Live on with a little comfort. I am thinking it should not take more than a weeks wages to make a rent or house payment. Is that a good rule of thumb or not?

My mom paid 140k for a house 7 years ago. Her next door neighbors house was trashed by previous owners and all flooring was removed and not replaced. Same house for the most part. It just sold for 266k. Im afraid nowadays in a lot of places a weeks pay will not house most. A dump in a tiny town perhaps.

In the early 80's I lived on $100/month in South America.

DWC, do you think that contributes to the lack of people taking a job? Sign up for welfare and big brother pays the rent

I doubt there is a rule of thumb cause every situation is different However over the years i've found a person/family can live on ! little IF they're willing

I think nowadays overall young people are lazy pos’s and want free stuff. There is very little pride anymore in accomplishments other than getting the newest pair of Jordans while getting free housing and putting that on snapchat. I dont think 10 percent of those people would pass a ua, even without testing for weed. We have lost.

Except somebody is paying those real estate and rent prices. If no one was paying it would go down

Exactly. We all gawk about the prices and then go pay it lol. Everything around here is selling for cash asking price. Doesn't really matter what its actually worth

We figured what it took per year to just pay bills. Property tax, heating, electric, insurances, licenses, ect.

10k at that time a couple years ago would've covered JUST our bills.

I think government pays a lot of rent in apt buildings and banks give people loans they have no business giving. To reference your original question again, i think a COUPLE can buy a decent home on a weeks pay. Most single people, nope.

When interest rates are lower than inflation home prices tend to go up.

If the housing market were to decline again this grand experiment is over.

Yes on a weeks pay for house payment. That's what my banker neighbor told me to judge by when I was looking for a house.

Kinda open ended question for me at least, i mean I could live off no income with what I own, horses, cattle, we have solar stock wells. Would it be fun, maybe for awhile but all creature comforts and equipment would have to be sold to and live solely off wild game, beef, and garden crops. But that would not be no income actually because I would have profit or potential profit off cattle sales or trades, all be that this profit would take a significant hit by not feeding hay all winter and having meds for sick cattle and a mineral program. Fuel would be the driver for me, no tractors, skid steer, pickup, wheeler. All doable as I could get around horseback, but feeding cows without a team of horses or tractor would be impractical. I think I could squeak out a living with 30K a year, no frills, and cows would have to pay for themselves as they do now but they also get fed and taken care of now. Tricky question that often wonder myself, most likely the stress of making ends meet would reduce the lifespan dramatically. I think I will keep doing what I do and still treat it like I make 30K a year in order to keep funding my trapping habbit ha ha.

The rule of thumb is 25 to 30 percent of gross.

So a little less than a weeks pay?

So I am thinking its hard to get somebody hired for 600 a week (15 per hour) because right down the road they are paying 20 with 50 hrs a week and insurance. 15 an hour sounds like a good starting wage to the employer but unless its a high school kid it wont pay the bills.

Which is why i was surprised on the thread about the state trapper position so many guys thought a 20/hr starting was good pay. You can get by, but its by no means good.

It'd take a 25-30 year loan. imo

My mortgage is about 25% of my monthly gross pay. We have one income, my wife stays home, and we have 5 kids to feed as well. No debt except the mortgage. I feel like home prices are fairly low here. If you live frugally, in a cheap area, it can be done.

If you live in the bush at camp you can live on very little money.
It is a very stress free life.