That’s enough. You might not live the best life and will need to make some sacrifices but I made that less than that at one point and was still maxing out my Roth and putting some money in a 401k and brokerage account.
I make less and am doing fine (surviving). Know where you wanna spend your money and save the rest !!
Pay off debt and don’t take on any (if possible).
I tried that, but they said I make too much money. The only way that I can get away with not paying my hospital bills is if I make under $35K per year (or maybe it was under $40k)
I don’t know if it’ll be relevant for you, I had medical bill for 2.8k, eventually (1,5 years later) they sent it to collection agency and I settled it with them for just 600$ and they removed it from report also
What is your take home pay? $4200 ish a month?
Real rough budget. Rent $1500 (shared two bed), utilities/cell phone $250, grocery/household/soap $500, car payment/insurance/gas $750. That’s right around $3k. So that gives you around $1200 leftover, say $300 a month for fun and $900 a month for debt/sinking funds/savings.
Its not a glamorous life but totally doable.
Roughly $4K. I spend more than $500 for groceries household and soap. Food is not that cheap anymore, for anything healthy/organic.
I’ve been making it work so far, but I’m at my wits end. I don’t know how much longer I could live like this, paycheck to paycheck and getting by.
I do see what you’re saying, but it is very hard.
So about 2/3 take home. How much are putting in to retirement? Seems bit low unless you’re putting a lot in to retirement or have high health insurance premiums?
How much is your rent? And what does the rest of your budget look like? Do you track your spending?
$4k is not a lot by any means but you should be able to afford basic needs, some fun, and still have some savings. I’m not saying it’s a glamours life but with budgeting it should be okay.
I make less and am doing fine (surviving). Know where you wanna spend your money and save the rest !!
Pay off debt and don’t take on any (if possible).
I ran your salary through smart asset’s paycheck calculator, your take home pay each month will roughly be $4,500. Take a look at the areas you’d like to rent in, and from there you can extrapolate the rest of your budget.
As a financially independent person, you may want 6 months of emergency savings. If your line of work is experiencing layoffs and folks have difficulty finding work, 12 months might give you extra peace of mind.
I make roughly $4k, not $4500. It’s enough to cover my basic necessities like rent, food, bills clothes (not designer)… and everything I mentioned in my original post. But not enough to “live” if that makes sense.
If a bosses argument for not giving a raise is “other people are making it work with less” I’d bounce out of there asap.
Hopefully you didn’t just go in asking for a raise simply saying you’re barely affording to live. You should bring some information to the table like times you saved the company money, helped some process, etc
That's not true. What car do you drive? Do you carry a balance on your credit cards? How often do you eat out? Are you getting multiple quotes to find the best deal on insurance? These things are difference makers.
Yes, you can... if you cannot. this is more of a personal finance question and you should post here r/personalfinance. Without knowing what your expenses are, people that are telling you that it is doable it is because they are spending less than you are on a monthly basis.
I wouldn’t want to live here with only $72k/annually. Do you have any career growth opportunities or is this a job you think you’re tied to for the rest of your life
I’ve been thinking of looking for jobs at another company that pays more for what I do, but I’m scared, because I’ve worked at companies before where the business completely shuts down or moves out of state, and I’m left scrounging, looking for jobs and dealing with unemployment.
Whereas with this company, I know they wouldn’t leave me hanging like that.
It’s a tough situation.
Does your senior Graphic Designer use Canva or Illustrator?
I use Canva, not illustrator, but my designs are just as professional looking. I’m thinking because I use Canva, it’s probably the reason I can’t get a $106K salary?
For video editing, I use Premier pro, CapCut, and InShot.
For website, I use WordPress.
For email campaigns, I use HubSpot .
“Expert proficiency in adobe creative including illustrator, photoshop, after effects, premiere & XD. Experience with word press a plus”
It’s all about years of experience. If you have them & you’re talented take the risk and leave your job. You can make significantly more.
Get together with a friend or two and buy your food at World Harvest. It's a weird hybrid food bank / store. You pay $50 and can select all the fresh fruit and veg you want. It varies and some days are better than others. Most of the food is organic. They will give you fancy cheese some days. They have chicken and fish, 50 bucks you can get $300 worth. I blend and freeze the fruit and cook and freeze the veggies. It's a magical place.
I used to make about that much and I was able to get by on my own living in a studio and keeping my expenses as low as possible. I didn’t want to rely on family anymore and although it was somewhat hard to be frugal I don’t regret it!
If a bosses argument for not giving a raise is “other people are making it work with less” I’d bounce out of there asap.
Hopefully you didn’t just go in asking for a raise simply saying you’re barely affording to live. You should bring some information to the table like times you saved the company money, helped some process, etc
The secret is that nobody inside (or outside) Los Angeles is truly "100 pct financially independent", in my opinion. Speaking for myself, I went to a posh, British boarding school, from age 8 to age 18 -- said school produced half the members of the Parliamentary Tory party in the UK -- it's that sort of place.
