Triathlon Study Shows Athletes on $100,000-Plus Incomes Seek Budget Hotels (Page 3)

In almost every single study of Americans of all income levels, decade after decade, there is a steady constant. People report that they would be financially set with just 20% more than what they make now.

Quantify... when was right out of college, how many roommates did you have to defray "living costs", and where did you actually live.

Not trying to sound snarky, but 50K a year will not get you very far living in DC.  You won't be poor by any means, but with rent for a one bedroom in a decent neighborhood running over a grand, plus expenses, plus car payment/insurance, plus student loan payments, plus food, plus etc... you're going to be pretty tapped out by the end of the month.

Sure you could rent a place in Anacostia, split with 2 roommates, take the bus, and eat ramen noodles every night and have some scratch left over, but quite honestly if you want to live even a lower-middle class life in DC 50K is a stretch.

x10000000.

I'm 50. Because of that I have to earn at least $2 to get $1. The other dollar has to be devoted to the time in 20 years when my age will preclude me from being a part of the active work force. Even then I'll likely do something to earn some money. And don't talk to me about Social Security. It isn't secure. Or enough.

To be some degree of fiscally responsible you have to make $100K and live on $50K. The other $50K goes to the time when you may no longer earn an income.

It's worth mentioning that I don't own a car, don't have internet at home, don't own a televison and have only five pieces of furniture. I really can't afford any of those things. And I still work four jobs in three industries.

Other people who earn what I earn (which is no where near that $100K) seem to have all those things, and I wonder how leveraged they are and what their real net worth is. Mine is effectively "$0,000,000.00" except for tax liabilities. That likely puts me ahead of many Americans who are upside down in their house and credit debt. I don't even own a bike. I have a company bike.

I'm a big fan of the "Millionare Next Door" and the Dave Ramsey school of financial thought. I already know how to make all the mistakes you can make financially. Luckily, I also work very hard to earn a living (no less than four paying jobs right now). I've been poor as a kid, well off in my 30's, then back to being (relatively) poor again now. Quite poor actually. No, make that broke.

I'm pretty pragmatic about money. Billionare is the new millionare. $100K is minimum wage. Until then you are supporting a consumer economy but not making any fiscal progress. Take my word for it, it will come back to hurt you.  

At first, I lived an apartment in Silver Spring. I was walking distance to the metro station. I had one roommate in a 2/2 - we each paid around $900/mo for rent, I believe. I had a car, too, which I rarely drove but I was making payments on it. At the end of the lease, they bumped our rent up to like $2200/mo, so we moved out.

I worked for the government, so my public transportation was mostly subsidized. This helped a lot.

I moved a lot for work, so I was in and out of DC after that.

I lived by the Tacoma metro station in DC - paid ~$600/mo to live in a 4 bedroom house with 3 other people. This was definitely a little sketchier. They were renovating the house while I lived there, so that was interesting.

I lived in a 4 bedroom house in Arlington, right between Ballston and VA Square. 4 people total - rent was $4500, I paid ~$975 because we based rent off of room size and I opted for the smallest one.

I also lived in an apartment in Alexandria. I was NOT on a metro line. I took a bus to the Pentagon and took metro rail from that to get to work every day. This was a 2 bedroom for ~$1600. Saved $$$ by not being right by a metro, but still had excellent public transit. 

I made enough to get by, and I never really felt like I was missing out on life b/c I couldn't afford things. I could have easily spent more to live in a nicer building or a cooler part of the city but that isn't where my priorities were at the time.

Agree, my students can't believe it when I tell them that $100k is an average wage rate today.  More so before the recession.  When I advise for banks, I assist in the hiring process and pay offers close too $200m was the norm.  Now more like $100m to $125m.  Some say that pay is low, I just say it's 'corrected'. 

I stay at the hotel that's closest to transition...I don't care if it's 19.99/night or 1000.00/night. It's all about convenience with me. 

Although, I will say that I do feel weird sometimes lugging a bicycle through really nice hotels...lol.

