people greatly exaggerate cost differences across cities. we all pay the same for costco, trader joe’s, whole foods, amazon, vacations/travel, new cars
@merleharlin Same for Indianapolis (and Fort Wayne, lol). My family of 3 spends $50k-$60k in Indy and we are solidly "upper middle class frugal."
If you use the rule of thumb that you spend 25% on housing, that's like a $450k-$600k house in Indy (with a 7.5% interest rate). So "comfortable" means double the median house of the area?
@merleharlin Wife showed me this article and we’re a family of 4 living on 185k. Were fine. Would be better if we didn’t sell our 3% home of 1200 mortgage for a 3900 sqft house at 2600/mo. But we’re comfortable. I don’t believe this article. I think it highly depends on so many factors.
@slingshotandrock It really depends on where you’re going. Here in OKC, I’ve paid anywhere from $8 to $22 for a cocktail (non-happy hour prices). For a dinner, I’ve paid $500 for two but also $25 for two.
@slingshotandrock Varies a lot. Like $3-8 for a beer. $5-15 for a cocktail. Maybe $25-50 for an average restaurant meal for 2 people. (There are a few high end neighborhoods that could cost more but I would say this is what most people pay)
The main thing that will save you a lot of money though is housing. The average rent is like $900/m in OKC.