Rural California Towns (San Diego, Merced, Sonora: apartments, how much, utilities)

[shalomyishai]

Hi,

So here is my situation:

I am a 48 year old US citizen and my income is $900/month in Social Security.

I am interested in small towns in California that I could afford.

My disability is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I know that rural settings and spending time with nature and animals is very healing for me.

One of the reasons I want to stay in California is because the state pays considerably more money in Social Security then any other state. So while many states may be less expensive I will loose about $200-300 in monthly income.

I also have lived in California for the past 15 years and there are many things I love about the state.

Oh, I should mention that I am currently in San Diego and love spending time by the beach. So ideally I would look for a town in Southern Cal.

thanks,
Jesse

[nightlysparrow]

How "small" are you talking about? What must the town have? Hospital? Airport? Social Security office?

[shalomyishai]

On the one hand I am looking for an affordable place to live that is also pretty rural and this makes me think that the smaller the town the less expensive.

On the other hand I do worry about living in too small a location and feeling rather isolated.

So I am not sure what this means in terms of population size. I have some friends who live in Merced and I visited them for a few days. It seems to be a medium size city and it felt like a good size for what I am looking for.

[Snort]

How about keeping an address in San Diego and living south of the border? Cheap living and an adventure to boot.

[shalomyishai]

I am definitely thinking about doing just that. One rather interesting dynamic is that I meet some folks and they are totally positive about their experiences living in Northern Mexico and then I have met a few guys who tell me total horror stories of being robbed, beaten.... It's not that people have slightly different viewpoints but radically different ones.

I guess that, like most things, it is basically up to me and there is no promise that it will be some garden of eden or some type of dante hell.

I am basically trying to get as much info as I can so I am in a decent position to make a decision.

One question I just thought of:

A friend mentioned getting a Sentri Card. If a person has this card then they can cross the US-Mexican border in around 15 minutes. That would be fantastic.

However, I took a look at the website for the card and it says that you cannot have any criminal record. I was in and out of jail quite a bit from 1994-2004 but nothing since then and they were all misdemeanors. I am not really sure if it makes sense for me to spend the $100 to apply for the card given my record. On the other hand, usually if a person's convictions are more then 7 years old they are not an issue. Do people have any experience with this issue?

[Dean Trails]

Originally Posted by shalomyishai

I am a 48 year old US citizen and my income is $900/month in Social Security.

One of the reasons I want to stay in California is because the state pays considerably more money in Social Security then any other state. So while many states may be less expensive I will loose about $200-300 in monthly income.

Social Security is a Federal Program and based on the salary you made during your working years. I believe you have to have 40 quarters that you paid into the system.

Now, correct me if i am wrong, how does the State you are residing in determine the amount of SS you receive?

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

How "small" are you talking about? What must the town have? Hospital? Airport? Social Security office?

You didn't answer these questions...but here are a few more:

You said you're sleeping on the beach. Are you homeless? Have you explored local resources?

You said you have PTSD. Was this from the military? Do you need a VA clinic/hospital nearby?

[Social Democrat]

I agree - the state you live in doesn't have influence on how much SS $ you receive so I'm not certain if you need to let that tie you down.
Anyway, the cheapest apartment I saw in Craigslist in San Ysidro was $515.00 per month which doesn't leave a whole lot for food, utilities etc. I did notice apartments in TJ starting at $300.00 but I'm not certain living in TJ would help your PTSD syndrome though.
Merced is decent and very easy to get away if you want. The weather up there is typical valley weather though, very hot in the summer, freezing and foggy in the winter. You might check out the Jamestown/Sonora area up that way too.

[shalomyishai]

So I need to be a bit more specific about my situation.

I actually receive two checks per month. I get one check for Social Security and this is based on how much I have worked in the past. And I get another check for SSI and this is based on me having a disablity.

Now as far as Soc Security goes there is a federal baseline minimum amount of $500/month. This means that all Soc Sec recepients receive at least $500/month.

However, a state can actually add to this amount if they so chose. California, for example, gives homeless people on Soc Security an extra amount of roughly $130. It is called a resteraunt allowance and it is based on the correct assumption that homeless people will wind up spending more money on food because they will need to eat out all of the time.


As far as SSI for having a disablity. I do not have as good an understanding of this program but I do know that it also is impacted by the state one lives in.

[shalomyishai]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

You didn't answer these questions...but here are a few more:

You said you're sleeping on the beach. Are you homeless? Have you explored local resources?

You said you have PTSD. Was this from the military? Do you need a VA clinic/hospital nearby?

I have PTSD from being an incest survivor among other horrific aspects of my childhood.

So I am not able to access services for veterans.

I am also...to say that I am disapointed in the USA's mental health system would be a huge understatement.

I am finally ready to live away from major cities because I have correctly determined that the idea that there are quality healing resources for impoverished people who have been traumatized is a lie. You get what you pay for and I can afford the mental health version of a tuna fish sandwich.

It will be much more healing for me to live close to nature and to spend time with animals.

So that's my plan and I'm sticking with it.