Not sure if this fits the bowl, but here goes. I am trying to take over care of my grandparents (they raised me). They’d move into the 2 bedroom I rent, roommate is leaving, $4500/m inc utilities. Expensive but has elevator and is in a good neighborhood, am stuck on the lease until next year anyway. My base salary is $120K, after taxes/insurance/401k, I take home $5310/m. Ofc money is very very tight, here for your advice on how I can possibly make this work. Cont...

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OP — I respect everything you are doing for your grandparents. I did something similar for my parents about a year ago on a 80k salary. It was extremely tight and I cleared my savings. 2 months later, I doubled my salary. I don’t regret any of it. Now I pay for their house and my apartment and still save

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Thank you for this MC1. What was your path to a job that doubled your salary? Did you upskill in something technical ?

Can you rent out the entire 2 bedroom to cover your expense there until the lease ends and find somewhere else cheaper for yourself and your grandparents?

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This could work but it’s been hard given COVID. Hopefully I can find someone by fall.

Move to the suburbs

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I’m 28, and want to get them out of the bad situation they are in, living with my parents. I can’t call it elder abuse, but they are very very unhappy. Gpa has stopped eating on several occasions. Other stats: grandparents have no income. Parents and I are estranged. A couple of things I am considering: looking for a higher paying remote job so I can spend more time with them and have more wiggle room in the budget, moving to Queens (In manhattan for now), contributing less to 401K (currently 9%).

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Depending on how much longer you’re expecting your grandparents to live, yes try to find higher paying remote job, yes move to Queens, BUT rn most definitely contribute less to 401k. Not the best option, but it’ll free up some cash flow for you.

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Yeah that won't work - any retirement income from grandparents?

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That's what I was thinking - you all will have to use some of their money, social security or retirement to pay for food and other expenses. I

You may have to rely on credit cards or a personal loan to get you thru until you can move. Low rate personal loan is probably the way to go. If you can even get $1k more a month will give you some needed stretch in your budget.

Where do your grandparents live now? If they are in their own home, is their house paid off? Can you rent it out? If not, how do they pay their housing, utilities, etc? Can they contribute?

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I saw in another post that they currently live with your parents. You should make arrangements to use their social security to help with the rent until the lease is over. They may also qualify for social programs. You should help them apply for things like food stamps, etc if their financial situation would give them this assistance. If they qualify, this will also reduce what they pay for Medicare.

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I would see about a sublet or lease break and getting a 2 bed for less, plenty of 2 beds in really great areas for significantly less, or could consider more suburban

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For what it's worth, you're a good person, OP. I think your proposed solution is likely to be a little too much of a stretch financially, so I hope you find another option that works. Do you have siblings who might be willing to contribute? Best of luck to you.

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Thank you for your well wishes, they mean a lot. Unfortunately i am an only child. I’m going to work on finding a job with a higher salary, and hopefully find a more affordable place next year.

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How long until your lease ends?

Next march

And do you rent the whole apartment or just one room?

If your rommate left, can they move in for free until your roommate finds a replacement? They are still on the lease hook no? Or ask if you can pay part cuz them getting it partially covered is better than nothing

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You’ll be in debt very quickly if you extend the lease to include both rooms. You have to move out to a cheaper place, like a 1 bed / living room split to allow for two private spaces.

How about doing some freelance work to get some extra money in as well? Also so glad you’re talking care of grandparents, really uplifting.

Look into Westchester close to Metro North line. Look about a half hour from Grand Central. Queens is a good idea, but out toward Middle Village. LIC has become expensive. Also Inwood is under appreciated, accessible by subway. You also should review their finances, is their Medicare, AARP etc in order? There are also a lot of things they may qualify for, fine print somewhere on nys.gov I think.

Why not sublease your apartment? It doesn’t matter if the contract says you can’t sublease,
you can. Get rid of apt and find something more affordable. I can’t afford to throw out $4,500 on rent and I make 170k and no debt (not counting bonus due to covid). If you had a roommate spitting the $4,500 cost, you should have found someone to replace you.

Not sure where in Queens you are, but look at the apartment buildings in Douglaston. (11363). There are nice elevator buildings and it’s walking distance to LIRR. There’s also a small strip of stores and a CVS in walking distance. Look for rentals or look to buy. I just saw a 2 bed/1 bath for $349k. Nice neighborhood!

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