The Big Bang Theory Season 6 Discussion

[Guy Gardener]

Lets talk about money.

Leonard and Sheldon share an apartment identical(ish) to Penny's and lets assume they both get about 40 grand a year each, but live in an apartment that a waitress can afford easily....

National Salary

• The mean hourly wage for physicists is $53.49 and the mean annual wage, or average annual salary, is $111,250, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2009. Median annual wages for physicists range from approximately $56,210 to $165,750. The lowest 10 percent of employees earn less than $56,210 and the top 10 percent are paid more than $165,750.

They're either earning a lot less money than I thought or they are putting a lot of money in the bank.... Or they have dozens of storage lots full of their comicbooks.

Penny isn't vain or a gold digger, but if she forced him to live within his means rather than as a fucking child (I mean student), she could have a very comfortable life.

I don't think she understands what it's like to be with someone who isn't working for minimum wage, and Leonard is an asshole for pretending that he is as poor as she is.

He spends more on comics a week than she does on food and utilities.

She's going to see his paycheck at some point and slap him.

"I just assumed that you got paid 20 grand a year because, you klnow, you dress like that."

[FPAlpha]

Uhm.. Penny's appartment is significantly smaller. Hers is a 2 room appartment while Sheldon/Leonard's is a 3 room appartment with a significantly larger living room.

So your entire argument falls apart.

However many TV shows do not care about realities of life.. Friends had the girls live in a sizeable appartment in the middle of New York while they were a cook and a waitress (at least in the first few seasons).. not realistic. At least they acknowledged this in the show finale by claiming the appartment was under rent control.

King Of Queens.. a delivery driver and a secretary own a sizeable house and at one point buya brand new car on top of her being a fashion victim and him eating out all the time.

I have no clue what scientists at a university make.. they sure could make much more if they worked for a private company but even then one of them could probably afford the appartment on his own but then a central part of the show wouldn't work.

[Guy Gardener]

Yes Penny's is smaller or there are rooms we haven't seen... Sheldon and Leonard's place might have been two or many apartments originally converted into a single domicile at some point... or Vice versus that penny's apartment is half of what the architect considered. Lets not forget that they might still be paying off the elevator and post 911, they're also probably paying off the super not to have Homeland security on their ass.

That was Monica's nana's rent controlled apartment, and according to Monicas conversations with the landlord, Nana still lived there and they were paying the same rent Nana had been since 1942.

Of course when they swapped apartments it's inconceivable someone didn't raise a fuss, especially if Chandlars rent had been calculated in the 1990s?

King of Queens? Dudes in a Union. Might as well be in the mob. They get a pay raise every other month and if there's talk about downsizing or redundancy, someone is sleeping with the fishes.

[Spot's Meow]

Interesting, I hadn't thought much about the money before. Because of my job, I do happen to know how much scientists working at a university make, and it is no small amount. Based on what we've learned in the show, I would say Leonard is making $80,000 a year at the very least; based on the awards and reputation of Sheldon, I'd say he makes considerably more. Physicists are well paid (this of course has nothing to do with why I'm dating one ). Penny obviously makes much less than this, probably around $25,000 a year. That's a little over $2,000 a month, which realistically probably isn't enough to afford the rent/bills/etc. for the apartment she lives in. If you think of her apartment as a one bedroom its a little more believable. The bigger question, though, is why Leonard and Sheldon have decided to live in the building when they could afford to buy homes or at least live separately (or share a bigger apartment). It must have to do with reasons other than money. Maybe they've mentioned it on the show and I don't remember. Even with all their spending on comics, I'm sure they both have a lot of money saved up.

Of course, it's TV and it isn't supposed to be realistic, so none of this really matters. But still interesting to think about.

[Skywalker]

Sheldon once said that if he could afford the rent for the apartment, he'd live there alone.

[Brolan]

Jar Jar Binks wrote:

---

Sheldon once said that if he could afford the rent for the apartment, he'd live there alone.

But that doesn't make any sense when you consider the episode where Penny finds a whole bunch of Sheldon's un-cashed checks in his desk drawer. If he was tight on money he would have to cash all his checks as he got them.

