I’m so glad I found your channel! I just got a job in healthcare in Seattle and I start in October. This video was exactly what I was looking for since I didn’t have a good gauge of how my income would compare to the average person in the city!
Love that you say so matter of factly that a car isn’t a necessary expense when you live in the city. Totally agree. We are moving to Seattle this spring and will never drive unless we leave the city. Car-freedom is such a cost saver, and it’s way more enjoyable, as well.
The good thing about Seattle is no state income tax. I live in Hawaii and work in finance and also want to do trades with my own money. The capital gains tax is a bit high here but I heard Washington State changed their laws regarding capital gains tax but ordinary income is still not taxed on a state level.
My partner and I track our expenses like crazy so i can say over the past three years we spent on average ~$30k/year on necessities (rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, car stuff, transportation). It helps that we pay well below the average rent ($1200/month total for us, not each), dont have any debt nor dependents/pets, make all of our food a home (with $40/month budgeted for take out), don’t pay for health insurance. This is all to say that I agree with the video. The ideal circumstances allow for low expenses but once you start adding in kids, pets, debt, health insurance, etc… you can easily exceed $50k/year in basic expenses
You were able to save 800/month on that budget. That is a lot of money to be able to save. While it could get burned for debt, that debt does go away. I'd say it'd be fairly easy off median income for a single person with no kids. I'd also say that it would also be pretty easy to get a second job to increase your income if you wanted to as well
This somehow ended up in my feed due to the RUclips algorithm. I've moved to Seattle slightly over a year ago and this have been super informative and interesting. Like you mention, people usually take about how much money they spend and this in comparison is quite different and down to earth. Thank you :)
I've been looking at Seattle, the District of Columbia, and New York City as possible areas to move to after graduate school. I have zero desires to have a car, but I'm scared to live in Seattle without having one on standby.
That’s super fair! If you haven’t already and if it’s feasible in your current situation, consider doing a short trip to DC/NYC/Seattle without using or renting a car. It’ll give a taste of how the city would be like fully relying on public transit, and other methods of transportation. NYC and DC are powerhouses when it comes to public transportation, so you really can’t go wrong with any of those cities!
Honestly living in seattle do be expensive since if your making around minimum wage or slightly higher it do be hard since the rent has gone up to around 1.4k for a single bedroom in the area I live I know my mom rents a studio for that price so you have to have a good budget if you want to do well and live fine in seattle for sure thats the main reason lots of people have been moving out of the city due to higher cost of living
Wow that was a really funny and interesting video, at first I thought the salary was amazing (I live in austria), but damn the rent and insurance costs are insane, like I could get a central city one bedroom for 500-1000 euros, our salaries are much lower as well so there are always trade offs I guess
I agree the median US salary would be stretched thin in Seattle being one of the top ten most expensive cities in the US especially if you are trying to save a quarter of your income. Lucky you don't have pets to factor in.
Great question, no where! I pay 1.2k for the smaller bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment where the rent is 2.6k per month - which is definitely possible to find in Seattle.
@@rinahra Thank you for replying so quickly. In your humble opinion, do you think that $62k/year is still enough currently right now in 2022 to live in Seattle?
@@jenniferharney6339 I would say it’s possible, but it also depends on your debt situation, health, and savings priorities. For me personally, I could live on $62k a year, but I would have to be a bit more mindful on my day-to-day spending. The main concern would be paying for rent/a mortgage. Having a roommate or partner that helps with bills is nice, but an alternative that wasn’t mentioned in the video is MFTE housing. MFTE housing is subsidized housing for people making under a certain threshold each year, and it’s also a requirement for ALL new apartment buildings to have, so there are a decent number of options around the entire city. That’s the extent of what I know about MFTE housing, so it might be worth looking into.
@@rinahra Got it. Good to know. I have a partner that I will be sharing finances with :) And IDK if I mentioned it in another comment on a previous video, but we will be living in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle.
