$1900 monthly income for single man?

Question

Any advice here. I am 31 and a single man and work full time. I take home about $1900 a month. Rent costs $900 a month (utilities not included), utilities $120 a month, phone $105 a month, internet $45 a month, car loans $185 a month and car insurance $275 a month (I got in an accident before I was at fault for).

After paying rent and bills, I am left with only $300 to live on each month for food/gas/leisure. Am I living poor and beyond my means?

What are my options? I do not want roomates, I am hard to get along with and struggle socially (I have aspergers). I cannot find anywhere else that has cheaper rent or allows pets (I have 3 cats and DO NOT TELL ME to get rid of my cats, they are my family and best friends). Also I need my car to get around in my area.

Any suggestions? If I just made an extra $200 a month, where i have $500 a month to live on, I would feel less stressed.
Are there online data entry jobs I can do from home that pay $200 a month? Jobs like entering data in online tables, where I can work at my own schedule?

Answer 1

Uber or Lyft might be a great option for you since you like to drive. Your interaction with the passengers would be limited, which seems like a good thing based on your personality traits. Perhaps cat or house sitting might work too, though might be less profitable.

Answer 2

Easy solution. Get rid of your cats

Answer 3

Have fun living on the streets! lol

Answer 4

Try other jobs like Uber eats

Answer 5

Where to even start with all that mess most of which I DID NOT read.



Get rid of internet and get a trac phone



Find a cheaper place to live that is an outrage.



No I do not care about the cats of which you are fool breaking the limit rules. Since you can not afford to even feed them someone else will love and cherish them.



Oh pisss why go on you have all the answers



Do not bother with your canned poor old me comments I will not be back to read them!

Answer 6

My god your living expenses are so expensive I used to live in a 2 and a half for $550 all utilities included with internet. You're paying wayyyy too much. Lower all your expenses. If you just used public transport you would save around $400 per month alone.

Answer 7

First of all, cut your phone plan back to a much cheaper plan. You can save at least $50 a month right there. Use local food pantries to supplement your grocery budget. Everybody and their brother is looking for an online job to supplement their income. Legitimate opportunities are few and far between.

Answer 8

Your income is fine. EVERY category of spending is excessive.

Answer 9

No, no jobs like that, you';; need to find a regular part time job, not an online one.

Answer 10

There are no legitimate online data entry jobs at all.





Options:

Drive for Uber

Drive for Lyft

Drive for DoorDash

Drive for InstaCart

Drive for Shipt



etc......etc.....etc.......

Answer 11

not that bad.

Answer 12

Commit a felony and go live in the big house for free. Good medical too. You'll have to find someone else to take care of the cats.

Answer 13

It definitely sounds like you want extra money, and then again you don’t.



You gotta make up your mind and sacrifice

Answer 14

Making more money isn’t going to solve your problem. It doesn’t appear that you will spend your money in responsible ways when you get it. You really need to scale back otherwise you’re just going to find new ways to needlessly spend the money you get from a side job.

Answer 15

Uber is your best bet

I enjoyed reading your question

Answer 16

A side hustle would make your day to day life easier. Another option is to cut back on utilities.



I can make 300 for groceries last over a month, but it's usually store-brand or clearance items.



Try selling clothes you no longer wear, movies you no longer watch etc via your local craigslist.

Answer 17

You asked for advice but you won't make any compromises it seems so are you trying to complain or actually sacrifice here and there? You have a fixed budget you cannot have it all it's just the way it is, that's how most people live by the way.



Your place is too expensive for your budget but if you're dead set on staying there for whatever reason you can make more money from home. I wouldn't get rid of my kitty cats either lol here's some ways to make extra money from home....



Data entry, there are decent jobs for remote work in data entry and they pay minimum wage typically. You could also be an at home call rep/customer service or a drop shipper, YouTuber, comment moderator, seller of any goods. Hobbies that are good for making money include growing plants, writing, art, breeding, crocheting, tailoring, quilting etc



It is difficult to get a cushy job from home but it's possible. You need a lot of skill to do it successfully by yourself.

Answer 18

Find part time

Answer 19

Your budget is really tight. If you are in fact sticking to that budget I'm really impressed. I see no downsizing other than maybe a studio apartment (assuming you rent a one bedroom now) or a less expensive phone service. Look into Consumer Cellular - definitely less expensive than what you are paying.



A roommate would save even more money but you've already stated that isn't doable.



Do you have a hobby that you can make money doing? Do you create artwork for fun and you can maybe sell it? Or maybe an extra job that allows you to work alone - dog walking, yardwork, house sitting, etc?



Best of luck.

Answer 20

So, basically, you want to save money, but not do any of the things (like getting a roommate or losing the car) that could save you money.



You need to work on your priorities.

Answer 21

2 things you need to do: 1, decrease expenses, can you get a room mate ? cut back on phone plan do without internet, 2: increase income-get more hours at current job, try for a promotion or better job, get a second job

Answer 22

$1900 just a month you should find a roommate. rent alone now a days is about that much.

pick up a second job

Answer 23

There'e nothing I can type into this box on Yahoo that will improve your life. You have to make choices and live with the consequences of your choices.



You choose to have 3 cats. The consequence is that you are very limited on your options for housing, since many places will not allow cats and most that will either charge extra or limit it to 1 or 2 cats.



