The Big Bang Theory is a hilarious hit sitcom on CBS that follows the lives of four scientists working at Cal-Tech in Pasadena, Ca. Our purpose is to see whether the two main characters, Sheldon and Leonard, could actually afford their lifestyles and habits in this very expensive area.
Do you remember the beautiful apartments from FRIENDS? Do you remember how far beyond their means the characters lived? Television producers generally don't think about the real life viability of their characters. Getting back to Big Bang Theory, the cast eats yummy takeout food every night which causes jealous mouth watering and the natural question of whether they could afford that in real life. I hope you will find the conclusions we reach satisfactory as well as relevant to your own personal finance decisions.
INCOME AND MAJOR EXPENSES
The median salary for Staff Scientist and Post-Doctoral Researcher at Cal-Tech in Pasadena is $64,682.96. (Note: Cal-Tech pays better than the average research university) Using the tax rate of 2.8% (relax this excludes Social Security, that will be addressed in expenses) demonstrated for this category in the CE, their after tax income is $62,851.32. The total rough cost of consumer expenses computed using housing data for Pasadena, CA and modified for the habits of our geeky friends is $56,824. At first glance, the data shows that it is possible to live the lives portrayed on the Big Bang Theory, but we must look deeper into the question to truly understand the situation. Below you will see just how the personalities of the Leonard and Sheldon have consequences on their finances.
First we must discuss the short-comings of the data. The majority of the data used herein comes from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics' Consumer Expenditures Survey (CE). The data reflects all 50 states. California has one of the highest costs-of-living and while location specific data is substituted wherever possible, many items remain a national average. Note the difference in housing costs from the table below. Pasadena has a very high median gross rent, so this was used to adjust housing costs. There is not a similar method to compensate for the high transportation costs in California i.e. high gas and insurance prices.
The CE Survey uses Consumer Units (CU). Most CU consist of families or at least married couples. Sadly there are not good statistics for expenditures by individuals, especially individuals sharing a rented dwelling. Sheldon would not be pleased. Leonard and Sheldon qualify as separate CU's because they are financially independent despite mutual rent and furnishings. Due to their peculiar living situation, we have picked and chosen data from different categories of expenses while ignoring others. Purists be damned, there is just not enough information and inferences have to be made. Some items are simple, such as tobacco. Neither character smokes so we can disregard that item.
| EXPENSES | BLS CE Survey 2009 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Average | Leonard | Sheldon | ||
| for all CU | ||||
| HEALTHCARE | 3157 | 3157 | 3157 | |
| HOUSING | ||||
| SHELTER | 9812 | 15228 | 15228 | |
| UTILITIES | 3660 | 3660 | 3660 | |
| OPERATIONS | 1007 | 1007 | 1007 | |
| SUPPLIES | 612 | 612 | 612 | |
| FURNISHINGS | 1467 | 1467 | 1467 | |
| TRANSPORT | 7677 | 7677 | 0 | |
| APPAREL | 1700 | 1700 | 1700 | |
| ENTERTAINMENT | 2504 | 2504 | 2504 | |
| INSURANCE AND SS | 5373 | 5373 | 5373 | |
| GIFTS | 1029 | 1029 | 0 | |
| MISC EX TOBACCO | 4238 | 4238 | 4238 | |
| Total Before Food | $42236 | $47652 | $38946 |
There are, however, major differences between the costs incurred between Leonard (social, dating, and more normal) and Sheldon (anti-social, defies social convention). The biggest glaring difference between the two is transportation. The average transportation cost (for all consumer units in 2009) is $7,677. This includes all the expenses relating to owning a vehicle i.e. auto-loan, insurance, gas, maintenance. The average costs of gifts given annually is $1,029. Sheldon does not believe in gifts, and other than the one gift he gave Leonard because it was a "non-optional social convention", he generally avoids gift giving. As is the general norm with Sheldon, his anti-social behaviors save him money.
The guys also spend more money on entertainment than the national average of $2,504 (per CU). Sheldon and Leonard both have expensive gaming laptops. Sheldon has a Dell XPS while Leonard has an Alienware, which is a premium priced gaming computer manufacturer owned by Dell. They also buy lots of comic books, movies, toys, and memorabilia like the time machine prop used in the 1960's "The Time Machine" movie. Even though we can easily assume the guys spend more than the national average on entertainment, it is very hard to quantify how much more they might spend. So, as a result, we will keep the national average for entertainment.
