Young, shy, petite girl, is San Diego a no? (Oakland: apartment, for rent)

[valgal123]

the studio apartment for 413 a month is in the Gaslamp area. its the cheapest place i could find. i looked on craigslist and everything is far, far away from the whole foods. i have a 2001 suzuki. well taken care of. 160,000 miles.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by valgal123

i only spend 30 a week on food and that i don't want to by an 8 dollar shirt etc.

.

Wow, I missed that the first time around. You only spend $30 a week on food?? Just out of curiosity, what is your typical meal breakfast, lunch and dinner? That is a very low budget to spend for an entire week.

I was always curious...do Whole Foods employees get any breaks/discounts on food? Also, what do they do with all that food each day that they don't sell? Do they donate it to the poor or just throw it out?

My aunt works at a lower end Whole Foods type of place and she told me they aren't allowed to donate it and the employees can't take it home...that they have to toss it all out at the end of each day... Seemed like a waste to me...

[Clevelandgal]

I read something about Whole foods being a favorite for "dumpster diving" with produce and the food is not actually put in the dumpster in most cases. People know when they put it out and go get it. Its a good thing b/c it is sad to see it go to waste if it not spoiled. I don't think they can donate it unless it is pre expiration.

[bouncethelight]

Originally Posted by valgal123

the studio apartment for 413 a month is in the Gaslamp area. its the cheapest place i could find. i looked on craigslist and everything is far, far away from the whole foods.

I've lived in the Gaslamp District, and the nice places are very very nice, and the crummy places are awful. You really can have the best of the best and the worst in San Diego, side by side.

When looking at rents for an area it's usually best to toss out the lowest - especially if it's considerably lower than everything else. If it's that low, there's probably a reason, and it probably won't work for you. So while it's fine to go look at it - don't count on it being the solution to your housing.

Seriously, from how you've described yourself, I would think you'd be much happier in Hillcrest or Kensington, or North Park or Normal Heights. The Gaslamp District is party central on the weekends, and a lot of fun - but you'll find more like-minded people a little north of downtown.

[bouncethelight]

Originally Posted by valgal123

the studio apartment for 413 a month is in the Gaslamp area. its the cheapest place i could find.

Okay, I just searched on CraigsList since $413 is such an odd amount, and I was curious what you could possibly get for that, and it turns out it's the Lincoln Hotel, which is a bit of a special case.

Right in the ad it says "Applicants can Only Make $13,005 per year." and if you qualify the rent varies from $360 to $413. It's a very pretty little hotel on the outside - I remember it well! And it's right on 5th Street, which is the center of all the action.

But the drawbacks are that the rooms are tiny, you have to share a bathroom, you can't have overnight guests, they don't accept full-time students, and you have to make very very little, in order to qualify. Perfect for the right person - but definitely not for every young single girl moving to San Diego.

If you want to follow them on Twitter... Lincoln Hotel (@lincolnhotel) on Twitter

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by bouncethelight

But the drawbacks are that the rooms are tiny

That's an understatement..... It says on their listing the rooms are only 180 sq. feet. Yikes..that is small...


But on the upside, that is a DARN cheap rate. I was going to say..."i'm not sure how they can even make money charging those types of rates", but it looks like it operates as a non-profit entity or partnered with one so making money might not be their primary goal. But you should see if you will quality to live here. It's sad to think if you're only making $20k a year but it might be too much for this place...

But based on the limited reviews on Yelp, it sounds like it's clean and safe for a single, young female.

[moved]

The Lincoln Hotel is an SRO, they don't have apartments, only rooms, they're rent restricted, and some of their rooms are only 110sqft. SRO's are mainly for people on fixed incomes that can afford an apartment, or people that make very little money.

A lot of the SRO's are rent restricted, and your income is too high for them. If that's all you can afford in rent, all it'll get you is a room in a bedbug and cockroach infested SRO in the city. Your best bet is to look for a roommate situation in the Hillcrest area, then you can walk to work. You'll have to raise your rent budget to $500 and up for something decent, plus your car insurance will probably be higher here.

If you live in one, you'll be spending your food money on eating out. Some of them have tiny refrigerators in the rooms, and a community kitchen with restricted hours. Are there openings in the Hillcrest store, and have you asked about a transfer to San Diego yet?

Where do you plan to park your car? There's no parking in Gaslamp, unless you live in a condo with a garage. Plus, after 6:00pm, everyone that doesn't have parking where they lives parks on a meter until morning, and people are parking and going to the bars/restaurants. You'd constantly be moving your car, having to park on meters or in a garage. Both of those options can be very costly, along with the parking tickets that you get for not moving your car. The meter readers are ticket happy downtown.

[valgal123]

thank you everyone this is sooooooooooo helpful!!!

i need another 300 hours before i can transfer and my parents want me to save about 6,000 before leaving so im gonna get another job. yeah, my original thought was to pay about 550 in rent there in a home with roommates.

yes i spend 35 in food and then my discount takes off 5. i can live on 40 with food comfortably, but im trying to save.

[Kaligirl]

I wanted to wish you good luck on your search. I like your spirit and motivation. You seem to have a good head on your sholders and are trying to make informed decisions. I moved here when I was 21, to north county and would research things the way you do. So I just had to reply to your post, although I don't have as much helpful info to add as some others here. I had a built in roommate, as I was newly wed, but we too found ways to make it work. We started out in Carlsbad, as we were told that was the place to be, beautiful, upscale and near the beach. But what we found there was the upscale in Carlsbad wasn't affordable and we settled for the lower end there. Then we found a gem of an area in the next city over that everyone tried to steer us away originally, because in Vista we could afford the best area there.

So, my point is, maybe in the heart of San Diego City isn't the best area to start with, you mentioned attending school, maybe it would be better to focus on an area that is closer to that and maybe that second job you mentioned you'd look for.

Or maybe there is another whole foods option.It seems there may also be a whole foods in La Jolla, CA. This is also a beautiful beach community, albeit expensive, but maybe an option with the right plan, depending on rent and where you plan to go to school.

I have heard there are many university students that rent an entire house and each one rents a portion of the house, ie one students pays more for the master bedroom, another might rent the spare room, or another will even the den or livingroom or library portion of a house. It allows them to get into a nicer and safe area without near the individual costs. It may mean losing a bit of the privacy factor for a while until you find that second job etc., but it could get your foot in the door so to speak. It could also be a great way to make friends or at the very least peers your age who can tell you where things are located etc. As for the privacy, with everyone either working or going to school fulltime, or both, they are hardly ever home long anyway.

I tried researching this out of curiosity and the the website oodle seemed to be a good way to search those types of rents. You may want to post a note in the forum here "calling all university students" to give you the scoop on this practice and see if it's a good way to rent or not, etc. You may get quite a bit of feed back on how the starving students manage to live and work and play here and what your best options might be. Maybe call the local campus for information, I would think they'd be able to tell you the best options for housing etc.

You seem to have quite a few options for a whole food location through out all of CA and some of them are true dream spots, San Diego county is definitely one of them. Just inland of the coastal morning clouds is the most ideal weather in the USA. And shy or not you will find most people, although busy in a fast pace lifestyle, willing to be helpful and personable. I wish you every luck in this fun adventure you are about to take on.

[valgal123]

hmmmmm, i really miss the ocean (i grew up on the water) and I hate washington weather, but i am starting to think this just isn't worth all the trouble and discomfort.

yes i wanted a fresh start

yes i wanted to feel the accomplishment of being completely on my own, but....

maybe, just maybe, i should stay where i am. gosh darn it