Help with move to Monterey (San Francisco, Salinas: apartments, rentals, car insurance)

[SpinnersEnd]

Hi California,

I'm a single 27 year old guy with no real responsibilities other than to care for myself, with debt only around 10K, and I was offered a job right at 70K in the Monterey area. Great! Or so I thought.

After doing my research, I was alarmed that my estimate take-home amount is only about $50K. This doesn't include how much I'd pay for health care, which is a shared expense with me and my employer. The salary seems low for California, but being a native Floridian, I'm a little naive when it comes to California salaries and costs.

I guess my question to you all would be, is $50K something I can live off comfortably in Monterey? I want to be able to pay my bills, eat out a few times a week, save a little money, and explore on the weekends. I'm not talking about trips to San Francisco and Yosemite every weekend, but to the surrounding areas every once in a while. I do have a car and plan to keep it, so car insurance will be a factor.

My other concern is this: I'm a gay man. While my sexuality doesn't define me by any means, can anyone speak to the gay scene in Monterey? I don't frequent nightclubs but knowing whether or not there's any sort of gay population would be nice.

Any advice would be fantastic. Please feel free to ask questions that would help us figure this out. Thanks so much!

[Snort]

You'd do okay as a single person in Monterey (maybe this thread will eventually migrate to its natural area...) but you won't be saving a ton of money. You definitely have to get creative regarding housing because it's likely to be more costly than most parts of FL.
It's a tolerant crowd in that part of CA, so no worries there, but I don't know if there's much of a gay scene or any kind of scene in Monterey. It's a pretty laid-back town with lots of natural beauty. Just up the road, you'll find a more lively scene in Santa Cruz.
So much to see in the area, if you appreciate nature, that it's worth the experience of living there and taking it all in.
Life's best moments and "money" are mutually exclusive.

[SpinnersEnd]

Originally Posted by Snort

You'd do okay as a single person in Monterey (maybe this thread will eventually migrate to its natural area...) but you won't be saving a ton of money. You definitely have to get creative regarding housing because it's likely to be more costly than most parts of FL.
It's a tolerant crowd in that part of CA, so no worries there, but I don't know if there's much of a gay scene or any kind of scene in Monterey. It's a pretty laid-back town with lots of natural beauty. Just up the road, you'll find a more lively scene in Santa Cruz.
So much to see in the area, if you appreciate nature, that it's worth the experience of living there and taking it all in.
Life's best moments and "money" are mutually exclusive.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! The Monterey County forum is infrequently used, so I thought this forum might give my post some more visibility. Your point about saving money really struck me, because I do need to be able to save money. My employer contributes to retirement for me,and so do I. However, that doesn't help me build up a savings account. Definitely something for me to consider. Hmm...

[blueskywalker]

I could certainly do well with 50K! It's the housing cost (needless to say) that will be a challenge.
Be prepared to pay a lot more money for a lot less home in this area. Live simply and you'll be fine. And you'll have some extra $ for fun stuff.
I will advice you (for best quality of life in Monterey county) to live in either Monterey, Pacific Grove (my favorite) or Carmel and not in Salinas, Marina or Seaside.

The entire area is quite open and tolerant and Santa Cruz county is extremely gay, et al. friendly. Monterey county is a bit more "stayed", a bit older, (but plenty of young people around) but you will be able to feel just fine there. No problem.
Santa Cruz is just up hwy 1 - about an hour to Santa Cruz when it's not during commuter times and it's more funky, chaotic, "happening" (am i dating myself?) and, like i said, extremely gay, et al tolerant with a lot of freedom for any kind of self expression, etc..
Actually, if you can find a good home in Monterey County, it may be the best of both worlds for you because you'll be able to live in a place that's a bit more "sane" but be very close to a place that's a bit more wild. Great music scene in S.C. btw.
Good luck. And welcome to one of the best areas of California! Truly. You're fortunate. Just find the right living space and you might find yourself a very happy guy.

Here's a looksy at craigslist for Monterey County. It's a good way to get a sense of rental costs in any given area regardless of whether or not you use it to find housing. If you do find something, check with someone who knows the area (like here on c-d-f) to let you know whether it's a scam. They are there but anyone who knows a given community can usually spot them very easily. At least in S.C. county, they get flagged very quickly.
And don't get discouraged when you first look. Well, it might be hard not to get discouraged but just keep on looking and you'll find something. Takes patience and tolerance 'round these parts.
And some of the ads just give you street addresses which isn't very helpful if one doesn't know the area. Usually the ones that just give street addresses are either in MOnterey or Salinas it seems to me.
monterey apartments / housing rentals - craigslist

[SpinnersEnd]

Thanks so much for your thoughts, blueskywalker!

