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Could I survive in Chicago..with a measly wage?

K

kaZ8Teen

Golden Member
I am thinking about applying for a 6 month internship in Chicago at an ad agency. I'm from Michigan so I'd have t o relocate and they were only offering $10/hr.

Is that enough to be living in Chicago working 40hrs a week with that wage?
And since this is an internship...is there no room for negotiation for a higher wage?

Hmmm what to do. Thoughts?

 
It might be tough but possibe. Try looking at small apartments in Evanston, Illinois. It's a town that borders Chicago and is north of downtown by about 20-30 minutes. There are a couple of schools in the area so there's bound to be inexpensive housing around. Also look at apartments on the far north side of Chicago, again the commute will be 20-30 minutes outside of downtown but you may find a nice and inexpensive place there.


 
Honestly, you'll have a miserable time living in Chicago at $10/hour. Seriously.

Sales tax here is 10.25% and going up to 11 something soon.

Cheap apartments/studios will cost at least $600 and you'll not be in a great area and it will be an absolute shit hole of a place.

Depending on where you live you'll have a commute via the train which costs $2.25 per ride
 
Well I really don't want to drive since the parking, gas prices, and traffic is ungodly in Chicago. I'll check out some subleases though, might be what I want since its 6 months.
 
How much do you think I'd have to make per month to live an average lifestyle? I'm 22. I'll be working 9-5, so I won't be doing much on weekdays. I plan on leaving my car at home, and walking/public transit everywhere, so no insurance bill or gas money.
 
That's an impossible question to answer since we don't know anything about your lifestyle.

If you are going to take the train everywhere you might as well get the unlimited CTA pass which I believe is now $75 bucks.
Average like $20-30 bucks a day for food if you eat out a lot, less if you cook for yourself.

No car certainly helps
 
Well $10/hr*40hr/week*4weeks/month= 1600/month (well, there are more than 4 weeks a month, but lets just stick with $1600/month).
If your work is near/in downtown, living within walking distance would be way too expensive, so that is out.

Having a car is a huge expense, and honestly, you can get by just fine without a car in chicago. So if I were in your shoes, I'd dump the car and enjoy the savings in gas/upkeep/insurance/parking/etc.
Then I'd find a halfway decent place that has good access to the L (or even a useful bus route). Once you get far enough away from downtown, rent becomes decent. You could probably find an OK place for $800/month for yourself (out by the end of the Brown Line, for example (I went to school out there)).

Last year I lived with 2 other people in a $1350/month in a 3 bedroom apartment (pretty nice place actually, and the landlord was nice too), all utilities included except for electricity ($50/month typically). So it was about $465/month for me. I kept track of all my expenses (including "luxary" things like a couple plane tickets to visit home) for 5 months, for a total of $4635. So that comes out to $927/month for everything.

I was living frugally, but not poorly. I ate out every now and then, but I made most of my own food (learning how to bake bread is an excellent way to save money. A 25 pound bag of flour, 1 pound of yeast, a liter of olive oil is only about $20 at Costco, and has enough calories to feed you for about a month).

Anyway, sorry for the rambling post. In short, its doable, and if you think that this is the best offer you will get, and it is between doing this and being unemployed, TAKE IT. Learn to live frugally, find some good roommates, and things should workout just fine.

best of luck
 
Originally posted by: Platypus
That's an impossible question to answer since we don't know anything about your lifestyle.

If you are going to take the train everywhere you might as well get the unlimited CTA pass which I believe is now $75 bucks.
Average like $20-30 bucks a day for food if you eat out a lot, less if you cook for yourself.

No car certainly helps
Click to expand...

A monthly CTA pass is $86 now. Drop me a PM if you want one for cheap, as I get mine automatically through work, took a three week vacation and now have an extra unopened one.

I'm guessing to get the most out of your wage, you'll probably want to rent a room rather than get an apartment which would be significantly more expensive.

The fact that you won't have a car shouldn't matter much since (despite what others say) the CTA and Metra are absolutely fantastic after experiencing the public transit mess that is BART/Muni/Caltrain in the SF Bay Area. Note that Evanston is more like 50 minutes away from downtown Chicago on the Red Line, quicker on the Purple which runs only during morning and afternoon rush hours.
 
I agree the CTA is fine and if you find yourself needing a car then you can subscribe to a car club for a small monthly fee.
 
Do you see yourself getting the actual job once the internship is over and want it enough to possibly go in debt a bit is a better question.
 
Originally posted by: Sheep
Originally posted by: Platypus
That's an impossible question to answer since we don't know anything about your lifestyle.

If you are going to take the train everywhere you might as well get the unlimited CTA pass which I believe is now $75 bucks.
Average like $20-30 bucks a day for food if you eat out a lot, less if you cook for yourself.

No car certainly helps
Click to expand...

A monthly CTA pass is $86 now. Drop me a PM if you want one for cheap, as I get mine automatically through work, took a three week vacation and now have an extra unopened one.

I'm guessing to get the most out of your wage, you'll probably want to rent a room rather than get an apartment which would be significantly more expensive.

The fact that you won't have a car shouldn't matter much since (despite what others say) the CTA and Metra are absolutely fantastic after experiencing the public transit mess that is BART/Muni/Caltrain in the SF Bay Area. Note that Evanston is more like 50 minutes away from downtown Chicago on the Red Line, quicker on the Purple which runs only during morning and afternoon rush hours.
Click to expand...

Yikes it went up again. I have mine auto-reup so I haven't checked it.

OP your best bet as others have said is trying to find a roommate. Hop on craigslist there are tons of people looking for roommates.
 
Rent a room in a non-terrible neighborhood for 5-6ish so you aren't tied down.

Something reasonably close to transit (train) in a neighborhood that doesn't look like a war zone.
 
Originally posted by: Newbian
Do you see yourself getting the actual job once the internship is over and want it enough to possibly go in debt a bit is a better question.
Click to expand...

Yea I do. Sounds like subletting and a roomie is my best bet. I'll apply and see where it goes from there. =) Thanks for all the input.
 
Originally posted by: kaZ8Teen
I am thinking about applying for a 6 month internship in Chicago at an ad agency. I'm from Michigan so I'd have t o relocate and they were only offering $10/hr.

Is that enough to be living in Chicago working 40hrs a week with that wage?
And since this is an internship...is there no room for negotiation for a higher wage?

Hmmm what to do. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

In the city? Hell no.

 
Originally posted by: OCguy
I'm pretty sure it is hard to survive in Chicago no matter how much you make these days.
Click to expand...

Nah, plenty of work in Chitown and the cost of living is very manageable compared to say the North East or California. Plus, the people are friendlier too. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Platypus
Honestly, you'll have a miserable time living in Chicago at $10/hour. Seriously.

Sales tax here is 10.25% and going up to 11 something soon.

Cheap apartments/studios will cost at least $600 and you'll not be in a great area and it will be an absolute shit hole of a place.

Depending on where you live you'll have a commute via the train which costs $2.25 per ride
Click to expand...

God, I'm glad I only have one more year in Chicago. Then its off to grad school. Freakin' sales tax in Chicago is ridiculous.

You could get roommates - living in an area like Hyde Park (which certainly is a good neighborhood on the South side and has dual-police presence), you can easily get housing for $400-$800/month. My last place was costing me $440/month (no heat included) and my 3 former roommates now have a place at about $450/month per person including heat.
 
Absolutely, but you'll need atleast 1 roommate.

You can easily find a 2-bedroom that each person can pay $400-500, or someone looking to share their 2-bedroom for that amount. Heat-included is fairly common, and will be very important to have.
 
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