@@jenniferharney6339 I’m so excited for you! Greenwood is a lovely neighborhood and it has 2 of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle! (Herkimer for the classics, and Coffeeholic for a nice treat)
your phone is only 30 bucks? wow - which plan are you on? right now im spending north of 40 bucks per phone and thats an essential plan. only 17 bucks on electricity? WTF? come on now... the LEAST most people spend here on light is 30 bucks and thats just by owning the line itself. i also notice you didnt include various utility bills (gas, garbage, etc)
I feel like the number of more affordable phone plans grew over the last couple years - like Visible and Mint Mobile. I have to do double takes on my electric bills, because i don’t believe them too lol. Seattle’s electricity is through the Seattle government, where most electricity providers are through private companies looking to profit. The electricity provider here just has it figured out on producing renewable energy at an affordable cost. WSG is included in that rent price - for whatever reason, my property bills them altogether with my rent, so I did the same here.
@@rinahra that makes sense. I try not to use non major carriers as they have issues with some services that use 2-way authentication for some stuff like corporate signon and delivery (big tech companies are big on 2 factor authentication using your phone)
You are way off. I wold say the median salary is more close to $80,000 unless you have minimum wage job.. It is not ealistic not have a car in any big cty which cost may be $600+ a month. A cheap cell phone could cost $80.
the median salary was based off of data in 2020, so i’m sure that number has changed by now. i’ve lived in Seattle without a car for 5 years now because I couldn’t justify spending $600/month - it’s definitely doable
Check out Eastlake Flats in Seattle, very frugal homes. Most around $1,000 some $900! All studios. Walking distance to U W
Thank you for creating such a detailed video! Feels like we gotta be loaded to enjoy anywhere we choose to live. 😅
I’m so glad I found your channel! I just got a job in healthcare in Seattle and I start in October. This video was exactly what I was looking for since I didn’t have a good gauge of how my income would compare to the average person in the city!
Love that you say so matter of factly that a car isn’t a necessary expense when you live in the city. Totally agree. We are moving to Seattle this spring and will never drive unless we leave the city. Car-freedom is such a cost saver, and it’s way more enjoyable, as well.
Your content is a lifesaver for calming down my nerves with moving. Love your video style/delivery as well!
The good thing about Seattle is no state income tax. I live in Hawaii and work in finance and also want to do trades with my own money. The capital gains tax is a bit high here but I heard Washington State changed their laws regarding capital gains tax but ordinary income is still not taxed on a state level.
My partner and I track our expenses like crazy so i can say over the past three years we spent on average ~$30k/year on necessities (rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, car stuff, transportation). It helps that we pay well below the average rent ($1200/month total for us, not each), dont have any debt nor dependents/pets, make all of our food a home (with $40/month budgeted for take out), don’t pay for health insurance. This is all to say that I agree with the video. The ideal circumstances allow for low expenses but once you start adding in kids, pets, debt, health insurance, etc… you can easily exceed $50k/year in basic expenses
100% this!!! With the cost of existing being so high, it’s so hard to truly enjoy what life has to offer!
Thanks for the info , I was actually going to move to seattle for my masters. Your info gave me an outlook for how i have to plan out.
You were able to save 800/month on that budget. That is a lot of money to be able to save. While it could get burned for debt, that debt does go away. I'd say it'd be fairly easy off median income for a single person with no kids. I'd also say that it would also be pretty easy to get a second job to increase your income if you wanted to as well
This somehow ended up in my feed due to the RUclips algorithm.
I've moved to Seattle slightly over a year ago and this have been super informative and interesting. Like you mention, people usually take about how much money they spend and this in comparison is quite different and down to earth. Thank you :)
Haha this is funny. Can you show a video of what your actually spending is? Made me super curious.
Not a bad idea, i’ll add this idea to my upcoming videos pipeline! :)
We also now have the Washington Cares Fund :D
I've been looking at Seattle, the District of Columbia, and New York City as possible areas to move to after graduate school. I have zero desires to have a car, but I'm scared to live in Seattle without having one on standby.
That’s super fair! If you haven’t already and if it’s feasible in your current situation, consider doing a short trip to DC/NYC/Seattle without using or renting a car. It’ll give a taste of how the city would be like fully relying on public transit, and other methods of transportation. NYC and DC are powerhouses when it comes to public transportation, so you really can’t go wrong with any of those cities!
Im new to the states and I'm thinking of moving to WA this summer ur videos helps thanks
Hope to move to Seattle in a few years, I’m excited to see realistic content like this. I really just wanna be near the Olympic national forest tho 🥹💚
Mee tooo… there are no seattle vloggers😢😢😢.. do u know any???