[blueskywalker]

Originally Posted by SpinnersEnd

Thanks so much for your thoughts, blueskywalker!

De Nada

And there is the possibility of living in Santa Cruz county and commuting down to Monterey. You'd be going against the main stream of traffic in the a.m. and p.m. and it's not that bad but there will be traffic.
When there is no traffic i can get to Monterey in less than an hour from the "southern" part of S.C. county. For example, from Aptos.
If you lived in Aptos (for example) you'd be in a community that may be more to your liking and since the coastal part of S.C. county is all very easily connected (it's all one big community to me with distinctions but no hard lines and with an excellent bus system and road bike friendly too) you'd be able to live in closer to scenes, more young people, funkier (maybe more fun depending on what you like) music, etc., but it would just depend on whether or not you were into doing that commute.

[Hawk J]

You might be able to get a paper street map of Monterey & Santa Cruz, at the Chamber of Commerce, in each town.

Monterey Peninsula Chamber Of Commerce | Map | Listing | Directory

City of Santa Cruz : Area Maps

[blueskywalker]

Originally Posted by Hawk J

You might be able to get a paper street map of Monterey & Santa Cruz, at the Chamber of Commerce, in each town.

Monterey Peninsula Chamber Of Commerce | Map | Listing | Directory

City of Santa Cruz : Area Maps

Good idea.
When, now and then, i've considered moving down to Monterey county i look on craigslist for rentals and i always get annoyed when i see only a street address .... it's like ... "wait, is that Salinas or Monterey?". I imagine it's usually Salinas and they just put the street address so as not to deter people from considering the rental due to people's concerns about Salinas?

[BeauCharles]

You can probably live somewhat comfortably on that depending on your spending habits. I moved away in 2008, but I was making only two thirds that much. Yep, I had to be careful, but I did keep myself in a new small car, eat out fairly regularly, had a decent budget for clothes, entertainment and a bit of travel. I didn't save a dime though. As was said by blueskywalker Santa Cruz has a bigger gay scene (45 minutes north on the opposite side of Monterey Bay). Still, the Monterey Peninsula is a wealthy, well educated area with a lot of international visitors, galleries, the Defense Language Institute and the Presidio of Monterey (US Army). There is a gay community there of size.

A city like Monterey tends to be one that you kind of have to live in to get the "insider" deals on good rentals and job opportunities. I ended up moving to a better, cheaper apartment about 18 months after I got there once I figured the place out and made some contacts.

[MtnSurfer]

Let me ask you this. Was the offer from another company or is this a move within your current company? Either way, here is what I would suggest. Tell them that you are very interested in the position, but that after researching the area further including the cost of living, you realized it is more expensive than you had originally thought. Therefore, you are wondering if there is any room to go a bit higher in the salary range? Keep in mind, until you formally accept an offer these things are still negotiable. Even if you get an extra $5K, it will help. And it doesn't hurt to ask. If they really like you for the position, they may throw you a bone. Then, ask yourself if you see much growth opportunity if you take the position? Remember, that number doesn't have to be fixed in stone or a life sentence, especially if there is growth potential. If you extrapolate too far into the future based on a fixed number which isn't, I think you will worry too much unnecessarily. This is especially true since you are young. You've got your whole career ahead of you. And unless you are truly mediocre at what you do, your pay should increase over time.

In terms of cost of living, it will all boil down to what your expectations are with regards to housing and where you are willing to live. If all you need is a simple apartment, it shouldn't be too bad. Some even find a room for rent in an elderly person's home, for example. Or some young guys share a pad. If you can be somewhat creative with the housing, you can save a lot of money earlier on. Then, as you get raises you can live a little more high on the hog.

Regarding locations, I recommend living close to work initially until you get a better lay of the land. Then if you decide later you want to live further out in Santa Cruz for example, give it a go. Just remember, Santa Cruz is much more impacted with traffic than Monterey. So, there are traffic jams on Hwy 1 during normal commute times. When I jump on the freeway in Monterey 'briefly' in the morning the heavy, backed up traffic is coming in toward Monterey.

Derek