Depends on your perspective. Single with no family? Barely. Supporting a family on that, not anymore. Break it down:
$50,000 per year / 26 paychecks per year = $1,923 per paycheck. You contribute the average 5% to your company 401(k), knocks it down to $1,826.85.
Say your health insurance rate is $150 per paycheck (not outlandish in today's market), you're down to $1,676.85
Now tax that at a modest 10% FICA rate, you're now taking home $1,509 per paycheck, which translates to $39,238 annual take home
Bills:
Assuming you rent, you're lucky to find rent less than $1,200 per month. $14,400/ year, so after your housing, your takehome is $24,838 per year.
I dare you to reasonably spend less than $100 per week on groceries for one person. Take home is $19,638 per year.
Assume a paid-for car. Insurance on a modest car and a safe driver should be about $1,200 per six months. Take home is now $17,238
Fuel to drive that car. $50 per week. Down to $14,638.
So, you are saving for retirement. You are paying for health insurance. You're fortunate enough to have a bought and paid for vehicle. You drive to and from a modest apartment. And you are frugally spending money to eat at home every night and buying cheap groceries. If your utilities are covered by your apartment complex at $1,200 per month, you're probably lucky.
So, you're single and responsible only for your yourself. You've bought the bare necessities of life. Food, housing, health care, and transportation. After all that (modestly figured, by the way), you have $281.50 and absolutely zero debt, zero frivolous expenses, and zero costs. Cell phone bill? $100 per month. You now have $258 per week to spend on LITERALLY everything else. Eat a $20 dinner once a week somewhere that's not fast food? What about rainy day savings? Peel off $50 per week, and that'll put $2,600 a year in the bank for yourself on a rainy day.
That $150 health insurance premium buys a crappy high-deductible plan. Your company covers the first $1000 of it, but many folks have over $3000 a year in simple health care usage costs.
In Memphis, many folks saw $350 utility bills over the summer. Average utility payment to about $200 per month, you now have $200 a week to have a hobby, eat occasionally at a restaurant, pay a doctor, save for vacation, set aside money for car repairs, set aside money for a modest used car one of these days.