You choose to live alone, which prevents you from renting a room in a shared house/apartment for $500/ month, which would instantly free up $400 per month - more than you say you need.



You choose to drive a financed car where your payment is nearly 10% of your take home pay and your insurance is another 15%. Altogether you are paying 25% of your income on transportation, and that's just payments and insurance. I'm sure that gas and maintenance pushes that total past 35%. This is an insane amount to spend on transportation.



You could choose to drive a cheaper car (paid for in cash instead of financed). You could choose to sell your car and use public transportation which would save you well over $300 per month (more than you say you need). If transit in your area is poor then you could choose to move closer to a bus stop or closer to work so you could walk or ride a bike.



But you are unwilling to make a different choice on transportation, and the consequence is that you continue to spend an astronomical percentage of your budget on this category.



You could choose to find a second job, but you choose to spend your weekends swimming.



I am not trying to be harsh, I am trying to give you an outside perspective to help you understand that you are creating your own problems because you are unwilling to make different choices to get a different result.

Answer 24

why ON EARTH do u pay so much for your phone AND internet? like no, really? this is right there - 150. why is your internet so expensive and why do u have such a big phone bill? u call porn numbers or what? i have internet for home for 20 every month and prepaid card for phone which i charge 10 like once in 2 months. whom are u calling non stop? and good for having cats - they re the best. i would get rid of the phone and car but would keep cats

Answer 25

Sure, I could offer you advice, but all you will do is give excuses, so why should I waste my time? Until you are unhappy enough with your current situation to actually make changes, nobody will offer what you consider to be "valid" advice.

Answer 26

Move to another area



Either



a) An area with better public transportation where you wouldn't need a car, or



b) An area where rent costs less than $900.

Answer 27

If you get a PT job for 2 or 3 hours evenings you’ll have your weekends free and hopefully add the $200. + you need.

Answer 28

Free weekends are for people who aren't living beyond their means. Since it's obvious from all of your self-imposed constraints that you're unwilling to sacrifice anything on the expenses side of the equation, you need to go get a 2nd job. There are no online jobs that will just let you sit at home and work on your schedule. Go deliver pizzas.

Answer 29

I can see you are not left with much disposable income, much less able to save. I understand not wanting a roommate but is it possible to get someplace with lower rent? Life is expensive these days and it doesn't seem like you are overspending. I don't know about computer jobs, but any part time job could help. If you do get a part time job, make sure you have adequate taxes withheld. It is easy to get in trouble this way - your part time salary will cause small tax deductions, but at the end of the year your full time and part time salaries are added together to assess the tax you owe. Best of luck. I just saw your update about not wanting another job and I'd already posted this. I have known a couple of people who worked from home telemarketing.

Answer 30

There are no online legitimate jobs.

But you can easily get a 2nd job that will pay more than $200 a month.





In response to your comments.... which I let slide the first time I read your question:

- you live paycheck to paycheck. You don't have money for an unexpected vet bill or car repair. But you don't want to do anything to improve your situation.

- I don't want to live with other people

- I can't find a less expensive place to live

- I don't want to give up any of my cats (because no other landlord would allow 3 cats)

- I can't get a less expensive car

- I don't want to work on the weekends.



Yes, you act like a child... not because you want to swim in a the ocean...because all you do is come up with excuses.

Answer 31

Off your cats first

Answer 32

1. you need cheaper rent. How you were approved is beyond me.

2. You need to turn your cell phone off or at least get it under $35 a month. (I spend $10 a year)

3. You need a higher insurance deductible.

4. Plenty of easy part time jobs where you can earn a little extra money close to home, Pizza Delivery or Uber comes to mind. (But keep in mind that some of what you get is for wear & tear on your car)



5 hours each two nights should provide an extra $425-600 a month.



Wait, you don't want to work on weekends. Well, you might get away with only working one weekend night if its pizza delivery. Doubtful they would let you only work mon-thursday.



There are almost no data entry jobs from home and if there were, there would be 500 people fighting for every job.



Cats are great but 3?

Answer 33

What part of the US do you live in? ($900 a month for rent?)



$275 a month for auto insurance is a lot. You might want to shop around for something better.

Answer 34

You need to move into a shared rent situation and get your rent to say 400-500$ and all utilities split. You will see you're spending money will be doubled

Answer 35

Unless you're willing to make sacrifices (or get a higher paying job), I think you're stuck struggling - money wise.

Three thousand a year for insurance is pretty impressive. You must be in the high risk pool. I have 2 speeding tickets within the last year, and my insurance is only 1k per year.

Answer 36

Some people do not even have $300 left at the end of the month.



You can go to the UPWORK site and, if you really have office type skills, you can on -line temp and make extra money.



AND check out the CARE.com website. You can pick up extra money pet-sitting...and things like that.

Answer 37

Get a cheaper phone plan

Answer 38

Yes you are living beyond your means, but as long as you keep making excuses for doing so (I don't want roommates, I won't give up my cats, whatever) then there is no solution. Your rent plus utilities should be about $800 a month (there is your extra $200) so if you are not willing to make compromises, you need other places to cut back. Have you looked into upping the deductible on your car insurance - that can save you money. Switch to a trak phone with pre paid minutes can save you another $50 a month.



And no, there are no legit jobs that will make you $200 a month - if you need extra income, bite the bullet and get a part-time job stocking shelves somewhere. But until you make compromises, you will not get out of this situation.