1) Sel revealed a few years ago that he lives (or at least lived) in Houston, TX. I don't know if this is still true, but my breakdown assumes it is.
2) Sel is self-employed, which puts some stressors on finances that most of us may not think of.
Taxes: American's pre-pay most of our federal taxes. A percentage is withheld from our paychecks, and at the start of every year we do the math and submit paperwork to show that we either did not pay enough, or paid too much and are due a refund. Since Sel is self-employed, this pre-payment does not automatically happen, and he has to save up to pay (he can pre-pay on his own if he desires, but it's not required, though I would encourage it if you're making that kind of money). This is for the federal income tax, only.
In addition, there are seperate "payroll taxes" for Social Security and Medicare that are paid directly through payroll deduction. As a payroll tax, this is paid 50/50 by both the employer and the employee. When we're self-employed, that means we pay both halves -- meaning the tax burden is a little bit higher for him than it is for me (a corporate stooge).
The third thing is health insurance. Most Americans receive a health insurance policy through their employer (or their partner's employer). If self-employed, or if the employer doesn't offer that benefit, you can get a policy on the individual market. The individual market is VERY expensive, and getting moreso every year. There are subsidies that help reduce that cost, but at the kind of money he brings in, he likely does not qualify for them. I don't know if he gets his coverage through his wife's employer or the individual market, so this may or may not be a major expense for him. But if he and his wife are both getting coverage through the individual market, that expense is probably larger than their mortgage payment.
In terms of cost of living, Houston is fairly inexpensive, especially for a city of its size. Of the 20 largest cities in Texas, it's the 10th most expensive (Texas is, on the whole, in the middle of the pack -- substantially cheaper than the states non-Americans typically think of, like California or New York). The most expensive thing specific to Texas is property taxes, since Texas doesn't have a state income tax, most of the state's revenue comes from a point-of-sale sales tax and property taxes, and the general consensus in the state is that property taxes in particular are growing out of control.
$10k/month comes out to $120k/year. To put this into perspective, the median HOUSEHOLD income in the US for 2023 was $80k. The median personal income for that year was $42k. A salary of $167K would put you in the top %10 of earners. Sel's income from Subscribestar alone puts him in the upper middle class, and that's not factoring in any income from his wife.
So he's doing pretty well for himself. He could afford to hire someone to help him, but that's a sucker's bet. Set as much as possible aside for legal expenses in this political climate. Oklahoma is already trying to ban all forms of pornography in that state, and it's likely Texas will try to follow suit.
