<prompt> Human: Is the 30 rule really something people can do right out of college in LA? My job which I love makes roughly 42kyear pretax, and after tax, etc is about 2250month. 30 of that is only 675month. How on earth can someone live on that in LA? My rent has always been at least 750month even with roommates, not including utilities. Also, as someone with no car and no kids and no time for travel, why is that 30 necessary?monthly paycheck: 2200rent: 800foodpersonal expenses I tracked it across several months: 400phone: 50bills: 100That leaves me with 850 at the end of the month to put towards savingsretirement. That is 39 of my take home. Is there something Im missing? I see a lot of people saying they would never spend more than 20 of their income on housing, but Im spending 36 and I still have plenty left over...  <response>: It is doable but you would have to live east of the 710 and north of the 22 :D As a native Angelino, the 30 rule would not apply for LA coming out of college unless you have lined up a really high paying salary. I lived with roommates and saved aggressively before purchasing a house in Atwater Village 2 years ago. Sounds like you will be fine and have a good plan in place. 