What people forget with a lot of places in the US is that the cost of living is nice and low. Now if OP said he was in NYC then yeah hed be in a world of grief.

Reminds me of when i used to work for below min wage at Toys R Us back in the day, good times.

How low are the living costs in the US? Including rent, food, electricity, internet/phone. All I've ever heard was pretty expensive, and not just in cities.

For example with just 2000€ before tax I would have to live an ok but restrained life in Germany.

Depends on the state. And even cities within the state. In my area, I can live off $1,700 a month. However in a more realistic scenario it'd be closer to $1,300-1,500. Reason mine is high is because I got an apartment that is honestly bigger than I need and 2. my car payments are high

How much would you pay rent monthly? $2200/year would not get anyone far in US.

I thought he was talking yearly since he called US rates expensive then lists an insane monthly budget in my eyes :P.

To re answer the question, for me personally.

Rent $600/month (expensive, close to downtown) Could go much lower

Food $50-$100

Electricity $15

Internet $50

And I don't pay for smartphone, but if I did I guess we tack on extra $50.

Total: ~$800/month

So it's basically the same as in Germany. 2000€ without tax is around 1300€ net here. That's a good baseline to live but without big expenses. I used to live on that but now I get a lot more and everything's peachy.

Your electricity seems extremely cheap though. It's at least double of that even in small households here.

$600 for rent? Damn...Anything less than $1,000 here is basically a closet.

Eh everything can be cheaper though.

As I said with  the rent, mine is a 1br and in a good spot so it is quite expensive. Can get a house 3br to rent farther out for $400.

Food is easy to make smaller, I just don't want Ramen, Rice, Potatoes, and flour every meal.

Internet can go down to $10/ month.

My electricity bill is stupid, $10 for monthly fee $5 for actual usage... it fluctuates with the seasons though as the companies change their rates for summer/winter.

Same as in Germany. You can get small flats with all necessities easily for 200-300€, 50€ a month for food is possible too. Internet for 10€ easily, with volume cap even below that. If you're really frugal electricy could be less than 20€.

But yeah, it seems US is pretty much on the same level as Germany. Still, I wouldn't want to live with 1300€ a month or less. Makes saving up for big things pretty slow.