How much money is needed to live comfortably in San Diego (rental car, apartments)

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

its not how much u make, its how big are the holes in the bottom of your money bag.

Ain't that the truth. Like I have said before, I know someone who's an E-4 who write a check to pay for the car he wanted to buy. And then I know people who make $80K and who are mooching off others to pay their bar tabs.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Exactly Huckleberry. I work in a great industry (cellular) but it can also be VERY volatile and can literally change course in a year. I try to limit liabilities as much as possible because you never know what could happen.
I have heard too many people say 'I wish I never bought that expensive house' or 'that Maserati or boat', but never hear them say 'I wish I never saved for retirement' lol

Granted you still have to have a balance in life, but yeah, like earlyretirement I have seen obscene 'overnight' money go up and down. And the down was not nearly as cool as the up and being down sure lasted a heck of a lot longer. Almost unrecoverable.

let me esplain u. i worked in a high stress job lots of guys died on the job one in front of me. last one was 20 years my junior my former mentor, all stress related i retired early 5 years ago. w/o some frugality and planning and austerity impossible. im having a good life now. (although my friends say im still kinda tight, jack benny LOL).

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

let me esplain u. i worked in a high stress job lots of guys died on the job one in front of me. last one was 20 years my junior my former mentor, all stress related i retired early 5 years ago. w/o some frugality and planning and austerity impossible. im having a good life now. (although my friends say im still kinda tight, jack benny LOL).

Huckbleberry,

Life is too short. I agree with you. I also met several people that died early from stress from work. I worked many years of literally 120 hour work weeks. 17-18 hours a day literally every day of the week for a few years on end. I joke to my friends I crammed about 15 years of work into 5 years. That's why I say owning your own business is not for everyone. Those that own your own business know sometimes you are always "on". It can be a LOT of stress.

My friends thought I was crazy at the time but I would have rather worked those kinds of brutal hours while I was younger before I had kids. Once I had kids I knew it had to end and it was worth it.

Life is too short.

[Cardiff Kook]

Originally Posted by MovingAloha

Mahalo Josephine! I hope for all the best for you and your son in DC. In addition to higher salaries, there is so much that cost nothing to very little WRT entertainment in the area.

I don't know about this. The salaries are a little higher (depends on the industry), but the COL is definitely more expensive in DC than San Diego. Not to mention, there are no beaches and not as many outdoor activities in DC as there are in San Diego that cost nothing. You are trapped inside half the year trying to avoid the frigid cold or extreme heat. Which in turn raises your utility bills through the roof, which is a problem most people in San Diego don't have.

Gasoline is one of the few things that I think is more expensive in California than DC (and taxes)

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by GMUAlum08

I don't know about this. The salaries are a little higher (depends on the industry), but the COL is definitely more expensive in DC than San Diego. Not to mention, there are no beaches and not as many outdoor activities in DC as there are in San Diego that cost nothing. You are trapped inside half the year trying to avoid the frigid cold or extreme heat. Which in turn raises your utility bills through the roof, which is a problem most people in San Diego don't have.

Gasoline is one of the few things that I think is more expensive in California than DC (and taxes)

True, good salaries are job specific, but I remember DC as having an abundance of job possibilities in the public sector and quite a bit of Free entertainment (Museums, etc).

....and I certainly agree that SD has it beat with regards to weather, mountains and ocean. But if you can put that aside and ignore those pesky traffic patterns in the DC area, it's an okay place!

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

.And "only being 23 years old" shouldn't preclude you from learning basic principles of understanding how much income comes in each month and how much in expenses goes out each month. That's the very basics of what EVERYBODY should be doing and figuring out. Time flies by so very quickly. 23 turns into 30 which turns into 40 which turns into 50. It all goes by so quickly and if you don't start planning for it at your age...it's too late later in life.

This bears repeating. I wish we could drill this into the heads of all people age 20 years and younger. I know people in their 50s who earn/earned decent incomes and have little or nothing saved for retirement. Then people get into their 50s, they often lose their good paying jobs which they aren't able to replace, and they live out the rest of their lives in poverty or semi-poverty.

OP, I am glad you are thinking about this stuff now. You definitely don't want to be like most in the Baby Boom generation who thought they could do whatever they wanted and everything would somehow work out in the end. As is becoming painfully obvious, things aren't working out too well for the vast majority of those who thought that way.

[Ultrarunner]

A home paid for was the traditional American Retirement Model for years and for many, it was the bulk of their estate.

Never remember so many seasoned citizens taking out HELOC or equity loans until starting about 10 years ago...

I think it was probably very difficult to do before credit loosened.

Still remember the ordeal of getting my first mortgage with American Savings...

Home had to appraise, have a structural pest clearance, circuit breakers as opposed to Edison Fuses, etc...

I had to have 3 years continuous employment in the same field with the last two years with the same employer, 20% down plus closing and 6 months of living expenses in the bank... in addition to low debt to income ratio and no late payment history...

Just about all that went out the window 10 years ago... each night there would be messages on the machine soliciting loans... had a neighbor that was 76 take out a 30 year adjustable loan...

I was called foolish for sending in extra principal each month to speed up repayment...

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by MovingAloha

True, good salaries are job specific, but I remember DC as having an abundance of job possibilities in the public sector and quite a bit of Free entertainment (Museums, etc).

....and I certainly agree that SD has it beat with regards to weather, mountains and ocean. But if you can put that aside and ignore those pesky traffic patterns in the DC area, it's an okay place!

You can't put aside the traffic. It's like LA, where rush hour starts at 6 and goes until 10 and then starts at 3 and ends at 7. And even on weekends, it sucks. The distance from my condo to my brother's house was about the same as the distance from downtown to Kearny Mesa. Here, in rush hour, that's a 30 minute drive, tops.

In DC, during non-rush traffic, it's a 45 minute drive. In rush hour, it's an hour.

And she lives in PG County, so the museums and so on that are free are at least a half hour drive without traffic.

Those public sector jobs are not so easy to come by with the government contracting. Now if you can hook up with a government contractor or consultant, you're good.

[miimaii]

hi i was offered a job in sheraton san diego hotel as an intern and the salary they offered is 10 dollars per hour based on 40 hours per week.is that enough to live by?im from another country and will live alone with no relatives around.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by miimaii

hi i was offered a job in sheraton san diego hotel as an intern and the salary they offered is 10 dollars per hour based on 40 hours per week.is that enough to live by?im from another country and will live alone with no relatives around.

How long is the internship for? The summer or a year?

$10 should be fine, but you might need to live with roommates if you want to live downtown and walk to work.