Living in SF (working in SoMa) on 19K? (San Francisco, Oakland: to rent, health insurance)

[kiplingif]

Hello all,
I've visited this forum many times over the years and gotten lots of helpful info just from lurking. The day has finally come to sign up.

So, a bit about myself. I just turned 26, I'm a veteran, and I am graduating from college in a few weeks. I live in the Midwest and really like the idea of service. I have some further plans for graduate school in the future, but I really sold myself on the idea of serving in AmeriCorps. I applied in many places all around the country, and it has come down to whether or not I accept a job in San Francisco.

The job itself is in SoMa and just a few blocks from a Bart stop. I don't mind a long commute. Here is the problem, my pay would only be $19,080 for the entire year. That is before taxes. So, my first issue is trying to figure out how much to take out for taxes off the top. Anyone have an idea? Even if we conservatively say it is only 20% off (I've been going to school on the GI Bill, which is tax free, so I honestly have no idea what I'd pay) then that leaves $15,264 for 12 months.

$1272 (estimated after tax) a month, living in San Francisco. My gut tells me this is basically a no go. As far as I know, I'd qualify for food stamps, so...maybe an extra little bit per month for food. But, that is basically it.

Can those of you in the area be honest with me. Is it even worth trying to do at this wage? My heart is in the right place and I know I'd do some good with this organization, but.....a man has to be able to eat.

I've been looking at even just renting a room in a house (through Craigslist) and it seems like it'd be incredibly tight. Part of me wants to justify trying to do it, but part of me says discretion is the better part of valor and I'd be better off finding real work there (or elsewhere) and finding another way to give back.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

[mayorhaggar]

If they aren't providing housing, that would be difficult. You might be able to find roommates for around $450-500 a month in Berkeley or Oakland, and if you ate ramen every day it might be doable. But riding BART is expensive, from Oakland it's $140 a month--you could do the casual carpool to save about $70 to $90 a month. I'm actually making a similar wage right now doing crappy part-time temp work in LA (waiting to hear back about a better job) and my taxes seem to be about 11% in total, state and federal and medicare etc.

Any way that you could do an Americorp job somewhere else? $300 a week would last you a lot longer somewhere like Georgia or whatever. Seems if they are going to be so stingy with a job in SF they should provide housing or at least transit passes.

[AlohaTerry]

Absolutely not.

"I live in the Midwest and really like the idea of service."

SF will eat you up and spit you out.

You have people here asking if they can survive on 75K a year.

You will be under 200% of the Federal Poverty Limit for singles... as a nurse I know that qualifies you for services that are for people... who are basically... dirt poor. You will be under this national limit in one of the most expensive places in the world.

You will be moving out here with, apparently, no support structure.

You will have a job... with I assume... no health insurance.

I could go on... and on... and on...

Seriously... bad idea.

Better idea. Make 100K a year. Donate 50K/year to a soup kitchen.

That's a whole lot of soup. =)

[beb0p]

You'll have to take on a roommate (or two) and you'll have to live in a higher crime area. It's possible to rent a room in West Oakland or less desirable parts of Emeryville or Berkeley (somewhere close to BART) for around $550/month. Your share of the PG&E and Internet is likely around $50 a month. BART is about $170 a month. Obviously you will not have a car. So that leaves about $500 left over for food (and maybe a cell phone), or roughly $16.70 a day. You'll be eating fast food/cooking your own food a lot. And you definitely cannot afford to go with friends/coworkers to bars and such.

If that's ok with you, I say go for it.

P.S. Assuming I didn't forget to include some other necessary cost that I might have.
.

[kiplingif]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

If they aren't providing housing, that would be difficult. You might be able to find roommates for around $450-500 a month in Berkeley or Oakland, and if you ate ramen every day it might be doable. But riding BART is expensive, from Oakland it's $140 a month--you could do the casual carpool to save about $70 to $90 a month. I'm actually making a similar wage right now doing crappy part-time temp work in LA (waiting to hear back about a better job) and my taxes seem to be about 11% in total, state and federal and medicare etc.

Any way that you could do an Americorp job somewhere else? $300 a week would last you a lot longer somewhere like Georgia or whatever. Seems if they are going to be so stingy with a job in SF they should provide housing or at least transit passes.

Hey, thank you for taking the time to reply. I didn't realize riding across from Oakland was so much more expensive on Bart.

Thanks for the estimation on taxes. Makes things slightly rosier, but not by much.

As for AmeriCorps in other places, I did apply and get accepted to others. Actually, with this same organization, there is an opening in Oakland, but it only pays $14,520 (before taxes), so I imagined the answer would be much the same.

