I graduated high school and I'm going to a free trade school for horticulture. The industries in this field generally have a mean salary in the ball park of $20-30k a year. Even my backup career fields (furniture maker or produce market worker) generally pay in the $20-25k range. I would have been able to go to college for a higher paying job, but I'm just not an "office" kind of guy. The perks of my field though are steady employment, as there's often positions open.
Living as a single man I believe I can live comfortably off this salary, especially since I don't have any student loan to pay. By comfortable, I mean enough money to pay rent or even a mortgage for a half decent place, make payments for a modest car, pay for the necessities (food, modest clothing, healthcare, cell phone bill, cable bill, electric bill, etc), and maybe even have a little bit left over to either save or spend on a small bit of luxuries.
Family income is what I'm worried about, and my wife would definetely have to work, so we will say maybe $45-50k family income, assuming I marry someone with a similar income. Living comfortably would be defined the same as above, just with the added cost of one other person plus likely a few more. This is where I tend to worry and tend to consider reevaluating my career, because $50k family income is less than what a single person in an office job makes, and I obviously don't really know what family costs are…
Read more: What would you concern a decent or comfortable salary for a single male? Also, a maried couple with a family?
