JDUB wrote:you forgot to factor in student loans though. almost all college grads have student loans, and even if the payment required isn't huge it would be to their benefit to pay them of ASAP unless the interest rate is extremely small
I didn't forget to factor it in. That was factoring in all of my student loan payments (actually more than the required) and everything.
$300 rent
$220 car payment
$435-ish car insurance every six months
$100 to live on (gas and food)
Ideally, my parents refinance the house I'm in now, put my name on the title with my dad, and I start making the payments for everything myself. That'd be $500 a month. Even then, with the $500 in rent/utilities, that's roughly $14,310 to cover things. Add in cell phone (mine's company so I don't worry about it) and you're at about $15,500 or so. A $20,000-$22,000 job with benefits for someone just out of college allows them to live comfortably, put a little back in savings (or pay more on their loans if they want), and build their resume a little or search for a job while not being broke.
The problem is a lot of college graduates go out and get a car with an insane payment or buy a bunch of crap they don't need and spend that money that they should be saving for a rainy day.