Is 58K/year doable in SJ with 2 kids?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

There's so much you can do for free in the SJ area, though. If it's only going to be for two years, that's not that long. Papa Murphy's take and bake pizzas are great and kids love them. Get Netflix and eat pizza and watch movies at home. Take the kids to Santa Cruz.

I retired last year from an apt mgr position in Santa Clara. Most landlords will want you to make 3 times the rent in gross wages. This means rent of $1600 for you. You can probably get a landlord to rent to you for an $1800 apt, but just keep this potential limit in mind.

If you do a search on Craigslist for the south bay, max $1600 rent and 2 bedrooms, you will get some hits. You'd have to check them out to see if they'd be in safe areas, etc., and if the commute might be too far. It's not impossible to find one, but will be a bit of a challenge.

Here are the results I got. I sorted by most expensive fist to try and weed out the roommate ads and other junk:

Craigslist results 2 bedrooms max $1600 in South Bay

[Mike3531]

My kids are 2yrs and 7 months respectively, so I wouldn't have to worry about living in an area with good schools for at least a couple years. Does anyone know where the cheapest areas of the city would be for rent? NoMoreSnowForMe, is the southbay typically the cheapest area of town? As far as vacationing and recreation goes, neither my fiance or I are accustomed to expensive vacations, usually a day trip to San Francisco to sight see or one of the amusement parks in SoCal.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by Mike3531

My kids are 2yrs and 7 months respectively, so I wouldn't have to worry about living in an area with good schools for at least a couple years. Does anyone know where the cheapest areas of the city would be for rent? NoMoreSnowForMe, is the southbay typically the cheapest area of town? As far as vacationing and recreation goes, neither my fiance or I are accustomed to expensive vacations, usually a day trip to San Francisco to sight see or one of the amusement parks in SoCal.

By South Bay, I am referring to the entire area from Santa Cruz to Palo Alto. That's how we section the area in our minds and how Craigslist is set up. You'd be interested in the San Jose, Santa Clara area to be close to work, if you can afford it. If not, see what is on the search list I did for you, then use Google maps to see if it's too far of a commute.

I had to Google PwC to find out where you will work, but it looks like there are a few offices. If you tell people on this forum where your office is, they can help you figure out where to live. Commuting is a real bear in the area, so they can help you figure out the best place to live with the commute in mind.

I don't know San Jose. I know some parts are really bad, but I'll let the folk that live in San Jose advise you about cheap, safe areas in San Jose.

I'm more familiar with Santa Clara, as I lived there. You can't go wrong in any area of Santa Clara, except a couple places right on Lafayette Street right north of El Camino. They just look kind of ghetto. The police department is amazing. You call them and they actually show up. This is not the case in San Jose, which is really hurting for money for more cops. So, if you can swing any rental in Santa Clara, I say go for it. And the commute to San Jose isn't bad at all.

Here's a list of 2+ bedrooms in Santa Clara max $1800:

SF bay area apts/housing for rent - craigslist

Your family would be safe in any of them, in my opinion. I would personally opt for Santa Clara, just because it's really safe, and the location is great.

Will your fiance have a car? If not she'll want to be somewhere where she can take the kids to play within walking distance. I saw there were some apartments on Homestead Ave in Santa Clara, right across from Central Park. This is where the big main library is, and there's a swimming pavilion right behind it, and a huge park with the rec center there, too, where they have classes, etc. Would be a great location for her and the kids.

[Local123]

"I don't know San Jose. I know some parts are really bad, but I'll let the folk that live in San Jose advise you about cheap, safe areas in San Jose."

The vast majority of SJ is nice and because of that expensive. As with any larger city there are areas to avoid but in general it's going to be expensive because it is desirable. Not sure "cheap" is going to happen considering small homes in the crappiest area of SJ are 400k+.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by Mike3531

My kids are 2yrs and 7 months respectively, so I wouldn't have to worry about living in an area with good schools for at least a couple years. Does anyone know where the cheapest areas of the city would be for rent? NoMoreSnowForMe, is the southbay typically the cheapest area of town? As far as vacationing and recreation goes, neither my fiance or I are accustomed to expensive vacations, usually a day trip to San Francisco to sight see or one of the amusement parks in SoCal.

