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The rent is too damn high!

Today is Tuesday, money nerds, and this is Apex Money. Today we’re going to look at what it costs to live in the city.

Interesting research into the rise (and fall) of car ownership in the age of ridesharing. [CityLab] — “Despite ride-hailing’s promise, vehicle ownership (and traffic) is on the rise in America’s biggest, most transit-oriented cities. So how is mobility really changing?” Ridesharing services, which are supposed to decrease traffic, actually lead to more cars on the road (because people don’t use public transportation).

A comprehensive guide to frugal city living. [CityFrugal] — “Over the past year, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time discussing how to be frugal in a big city, and why a 40% (or greater) savings rate is attainable even in a high cost of living area like New York. I’ve done it for the past few years. While I’ve shared the building blocks, I haven’t yet put all of them together in one place. That’s what this post is designed to do.”

The cost to rent housing is approaching the cost to buy housing. [Political Calculations] — “In 2017, the average rent in the U.S. was ‘too damn high‘. In 2018, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, it was even higher. Remarkably, the rent rose even as the cost to own, as measured by the average annual combined cost of mortgage principal and interest payments, fell. From 2017 to 2018, the average household consumer unit expenditure for rent increased from $4,167 to $4,269, while the cost to own declined from $5,104 to $5,002.”

Where to live in early retirement. [The Frugal Engineers] — “Retiring early from full-time work brings up all kinds of options regarding how and where you can live. Relocating to a more affordable area can launch you towards financial independence. So how do we compare places and decide where to live in early retirement?” [I love that the authors chose to move to Wyoming, the last populated state in the U.S.]

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