FOOD: ALL THAT TAKEOUT!
Food cost is the most substantial way our physicist friends differ from the average household. Dinner for the workweek consists of all takeout food, save the Tuesday trip to Cheesecake Factory. Judging by the amount of food as well as the variety of dishes they order, an average cost of $15 is a fair assumption.
For example, a BBQ Burger @ Cheesecake is $11.99 plus a soda and tip is at least $15. What about pizza night? Two medium, supreme pizzas cost only $32.26 according to Kraft's DiGiorno marketing study. This splits 4 ways to only $8. We have to keep in mind that Leonard is lactose intolerant, so he probably would order a pasta. If you watch many of the eating scenes in the show, there is often an abundant variety of food. They may order out all the time, but they don't order like college kids.
We all know that lunch is taken at the Cal-Tech faculty cafeteria. After looking at menu prices for many workplace cafeterias, we think $7 is a fair assumption for cost of lunch. Lunch at work is usually a wrap, sandwich, or salad with a side and soda. To wrap up food away from home, we are left with lunch and dinner on weekends. The guys are usually busy on weekends going out and doing geeky activities so to be conservative, we can assume that they eat lunch at home and eat dinner out.
| FOOD AWAY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | Dinner | ||
| Monday | 7 | THAI: MEE KROB AND CHICKEN SATAY | 15 |
| Tuesday | 7 | BBQ BURGER @ CHEESECAKE FACTORY | 15 |
| Wednesday | 7 | HALO NIGHT | 15 |
| Thursday | 7 | PIZZA PASTA | 15 |
| Friday | 7 | CHINESE: TANGERINE CHICKEN | 15 |
| Saturday | ? | 15 | |
| Sunday | ? | 15 | |
| Frequency | 240 | 360 | |
| Total | $1680 | $5400 |
The total cost of eating out this much is $7,080. This is astronomical compared to the norm of $2,505 (per CU). A high cost to pay for food, but also essential to maintaining such a tight group of friends. Group meals are the primary means of socialization and provide for most of the scenes in the show.
The meals that are left to eat at home (with store bought food) are breakfast every day and lunch on weekends and holidays. Because the guys eat out so often, they spend much less at the grocery store than an average household. The norm is $3,624 (per CU) while Leonard and Sheldon would spend just $1,680 each a year on groceries.
| Food @ Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Cost | Lunch | Cost | |
| Meal | Coffee, Cereal, Juice | 3 | Sandwich, Soda, chips | 5 |
| Frequency | 360 | 120 | ||
| Total | $1080 | $600 |
The national average for alcohol expense is $412. Sheldon does not drink so it does not affect his expenses and Leonard on the other hand does drink. It would be safe to say Sheldon is the cause of Leonard's drinking.
CONCLUSIONS: BE A PARASITE
Wait! All of our expense data is from 2009. It is 2012 now and things cost more than they did 3 years ago. If we take the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) between June of 2009 and June of 2012, we get a 6.39% rise in prices. Because the CPI is a composition of a basket of goods that represent consumer expenditures, we can simply multiply the total cost we computed from 2009 by 1.0639.
| Income Statement | Leonard | Sheldon | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg. Income | 64,682.96 | 64,682.96 | ||
| ------------- | ------------- | |||
| Total Expenes 2009 | 56824 | 47706 | ||
| CPI increase | 6.39% | 6.39% | ||
| ------------- | ------------- | |||
| Consumer Expenses in 2012 | (60455.05) | (50754.41) | ||
| ------------- | ------------- | |||
| Tax Expense | (1,831.64) | (1834.64) | ||
| ------------- | ------------- | |||
| Net Income | $2,396.27 | $12,093.91 |
Even after correcting for inflation, Leonard and Sheldon can live their quirky, geeky, lives in Pasadena, CA. They even have some extra money to spend on comic books, gaming, and dating. The more interesting point made by the data is how much you can save by being a mooch. Sheldon's antisocial behaviors saved him $9,698 in 2012 dollars. So, finding a roommate with a car and the propensity to give into social pressure may be the best financial decision you ever make.
"I have informed you thusly." (Sheldon)
Erik Hughes is an equity analyst for Halvorson Research Associates, LLC
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