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Comfort Number

Sad reality of how much a single person needs to make to live comfortably in a big city. Presumably it make sense to live in such places while single to maximize professional and personal prospects but at what point does the opportunity cost become untenable and how does a person realize they have breached that threshold - because that is the point they need to recalibrate their options. I am not sure the definition of comfortable is quite comprehensive here. 

“Comfortable” is defined as the income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget, which assumes 50% of your monthly income can pay for necessities like housing and utility costs, 30% can cover discretionary spending and 20% can be set aside for savings or investments.

Commuting time from home to work is a huge factor in the math of comfortable. A person may come out looking "comfortable" by the proposed math but the housing that can actually fit in their budget puts them over an hour away from their place of work. That situation is a very far cry from comfortable. Similarly, say a person wants to eat healthy and prep their own meals. That likely requires they own a car so they are able to make the required grocery store trips have supplies on hand at all times. It is not a given that the affordable place they live in also supports reliable public transportation to grocery stores. Now suddenly, the person has to find parking and pay for it never mind paying for the car itself. I have to believe that the real number to achieve sustainable level of comfort might be even higher. 

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