I also got offered a job in Monterey, and it pays around $927 a month before taxes. It also seems that it'd not be enough to really live on.

I am honestly starting to wonder if anyone can complete AmeriCorps without going into debt or begging their parents for money

Originally Posted by AlohaTerry

Absolutely not.

"I live in the Midwest and really like the idea of service."

SF will eat you up and spit you out.

You have people here asking if they can survive on 75K a year.

You will be under 200% of the Federal Poverty Limit for singles... as a nurse I know that qualifies you for services that are for people... who are basically... dirt poor. You will be under this national limit in one of the most expensive places in the world.

You will be moving out here with, apparently, no support structure.

You will have a job... with I assume... no health insurance.

I could go on... and on... and on...

Seriously... bad idea.

Better idea. Make 100K a year. Donate 50K/year to a soup kitchen.

That's a whole lot of soup. =)

Haha, I don't think it'd chew me up and spit me out. I was just pointing out I'm studying here in the Midwest and this is where I'd be relocating from. But that is a chat for another thread, haha.

I would have health insurance. Not great health insurance, but health insurance none the less.

Basically, your post was what I was more or less thinking to myself, I just needed to hear it from someone else, if that makes sense?

As for your last points, I think that is what the biggest thing is to me. I can do more good living up to my "earnings potential" elsewhere and then find a way to give back.

Thank you, sincerely, for your candor.

Originally Posted by beb0p

You'll have to take on a roommate (or two) and you'll have to live in a higher crime area. It's possible to rent a room in West Oakland or less desirable parts of Emeryville or Berkeley (somewhere close to BART) for around $550/month. Your share of the PG&E and Internet is likely around $50 a month. BART is about $170 a month. Obviously you will not have a car. So that leaves about $500 left over for food (and maybe a cell phone), or roughly $16.70 a day. You'll be eating fast food/cooking your own food a lot. And you definitely cannot afford to go with friends/coworkers to bars and such.

If that's ok with you, I say go for it.

P.S. Assuming I didn't forget to include some other necessary cost that I might have.
.

Hmm, thanks for your breakdown. The more I think on it, the more I think I've just sold myself on the idea of "service before self" and kind of put on the blinders of being realistic about things. I think the biggest thing for me was realizing this job would pay both below the poverty line, and below what minimum wage is in the city. That clearly signifies a problem, haha. In the end, if I could come out ahead financially by working a minimum wage job doing X, then all I'd really get out of it was the nice feeling of helping others, and something to put on a resume/grad school. I am thinking that both of those things can probably be done without having to create such a financial hardship for myself.


Thank you to all of you for your input. As I said, I was already considering it was a no go, and this helped me to clarify that it is.

[mdwstrnkid]

Is this a full-time job? If so, you should be aware the minimum wage in San Francisco is $10.24/hour. It sounds like you would not be making that if you are working full-time.

[DocGoldstein]

Find roomies quick. That's the only way you'll make it in S.F.

[0'Farrell]

Lets just say you would be walking around in the Tenderloin begging fr money.

[jade408]

I can't even fathom. I remember money feeling a little tight when I was making $35K. I say no.

[ashlandbus]

You can do it. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. I did VISTA once and lived on $12k that year... it was Montana, granted. My wife is an Americorps VISTA now here in Oakland, so I know the community here well... they are really close and look out for one another. We have Americorps and Vista friends in Oakland and SF.Most are on food stamps, which will help you about $250 a month, I imagine. I think Americorps direct service is a little more than VISTA, but VISTA's get about $1300 take home a month. If you choose the position, there will be resources to get you connected to others in SF and surrounding locales before you start. Those that do it in SF, share homes/rent rooms either together or other non-Americorps. you can do it for less than $500/mo., according to what I have heard. Granted, it isn't easy, but if you don't have any other commitments, then you should be ok. Don't you get some money for being a veteran?

Also, good for you for doing this. I realize that doing VISTA was one of the best decisions I made. It threw me to the wolves right out of school giving me the opportunity to have a tremndous amount of responsibility and design a program that affected thousands of low-income folks, helped me figure out what I wanted to do in the long-term, and gave me invaluable experience that I use in my job and personal life today. That, combined with your veteran experience, will make you an extremely well-rounded person. Not to mention, those you will meet will be amazing, dedicated, passionate people. There are so many people that can use your commitment to service.

There are a ton of Americorps folks all over the bay and they do it... most without any other financial support. You can too... don't forget, you also get $5k towards existing student loans or upcoming school, so you have that too.