The point is not to chill and just burn through the savings and not work. How would having that much money saved, change the way you look for jobs?
I hate that it’s true, but $10K is not a hefty savings anymore.
That’s not to say most people have $10k saved.
That’s just to say that $10k would get me through like 4 months, maximum.
And Id be hungry.
It would get me through less than one month
Less than 10k savings would mean I’d be basically on the streets if I lose my job
People downvoting have never lived a different country, or city, than where they were raised … seriously, cost of living varies wildly. 10k/month in expenses with a family, house (mortgage, insurance, maintenance, etc), cars (gas, maintenance, insurance, etc) travel / vacations, you name it, is not unreasonable.
Hopefully with kids in private school you’d have more savings than that, but that’s an easy $15-50k/yr per kid.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the monthly cash burn for a truly middle class family was $5k.
The rule of thumb is 6 months of expenses.
Average car payment right now: $725/mo
Average price of a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in the US: $416,000
Average interest rate for home equity loan right now: ~9%
Average mortgage assuming 10% downpayment And above: $2700/mo
Moderate grocery budget for 5 people: $1500/mo
Average Utilities: $330/mo
Average cost for private school: $16k
For 3 kids, monthly: $4k/mo.
For good measure, well add a slush fund of $2k a month to cover property taxes ($350/mo), gas/auto repairs, house repairs/non food related purchases, kids hobbies/electives/clothes
If we want to talk vacation, it’s gonna be an additional $1k-2k saved a month.
If you’re saving for college lol, add $1750/mo for 20 years to cover 3 kids at avg priced 4 year institutions.
Where are we?
$14,555/mo.
To sustain that, you need to be pulling down over $350k/yr as a household.
Average.
Lmao I love how when you write it out like this it makes so much so very clear about the people on this site.
That’s such an absurd level of casual wealth that the amount of leftists on here with no idea how the average person lives makes a lot of sense
If we want to talk vacation, it’s gonna be an additional $1k-2k saved a month.
Moderate grocery budget for 5 people: $1500/mo
For good measure, well add a slush fund of $2k a month
Fucking lol
That’s less than $70 per person per week, which is far less than the average spend.
You can troll around and argue against what I said all you want, they’re based on averages. Actual averages.
No one cares about your opinions.
You should learn the very significant difference between a median and an average if you think the average American does any of these things.
10k hefty savings lmao
I would be broke in about 4 months with $10K in reserve if I dialed back everything to the bare minimum. It would make my job search extremely urgent.
I would be broke in 2 months or less … life got expensive quick where I live. I wonder where OP lives?
If I was still in my own place I think 2 months would be a stretch, I’m currently sharing a house with my in laws so that’s helping us out.
Texas. My rent us 800 a month in a decent area. 1b 1b
Fuuuck, I wish my rent was less than 3 times that for a 1b 1b
Yea. It’s rough out there for everyone. A friend of mine is paying 1700 a month for a 2b in California. Dude, I’d be homeless. There’s no way I could afford to pay that every month.
There’s also an app called Flex
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avance.consumer
They pay a portion of your rent every month so you don’t get behind. They split it up
What state are you in?
Stay where you are as long as you can, that’s an amazing deal if it’s a good area.
I appreciate that thank you. I am. My apartment is fine, but I also don’t have a shit ton of the upgrades that they’ve been doing to other apartments. That’s another reason it’s low. I actually need to re new my lease, they left a note on my door yesterday
Is that 1 bedroom, 1 bath, or 1 bath, 1 bedroom?
Hefty savings? $10k? Is that us dollars? 10k is not much, that would not last more than a few months at most for most people
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This is the answer. We are in this position now. Husband still unemployed, but has turned down several low offers. If we didn’t have savings, he would have taken a job below what is enough to live on, but at least it’d be something.
With the cushion, he job searches full time instead outside working hours.
Everyone in the comment section is just talking about how much 10K is to them and completely ignoring OPs question lol smh
How much 10k is to you is relevant to the question. For some of us that’s a month, for some that’s six months. It makes a difference to how you respond.
If I had 10k and no job, I’d be panicking and rushing to get whatever job I can get!
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Appreciate you calling that out thank you ❤️
Me, me, me haha. If you have the money to live nicely for awhile, spend time finding out what jobs youre really passionate about and go for those. Even if your under qualified it cant hurt to apply. Sometimes they can offer entry jobs to get were you want to be. If you already know what you want to do, spend some time updating/improving your resume and see if you can get a a few companies to fight over you. There’s a lot of power being able to walk away from the negotiation table if you’re qualified and its just not the right time.
Totally fucking agree and thank you for being so level headed. It’s true, when you have the time and a savings (USE A DAM NUMBER THAT YOU CONSIDER TO BE A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY ACCORDING TO YOUR SITUATION THAT WOULD HELP YOU WHILE UNEMPLOYED FUCK)
You do have the flexibility financially and for the betterment of your career, to walk away from jobs that are toxic, low paying and have no career growth.
