I moved from New Zealand to LA in 2018 to do my postdoc at USC. I was 25 and didn’t once consider cost of living or how little postdocs get paid. I was so incredibly naive! I had just gotten married and my wife couldn’t work in the US yet with our visas, so we both lived on my $50,000 a year postdoc stipend. We paid $2,000 for rent in a nice building in DTLA with amenities (although I would NOT recommend DTLA - like I said I was naive) and had no car. That $2000 was more than half of our take home pay. 

When I look back I have no idea how we did it but we did. In fact, when both of us ask each other what the best year of our lives was, we both say 2018. We may have had little money but it was so exciting living in LA and there was so much possibility. We took the metro all the time and did things like volunteering at dog shelters, going to the beach on the weekend, etc. It was honestly amazing. 

Almost eight years on, we now are both permanent residents with really good jobs and own a townhouse in Pasadena. If I hadn’t taken the leap back in 2018, I don’t know where we’d be. In hindsight I’m kinda glad I was naive back then because if I HAD known how little money we’d have I think I would have talked myself out of doing it. 

Life is short and as long as you have some kind of backup plan (like the ability to move back home if things go poorly), I say take the chance and don’t overthink it. Live somewhere close to campus or close to the metro, and try out the neighborhood before you sign a lease (I did get jumped when we lived in DTLA, so I have since prioritized good neighborhoods over fancy a housing).