“My husband and I are pretty healthy,” Alice says. “Most of our healthcare costs come from mental health—antidepressants, therapy, things like that.” When asked what she needs—or wants—that she can’t have, Alice spoke about her “mediocre” health insurance plan. (We’re using a pseudonym to protect her privacy.) “[We pay] over $600 a month, and we still have copays and medication that we have to pull teeth to get partially covered,” she says. “Deny, defend, depose.” (The words “deny, defend, depose” were etched into the ammo that killed a UnitedHealthcare CEO late last year. The phrase is now used to allude to wealth inequality and healthcare costs in the U.S.)
“There are a lot of people out there who understand that there is a system, a legal framework that insurance companies, real estate developers have manipulated to make work for them,” she explained. “There is a sense that no matter how much you understand [the system], you’ll never change it. It’s always going to work against most people.”
Alice works in the government, and she and her husband have a household income of $220,000. She makes $66,000 on her own. To “pay off the townhouse faster” and “put money in retirement,” Alice saves money by not going out very often. As someone who grew up low income, she says she knows she’s fortunate—and that not everyone can afford to save for retirement. Her dad is still working as a janitor at 63, she notes. When it comes to splurges, “there’s no joy in getting a coffee because, at the back of your mind, it’s like ‘this is $5, $6, $8.’ It hurts.”
She says the more that people from different economic backgrounds speak out about the cost of living crisis—and about wealth inequity—the better. “And what do we do with this knowledge from here,” she asks. “Is it really, really that hopeless?”
Job title
Analyst at a local government agency
Age
34
Neighborhood
Grant Park
Lives with
Husband, dog, cat
Annual gross income
$66,000
Household income
$220,000 (about $40,000 is taken by taxes every year)
Mortgage payment
~$3,500
Purchase date and price of home
We paid $485,000 for our townhouse in 2023.
Student loans and credit card debt
We have $20,000 in school loans. A big chunk of my income is eaten by credit card debt from when I struggled to make ends meet in the past, prior to making my current salary.
Health insurance cost per month + cost of any prescriptions
$750 (with insurance that I pay through my employer!)
Phone plan and monthly subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, food delivery services, apps, etc.)
$80–$100
Utilities per month
$450 (for water, gas, AC, and HOA)
Transportation (car payment, car insurance, gas, public transportation, Uber)
$700 ($230 for insurance, $299 for a car payment, and $138 a month to park in downtown Atlanta—an absolute travesty and huge monthly expense)
Groceries
$250
Restaurants, fast food, drinks at bars, coffees
$150 (we do not go out often to continue to save and pay off debts)
Childcare costs
$0 (Zip! ZERO. NADA. Hell no, not on our income.)
Savings/401(k)
After maxing out Roth IRA and 401k, the rest is put into various savings accounts. We are extremely lucky. While it eats into fun activities and vacations, the ability to save $1,000 or so every paycheck is an absolute luxury.
Vacations
$4,000 in a splurge year; $1,500 in an average year
Fun (concerts, books, movies, recreational drugs, etc.)
$120–$150 (books, drinks, occasional movie tickets)
Clothes/beauty (new shoes, laundromat services, makeup)
$150 a month (makeup, hair products, possibly getting my nails done)
How much money would you need to live comfortably in Atlanta? What hourly rate or annual salary would you be happy with?
$350,000 household income; $100,000 personal income with no children
What’s a nonessential item that you treat yourself to?
Iced coffee with all the extras. Or high-quality red meat or cheese for a “restaurant experience” dinner at home.
What would you like to have (that you don’t)?
Fair health insurance payments. We pay over $600 a month, and we still have copays and medication that we have to pull teeth to get partially covered. Deny, defend, depose.
What can be done to improve the cost of living in Atlanta?
RENT IS TOO HIGH. We are lucky enough to be homeowners. City officials are 100 percent responsible for the tens of thousands of struggling Atlantans. It’s criminal.
What’s the most challenging thing about living in Atlanta?
Seeing all the potential go to waste.
What do you love most about Atlanta?
I moved here in 2014. Each year it gets more difficult to find what I love about Atlanta. Until recently, it used to be the laid-back nature and affordability of the city. Good beer, great amenities, beautiful buildings, and an upstart kind of attitude. You could really make a beginning here and put down roots. We had it all, and I wish we had it still—especially for the kids graduating and looking to start their lives. I don’t see that Atlanta anymore. •