You’re not rushed to just take anything keeping you in a vicious cycle.
I wish that everyone could have that. :( I hate how things are
Congratulations! You’ve received the lemdit helpful award!
$10k is not very much money to live on where rent alone is $2000~2500. I think if I had $100k I would be very picky. Or better yet, I would try to start my own business.
Yeah Im jealous of OP that in their area that’s “hefty” in my area that would cover maybe 2 months expenses if you were being frugal, certainly it wouldn’t be “restart your career savings”
I have more savings than that and I don’t think it’s enough. Those are rookie numbers, gotta pump those up.
hefty savings of 10k
That is not a “hefty savings.”
You want to have enough savings for about 3 months expenses, for just such an occasion, so I’d just do my normal job hunt here
That’s what I was thinking. $10,000 for me is about 2-3 months of expenses. Of course, if I lost my job and knew things were going to be tight, I’d cut back on spending. I could probably get that $10,000 to stretch to 4-5 months, but it still wouldn’t make me relax my job search much.
Now, if I had $100,000 in the bank, I’d be quite a bit more relaxed in my job search. Give me $1,000,000 in the bank and I’d question if I even needed to find a job. $10,000,000 in the bank and I’d retire and live off of the interest.
What everyone in this comment section calling out “10k isn’t much” are failing to understand is that over 60% of the USA live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have any savings to speak of. Extend that to the world and you would go pale.
Check your privilege and get educated.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paycheck-to-paycheck-6-in-10-americans-lendingclub/
https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/paycheck-to-paycheck-survey/
…everyone’s point isn’t “wow you suck for having only 10k in savings”. Everyone calling out the OP is saying “in my country/area cost of living is very high and with 10K in savings I would be in a bit of a panic”.
Also telling people to “get educated” while they react to the US cost of living being out of control just makes you sound like a dick.
Um… I like never said that. What medication are you on?
Not you OP, the top level commenter in this thread said this
K my bad
Not you OP, the top level commenter
There are people earning 10k/month who are living paycheck to paycheck, so for them 10k saving is just one month
Yes, exactly this
Ideally you want 3 months of living your life with 0 cuts to be “safe” so 10k is not enough to fundamentally change how most job searches would go.
Your point is valid, but LendingClub’s numbers are bullshit. People keep quoting that press release like it’s science.
LendingClub’s business is in person to person loans (they act as a middle man between the investors and borrowers). Person to person loans are risky because the kind of people taking them out tend to be desperate and have no money, so unless everything goes right, they end up defaulting on the loan.
LendingClub puts out this bullshit article inflating the number of people “living check to check” to try and make it seem like their person to person loans are less risky. They want you to think you’re lending money to people with a 6 figure income could just sell one of their Teslas to pay you back, not people who took out the loan because their 1991 Chevy Corsica needed repairs and without it they can’t get to their job at Burger King.
They’re not the only source. If you want to equivocate, cool, but your experience isn’t everyone else’s.
not the only source
Sorry, LendingTree and LendingClub are two companies in the same business selling the same narrative. Their names are as similar as their business models, so it’s easy to get them confused.
I don’t think if somebody posted links to articles from McDonalds and Burger King talking about the health benefits of eating more French fries, you’d consider them more credible for having two different sources.
Yea seriously thank you. I’m like mind blown that ppl don’t think that’s a lot of money. 10K would last me almost 2 years not working. I’m single, no dependents, my rent is cheap and I own my car. What’s the deal here man? Why’s everyone pissing on 10k as chump change? That’s a lot of money man
How in the world are you able to live off $5k/year? My last months credit card bill was $2.6k and I don’t even pay rent or tuition on my card. I’m also single with no dependents, own my own car, and have extremely cheap rent.
They are making shit up or leaving out the fact that they sleep on the floor with 4 other roommates in a single common room.
Lol I have my own apartment
No you don’t. Not in any space the average person would be or should be willing to live in. Unless you mean you own the place.
Yes. I live in a 1b 1b I’m in the south. So cost of living isn’t skyrocket like in California for instance. I also don’t just ‘accept’ an outrageous price in rent. If an apartment cost 1100 a month for me to rent, then I’m going to a neighboring city for a lower cost.
Link a listing for apartments 420/mo.
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I pay around that per month, but that includes all of my expenses, including rent and other bills, not just credit card alone. Maybe the person you’re responding to has kids or lives in a higher COL area or something.
In some places, rent alone might be that much though.
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I don’t know much about their situation, but one of my coworkers has kids in daycare and it seems insanely expensive to the point where they’ve recently needed to get a second job.