A trip to a SoCal Amusement park isn't a cheap vacation. Seriously, I would LOVE to take my kids on a trip like that this winter, but we just can't make it work financially. And on that salary a day trip to SF would be a major fiscal outing (unless you pack your food, find one of the magically hidden free parking spots and are just going to Golden Gate park or somewhere else free). IMHO. I don't mean to be a downer, just setting some expectations. I hope you get an offer for far more than that and it works out wonderfully for you.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I don't know San Jose. I know some parts are really bad, but I'll let the folk that live in San Jose advise you about cheap, safe areas in San Jose.

There are only 3 cities in the Bay Area. Of the three, San Jose has the lowest violent crime rate by a million miles, about 1/2 of SF, and about 1/5 of Oakland.

Santa Clara and Mountain View and Emeryville and Berkeley and Sausalito and San Mateo and their ilks are mere towns when compared to the size, power, and influence of the Three Cities. As little villages no bigger than the size of my bathrooms, they are expected to be super safe.

And the words "cheap" and "safe" do not go together here in the Bay Area, and that goes for San Jose as well. In fact, you can remove the word "cheap" entirely LOL, it does not really exist here.

$58K, is that net take home pay, or gross pay? If it's net, then it's doable. If it's gross, don't even bother thinking about it.

It just CANNOT be done on that salary, unless you have lived here in the Bay Area with a good support network and own your own place that you bought 20 years ago on the cheap--and even those people are on their way out.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Mike3531

My kids are 2yrs and 7 months respectively, so I wouldn't have to worry about living in an area with good schools for at least a couple years. Does anyone know where the cheapest areas of the city would be for rent? NoMoreSnowForMe, is the southbay typically the cheapest area of town? As far as vacationing and recreation goes, neither my fiance or I are accustomed to expensive vacations, usually a day trip to San Francisco to sight see or one of the amusement parks in SoCal.

The cheapest area is in East SJ, but the quality of life just isn't there. Plus, your car insurance rates will be higher and the rent savings will be pretty small.

The best idea is to live as close as you can to your job. If you can get by with only one car between the two of you, then that would be a significant savings.

Even so, rents here are horrible. As others said, a 1BR may be more feasible than a 2BR. But I don't know if anyone would rent to 4 people in a 1BR.

You would definitely not be living anything resembling the typical American lifestyle on 58K. If you like "beating the system" or "living outside the box", or at least like a good challenge, then it could work. The key is to find an affordable place to live. I like what someone else said about an intentional community, but I don't know of any in the area (haven't looked, though).

Personally, I wouldn't do it...but then I would never have kids either...I don't know how people handle the stress. Because of the high housing costs, this is most definitely not a family friendly area.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

A trip to a SoCal Amusement park isn't a cheap vacation. Seriously, I would LOVE to take my kids on a trip like that this winter, but we just can't make it work financially. And on that salary a day trip to SF would be a major fiscal outing (unless you pack your food, find one of the magically hidden free parking spots and are just going to Golden Gate park or somewhere else free). IMHO. I don't mean to be a downer, just setting some expectations. I hope you get an offer for far more than that and it works out wonderfully for you.

I second this. Between gas & parking, just going to SF can easily cost $30 and you haven't even done anything yet. They even charge for street parking on Sundays now. BART & CalTrain fares into SF have also gone, up, up, up as well.

Like another poster said, unless you get some kind of miraculous deal on the rent, you literally won't be going anywhere on 58K. No SF trips. No SoCal amusement parks. If you want to not go in debt, you'll be living a quasi-monastic existence (by American standards).

[RecentGrad1]

Yup. The only way you are going to make this work is with what some might call 3rd-world living conditions. I'm talking renting a studio apartment, not owning a car (biking/taking mass transit everywhere), very cheap entertainment, cooking all your meals, etc. Basically what I do now. It would take guts to make a family live like this though.

[fashionguy]

I always think the Bay area COL thing is way overblown and the Bay area people's view of the COL in other parts of the country is WAY off (I mean I have friends in the Bay area who believes you can buy a decent 3000 square feet house for 100k in major cities of Texas. Come on. Common sense? The builders there are no charity!!!!) but for your situation I'd say it is going to be tough.