Sounds like you have electric resistive (not heat pump) heating. That’s the most expensive way to heat.

1st you need to compare you usage vs historical. Then stop the draft. And finally you may want to try electric blankets. Or a good sweater/fleece mid layer.

That’s definitely interesting and I apologize for my ignorance before.

Yes it’s possible to work in consulting without business/economics/stem degrees. But it may depend on your school. Good thing is there’re a metric ton of them in Boston: the top 3 (McKinsey, BCG, Bain), the big 4 (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC) and various specialized firms (healthcare consulting, economics consulting etc.). I would say none of them required specialized skills for entry level. Maybe basic accounting/Excel. It’s not for everyone but they do hire a decent amount of college grads year after year.

$70-$80k is more like analyst in corporate. If you want to make that (or more) just work in a consulting company. Also you don’t have 3 BAs, that’s 3 majors.

You can certainly live on $50k if you get a couple of roommates. MIT postdocs are paid that much. Also live close to the T so you don’t need a car.

Still cheaper than NYC (but with worse/more expensive food).

Not surprised. There’s a huge gamesmanship between providers (ie hospitals), payers (ie insurance), pharmacies and manufacturers going on right now. Certain hospitals (like Mass General) and clinics get mandatory federal discounts called 340B for drugs, without any mandated passthrough or even price transparency to patients.

American households on average spent $10k on cars in 2021. So $833/month. $4000-$833=$3167, often shared by 2 young professionals at $1583.5 per person. Seems perfectly reasonable to be 15 min away from downtown (by T).

I lived in Medford/Malden on the range line for a couple years, at much cheaper rent tho. The commute to downtown office was 30min except a few bad days.

I can think of 2 ways to go:

1. live physically closer but out of ways of commuters, south Medford, Watertown, parts of JP or Dorchester;

2. get rid of 🚗 live right on T: Malden center, assembly, east Boston, some parts of Dorchester, Quincy

Rent is higher for 2) but you save money by getting rid of car. Really depended on where do you want to be close to. For instance if all your friends are in Cambridge, try to stay north of the Charles….

You don’t have to live in Lexington, which is one of the top school district here. Median home sale price is $1.3m in December. Nearby Burlington and Woburn are much cheaper and extremely livable.

Aside from housing, other stuff are not much more expensive. Cars maybe due to local demand and the freaking weather. Freaking waitlist to get a Toyota/Honda at mrsp here.

Food no idea. The southernmost city I’ve lived in is Columbus OH.

Due to height difference, SUV low beams sometimes look like high beam in a sedan. Also LED is prevalent now and some are just bright.

A kindly reminder to verify the specialist you’re using is in-network for your insurance. Otherwise thousands of $ will be asked of you. Actually verify everything with insurance all the time. The system is pretty broken for billing and any oversight (even no faulty of your own) can cost thousands of $.