Rent for a 1b apartment is more than that in some cities in California.
Edit: I see this was responding to someone spending 2.6k just on their credit cards, apologies. When I just graduated, spending that much on a credit card seemed like a lot of money. Now, that’s just average … on one credit card (I have 3 😅). Try having a family, traveling, or … I don’t even know, but life catches up with that pretty quickly.
It’s not usually that high but it’s not totally uncommon for me to spend that much a month. I usually try to keep my spending between $1,200-1,800/month but that doesn’t always happen.
Cost of living isn’t the same everywhere and perspective is relative.
Rent in my area averages around 3k USD/mo for fairly plain arrangements. Between that and “unavoidable” costs like utilities, you’d get 3-4 months max on that amount, even living frugally. It really isn’t that much for a lot of people, even if that amount might be to you.
Thanks for pointing out the cost of living being different depending on area. That’s really important
Don’t blame the responders, look at your question. If what you really want to know is “if you had 2 years worth of savings to live on”, ask that. The low end average cost of living in the US anyway is $2,500 a month, so 10k is 4 months of living expenses. That’s also about the average length of a job search.
In general, the OP seems a bit out of touch with a lot of things. They also recently asked why people stay in shitty jobs instead of just quitting them before they have another job lined up. Money. Money is why.
I’m guessing they maybe live with their parents who only make them pay nominal rent, giving them the freedom to not have many bills and to allow them to have large stretches of time between jobs if needed.
Looking at OP’s post history, they also have a history of trolling and shitposting, so I’m guessing this is just more of that.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 I have my own apartment. Don’t hate just because you’re rent is 3k a month. Maybe budget better.
That would last you two years of not working??? That wouldn’t last me a year of rent (maybe 6 months or less), never mind other expenses like food. I don’t even live in an overly expensive place like California or NY. I also don’t have any extravagant expenses. What in the world place do you live in with rent that cheap?
The insane levels of post-COVID inflation has been a real bitch, though. Prior to COVID, that would have been around a year’s worth of rent (but still not enough for other things like rent and utilities). But everything has skyrocketed since. But even pre-COVID, I can’t imagine $10k being two years of total living expenses.
My rent is 800 a month for a 1bedroom 1 bathroom
I’m no braniac, but $10k does not at all cover two years of living expenses if your monthly rent is $800…
Probably less yes
I used to say 10k is enough to solve one major problem in my life and that was it. Enough to bailout a relative, enough to move across the country for a new job, enough to rebuild after a fire/flood, enough to buy a reasonable car in cash. 10k is not just money, 10k is a force in its own right. It represents one thing that should destroy my life or someone around me life nd make it go away.
Many years ago my wife wanted to finish her degree and she made 2k a month. I gave her my ten thousand and told her to focus on studies for five months. Worked out.
With inflation it is probably 15k now.
I recently moved across the US. 15k would be possible but it would be tight (assuming everything you own doesnt fit in the back of your car). Also assuming youre including all moving expenses like reregistering a car, gas to drive across the country, deposits on rent/utilities, a month of overlap on rent, etc. All the little things start adding up quickly with a move that far.
I don’t buy it. Not in the US, at least. Even if that was exclusively spent on rent alone, that would put it at $417/month. The only way you’re doing that is if you own (at least bought before the real estate spikes since ~2017) or you have a personal relationship with the landlord and are getting well below market rates. Or if you live in a van down by the river.
And that’s even before things like food, insurance, etc.
You said in another comment that your rent was $800 a month, two years of that is $19,200. Rent is (supposed to be) about 1/3 of your living costs, so that would be $2400 per month. You’re good for a little over 4 months, more if you live very lean.
Average cost of groceries per person per month in Texas is $289. Let’s say you’re thrifty and only spend $200. https://www.sofi.com/cost-of-living-in-texas/
Gas has averaged about $3.10 over the last year. https://ycharts.com/indicators/texas_retail_price_of_gasoline_monthly I don’t know how much gas your car uses or how much you drive, but lets say you drive a prius and get 50mpg. Most people drive about 1200 miles per month ( https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/average-miles-driven-per-year/ ) let’s say you only drive 1/4 of that, so 300 (75 miles per week). Not bad, only $18.60 for gas. Minimum legally required car insurance in Texas (gets you nothing if your car is damaged) is $47 per month (https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/average-cost-of-car-insurance-in-texas/).
Average utilities in Texas (including internet) is $402 per month, again you’re thrifty so we’ll halve that at $200 per month.
So, if you buy absolutely nothing besides bare minimum groceries, gas, car insurance and utilities (I’m assuming you’re on no-cost Medicaid here), that’s $465 per month + $800 rent is $1265. You’re good for almost 8 months. Not a dire as some here are claiming, but also not two years. If you lived like the “average Texan” it would be about 2.5 months.
