Photo: FuzzBones (Shutterstock)
The common rule of thumb is to spend less than 30% of your income on rent, but that’s not always realistic, especially if you don’t make much money and you live in a high-cost-of-living area. Often in those cases, renters are paying closer to 50%, and they really have to stretch each dollar to make it work.
With one of my first apartments, I spent about 60% of my paycheck on rent, which was… not wise. Financially speaking, I wasn’t making enough money to justify living on my own, and I was in denial about it (“Roommates? No thanks!”), which led to a delusional grocery budget that didn’t account for how often I bought takeout. I also didn’t account for unexpected expenses, like needing new clothes for work, or a transit pass price hike. Within a year, I left for a cheaper (and much, much smaller) apartment.
