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OP, I'll spare you the rolling-on-the-floor-laughing cartoon I usually post, for people with completely unrealistic expectations and income, because I think you're actually trying to be realistic. Have you researched room rents/apt. shares on Craigslist for SF? Check it out, and get back to us. Note that the "cheapest" (very relative term) parts of town are on the west side & SW side/Daly City.
Now, for the sake of trying to salvage a shred of hope from your scenario, could you tell us what you mean by extra income-generating opportunities relating to after-school activities? Are you talking about a side gig of some sort, through the university, or are you talking about the usual service sector part-time job, or whatever you could scrape up around town? That could make a different in the doability of your SF option, given that you're willing to live humbly.
RE: your loving beaches, bear in mind that the ocean in NorCal is colder than around Santa Barbara. Personally, I think there's a lot more to do around the greater Bay Area, but that comes with a price. Also, be aware that the traffic around the Bay can put a damper on the QOL, and access to amenities, though that can be worked around to some extent, if you don't have to deal with the usual 8-5 commute schedule.
Also note that neither of these jobs (except maybe the SB one) would allow you to save money for your own grad school education. But they'd look good on your grad school application, if you ever get around to that.
Also, I wonder if free tuition on a limited basis (usually 5 credit hours/semester or so) is part of your job perks. Most universities offer that. That would be one way to move forward toward your education goals. You could take one grad course per semester. I know people who have done entire degrees on that basis, even a PhD, as university employees. It's worth looking into.
Just throwing out some food for thought. And yeah, everybody upthread is right, that the SB offer comes out far ahead of the SF one. But if you'd really like to make the SF one work, you'll have to come up with a 2nd income source. And a 2nd job would mean you wouldn't have time to take a graduate course, if you were so inclined.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 03-16-2018 at 11:04 AM..
So would you say the cost of living in SF (aside from rent) is a lot higher than SB though? Because I read that SB is an extremely expensive place to live too.
Have you computed your actual take home pay after deducting Federal and California state income taxes? There are online calculators that will let you do that and I'd strongly advise you to use them before you proceed. Also, is your health insurance going to be 100% covered, or will you have to contribute to it? In making this decision, you need to look at your net income, not your gross income to decide if you can even make it in California.
The SF/Bay area has the highest cost of living in high cost California. SB, while expensive, is still going to be more manageable on a limited salary, especially with built in housing and board.
I also think SB is going to be closer to what you seem to be looking for in other ways. If it were me, that's the job I'd take.
Your mileage, of course, may vary. Good luck with your decision!
Have you computed your actual take home pay after deducting Federal and California state income taxes? There are online calculators that will let you do that and I'd strongly advise you to use them before you proceed. Also, is your health insurance going to be 100% covered, or will you have to contribute to it? In making this decision, you need to look at your net income, not your gross income to decide if you can even make it in California.
The SF/Bay area has the highest cost of living in high cost California. SB, while expensive, is still going to be more manageable on a limited salary, especially with built in housing and board.
I also think SB is going to be closer to what you seem to be looking for in other ways. If it were me, that's the job I'd take.
Your mileage, of course, may vary. Good luck with your decision!
Ding ding ding ding ding! RosieSD, in for the win, as usual!
Chiming in on Santa Barbara, good luck getting a side job, as you are competing with students from SBCC and UCSB. And you will absolutely need a car, as there is scant bus service. There is no seasonal change to speak of--it is SoCal--so no "fall foilage" and the forest areas are dry and brown. UCSB is known as a big party school and there is lots of alcohol and of course, legal weed. Most concerts at the SB Bowl and the few local festivals cost about $75-$100 per ticket.
Take the SB one, the value of the free room and board more than makes up the difference from 25k to 40k.
Do whatever you can to save some of that 25k and put it into an employer sponsored 401k (with a match hopefully) and if no dice there, open an IRA and start feeding that thing. Grad school savings could be another solid option, but you may find that these opportunities open the door for other higher paying options sooner rather than later. California needs teachers. You may end up moving again for another opportunity in a year or two that pays better and then you can really save for both retirement/school/house. That’s another reason why he free room and board are nice. In a year and a half if you decide to move to a better gig, no lease to end early and pay a fee I’m guessing.
SB and that area offer a lot of free or low cost activities that you can partake in, especially if you are outdoorsy and like the beach, mountains, hiking, etc..
You'll be tolerated in SB, and find some like-minded people. Ventura is more purple, SB is more bluish, but still purple. Doubtful in SF.
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5.) Hobbies: creative writing, reading, going to the theater (plays and movies both), cafe hopping, going to local festivals/events, being outdoors
Rediculous amount of this sort of stuff going on in SB for a town of it's size. More opportunities in SF, but it's not like SB is a cafe, theater, and festival desert. Quite the opposite. There's some sort of festival every week, it seems. Most are free entry, except for big music events and the like.
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6.) I LOVE beaches, forests, wilderness, open green spaces
SB beach beats SF beach. There are forests to the north if you have a car or can mooch rides. Plenty of hiking in the nearby mountains.
