This 25-year-old took out a loan to live on his own for the first time

After spending $3,000 to get settled, Logan is learning how quickly costs add up

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Illustration by Khoa Tran

Logan moved into his own place for the first time last week. He’s not surprised at how expensive it is. “This is pretty much what I expected because I have friends who live out here,” Logan said. “I already had a realistic expectation [of living near the city].” Still, a lot has changed since moving from Temple to Duluth. 

To start, Logan—who asked to use a pseudonym so he could speak openly about his finances—took out a $5,000 loan to cover his apartment applications, two months of rent, a security deposit, and fees to set up new utility services. All in all, he’s spent $3,000 just to get settled. 

He expects to save money on transportation. Before he moved, he spent a lot of money on gas, driving back and forth to Atlanta to hang out. He’s also moved in with his girlfriend, so he’ll no longer have to drive to North Carolina to visit her.

Groceries, though? That’s going to cost him. He says food was practically free where he was living before, with a friend’s parents. “Since I lived out in the sticks, we did a whole bunch of organic stuff,” Logan said. They had a mill to grind up grain and baked homemade bread and pancakes. They raised chickens for fresh eggs. “They were trying to stay as natural as they could,” Logan explained.

What does he think it’ll be like leaving that lifestyle behind? “Expensive,” he said, and laughed. “We just went to get groceries last night for one week, and it was over $150.”

“We just went to get groceries last night for one week, and it was over $150.” —Logan

He says his new apartment has its “quirks,” but he feels like that’s to be expected at his price range. He was looking at a different complex, but they required him to make more than twice what his monthly rent would have been, which wasn’t realistic for him. 

He said he thinks greed is driving today’s unreasonable housing costs. “They could still make a good profit and help the people,” he said. “But instead, they're worried about being too greedy and just getting everything they can; basically saying, excuse my French, ‘f-ck the people.’”

Job title

Ground penetrating radar technician

Age

25

Neighborhood

Duluth

Lives with

Girlfriend

Annual gross income

$48,000

Rent payment

$1,666 (includes wifi and cable)

Health insurance cost per month + cost of any prescriptions

$50

Phone plan and monthly subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, food delivery services, apps, etc.)

$150

Utilities per month

$89 a month for gas. “TBD on the cost for electricity since I just moved in, but it was a $30 connection fee and $200 deposit just to get it set up,” he said. (Editor’s note: Logan later reached out to let us know his first electricity bill was $350.)

Transportation (car payment, car insurance, gas, public transportation, Uber)

$500

Groceries

$150 weekly

Restaurants, fast food, drinks at bars, coffees

$400

Savings

Less than $500

Vacations

$1,000 a year

Fun (concerts, books, movies, recreational drugs, etc.)

$400 a month

Clothes/beauty (new shoes, laundromat services, makeup)

$100 a month

How much money would you need to live comfortably in Atlanta? What hourly rate or annual salary would you be happy with?

“I make $27 an hour, and that’s the bare minimum I need to support myself in Atlanta,” he said.

What’s a nonessential item that you treat yourself to?

Concerts, events, etc.

What would you like to have (that you don’t)?

“My own home and a new vehicle,” he said.

What can be done to improve the cost of living in Atlanta?

“Gas is ludicrously expensive,” Logan said. “Not to mention having to pay for parking every single place you go.”

What do you love most about Atlanta?

“I love the opportunities that are present within the city,” Logan said. •