Economics Paper

A project in which we had to find a home anywhere in the United States, and we had a certain salary based on the cost of living in that area, then we had to describe what our lifestyle would be like.

I would be making a salary of approximately 40,000 while living in Colchester, Vermont. My home I chose is an apartment which I would rent. It is located on 521 Bay Road, in Colchester. It's a one story apartment, with all appliances already there; meaning refrigerator, dish washer, and laundry appliances are already in the apartment. There are 2 bedrooms, a living room that connects to the kitchen, with a hallway that has two bedrooms on each side. Rent is only $950.00 per month, with an indicial security deposit of $950.00. This is a total of $11,400 per year.

I had a tough time choosing a car. I decided, since I already own a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I like it, the only thing I'd like to do is have a much newer one. I decided to go with a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The cost per month if I had a 4 year loan would be $234.28. This would equal out to 2,811.36 per year which is an extremely manageable amount. One thing I took into account was car insurance. Car insurance for this car would cost me around $3,000 a year.

I figured in fairly expensive living expenses. I figured approximately $220 per month on groceries. I figured in $300 on gas and parking per month. I figured $90 on casual clothing per month, and $100 on business clothing per month. I figured $60 per month on a cell phone. I figured in $50 per month on entertainment, and around $300 per month on misc. wants and desires. I planned in having cable TV and cable internet. I planned in Netflix, and assumed 2 movie theater trips per month at around $25 per trip. This comes to a grand total of $1120 per month, adding up to $13,400 per year.

At total, this is a very affordable lifestyle. This would add up to approximately $30340 in purchases and bills, leaving me with an extra $9660 to invest toward stock, or to a retirement fund, or incase of emergency problems with car or home or anything else of that nature. I'm very comfortable with this lifestyle, and it is very feasible.