a good 1Bed apartment for $2,500. Add $500 for car and $500 for grocery/food, and you spend $3,500 per month. That leaves around $42K saving per year. Let's say you spend $2K on vacation. You still save $40K per year. That's very good on what is considered an entry level salary isn't it?
Blind standards are stupid. 120K you’ll be fine for single. Raising a family of 4, that’ll be hard but you can make it work.
Student loans too, oh and paying off parents debts
yep depends on debt and when they want to retire and how close they want to live to workplace. Some people like having lots of savings, some don’t. Some have family early on. Rent is on high side but not astronomical like sf.
Also... Factor in 401k, medical, etc into your take home taxes
My spending was $80k last year. Family of 3 (free child care), South Bay.
Free child care? That's $1500 savings a month
Yeah helps a ton, not gonna lie about that
What about utilities, medical, kids education, eat outs, etc.. And try doing a vacation for 2k for a family. At most you can go to LA or Vegas with that money for a family of 3/4
Because swe want to live in mansions and ride Bugatti’s everyday
😂, depends on each person’s standard of living and how much they want to save.
$500 food per month means you’re not going out pretty much ever. $500 car is variable. What about power bills? Phone bills? Internet? Subscription services, amazon prime etc. Then assuming you want to put some in a 401K and care about your future, you’re basically broke which is not what people imagine when they think six figure salary
1. Your food calc is $15/day. 2. 500 doesn’t cover insurance, gas, parking and tickets if you park on the street. 3. You’ve mentioned nothing about Internet, cellphone, tv/netflix etc 4. You haven’t factored in money for movies, bars, etc. 120 is manageable, but you certainly won’t be saving 40k a year.
$500/mon for food is a joke unless you're eating pb&j daily. If your single that's plenty but childcare + housing is the killer.
I’m guessing ppl at firms that provide meals during the work week can more easily swing $500/month on food, but it’s p frugal, not at lot of eating or drinking out.
SWE here are ultra privileged, 120k TC is more than enough for a single's lifestyle
My spending is 105k for two ppl. Including mortgage. No car payment
What I always says. But if I have done sort of debt and a real family then it’s not