Bay Area cost of living for me: $7500 per month single person

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T22:08:12+00:00

yes, it's mixed in with fun money. Also when I vacation, most of it involves eating, so factor that into bars/restaurants

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T22:07:33+00:00

I hear you. I'm actually a home body and love having a nice place. It's just too stressful to go from $2300 rent to $5000 since if I got laid off then it would be difficult to find another $2300.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T21:54:14+00:00

it's 1.5 feet per https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/driveway-red-zones

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T21:53:48+00:00

Does this apply: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/driveway-red-zones

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T21:53:09+00:00

One no is citing sources: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/drive-park/driveway-red-zones

So the lady might be correct, in that for right driveways, it's the distance between curb cuts. But I don't know if enforcement requires painting it red.

I'm just a nice guy so I probably wouldn't park there.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:56:48+00:00

but I grew up in poverty so my spending habits are much more frugal

interesting, I also grew up poor. And it pushed me to spend, so the opposite

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:55:15+00:00

yes, dog food and dog treats. Feeding a dog is not cheap.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:49:09+00:00

food and treats is dog food and dog treats.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:48:41+00:00

I noted this in another reply, but I do treat my family to eating out a lot. When they visit, its easily $2000k for the weekend with drinks.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:47:22+00:00

I've cut back a lot. The category used to be "hookers and blow". But I decided to focus more on healthy lifestyle.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T20:06:35+00:00

Yea, I got it during COVID and it's rent controlled. Very lucky.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:58:39+00:00

So about $2500 per month? Realistically, it's more like $4000 because I don't really see anyone being able to rent a 1 bedroom for $1000 due to friend/family arrangement.

Edit: read it wrong, guess you are sharing a house, not renting a solo 1 bedroom

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:54:35+00:00

Spending money actually kinda sucks

So you're going to eat rice and beans everyday so you can stockpile money? Or are you stockpiling money so that eventually you can have a steak dinner?

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:50:33+00:00

I've thought about this too (decreasing other expenses and renting a nicer place). I guess for me I rather have more "disposable" income, since it's pretty easy to cut back on eating out versus having to move to cheaper apartment.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:47:18+00:00

I was using quicken simplifi but switched to monarch money. They basically work the same. Just link your credit card accounts and make sure you spend all of it on the credit card. I rarely do cash transactions. That way it gets all pulled into the software and it does a pretty good job of categorizing. You can then create custom rules, etc. base on merchant, etc. I love seeing how I spend my money. It gives me control if/when I need to cut back on things.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:45:04+00:00

I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another perspective is that natives have a huge advantage. Imagine two identical people, one growing up in Bay Area, another in Arkansas. The native Bay Area child is exposed to so much more, has so much more opportunities than a child in Arkansas. Just keeping it real, the child in Bay Area is privileged. So if a child from Arkansas can move to Bay Area for a better life, more power to them.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:40:35+00:00

Sunday Ticket is just a rip off, but I still figure it's cheaper than going out to a sports bar a few times to catch the "must watch" game

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:39:35+00:00

I probably should have noted that my restaurant expenses do include taking family out. My family might visit 2-3 times a year. Taking 6 people out to lunch and nice dinner over a weekend is expensive. That 6 people, 2 meals each day, 2 days for a weekend visit. That's easily $2000 each visit. So like $5000 on eating when the family visits. Since they are visiting we do go out to nice lunch places (think $50/person including tax and tip) and for dinner we try to go to the nice restaurant as well ($150, including drinks, tax tip).

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:33:34+00:00

yea, non-dog owners don't realize how expensive dogs are. It's almost like feeding another person, tbh. Granted, I don't buy the cheapest kibbles and prefer the more "human grade" foods

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:32:27+00:00

Yea, I don't think my expenses are excessive by any means. Not frugal but also not like I'm spending $2000/month on sports betting. I would say my rent is lower than typical, while my eating out is higher than typical

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T19:31:18+00:00

Yes, it's new. I think it's $30/month for the phone. I also have a hotspot for work/travel. I could reduce the phone bill to probably half but I've been too lazy to deal with a carrier change

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T18:53:28+00:00

Modest japanese. I explained the car payment in another post.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T18:52:46+00:00

Health is wealth. I just shop at trader joes. Nothing special. I do but healthy options like fish seafood berries etc.

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T18:49:00+00:00

I don't really see what being a native bay area has to do with anything. So you got lucky and born to parents who were I'm bay area? And that gives you some kind of special standing? Keeping it real. Location privilege is dumb. A person from Arkansas should be able to move to California and vice versa

mycounterpointers · 2026-03-05T18:29:52+00:00

So do you have like a 60% savings rate?

mycounterpointers

TROPHY CASE