You have a new subscriber, keep up the great work!
thanks!!!
i wanna see the frugal seattle life
Honestly living in seattle do be expensive since if your making around minimum wage or slightly higher it do be hard since the rent has gone up to around 1.4k for a single bedroom in the area I live I know my mom rents a studio for that price so you have to have a good budget if you want to do well and live fine in seattle for sure thats the main reason lots of people have been moving out of the city due to higher cost of living
Your channel is so underrated
I just want to say this is very helpful because I just got offered a job there and debating about taking it because I’m from texas.
Wow that was a really funny and interesting video, at first I thought the salary was amazing (I live in austria), but damn the rent and insurance costs are insane, like I could get a central city one bedroom for 500-1000 euros, our salaries are much lower as well so there are always trade offs I guess
I agree the median US salary would be stretched thin in Seattle being one of the top ten most expensive cities in the US especially if you are trying to save a quarter of your income. Lucky you don't have pets to factor in.
yep "surviving not thriving" sums up mine in the Seattle area good luck with 1200 for rent now more like 1400 now
can confirm my rent has gone up to around $1400/month with my new lease 🥲
It would be interesting to know.. what is the average or the lowest income in seattle…
Damn the numbers you shared just shows how expensive life is. Just imagine if you did own a car and had to pay state income taxes.
do you mind me asking what glasses are you wearing ?
Where tf in Seattle do they have a 2 bedroom for 1,200? Asking for me.
Great question, no where!
I pay 1.2k for the smaller bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment where the rent is 2.6k per month - which is definitely possible to find in Seattle.
@@rinahra Ohhhhhhh okay that makes alot more sense I think i may have misunderstood haha. I'm paying $1300 for 300 sqft T_T
Best eye brows in North-West
What year and month did you initially move to Seattle (while you were making $62k/year?
It was back in September 2019!
@@rinahra Thank you for replying so quickly. In your humble opinion, do you think that $62k/year is still enough currently right now in 2022 to live in Seattle?
@@jenniferharney6339 I would say it’s possible, but it also depends on your debt situation, health, and savings priorities. For me personally, I could live on $62k a year, but I would have to be a bit more mindful on my day-to-day spending.
The main concern would be paying for rent/a mortgage. Having a roommate or partner that helps with bills is nice, but an alternative that wasn’t mentioned in the video is MFTE housing. MFTE housing is subsidized housing for people making under a certain threshold each year, and it’s also a requirement for ALL new apartment buildings to have, so there are a decent number of options around the entire city. That’s the extent of what I know about MFTE housing, so it might be worth looking into.
@@rinahra Got it. Good to know. I have a partner that I will be sharing finances with :) And IDK if I mentioned it in another comment on a previous video, but we will be living in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle.
@@jenniferharney6339 I’m so excited for you! Greenwood is a lovely neighborhood and it has 2 of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle! (Herkimer for the classics, and Coffeeholic for a nice treat)
Ok that train sound was scary
just as a guess i would think someone would need to earn at least 80k in seattle.
your phone is only 30 bucks? wow - which plan are you on? right now im spending north of 40 bucks per phone and thats an essential plan. only 17 bucks on electricity? WTF? come on now... the LEAST most people spend here on light is 30 bucks and thats just by owning the line itself. i also notice you didnt include various utility bills (gas, garbage, etc)
I feel like the number of more affordable phone plans grew over the last couple years - like Visible and Mint Mobile.
I have to do double takes on my electric bills, because i don’t believe them too lol. Seattle’s electricity is through the Seattle government, where most electricity providers are through private companies looking to profit. The electricity provider here just has it figured out on producing renewable energy at an affordable cost.
WSG is included in that rent price - for whatever reason, my property bills them altogether with my rent, so I did the same here.
@@rinahra that makes sense. I try not to use non major carriers as they have issues with some services that use 2-way authentication for some stuff like corporate signon and delivery (big tech companies are big on 2 factor authentication using your phone)
You are way off. I wold say the median salary is more close to $80,000 unless you have minimum wage job.. It is not ealistic not have a car in any big cty which cost may be $600+ a month. A cheap cell phone could cost $80.
the median salary was based off of data in 2020, so i’m sure that number has changed by now.
i’ve lived in Seattle without a car for 5 years now because I couldn’t justify spending $600/month - it’s definitely doable
You could have saved half of that spending if you cooked yourself.