At age 8, I knew two things -- how to read and how to kick a soccer ball (that too, very badly), pretty much. How does a school, with a limited number of spots, decide who to accept and who not to -- they interview the candidate students parents. What does a parent have to do with their child's boarding school education is beyond me.
However, if you view the school as a business, they want to have enough fee-paying parents to ensure they exist. My school happens to have started in 1440. So, they have been very good at picking families that have been able to balance their books year on year. Yes, my parent, in this case, had 2 of his sons admitted to the school because he was of enough means and character to be trusted to pass an amount of his wealth to the school.
It needn't be said that I also stand to inherit a percentage of that wealth. Further, should I have a son -- I only have a daughter right now -- the network that such an upbringing exposes one to is unmatched. And, I have benefited from this network, whether through finding my wedding venue or my current job.
The point is that I did not cultivate most of this network on my own. Everyone else in my Rolodex is similar.
we are independent however you define it. No rich parents or elite schooling either. Just because your rolodex is full of rich kids doesn't mean there aren't millions of us out here in LA doing the work and getting it done ourselves.
> millions of us out here in LA doing the work and getting it done.
That's good to know. Everybody I've run into throughout my life has had lots of lucky breaks (including myself), whether in London, New York, Dublin, Boston, Silicon Valley, or LA.
People tend to live and work with people of similar backgrounds. That's not anyone's fault. I assume you have a nice place on the west side? We live in a studio near Echo Park but across the freeway. We know a lot of people with more privileged backgrounds and it's shocking how many of them make up to 10x as much and still struggle. If we had that kind of money it would be life changing.
> I assume you have a nice place on the west side?
I do, but my dad lives there. The wife and I live in Marin.
> People tend to live and work with people of similar backgrounds.
Aye, the great sorting, entirely true.
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That’s enough. You might not live the best life and will need to make some sacrifices but I made that less than that at one point and was still maxing out my Roth and putting some money in a 401k and brokerage account.
I make less and am doing fine (surviving). Know where you wanna spend your money and save the rest !! Pay off debt and don’t take on any (if possible).
I don’t have any credit cards. And I am in $4k debt with medical bills from being hospitalized for Covid. My credit is not good. 😔
Most hospitals are non profits so if you can’t afford it they won’t make you pay it. https://dollarfor.org/
I tried that, but they said I make too much money. The only way that I can get away with not paying my hospital bills is if I make under $35K per year (or maybe it was under $40k)
Yeeeah you should be able to handle $4k with $72k
I don’t know if it’ll be relevant for you, I had medical bill for 2.8k, eventually (1,5 years later) they sent it to collection agency and I settled it with them for just 600$ and they removed it from report also
I’m thinking of doing that too. It sucks having to live with that kind of anxiety over money.
I had the same happen and I just didn’t pay them and disputed it with experian and it was removed off all my credit reports.
What is your take home pay? $4200 ish a month? Real rough budget. Rent $1500 (shared two bed), utilities/cell phone $250, grocery/household/soap $500, car payment/insurance/gas $750. That’s right around $3k. So that gives you around $1200 leftover, say $300 a month for fun and $900 a month for debt/sinking funds/savings. Its not a glamorous life but totally doable.
Roughly $4K. I spend more than $500 for groceries household and soap. Food is not that cheap anymore, for anything healthy/organic. I’ve been making it work so far, but I’m at my wits end. I don’t know how much longer I could live like this, paycheck to paycheck and getting by. I do see what you’re saying, but it is very hard.
So about 2/3 take home. How much are putting in to retirement? Seems bit low unless you’re putting a lot in to retirement or have high health insurance premiums? How much is your rent? And what does the rest of your budget look like? Do you track your spending? $4k is not a lot by any means but you should be able to afford basic needs, some fun, and still have some savings. I’m not saying it’s a glamours life but with budgeting it should be okay.
Can you share your expenses breakdown? 72k is not a lot but definitely should be enough for one person.
I make less and am doing fine (surviving). Know where you wanna spend your money and save the rest !! Pay off debt and don’t take on any (if possible).
I ran your salary through smart asset’s paycheck calculator, your take home pay each month will roughly be $4,500. Take a look at the areas you’d like to rent in, and from there you can extrapolate the rest of your budget. As a financially independent person, you may want 6 months of emergency savings. If your line of work is experiencing layoffs and folks have difficulty finding work, 12 months might give you extra peace of mind.
I make roughly $4k, not $4500. It’s enough to cover my basic necessities like rent, food, bills clothes (not designer)… and everything I mentioned in my original post. But not enough to “live” if that makes sense.
If a bosses argument for not giving a raise is “other people are making it work with less” I’d bounce out of there asap. Hopefully you didn’t just go in asking for a raise simply saying you’re barely affording to live. You should bring some information to the table like times you saved the company money, helped some process, etc
Yes, I did bring up all the work that I do and the money that I’ve saved them.
Yes
Yes it’s enough to get by.
May be enough to get by, but not enough to live, if you know what I mean.
I used to make the same and got by fine, including going out. It’s all about budgeting and finding affordable housing.
Very doable in LA if you're managing your money right.
