Hmmm. My rent as a percentage of my salary is much smaller than other folks. I blame that on me being single, and on me buying crap I don't need.

Americans generally treat money the way the Victorians treat sex. Which is to say, they talk about it with shame, and only in situations of extreme intimacy.

I swear the scariest thing was telling Tom exactly how much debt I had. When he asked, I so didn't want to tell him. I felt so much closer to him afterward though. I'm still getting used to talking about money all the time with someone else.

Also, I think Tom and my mom knows how much I make. And I didn't tell anyone except my grandmother that Tom got a raise (OK, I guess and now y'all too) because we have a weird feeling that my family thinks that Tom is Mr. Moneybags because he doesn't have debt. Which has begun to lead to weird resentment (so I perceive) when I say we can't do something or go somewhere because we don't have the money to. So there's a weird vibe going on, but I think it will be better soon.

I think my dad was shocked to find out I had debt, debt I could pay off. As opposed to worried, when I had debt I was still paying down on. How far I've come since I was all "Loans? For university? Absolutely not!"

My debt is 0% APR, but I think it's a principle (har) thing. He buys his cars in cash too.

Maybe not dinner, maybe Bride and Prejudice.

Ooh, also good. Arclight, or near you?

In a way, I don't even know how much I make. I know my base salary, of course, and how much I will get paid for each overtime hour I work, but the number of overtime hours can change drastically from paycheck to paycheck, and I have no idea what it will be overall for the year.

You know, I don't think anyone knows how much I make. A girlfriend knows approximately, but not exactly. She's also the only one who knows approximately how much debt I have.

My salary/rent ratio is okay. It's about 25% of my take-home.

My rent is bit under a third of my take-home, which I'm fine with. What wasn't fine were the years I was living in the same place with less than half the salary.

I don't even like to let myself know how much debt I have. I used to make payments all the time without even checking the totals. Now I make myself look at it and keep a running tally. It is depressing and scary.

Quirky Library Story. [link]

I make in Allyson's ballpark, have almost no debt (Thanks to my folks helping out with my student loans), and pay $515 a month for rent.

The last guide I looked at said that rent should be 12.8% (oddly specific) of your gross pay. I'm assuming, that even though salaries vary with location, acceptable %ages do too. I wonder if that was an LA number.

My rent is a little more than a third of my take-home when I do the math - mabye a bit more than that. But I like where I live and I'm [fingers crossed] hoping that ratio changes a bit in the near future. But my numbers are about on a par with Allyson's.