I’m happy to hear that wherever you live is a helluva lot cheaper than Cali
Fuck I feel you. Was born and raised there that’s why I moved. Rent prices are sinful
My condolences for your situation but the reality is that it simply isn’t a lot of savings.
10K lasting you 2 years is a fantasy. If rent is $500 a month, (which is an overwhelmingly generous estimate in this economy), you’re still talking about $500x24 months = $12K. That’s ignoring literally all other costs of living like food, transportation, electricity, etc.
I’m single, no dependants, don’t need a car to get around, and 10K would still not even last me a year simply because my rent is $1100 a month (and that is considered really good for a 1br in my city)
$1100 for a one bedroom? That would be crazy good where I’m at even for a studio where you’ve got bullets flying at night. I’d blow through 10K in rent in a few months. Where the hell does OP live that they could survive 2 years? There’s no way I’m even in the same country as OP.
Yeah I’m super lucky. I live in a major city in Ontario. My rent is partially controlled due to provincial laws and my building being a bit old, and I’ve lived in it for about 5 years.
I’m kinda trapped though since I’d probably be paying double for a unit of the same size elsewhere in the city, and even more if I wanted to get an even slightly larger place, so I have to be happy with what I’ve got until the housing bubble bursts. I’m not complaining though, the building is well kept and in a very dense and walkable neighborhood with lots of amenities.
Tell us then, how do we get rid of family that we have to provide for, and where do we get that sweet cheap rent?
Those are your responsibilities that you need to accept and do twice the work for. That’s the cost of having those things.
People who do not have those burdens are not the bad guy. Focus your energy on ways to help yourself instead of shitting on other ppl.
The amount 10k I put is because that’s a fuck ton of money TO ME. And would help me a shit ton.
If 10k ISN’T enough for YOU then disregard that number and just put an amount according to your life situation that you consider a large sum of money that would help you while you’re unemployed and then answer the fucking question.
Basically, take any amount that you consider a large sum of money, and then apply the same question I asked in the post.
Stop trying to shame and fucking argue. Makes you look bitter
Between my mortgage, child support, and kids college tuition, that would be gone in a month.
However if it were a hefty amount, nothing would change. I’ve never taken intentional time off between jobs and I still wouldn’t. Unless it were a life changing, lottery winning, early retirement amount of money, I’d be too anxious about where I’m getting paid next. I would not enjoy time off
I always go on a little vacation when I get laid off. Road trips to see buddies, etc. Helps clear my head for the job search grind.
I try to keep it cheap, but with severance, it usually doesn’t even ding my savings.
If I were truly unemployed and worried we’d cut back a lot, but currently our expenses are $6k/month. I think I could realistically cut a grand off, maaaaybe grand and a half tops. but only could save more by restructuring debt, and changing my 401k investments.
so the likelihood of 10k lasting 3 months is low.
10k will last you about 3 months comfortably, 6 if you’re single and willing to scrimp or live in your car. That’s your time limit to get a new job.
I had about 3x that saved and took a year off after working a decade at my previous position (I was pretty burnt out and hadn’t been able to take more than a week off since I started). Having that padding gave me the time and peace of mind to look for something I really wanted, and gave me the freedom to turn down offers that would have put me back into the burnout cycle.
I ended up with a full WFH position with a 50% bump in salary. Within a year, I made back what I had spent simply by maintaining my budget from my previous salary.
If I hadn’t had the cushion, it would have been pedal to the metal and accepting the first position offered, and I would have likely hit burnout before a year was out.
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I have been unemployed for almost a year now and was looking the entire time. Burned through severance and savings. Sooooo you better not slouch because shits tough for anyone but entry/associate level.
You’re not wrong
Having savings gives you some time before you have to get something part time to help out with bills. When you’re between jobs, it’s not vacation time. Your job is too find another job. You should spend the 8 hours or so you would have spent working instead preparing your resume, brushing up on interview skills, searching for and applying to jobs, and responding to emails. Depending on your field there may be some short term contract work available that will help you pay the bills while you look for something permanent. The point is: don’t just sit on your butt, get it in gear.
I quit my job 90 days ago. The day I quit I had a ticket to the galapagos islands booked for 3 weeks of travel there. I took my time when I got back to get everything in order and relax. I ticked off 2 more national parks in the PNW and got a lot of mountain biking done.
Once I got back my job search was looking for companies and projects that I think are likely to turn into something. I went through a lot of interview rounds before I accepted a job offer a few days ago for a non-profit in biomedical data.
Sounds ideal. Last time I did this in a similar way. I did apply to 2-5 roles a week which were amazing and appealing roles to me though, with the result I got to keep unemployment insurance requirements met, which paid for my very cheap travel expenses overseas. Eventually one of the long shot roles worked out, and I booked flight home to start work.
