How expensive is expensive? (San Diego, Riverside: low income, apartments, rent)

[spakanatoy]

From all the websites I've looked at, San Diego seems to rank PRETTY HIGH as far as cost of living is concerned.

Suppose one moves there and has say an entry-level job, and another part-time job, lives in a so-so area is it possible to make ends meet? (RENTING NOT BUYING).

Also, how much do you guys spend on average on gas? Without the long commute to areas like carlsbad, poway, escondido.

[Need_affordable_home]

You can make it in SD by renting on a low income but dont expect a fun life or to enjoy anything that is fun except the bare essentals. Someone even said you can make it on min wage(in LA too) but I shudder to think what kind of life that is! If you want to enjoy a fun, comfortable life, you really need at least a $100k gross annual income. If your making so little money, youll be able to live a much better life by relocating elsewhere. I know a friend who says $30k gross annual salary in his town in WV is considered rich!

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by spakanatoy

From all the websites I've looked at, San Diego seems to rank PRETTY HIGH as far as cost of living is concerned.

Suppose one moves there and has say an entry-level job, and another part-time job, lives in a so-so area is it possible to make ends meet? (RENTING NOT BUYING).

Also, how much do you guys spend on average on gas? Without the long commute to areas like carlsbad, poway, escondido.

You can live in a fairly cheap area and rent a 1BR for about 1k/mo. For gas, figure on 30$ a week if you are commuting from an outlying area.

I came here with nothing in my pocket, no car, worked minimum wage jobs while going to school, lived in a trailer in a hippie's driveway for six months, shared apartments for years with crappy roomates, rented dumpy shacks and scrimped, saved, and moved up the career foodchain until ten years later, I own a home, make a good salary, and have a great life. You can do it too, but you need to be ready to struggle for a while.

[AnotherBravesFan]

Gas is more expensive only in Honolulu according to a recent study. We also pay some of the highest utility rates in the nation; thank goodness the climate is mild. Housing, however, will be your biggest $$$ eater. Several of the employees in my office commute from Riverside county upwards of 1 hour each way because they wanted to own a house. As was stated before, you CAN make ends meet, but you'll need to be thoughtful and/or creative in your daily choices. Good luck to you. I've lived here 17 years and will be retiring out of state because I want a higher standard of living than what I can get here.

[gpraceman]

When I lived in the San Diego area, we were typically paying about 15 - 20 cents more per gallon than LA, and about 20 - 30 cents more than my relatives in Denver.

Utility rates do run very high. If you end up living inland, the summer heat will drive up your bills (assuming you have A/C -- otherwise, you will sweat your butt off). I lived in East County and it would often go over 100 in the summer. Unless you are right along the coast, it will get hot.

If you have a choice of where to live, I'd recommend you look outside of CA. On entry level jobs, you will continually struggle to make ends meet and live in some not so great areas (housing conditions and crime). Give yourself a better chance to start off. Look at the number of people leaving the state. That should tell you something.

[spakanatoy]

Thanks for your input everyone!! I don't know how to decide though it just seems that there are a good mix of people who want to stay and who want to leave? I'm pretty clueless :c

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by spakanatoy

Thanks for your input everyone!! I don't know how to decide though it just seems that there are a good mix of people who want to stay and who want to leave? I'm pretty clueless :c

My guess: everyone wants to stay, but not everyone can afford to. :-/

[gpraceman]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

My guess: everyone wants to stay, but not everyone can afford to. :-/

Personally, San Diego was a nice place to live for awhile, but I couldn't get out of the state fast enough. It wasn't just an affordability issue. The schools there suck, traffic is bad, my kids would have a much harder time getting established when they leave the nest, and I hated the summer heat. I felt I owed my kids a better life.

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

My guess: everyone wants to stay, but not everyone can afford to. :-/

I would stay in Florida if there were affordable houses for around $50k. But so would everyone. Theres too much demand for Florida to ever be this cheap. Even if we get more hurricanes next year and hurricane insurance doubles(again!) house prices will drop by perhaps 50% this means even a cheap house would become $100k instead of $200k. Global warming could be the disaster to ultimately cause Florida to drop to $50k as the sea level rises and Florida ends underwater little by little.

[kettlepot]

Spakanatoy, if you're still listening/checking the board. I think the previous posters have exagerrated the cost of housing because they didn't take into account your willingness to live in a so-so area. In that kind of a neighborhood, you can reasonably find something like a 1 bed/1 bath for $800/month. Get a roommate and you could find a 2 bed/1 bath for under $1000 and split it. I'm talking about infill type apartments built sometime in the 1950's through 1970's in the urbanized core. These areas really aren't a safety problem if you're a guy. If you already own a car you could easily get by on $25k a year if you're young and willing to put off 'the gotta haves' until later in life.