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7.) Weather-wise, I prefer a mild climate with plenty of sunny days but not too hot, not too cold; I get too hot more easily than I get cold though. I would enjoy seeing -some- seasonal changes too. Fall foliage in autumn, cool crispness and new flowers blooming in spring, etc.
This is SB, unless 75 degrees and sunny is too hot for you. The seasons on the west coast are: Sun, Sun, Marine Layer, Sun. Maybe a week or two of light rain and sub-60-degree high temperatures.
The poster that said SB can't be done without a car is wrong. The city is small and if you're single, outdoorsy, and reasonably fit, you can easily do the whole place with a bike and busses. There's cheap regular bus service to points south (Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and the SFV, where you can get the Orange Line into LA proper). You can also take the train, but it costs 10X what the long-range intra-county bus costs and the schedule is severly limited.
I'm definitely leaning more toward SB now and will probably choose it, but am going to look into a few possible cheap rooms to rent near the school in SF before officially making my decision.
As for the extra income opportunities, it's things like overtime pay for helping with after-school activities, and has things like 3 day trips where Associate Teachers are paid every hour they're there, so they can make $2k - $3k extra for trips like that alone.
Limp party scene? "As for the whole social scene, yeah people say you can have fun without being in IV or partying/getting drunk/having unrestrained sex, but honestly when it comes down to the core, UCSB's social life REVOLVES around partying, as if it weren't clear enough."
"The social life here is horrendous, it consists of mostly partying and drinking."
regular bus service to points south (Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and the SFV, where you can get the Orange Line into LA proper).
The bus from SB to Woodland Hills (closest Orange Line stop) takes 4h 15 min to 5 hr 10m. Don't make it seem convenient. OP needs to understand the vast distances between cities. If the job is at UCSB and OP lives in SB (could not afford to live in Isla Vista), sure hope OP is super fit--because the distance to "bike it" is 11.8 miles.
Still, I do agree that SB is all that OP can afford, barely at that.
I'm definitely leaning more toward SB now and will probably choose it, but am going to look into a few possible cheap rooms to rent near the school in SF before officially making my decision.
As for the extra income opportunities, it's things like overtime pay for helping with after-school activities, and has things like 3 day trips where Associate Teachers are paid every hour they're there, so they can make $2k - $3k extra for trips like that alone.
That would make a big difference for you, in SF, OP. That actually sounds like a pretty good gig, for what it is. That could add up to an extra $10 or $20K/year, if you really work it.
Watch out about cheap rooms near the SF school, though. There's a Chinese LL with a lot of units over there (you'll see Chinese in his ads), who lists cheap rents for a room, but then it turns out not to be a private room, but a double-up situation. If you see a listing that looks to be significantly below the general rates of the other places in the area, i.e. way below "market rate", it's too good to be true. A studio in a private home, like a mother-in-law unit can be a good deal.
I was planning on attending Columbia University next year for grad school, but since my financial aid package was quite grim, I looked for jobs instead, and I landed two amazing ones. They are two teaching fellowships, one in San Francisco and one in Santa Barbara. Both schools are fantastic, and when I visited, I had great rapport with the teachers and students at both.
The one in SF is offering me $40k with no room & board (with opportunities to earn extra money through after-school activities, etc), while the one in SB is offering $25k but with room & board provided on campus. Both offers are very appealing to me, but I've never lived in either city, and only have visited when interviewing on the campuses (so only for a couple days, didn't get to explore much).
It seems like both cities are beautiful, expensive, have great weather, and plenty of outdoor activities. Any advice on which would be preferable?
About me:
1.) 26 years old
2.) Bisexual male (more into women though)
3.) Not into drinking, drugs, or the club/party scene (honestly, I'm kind of a goody-two-shoes, though I'll drink at social dinners and such)
4.) Conservative-leaning moderate, politically-speaking
5.) Hobbies: creative writing, reading, going to the theater (plays and movies both), cafe hopping, going to local festivals/events, being outdoors
6.) I LOVE beaches, forests, wilderness, open green spaces
7.) Weather-wise, I prefer a mild climate with plenty of sunny days but not too hot, not too cold; I get too hot more easily than I get cold though. I would enjoy seeing -some- seasonal changes too. Fall foliage in autumn, cool crispness and new flowers blooming in spring, etc.
I feel like the two are pretty evenly split for me right now, but leaning toward SB. What do you guys think? Again, I haven't lived in or really visited either, so any first-hand opinions would be helpful. Thanks!
ETA: I know that $40k/$25k are both low salaries for the areas, but I'm not much of a spender and I think I can make either situation work.
for excitement and a real eye opening experience San Francisco can not be beat but $40,000 will not even come close to paying your basic costs much less give you any money to enjoy the experience. Santa Barbara is laid back, but still exciting and with so much of your living expenses covered I would grab that one. As for looking at a few cheap rooms in SF, be really careful, not all is what it seems but I think you understand that.
You like the beach. well the beaches in Santa Barbara are a lot more usable than in the bay area plus politically SF is so far to the left you can't imagine. Being a young man leaning even moderate might make you a stand out and not in a positive way.
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Note that the "cheapest" (very relative term) parts of town are on the west side & SW side/Daly City.
