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- Oct 31, 2009
AZ >> CA
but for real I always have a good time when I drive to Cali
but for real I always have a good time when I drive to Cali
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You can easily rent a decent room in a 2 bedroom apartment for $1-$1.2K out here (which is what I did/do). My expenses while making $40K out of college were
$1100 for rent
$100 for utilities
$140 for car insurance
$300-$500 for going out/gas/public transportation
Which allowed me to save basically an entire paycheck every month. Not ideal but nowhere near struggling at all. All I'm saying is that you don't have to have $$$ to live out here, you just have to budget and set realistic expectations.
That's what I'm saying too. I'm not about living that check to check life. Let's say $60k and you're putting 5 percent into 401k and if you're single and claim 0, that's about $3k net a month.but what youre describing is just maintaining and basically living paycheck to paycheck. I mean, whats the cost of a basic 1bd apt in SF in a decent clean part of town. $1,800? $2,000? Even if youre making $60K a year, your rent alone is going to end up being 50%+ of your net pay. How are you ever going to save up to buy your own place when youre just treading water on a month to month basis?
You factor rent, in SoCal it will be at least a grand for a studio even in the hood. Add utilities, car payment, insurance, gas money, grocery, it goes real quick.
You were lucky u didn't have a car payment/ phone payment etc...
You can easily rent a decent room in a 2 bedroom apartment for $1-$1.2K out here (which is what I did/do). My expenses while making $40K out of college were
$1100 for rent
$100 for utilities
$140 for car insurance
$300-$500 for going out/gas/public transportation (Which I could've easily cut down on, but I love to drink/party too much )
Which allowed me to save basically an entire paycheck every month. Not ideal but nowhere near struggling at all. I bought a car All I'm saying is that you don't have to have $$$ to live out here, you just have to budget and set realistic expectations.
I'd so consider moving to San Diego. I really want to go back and visit for the weekend...But my wife thinks there isn't much to do there.
I love living in San Diego and dont plan to move (long-term anyway)
damn something wrong with my paychecks if your $40K a year is translating into $3,500 net per month. i need to check with my accountant or HR cause my paychecks dont work out like that.
honestly, kudos to you for having the dedication to budget like that. I know when I was fresh out of college, I couldnt and didnt do that. $300-500 monthly budget all in for food, transportation, and going out is crazy tight. Hell one weekend night at the bar + some late night grub can easily end up being $100. $300-500 all in sounds like a whole lot of PB&J sandwiches and cups of water.
I lived in SD my whole life except for 1 year when I was in Sac. I hated it there. Im back now and happier than ever.
I'd so consider moving to San Diego. I really want to go back and visit for the weekend...But my wife thinks there isn't much to do there.
I want to go to Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo to experience a safari, damnit!
Lucky? I chose to keep my car that I bought for cheap back in college until I could comfortably afford a much better one last year. I'll give you the phone bill; I only pay $20 a month because of a hookup my dad gets through his company. Even then, an extra $80 wouldn't have hurt me.
is sf the only place you can get away with not owning a car ?
It depends how near your home and work are to the BART station. I know people who live on the outskirts of the east bay area (Dublin) and take the BART to SF and Mountain View. But they still need a car for the weekends.
is sf the only place you can get away with not owning a car ?
You can use zip car and other car sharing services if you don't need a car regularly
It depends how near your home and work are to the BART station. I know people who live on the outskirts of the east bay area (Dublin) and take the BART to SF and Mountain View. But they still need a car for the weekends.
is sf the only place you can get away with not owning a car ?
Bay Area, yeah... But it closes at midnight
LA is building their own metro pretty fast though.
san clemente is where i would like to retire . Half way to la and Sdmy uncle lives right on the beach in San Clemente (OC) and its a nice visit but i don't think i could handle living there...the weather never really changed (75-80) but i couldn't enjoy the beach in that weather...water didn't feel good, was cold as ****...
i was in Miami in May where it was 90+ degrees and the water and beach felt great...
I'm guess I'm just not built for Cali...
I hear ya, man. When I was in my early 20s, I just want an M3 and be popping bottles by the time I turn 30. I'm 6 months from 30 and I'm hoping my 2010 TSX lasts another 5 years. It's at 93k now and still running fine while my 335i was a money pit after 75kit gets worse when you have kids. childcare costs are no joke. my monthly fixed costs are $6,600/mo and thats just for mortgage+hoa, insurance, utilities, child care and prop taxes. thats before i put any gas in my car, any food in my mouth, pay down my wifes school loans, or put any money in my 401K/savings/investment account. So even though im not buying any new clothes, eating out or going out (which i never do since i have young kids at home), or buying fancy flashy cars (i drive an 02 4runner that ive had for going on 14 yrs now and i need it to last another 14 yrs), its hard to cut costs enough where i can get out of the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.
what about them yambs man????!!!!Well for starters, you can't think of Cali as one type of atmosphere. San Fran, Sac, San Jose, Oakland, LA, and San Diego are all completely different.
San Francisco: Small area, big city feel due to a lot of residents, visitors, and communters. Business hub, tech hub, culturally moderate to free-spirit. More concentrated therefore a lot of things to do from downtown to mission st.. Financial District and Powell area might feel like Chicago or parts of Manhattan due to the crowd and infrastructure.
LA: More sprawl, less concentration downtown. Tons of "cities" to go to, more about the fashion life. Hip, up and coming downtown but, still better to go elsewhere. A lot of aspiring actors, a lot of culture, good beaches. More laid back than Bay Area.
San Diego: More laid back than even LA, more culturally attached to beach life, retired folks. Tropical weather makes it feel more vacation(y). Downtown sucks but, I like the Gas Lamp district.
Oakland: Laid back and extremely diverse, more black culture. OK downtown, more neighborhoodly as far as attitude. Less materialistic than SF and less show-offs.
San Jose: Tech hub, less crowded downtown. Clubs are clustered in certain areas so they're big on that in the weekend. More suburbs than anything.
Sac: Hot, country(ish), up and coming downtown, folks are flocking to that area since it's cheap compared to Bay. A lot of Growth, not transportation friendly though unless you're near downtown. A lot of potential if you don't care for beaches.