Cheapest places to live in America – Topeka, KS for under $840 a month

A couple of weeks back I created a post about the cheapest places to live in America. As a result of that post I received a fair few comments but one of them in particular stuck out. A very nice lady called Lori Kite Smith left a comment asking where she could live for $840 a month. Here are some excerpts of her comment:

“Got any ideas where a 50 year old can live on her ss disabiliy check at approx $840.00 per month?”;

“I own my car, a bunch of personal stuff, but no real furniture”;

“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I do have a cat”.

So I thought it would be interesting and do a little research to see how possible this actually was.

Now I have to disclaim and say that without actually living in a place, I can’t confirm that my findings are correct. So feedback and comments would be much appreciated.

I actually currently live in Montreal so don’t have a huge knowledge of the USA living situation so I turned to a couple of blogging buddies to ask their opinions and it seemed that the Mid West was universally agreed to be the most affordable part of the States.

JK Swoopes of Im With Joe lives in Kansas, a Mid West place I know is cheap from my last batch of research. so I probed him with questions and decided to look into living for $840 a month in the town of Topeka.

First a little about Topeka…

topeka, ks Topeka is the capital city of Kansas and has a population of 122,377 (in the 2000 census). It sits on the Kansas River and the biggest employer is local gvernment. Aparently 1 in 5 people work for the governmet!

Topeka gets it’s name from a Kansas tribal name meaning “a good place to grow potatoes”. This refers to prairie potato, a perennial herb that was a major food source for indigenous tribes.

For more info check out the Topeka Wikipedia article.

Starting Balance – $840

Renting a place: $315 ($525 left)

I had a little look around and on Ebay’s Rent.com site and managed to find a fairly decent looking studio apartment for $315 a month including air conditioning, basic cable, dishwasher, garbage disposal and a fridge. The apartments are named Prospect Hills and are based just out of town…. they are even cat friendly.

I am sure looking for a private rental or even a room in a large shared house that you could push this cost down even more!

Shopping for food: – Est $100 per month ($425 left)

This is a hard thing to judge but I know that I can feed myself here in Montreal for $25 a week. I also have experienced lower prices in the parts of the States that I have been to.

The average price for a loaf of bread in the Mid West was $0.896 in 2000 (Source: https://www.aibonline.org/resources/statistics/whitebread.html). Even with the rising food prices, talking to Joe it seems that you can get a loaf for around $1.

Here is a sample shop from an online natural food and supplement store Akins.com… i know it’s not complete or totally healthy but it shows that even in a natural store you can get quite a lot of food for under $20.

Woodstock Farms Organic Diced Bsl&Grl Tomatoes 14.5 OZ x3 $5.37
DeBoles Arti Spaghetti 8 oz x1 $2.39
Organic Valley Shelf Stable Whole Milk 33.8 oz x1 $3.49
Tree of Life Wheat Bran Org 12 OZ x1 $1.99
Bavarian Bakery Organic Flaxseed Bread 17.6 OZ x1 $4.49
TOTAL: $17.73

If you find a cheaper store to shop at and go crazy with couponing you will definitely be able to bring your food costs down very low.

Feeding and keeping a Kittie: $26 ($399 left)

kittie Looking at a Kansas City online pet store, KCPetFood.com I found these reasonable prices:
Cat Tails Reg Litter 25# Price: $5.99
Iams Adult Cat Foodlamb & Rice 8# Price: $19.99

Gas: $53 ($346 left)

KansasGasPrices.com currently reports gas at around $3.50 a gallon in Topeka, my figure of $53 a month is based on a car averaging 30 miles a gallon. And a travel distance of approx 15 miles a day.

Car Insurance: $65 ($281 left)

According to Insurance USA the 2003 car insurance average for Kansas was $777. I assume this average is was made higher by young drivers and large engined gas guzzlers so I think it’s safe to say it will still cost you around that amount for a small car.

Other Bills est $150 ($131 left)

Again this is another area which is hard to judge. You seem to be able to get broadband for around $20 and my JK advised me that electricities should come under $100 so I have settled on a round $150.

What to do with the leftover $131

There is no doubt to be other living expenses. I have just outlined some of the main ones. All of which could be cut, I think, if desperate. Being Frugal is hard but can be worthwhile and is at times very necessary.

However you may have the need and wish to have some fun at times in your life so it’s also good to know what you can do in the way of entertainment in your local area. Here are some frugal things I managed to find in Topeka.

Keeping yourself Frugally Entertained

Topeka isn’t a huge city but it does seem to have a fairly high density of restaurants, bars, movie theatres and various other things that cost money. Obviously if done right you can enjoy the benefits of having all thsi around. You can visit a bar at happy hour for a quiet pint or a restaurant for the mid week lunch specials.

There are also a bunch of museums and historical societies. Becoming a member, getting a small job or just helping out may be a great way to join in these activities for free. There is also plenty of history around Topeka to catch up on. A quick search on the web unearths plenty of building to visit and you could easily create your own walking tour.

Museums include: The Kansas Museum of History, The Combat Air Museum and the Mulvane Art Museum.

The surrounding country side and parks are idyllic and provide great places to relax, exercise and picnic.

The official Topeka website offer more things to do and detailed information about the city.

Thanks for reading. If you see any mistakes or if I have missed anything major please let me know. This case study has been produced mainly for interest so please don’t rely on it for accurate information. I have never lived in Topeka and my info came from searching the web.

16 Responses to “Cheapest places to live in America – Topeka, KS for under $840 a month”

Josh Maxwell

09. Aug, 2008

Hi,

I’m just getting started with my new blog. Would you want to exchange links on our blog-rolls?

