by Maureen Wilkey
A Tribune article yesterday reported that more and more renters in Chicago are becoming rent-strapped- spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent. But that begs the question, how much is too much to spend on rent?
I came to Chicago in 2007 with a three-digit bi-weekly paycheck and a roommate, spending more than 40% of my post-tax income on rent and another 5% on parking. But somehow I didn't feel beyond my means. At the time, I didn't have any fear of losing my job and was less than three months from a significant raise. But looking back, the move wasn't the best idea. I saved no money during that time and had to dip into my savings account to pay for car insurance. I found myself sometimes unable to afford concert tickets or other small luxuries I would have liked.
After I got a raise, I moved with another roommate into a significantly cheaper apartment, spending about 31% of post-tax income on rent. This is about what experts recommend, and it was a lot more comfortable. I didn't feel free to spend on whatever I wanted, but it was best that I didn't since I ended up losing my job just five months into the 12 month lease. Luckily, unemployment insurance more than covered my rent, food and car costs... but maybe that's why it was good I didn't have a higher rent.
I recovered from the job loss with another bump in salary plus some freelance funds, and having moved into my own place, I'm now paying about 38% of my post-tax base salary in rent. But now, my utilities have risen (or are no longer cut in half by my roommate). I'm trying to save money by keeping lights off, not turning on the air conditioning (not hard this year) and turning off my computer and TV when they're not in use. But I don't feel nearly as strapped as when I was at 40%. I think there's something to be said for giving up a few luxuries to live in a nicer place, if you're the kind of person who spends significant time at home.
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Car Commercialism: The Making of OK Gos Needing/Getting Music Video Car and Driver - Jan 01, 1970
table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHWlvsyCQ_ytIDAj3m5Fhqdf8kXvAamp;url=http://www.caranddriver.com/features/car-commercialism-the-making-of-ok-gos-needing-getting-music-videobbCar/b Commercialism: The Making of OK Go#39;s quot;Needing/Gettingquot; Music Video/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fCar and Driver/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Maybe it won#39;t be in a few bmonths/b, once it#39;s finally edited and packaged into a b3/b-minute 50-second YouTube vignette and a shorter ad for Chevy. Or perhaps it will be. Once again, bcar/b advertising, so long a well-polished mirror of contemporaneous trends b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dQAaUOp5Dr_XlCMamp;ned=usnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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Five things we learned this week in golf ESPN - Jan 01, 1970
table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG0Okap8fwZbB0kGWAZEvpGbPAWtQamp;url=http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7543177/five-things-learned-week-golfbFive things we learned this week in golf/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fESPN/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1He had a b3/b-shot lead on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines a week ago, but walked off the green with a triple-bogey and a trip to a playoff with Brandt Snedeker that he lost. Fans and players felt bad for him because his shot on 18 hadn#39;t warranted the ball b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=detTiMVk1C2HKMMamp;ned=usnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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Uninsured Drivers Fool State System KKTV 11 News - Jan 01, 1970
table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE07DWzWraTtx7jvUBUcr1ILCzVHgamp;url=http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Uninsured_Drivers_Fool_State_System_138607489.html?storySection%3DcommentsbUninsured Drivers Fool State System/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fKKTV 11 News/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1We will review any reported comments promptly. by Doug Location: Colorado Springs on Feb b3/b, 2012 at 12:47 PM Until the consequences for not having binsurance/b become more severe, nothing#39;s gonna change. Why not use a sticker system, similar to the one b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=djbpUU3ZrphQJFMamp;ned=usnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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Who Took My Easy Button? FXstreet.com - Jan 01, 1970
table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFhWPhq8CxLaK6EzdgS8WwwhGQ6EQamp;url=http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/thoughts-from-the-frontline/2012-02-06.htmlbWho Took My Easy Button?/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fFXstreet.com/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1In fact, the last bthree months/b have averaged 200000 new jobs a month, when we look at the revisions. And that is the point. These are the best estimates the BLS can come up with. They are very clear about how they go about making the estimates./fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d-9V7czSdvncKzMamp;ned=usnobrband morenbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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BizBuzz: February 2012 Biscayne Times - Jan 01, 1970
table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serif/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG2HGBrBMVyIm_o6jqE-j11ZSopsAamp;url=http://www.biscaynetimes.com/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D1097:bizbuzz-february-2012%26catid%3D62:bizbuzz%26Itemid%3D189bBizBuzz: February 2012/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fBiscayne Times/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1But extended medical care is a scary subject for most of us, which is why only about b3/b% of adults have a private, long-term care policy, according to the LTC and life binsurance/b specialists at Jeff Hackmeier amp; Associates (12000 Biscayne Blvd. #407, b/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dva7sc4WhOX3tgMamp;ned=usnobrb/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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