There is a "sweet spot" for travelling. If I am going to a conference on the hospital's tab, (or when I had a private practice, a deductible business expense), I would stay on-site at the high end hotel. If I am travelling for pleasure, I am looking at a mid-tier hotel. The beds are going to be clean, the rooms are not going to be too loud (in most cases - and if there is a party going on in the hallway, they will either move me or make it right with a price break), there will be free wi-fi and some waffles in the AM. And it won't break the bank.

High end hotels make you pay for everything that you get free at the midrange; and the cheapest hotels have little to recommend them. Plus, when I stay overnight before a big event, I expect to get in relatively late and leave relatively early. So it makes no sense to drop a couple of hundred when I get the same comfort for half.

How almost 1% of us

Our household income is in that range (I'm a journalist and he's a non-profit attorney) and we live in DC. I definitely wouldn't say $100k is the new minimum wage, but it doesn't carry you quite as far here. Our rent is $1500 a month for a one-bedroom, which is way lower than typical for our neighborhood, and we have a law school loan payment.

I almost always choose the hotel that's most convenient for getting to the race (close to the start or finish), unless the cost is truly prohibitive. I usually aim for mid-range and try to find a bargain online. 

Not that 100k is poverty, but it puts you around the top 20% of income (link is to statistics from 2005; I would think the numbers are up a little bit since then). (I recently had a facebook argument with someone from college who was trying to make the case that the top 20% should give up 8% of their "wealth" to double the "standard of living" of the other 80%. Those of you here who see me as far left might be surprised that I called him out on the poorly thought out ideas of wealth redistribution that he was trying -poorly- to articulate).

That said I have a standard for hotels and if it can't be met I will travel to met it.

???Last year I went to Port St. Lucie, checked in at 6PM saturday and checked out at 5AM Sunday morning going to the race. All I needed was a shower, a bed and...uh...well yes, a night stand with a working lamp to read for a few minutes until fall asleep. I paid $ 99 for that. fair deal (maybe to much considering I paid for a free breakfast I did not take)

 When you go to a luxury hotel, you pay a beautiful board room, 24 hs room service, outstanding conference rooms, fitness center full of stuff you won't use, and a 24 hs front desk that will say hi to you with a big smile and will call you by your name should you pass by at 2:30 AM (and no free breakfast BTW)

Everybody spends the money the way they want, but for me, I like to spend it in things I need and I will use, other than that, I'll save it for a better purpose. JMHO

AXEL

No matter how much I make  my wife and kids will find a way to use 95% of it.  They spend it on luxuries and indulgences such as food, shelter, transportation, and schooling , leaving me with just enough to buy the neccessaties of life such as race fees, bike gear and gels.

Walking through the Windsor High School parking lot before the Vineman 70.3 packet pickup last year, which at first I mistakenly thought was valet parking for all things luxury, I'd venture a guess plenty of folks spend plenty of disposible income on luxury vehicles.  Oh, and I'm not talking about 3-series Beemers, either.

Between our nearly 10 year old Ford Escape and the Ford Taurus trolling for a parking space, I believe we arrived in one of the two junkiest vehicles out of all Vineman competitors.   Of course, nothing tops the WHS parking lot scene like one particular Silicon Valley hotspot for triathlon training where I saw a guy loading his uber expensive bike onto the back of his Bentley.

I find this to be a shockingly glib comment.

I'd like to suggest that you visit a place of business where the employees earn the actual minimum wage, and mention to them your theory on the "real" minimum wage being $100,000 per year.

Doing the math quickly in my head, I get $1,900/week for your "real" minimum wage and $290/week for the Federal govt. minimum wage.

I think it will be an enlightening conversation when you hear about the experiences of those living on the actual minimum wage.

I'm going to show this post to my 14 year old son tomorrow.....he's going to be all...."dad, that guy is SOFT!!!!"    I'm just saying.

I really hope you're talking about your HHonors status and not some unfortunate accident you had involving an overdose of Viagra. 

Simmer down.

Congratulations!!! you actually found a way to teach your kids and wife how to save money, don't you want to offer a webinar on the topic? my kids and wife will attend (I'll force them!!!)

Too funny, mine too.  I have two comments I always use with my wife... 1) Geez I wish I lived your life, and 2) Don't worry honey spend all you want, I'll make more.