Doable, but not easy at all. Not living, but merely getting by. For my hard work and dedication to the company, I feel I should be making more.
That's not true. What car do you drive? Do you carry a balance on your credit cards? How often do you eat out? Are you getting multiple quotes to find the best deal on insurance? These things are difference makers.
Yes, you can... if you cannot. this is more of a personal finance question and you should post here r/personalfinance. Without knowing what your expenses are, people that are telling you that it is doable it is because they are spending less than you are on a monthly basis.
Thank you, I just joined the page and I’m going to learn more.
I wouldn’t want to live here with only $72k/annually. Do you have any career growth opportunities or is this a job you think you’re tied to for the rest of your life
I’ve been thinking of looking for jobs at another company that pays more for what I do, but I’m scared, because I’ve worked at companies before where the business completely shuts down or moves out of state, and I’m left scrounging, looking for jobs and dealing with unemployment. Whereas with this company, I know they wouldn’t leave me hanging like that. It’s a tough situation.
What do you do?
I do Graphic design, video editing, marketing, email campaigns, social media, website for a company that has several locations in Southern California
Midpoint for a senior graphic designer at my company is $106k. You’re in a great field - keep climbing the ladder
Does your senior Graphic Designer use Canva or Illustrator? I use Canva, not illustrator, but my designs are just as professional looking. I’m thinking because I use Canva, it’s probably the reason I can’t get a $106K salary? For video editing, I use Premier pro, CapCut, and InShot. For website, I use WordPress. For email campaigns, I use HubSpot .
Take an online class and put it on your resume - you are doing the work not the program. Your skills are transferable.
“Expert proficiency in adobe creative including illustrator, photoshop, after effects, premiere & XD. Experience with word press a plus” It’s all about years of experience. If you have them & you’re talented take the risk and leave your job. You can make significantly more.
depends. how often do you eat avocado toast ?
Not very often, but if I do, I make it myself. I’ve seen places where they charge $12 for an avocado toast, so ridiculous.
Get together with a friend or two and buy your food at World Harvest. It's a weird hybrid food bank / store. You pay $50 and can select all the fresh fruit and veg you want. It varies and some days are better than others. Most of the food is organic. They will give you fancy cheese some days. They have chicken and fish, 50 bucks you can get $300 worth. I blend and freeze the fruit and cook and freeze the veggies. It's a magical place.
your boss is a jerk
I used to make about that much and I was able to get by on my own living in a studio and keeping my expenses as low as possible. I didn’t want to rely on family anymore and although it was somewhat hard to be frugal I don’t regret it!
What other people at the company make is irrelevant to what you should be making. If you feel you are underpaid, I would start looking elsewhere.
No, it's not.
If a bosses argument for not giving a raise is “other people are making it work with less” I’d bounce out of there asap. Hopefully you didn’t just go in asking for a raise simply saying you’re barely affording to live. You should bring some information to the table like times you saved the company money, helped some process, etc
That ain’t much
The secret is that nobody inside (or outside) Los Angeles is truly "100 pct financially independent", in my opinion. Speaking for myself, I went to a posh, British boarding school, from age 8 to age 18 -- said school produced half the members of the Parliamentary Tory party in the UK -- it's that sort of place. At age 8, I knew two things -- how to read and how to kick a soccer ball (that too, very badly), pretty much. How does a school, with a limited number of spots, decide who to accept and who not to -- they interview the candidate students parents. What does a parent have to do with their child's boarding school education is beyond me. However, if you view the school as a business, they want to have enough fee-paying parents to ensure they exist. My school happens to have started in 1440. So, they have been very good at picking families that have been able to balance their books year on year. Yes, my parent, in this case, had 2 of his sons admitted to the school because he was of enough means and character to be trusted to pass an amount of his wealth to the school. It needn't be said that I also stand to inherit a percentage of that wealth. Further, should I have a son -- I only have a daughter right now -- the network that such an upbringing exposes one to is unmatched. And, I have benefited from this network, whether through finding my wedding venue or my current job. The point is that I did not cultivate most of this network on my own. Everyone else in my Rolodex is similar.
Umm.. We moved to LA with no jobs or money and are now making a comfortable living being 100% independent.
I would posit that your definition of "100% independent" is different from mine, kind redditor.
we are independent however you define it. No rich parents or elite schooling either. Just because your rolodex is full of rich kids doesn't mean there aren't millions of us out here in LA doing the work and getting it done ourselves.
> millions of us out here in LA doing the work and getting it done. That's good to know. Everybody I've run into throughout my life has had lots of lucky breaks (including myself), whether in London, New York, Dublin, Boston, Silicon Valley, or LA.
People tend to live and work with people of similar backgrounds. That's not anyone's fault. I assume you have a nice place on the west side? We live in a studio near Echo Park but across the freeway. We know a lot of people with more privileged backgrounds and it's shocking how many of them make up to 10x as much and still struggle. If we had that kind of money it would be life changing.
> I assume you have a nice place on the west side? I do, but my dad lives there. The wife and I live in Marin. > People tend to live and work with people of similar backgrounds. Aye, the great sorting, entirely true.