BTW – I’m up to about 100 visitors per day.

Reply to this comment
Forest

09. Aug, 2008

Sure, send me an email forest.parks@gmail.com

Reply to this comment
susan dunn

15. Aug, 2008

i live in topeka and it is cheap i used to live in florida what a diffrence. my mom has a nice 1 bedroom here all bills paid $240.00 a month cat friendly. gas is $3.64 ,milk $3.89, bread 0.89,my mom drives a small truck her insuance is $41.00 a month, tags $58.00 a year, $1.50 movie theater, $3.00 zoo i have a 3 bedroom house with attached garage $600.00 a month wich is on the higher end average is $450.00 electric $45.00 gas $ 90.00 phone cable & internet $65.00 water and trash $38.00 food for 5 people $480.00 i am a certified nursing assistant i make $10.55 an hr u can get rental listings with prices at http://www.cjonline.com thats our local paper hope this helps

Reply to this comment
Brilliant Jeni

21. Aug, 2008

I have a friend going to college in New Mexico- $200 month for a 1400 sq foot home; balconies, fireplaces, granite countertops and all… I was impressed.

I’m American but now live in Cabo San Lucas, where I moved from Puerto Vallarta. In Cabo, we actually bought a villa and rentals are quite pricey but in Puerto Vallarta- very nice condos for $400 a month and up, just a few blocks from the beach. Food and utilities are next to nothing. $30 dollars a week will fill your fridge for 2 ppl.

Inland rentals (by inland, i mean still walking distance to the beach) start at $200 and go up. Then, as an expat there are numerous tax benefits (great for bloggers and web publishers such as myself.)

On $850 a month, you could live a near-lavish lifestyle!

Reply to this comment
Forest

21. Aug, 2008

@ Susan, thank you so so much for the comment… It’s great to have some cofirmation on the cheapness from a real Topekan…. My estimates were all based on research so could not confirm them for sure.

@ Jenni, Thanks for the tip offs…. I found many cheap places through the US and had to target one for this post… There are so many REALLY cheap places to lie outside of the US but often they are low in the earnings potential too.

Reply to this comment
Rose

15. Sep, 2008

There are a lot of place in the U.S. where you can live on the super cheap. A lot of it depends on giving up various luxuries, and realizing that you don’t have to have everything. I live in Flint, MI, and I’m paying $375 a month rent for a three bedroom house. Will be moving shortly, a block away, to buy a house that is seller financed on land contract for $375 a month. With utilities and food and such, I live on less than $800 a month. You just have to know how to do cheap, be willing to live in the not-ritzy areas, and not be focused on brand names and having it all.

Roses last blog post..Meat

Reply to this comment
Forest

17. Sep, 2008

Hey Topeka and Rose,

Thanks for the comments This post got so much more response than I ever planned for!

Reply to this comment
Ina B

06. Mar, 2009

HELP ME ! I would like some info from anyone, please.
We want to get out of Southern California ! We are self employed here, 2 kids, 11 and 17. We will be selling everything we have and can in these terrible CA times of ‘going under’….and want to move and ‘start over’.
BUT WHERE? We would love something not too cold and not too hot. Not too much rain and possibly no horrible tornadoes etc. We will have money to get started, may be open a little grill-bbq place? Or something….. We are not sure. But, where???? We can not take this high priced, overtaxed, over-concided SoCal no more…. How about Topeka? Is it people friendly? Kids and pets friendly? Easy going or fast track? Someone….please let me know at: bdrdemo@yahoo.com

Reply to this comment
Forest

06. Mar, 2009

Hi Ina B,

I compiled this post from internet research and sadly have never been. The post ha gotten good and bad comments so I am not honestly sure.

Maybe try and find a Topeka forum and ask people who live there.

I wish you best of luck in these hard times… I am struggling too up here in Montreal.

Sorry I could not be more solid with my info.

Reply to this comment
darris

13. Jul, 2010

i’m a student at washburn (the university here in topeka) and i live pretty comfortably in my fraternity at around 500 dollars per month
i could do 450 pretty easily

Reply to this comment
- Forest
  
  17. Jul, 2010
  
  Hey Darris, that is awesome to know…. This article is quite old now so it’s good to know it’s keeping it’s affordability.
  
  Reply to this comment
Ray T

14. Jul, 2010

I just moved from Topeka and agree it is cheap living. A fair sized city with good entertainment zoo, theaters etc., great symphony. It is family friendly. Draw back, it is redneck to the umpteenth degree. If you are not a Bush or Palin fan you are on the outside looking in. There should be a sign at the city limits, “Free thinkers keep out!”

Reply to this comment
- Forest
  
  17. Jul, 2010
  
  Hey Ray, This can be a problem is an area does not fit you socially or politically but I am sure there must have been some free thinkers hiding in the darkness ….. I actually generally find USA a little out of whack with my beliefs but still manage to find like minded people when I am there. Politics can become very draining though!
  
  Reply to this comment
kreiker kreiker

22. Aug, 2010

am international student complete 2 years in detroit-MI ..forced to stop stdying because of living expensis – insurance – and many other expensis .
even being sick and need 6 – 8 months treatments from stomach pain because of all above.
now i want to continue and start again . i wish that reading about topeka.
need your advise .. thanks

Reply to this comment
- Forest
  
  23. Aug, 2010
  
  Hey Kreiker, I don’t know how it is to study in Topeka. You may want to look at moving somewhere in mid USA or even down to Texas, Austin seems to be cheap and lively and I am sure has many college options.
  
  Good luck.
  
  Reply to this comment

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