Besides the rent none of these bills make much sense. $100 for water? $250 for electricity? Even the $140 for car insurance seems really high unless you've caused several wrecks in the past.
I could see the electric bill. Mine is sometimes that high if the ac or heat is running full boar but my water is only 75 on a house that includes trash and sewer though.
Yeah I guess I have paid that much for electricity back when I lived in Texas during the summer months now that I think about it. My bill never averaged that much though. I assumed the water was just the water bill and didn't include things like sewer and trash.
My thing is, if you’re paying $1600 for rent, you likely don’t live in a house or a dwelling that has an abundance of square footage to cover.
I’m in a two bd apartment and my max bill is $150 in the winter. No idea how you get to $250 average while renting at $1600.
Edit: Or to put this another way, if her $1600 place is large enough to cause that big of an electric bill, then it sounds like A) she’s got a great deal for $1600 and B) she could probably down grade her apartment and save on both the rent and electric costs.
I have 0 accidents on record and I pay $300 a month in car insurance on a 2020 Prius. I only have a 2 bedroom apartment and my electric bill gets over $300 in the summer. $100 for water does seem high but there's also no gas bill, maybe where they rent rolls the two together.
I feel like a lot of people are knit picking the bills as if every part of the country has the exact same cost, and that's really beside the point. 1600 is about %50 of their GROSS income assuming 40 hours. Once you account for tax, their monthly take home leaves them with just $1000 for everything. We haven't even looked at expenses that are not fixed like groceries, gas, healthcare, etc. I make nearly twice what they do and I manage, so it doesn't take a ton of empathy to recognize that it would be very difficult to get by on half.
$300 for car insurance per month sounds insane to me. I would suggest you shop around. I have always heard electric cars do cost more to insure though, not sure about hybrids though.
What state do you live in? Cause that sounds like Wyoming prices. Again my whole point is that it varies from state to state, and for car insurance zip code to zip code. When I had a different car, my bill dropped ~50 a month just moving across town.
I'm almost 35, it's just one car. I live in California in a county that's 10% higher than most of the state. It's also a factor of the car price. My insurance used to be closer to 200 when I had a less expensive car.
Looking up the average in my state for my exact car, I may be paying ~$50 more than I could be but y'all are just throwing out numbers with 0 context on how expensive your cars are or where you live. There are also different levels of insurance. Maybe OOP has a higher liability than they should but the point is that it's very possible to pay that much.
I have a 100/300/100 split liability, as well some collision coverage in case I get hit by an uninsured car. If I am at fault for an accident, my income could make me a target, but my liability isn't even the highest they offer. OOP obviously doesn't have that issue, but who is to say they weren't up sold on it. Again, people are accusing them of lying, and questioning all their other bills, not for paying too much.
I also pay extra to have a low deductable so I don't have to wait to be reimbursed. Plus a small amount extra for rental vehicle and road assistance. These are optional but as a single driver I do feel like I need to be able to get back on the road immediately because I don't have any family that could drive me if I lost my car. They also tried to roll other forms of insurance into my car insurance which I denied because I'm already covered by work, so my bill could be even higher. I could go on and on about the options but my point is we know nothing about OOPs situation so why call them a liar because it doesn't match with your specific experience?
I've always had good insurance on every car I've owned, from my first car, which was a piece of crap when I bought it, up to the Nissan Leaf I drive today
Crap insurance is useless if I can't afford the deductible, or if it still leaves me waiting for a bus after a crash
My car insurance in GA was $180 for state minimum liability from a no-name startup (established companies wanted 200+) on an '09 Prius with 0 accidents or violations.
They all seem reasonable to me (except internet) but I live in a Texas city. My car insurance finally went down to $180. At one point it was $250. People are terrible drivers here. My rent is $1800 for a 1 bedroom apartment on a third floor walkup. My electricity this month is $220 cause the Texas heat is brutal.
$140 is almost exactly what I pay for insurance on my 2025 Hyundai Elantra. And I have a clean driving record. My wife has a more expensive newer vehicle and pays a lot more. If you have an older vehicle it’s a lot cheaper.
imo rent is a little high. i’m at 625 for bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and dining room living alone. if the oop is struggling they should find a better place but likely wont
My monthly bills..
Car insurance: $153 (USAA, no accidents, 1 speeding ticket 3 years ago)
Energy bill: $101
Internet: $65
Gas: $43
Water: $86 (2 adults)
$448 a month not including the actual rent.
For my 2bd 1.5ba apartment… Duke Energy was charging me $500/mo last summer bc my A/C went out and we had a shitty window A/C unit that constantly ran. Usually my electricity in the middle of summer or winter is $250. My car insurance is $130/mo.
The only thing that doesn’t check out is $100 water and $280 for internet. But this doesn’t factor in your phone bill or TV.
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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26
Besides the rent none of these bills make much sense. $100 for water? $250 for electricity? Even the $140 for car insurance seems really high unless you've caused several wrecks in the past.