[Skywalker]

Brolan wrote:

---

But that doesn't make any sense when you consider the episode where Penny finds a whole bunch of Sheldon's un-cashed checks in his desk drawer. If he was tight on money he would have to cash all his checks as he got them.

I agree. I just chalk it up to "write what sounds funny and damn what came before" sitcom writing.

[Guy Gardener]

I believe that Sheldon is pragmatic like an 80 year old confused by inflation, insisting on paying what he thinks is the correct amount of money to live, and not real market value. Of course, Sheldon is not confused by inflation, but his Aspergers (which didn't exist when his mother had him tested.) sees through the changing human condition.

I'm actually amazed that Sheldon doesn't own the building, and hasn't mentioned it because the topic hasn't come up... And yes even if he owned the building for tax reasons he would still pay rent to himself.

For a time his flat's wyfy pass word was "Pennyisafreeloader."

[Nerys Myk]

Penny is horrible at managing her finances, I imagine she's bankrupt Leonard if she ever got a hold of his.

[stj]

It is not clear to me whether Sheldon or Leonard have tenure. (Raj does not.) But postdocs without tenure do not get paid what tenured professors do. Postdocs are not as loaded down with teaching undergraduate classes and doing scut work in tenured professor's program but they also do not have job security. They could easily be banking large amounts of money in case they don't get contracts, grants or fellowships renewed.

In some cases, scientists end up plowing some of their own money into their labs.

On the other hand, the show has always implied that both Bernadette and Amy live better than the boys. Also, what fugitive glimpses we've had of Raj's life seems to be much nicer than the oddest couple's. (Does this come under the "girls" heading?) For that matter, money is not an issue for Bernadette and Howard. Sitcom avoidance of reality?

[Guy Gardener]

Howard lives with his mummy and Raj comes from money.

A lot of money.

The issue of a prenup came up when Leonard and Priya were thinking about getting serious to protect her family wealth, which made her personal wealth of an international lawyer seem like a drop in the bucket.

These guys don't teach, a really big deal was made one episode just because Sheldon was put in front of a classroom, so tenure or lack or it, is a nonissue.

[Spot's Meow]

stj wrote:

---

It is not clear to me whether Sheldon or Leonard have tenure. (Raj does not.) But postdocs without tenure do not get paid what tenured professors do. Postdocs are not as loaded down with teaching undergraduate classes and doing scut work in tenured professor's program but they also do not have job security. They could easily be banking large amounts of money in case they don't get contracts, grants or fellowships renewed.

Since they don't seem to have any teaching responsibilities, and they seem to command more respect than postdoctoral scholars, I assumed they had professional faculty titles. Not sure what these would be at other universities, where I work they would be something like Specialist, Researcher, or Project Scientist. None of these are tenured positions, but if the person is valuable enough to the university they will pay to keep them around as long as possible. Of course, they would probably be encouraged to move to a tenure track professorial title.....why am I discussing the fake jobs of TV characters again? It's the weekend, last thing I want to do is think about work!

[Non Sync]

They're still paying off their student loans...

[Guy Gardener]

The cost of attending graduate school for a master's degree in physics varies according to the program and institution. For example, enrolling in Columbia University's master's program in physics costs more than $18,000 per semester. Meanwhile, the same type of program at a state university, such as Stony Brook University, may only cost a little over $8,000 per year for a New York resident.References:

Columbia University: Student Financial Services Tuition & Fees
Stony Brook University: Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services
Resources:

American Institute of Physics: Home

That's 6 to ten years depending how far they took it.

2 semesters a year, 6 years, 18 grand a semester... $216,000.

Well that's an imaginary number that doesn't include drawing a living allowance from their loan or interest.

Raj would have just paid his automatically and as a foreigner, his course wouldn't be subsidized by the government, so his fees would actually be 5 to 10 times greater than a US citizens.

Meanwhile there is no way that Sheldon didn't have a thousand and one scholarships.

[tighr]

Jar Jar Binks wrote:

---

I agree. I just chalk it up to "write what sounds funny and damn what came before" sitcom writing.

Pretty much the only way to account for Amy's near complete reversal in attitude from her earlier appearances to now. The character is nothing like it was originally envisioned.