[SarkisPioute]

Proved my point in bold.

Anyway, I totally agree with you. A degree many times doesn't equal intelligence; not even a Masters or a Phd. But that's all off the OP's topic and not even what I was talking about either.

Not really. Read the rest of the post.

Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you're qualified for crap. Personally, I find people that have degrees that aren't qualified are more of a disappointment than someone without a degree. The person without a degree, IMHO, has a reason not to know something, where as the person with a degree has no excuse for not knowing information concerning their major. My point was that people in this area just look at a degree, not your experience.

We should all meet up (ARC, Lord, you, and I :P) and brew in Alexandria at http://www.shenandoahbrewing.com/
:P

I like to brew belgian style ales and Czech pilsners

Not opposed to the idea at all here, either. Although I'll never be making it farther south than College Park from now on as I'm part of a project up there working with the National Archives II. Today is my last day in DC for a long, long, long, LOOOONG time.

[ClorrerVeks]

Rent for my 2 bedroom, 2 bath 1200sqft apartment = $793 (including water and garbage)

So it's more around $1250 a month. And my car is paid off, and my company covers the cost of gas.

Living expenses vary immensely.

$1250/month is what I was paying for a 400sqft studio in Manhattan last year... and I was spending $110/month on electricity and $300+ on groceries...

Technically I actually make quite a lot of money, if you count tuition, fees, and insurance that are covered for me. Actually, with all of those, I'm riding rather close to $70k... but I take home a TINY fraction of that.

I moved in with my fiance and we're sharing a studio, paying something like $1050/month, but we own it, so $500 of that is mortgage, so it builds equity, as opposed to disappearing.

But we've found that we basically need $3000/month for the two of us, to cover a "normal" lifestyle in NYC... and it's about to go up due to maintenance costs for the new car.

I mean, just transportation costs us $70/week for subway+bus, plus an average of $25/week tolls, plus $25/week gas for the car. That's almost $500/month for transportation alone... and they're going to raise our tolls, gas taxes, and subway/bus fares 25% in a month...

[tomsmuidh]

I'd cry you a river, Gnius, but I'm from the UK.

[Reatclaplen]

Living expenses vary immensely.

I mean, just transportation costs us $70/week for subway+bus, plus an average of $25/week tolls, plus $25/week gas for the car. That's almost $500/month for transportation alone... and they're going to raise our tolls, gas taxes, and subway/bus fares 25% in a month...

Oh, I know expenses can vary, especially if you are married and have kids.

I'm Actually quite lucky with my current job. Even though I only make 37k from them, they cover all my transportation expenses including gas, repairs, and general maintnence such as replacing tires. So with my transportation expenses, I'm probably making closer to 45-50k

[ziIReIGS]

I'm not going to disclose my income, but I will say that I'm paying less now for my mortgage compared to when I was renting previously, and I also save a ton of money by not having a car. My work is 10mins walk from my house, and we use the train if we want to go anywhere further afield.

The key part overall is simply making sure that you don't live beyond your means. Apart from my mortage I have no other debts, not even an outstanding balance on a credit card. I have a buffer of money in the bank to cover me for a number of years should I loose my job (if this recession gets even worse which I hope not).

[soprofaxel]

I'm not going to disclose my income, but I will say that I'm paying less now for my mortgage compared to when I was renting previously, and I also save a ton of money by not having a car. My work is 10mins walk from my house, and we use the train if we want to go anywhere further afield.

The key part overall is simply making sure that you don't live beyond your means. Apart from my mortage I have no other debts, not even an outstanding balance on a credit card. I have a buffer of money in the bank to cover me for a number of years should I loose my job (if this recession gets even worse which I hope not).

Seems like you know how to party.

[ziIReIGS]

Seems like you know how to party.

So in order to know how to party I have to a) own a car, and b) live beyond my means?

[errolurberozy]

40k ()

[uaodnabnjz]

So in order to know how to party I have to a) own a car, and b) live beyond my means?

pretty sure he is implying that you just save all your money
________
hot box vaporizer

[Super-Luser]

pretty sure he is implying that you just save all your money

A.k.a unrisky life which can be quite useful for increasing your experiences.

[!!!maryann!!!]

I earn not enough!![rofl]