Cost of Living in SD, Am I missing something?

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Agree with ER here. We have shared expenses and salaries before, which I think he has saved in his profile for the thread. On top of having our own expense sheet, I have found mint.com to be an interesting tool that I have linked to for the past few months to track everything over time.
Its a nice tool to have to compare notes with on my old school spreadsheet. It categorizes transactions from debit cards, CC's etc. They also support stock trading brokerages, mortgages, funds and other assets which calculate your total net worth at the end of the month. It really gives a nice snapshot.

Getting back to COL, I just dont think these basic financial fundamentals are exclusive to San Diego. This really applies to anywhere, especially where the COL can be considerably higher in some ways than other parts of the country. I dont see how laying those facts on the table are a bad thing. If it turns out someone reads it, does a spreadsheet and sees it might be too expensive before moving or buying a house, then I see that as being empowered.
JMHO, but I think many folks dont want to know the reality of their own finances and would rather 'wing it' which of course is totally ok.

To me 100k is ok and you could have a lot of fun around town. But outside of that, such as having a 'deep bench' like healthy savings, IRAs, saving for a down payment etc, it isnt all that great. But again, when it comes to managing finances, this might not be a high priority for many people. So with that being said, the 100k is perfectly fine.

Colleagues I know that earn ~ 100k, still means they are checking their bank account right before the next paycheck to make sure they still have enough to go out for lunch off campus. Plenty of people I know that are in that position and they have kids with a house. So ER is right in that with that kind of situation, yes it requires paying a little more attention to what comes in and goes out.
In other cities where COL is lower, that kind of dough might not even cause a flinch in seeing what goes in and goes out.

This is me to a "T" I sometimes feel a little bit of resentment to the people my age who were born and raised in CA and inherited money just by chance of their parents having had a house here. I've really had to work my way to my salary and had no savings or investments to start with, plus student loans etc. But for the most part, before I moved to CA (and with a much lower salary) I didn't have to think too much about the money I was spending on food, entertainment even vacations.

It's a different story now and very frustrating and I don't have kids to worry about. I did make some stupid financial mistakes but most of it happened after I moved to CA and didn't realize how much my expenses would be and in relation to my rent and take home pay (which was almost the same as it was in WA for 10,000 a year less...) long story short I aquired some high interest debt after moving here which now makes my next move in CA even harder than it should be for me.

I'm still not used to watching my spare change like this. That said I haven't really changed my lifestyle. I just live my lifestyle about 2 weeks of the month I'm still trying to figure out the long term plan the scariest part for me is not that I don't have money, I have a good reliable paycheck and can afford to live in CA, I just don't have a safety net and that keeps me up at night occasionally. Well, until I realize if I lost my job I could declare bankruptcy and live homeless in the nicest weather in the country

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by rgb123

This is me to a "T" I sometimes feel a little bit of resentment to the people my age who were born and raised in CA and inherited money just by chance of their parents having had a house here. I've really had to work my way to my salary and had no savings or investments to start with, plus student loans etc. But for the most part, before I moved to CA (and with a much lower salary) I didn't have to think too much about the money I was spending on food, entertainment even vacations.

It's a different story now and very frustrating and I don't have kids to worry about. I did make some stupid financial mistakes but most of it happened after I moved to CA and didn't realize how much my expenses would be and in relation to my rent and take home pay (which was almost the same as it was in WA for 10,000 a year less...) long story short I aquired some high interest debt after moving here which now makes my next move in CA even harder than it should be for me.

I'm still not used to watching my spare change like this. That said I haven't really changed my lifestyle. I just live my lifestyle about 2 weeks of the month I'm still trying to figure out the long term plan the scariest part for me is not that I don't have money, I have a good reliable paycheck and can afford to live in CA, I just don't have a safety net and that keeps me up at night occasionally. Well, until I realize if I lost my job I could declare bankruptcy and live homeless in the nicest weather in the country

rgb123,

GREAT post. Thanks so much for sharing. I think it's so good to just have a good grasp of your own personal situation. I can TOTALLY relate to the feeling of resentment. I remember having that in college. I was going to school with mostly upper class or upper middle class kids. Their parents paid for everything. I remember feeling a bit of resentment at their situation as most of them didn't even realize how fortunate they had it. Meanwhile I graduated with over $100k in student loans and other related debt.

The thing of it is that many people are like you where they ARE probably comfortable in that they are paying their bills every month, maybe even living in a nice place but as you mentioned, there isn't much of a safety net. Their "safety net" consists of their stable job. If they lose that job, then that safety net is gone in many cases.

At least with many friends that I know that formally lived in San Diego, they were in the same position where from the outside looking in, they were doing ok. Most of them were living in North County in nice homes, they had good jobs, drove nice cars, took nice vacations. But with the loss of a job from them or their spouse, their comfortable life all of a sudden turned in to having to move out of San Diego.

I'm NOT saying that this is how it is for everyone. But I know for many it is the situation.

[Ultrarunner]

For many, cost of Housing is the big variable.

Offsetting all or much of the cost can be done if you are willing.

From personal experience I have reduced or almost eliminated my costs by working as a assistant resident manager at an apartment complex which cut my housing expense in half.

I have also rented a room, house sat for 6 months and bought a duplex living in the one bedroom cottage in back and rented out the 3-bedroom main home. The rent from the house paid covered the mortgage and I was able to depreciate/expense much of the cost of the property.

Also, the weather is mild in San Diego... cars don't rust away from salted winter roads... a maintained car can easily last twice or three times as long compared to some other parts of the country.

Lower utility bills could be another savings... never lived in a home with A/C and can go most of the year without turning on the heat.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by The Native 1

Hey Everyone,

My wife and I have wanted to move to SD for years now and I am still looking into options. I need a little input from some people that live in your fine city. I have visited SD for many years because I have family out there, but I need some opinions from others that I am not related to about the cost of living.

I read here Best big-city neighborhoods - Pacific Beach, San Diego (8) - Money Magazine that the average median salary in PB is only around 64K a year. I am wondering if/how this is true considering the high cost of housing out there?

My wife and I currently have no kids, no car payments or really any debt other than our mortgage. Between the 2 of us we make 100K a year and we live in Charlotte where the cost of housing/living is much less.

I am just trying to figure out how the heck someone out there making 64K a year can afford to live in SD? Are they renting and not buying or maybe just getting by with less?

Reading this number gave us some hope that maybe it is possible to live out there, but would like some real life input from other posters that actually have experience. Thanks for your info!

Remember, median is different than average and many of those below the $64,000 are probably getting some kind of assistance. I don't mean someone making 60,000 is but there are those even making less that do depend on the government. Also, many in the San Diego area living on less are retired, have homes paid for or close to paid for and do not spend money the way younger people and families do. So you really can't use the median or average salary as much of a guideline.

Can you live on $100,000 and still be comfortable? Sure you can, but remember, the house you get will be about 1/2 as large, if that than what you have in Charlotte. Sooner of later you will need to have a car payment and you might have to be a little careful how you spend your money, so there will be something left when an emergency comes up or when you want to have extra cash for a vacation for instance.

I don't know how much you know about CA or why you are so anxious to live in San Diego, but if you are willing to sacrifice and realize, there will be a lot of people making more than you I think it is very doable.