Living on postdoc salary (San Diego: apartments, leasing, health insurance) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

rcsapo · 09-13-2012, 02:49 AM

Dear all,

I'm an early career researcher from Austria and have recently been offered a postdoc position at UCSD. Depending on when our visa application process will be completed, my girlfriend (future wife) and myself will be moving to San Diego in January or February next year. And we're much looking forward to our adventure

As I have no idea about life and living costs in California (or the US in general), I was hoping that you could provide me with some startup information.

(1) Will my income (expected 40-44 k/year) be enough to maintain us both? We're not eager for luxury, just a modest life (1-br apartment in a decent area, economical car, healthy / organic food, maybe cinema or dinner 1-2 times/month).

(2) What net income may I expect per month? As I understand it, health insurance for both of us will, for the most part, be covered by my university. But what about taxes and further dues?

(3) My department is situated in 3510 Dunhill Street which is somewhere north of the city center (La Jolla, I guess). In which parts of the city would you suggest we start searching for apartments and how much, approximately, do we need to budget for housing?

Many thanks for your help!
Robert

Clevelandgal · 09-13-2012, 08:56 AM

You can make it if you live very modestly. You might think about living in the neighborhood of Hillcrest in San Diego, and taking the free shuttle bus to La Jolla campus, and then going without a car. Hillcest is very walk able. Then when you want to use a car, you can use the the hourly rental of cartogo.com to go exploring. It's a lot cheaper than owning a car.
It's pretty mind bending for some Americans , Especially in a place like San Diego to imagine not having a car, but it is possible. If you have money for one then great, but they are a real budget killer.

I did want to comment on the insurance. It is very atypical for employer to cover a boyfriend/ girlfriend. The exception is same sex couples in a domestic partnership that currently cannot legally marry. If you are planning in having insurance for her,you will really want to clarify if she is covered. It would be highly unusual is they DID cover her if you are not married-and they may not have the ability to do so if they wanted to. You may need to purchase some sort of plan for her here. You can buy hospitalization
plans to cover something serious, and then pay out of pocket for general care. Despite her not being a citizen, I am pretty sure she could utilize planned parenthood for women's health care for a very reasonable fee.

tonyinsd · 09-13-2012, 09:51 AM

Doesn't UCSD have student housing for graduate students? That would be the first place I would go.

If you have to go off campus, I would say that you want to keep your housing to less than a third of your monthly income. At $44K a year, that means you need to keep it to around $12-1300. You can find apartments for that price.

mdm1 · 09-13-2012, 11:01 AM

There is subsidized housing that costs less than 1k on or near campus. They will let your girlfriend live with you if you have some sort of shared financial burden (joint bank accounts, cosign loans, etc). I'm not sure how easy it would be to go car free from those locations, but even if it is possible, it might be a bit socially isolating as other people may invite you to things that you need a car to get to and assume that you have a car. This will probably be less true if you do what cleveland gal says, and live in Hillcrest, which is a bit more happening (although it's mostly a gay scene), where you could easily bike (<3 miles) to a number of different neighborhoods that cater to people of your age.

loveautumn · 09-13-2012, 02:15 PM

San Diego County is huge area, and I can't really imagine enjoying what it has to offer without a car. Public transportation here is pretty limited, unlike what you might be used to in Europe. We are a car culture.

$40-43k would be very tight budget for two people but it's doable. Your best bet would be the housing UCSD offers and it is a good area. I don't think they would pay for your gf's health insurance, as I know people who worked at UCSD and they would not cover their significant others (probably with the exception of gay couples who cannot get married in the state of California) but you should check into it because health insurance is expensive. Good luck to you!

rcsapo · 09-13-2012, 02:46 PM

Dear all,

Many thanks for your replies. Just to put this straight: my girlfriend will already be my wife by the time we get to San Diego. Else, she would not have been eligible to apply for a visa in the first place. As far as I understand information provided on UCSD's website, the university covers insurance expenses for dependents (wives / husbands & children).

With respect to UCSD-subsidized housing, I found that there are indeed apartments for members of staff and postdocs alike (La Jolla del Sol) but apartments are allegedly neither particularly well maintained nor cheap (prices just above $ 1200 / month for a 1-BR apartment). As compared to other apartment ads at craigslist this doesn't seem to be a particularly good offer.

The thought of actually doing without a car is interesting. In Europe this is not a too uncommon thing to do but my future supervisor claimed that public transport would be terrible in San Diego. Besides, I'll have to drive to LA frequently to meet up with a cooperation partner from UCLA. I'm not sure this will be feasible without a car. Actually, I think I could buy one with my savings but this, of course, will not free me from insurance and all further maintenance costs.

Well, we'll certainly consider Hillcrest…

Many thanks again,
Robert

Clevelandgal · 09-13-2012, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loveautumn

San Diego County is huge area, and I can't really imagine enjoying what it has to offer without a car. Public transportation here is pretty limited, unlike what you might be used to in Europe. We are a car culture.

$40-43k would be very tight budget for two people but it's doable. Your best bet would be the housing UCSD offers and it is a good area. I don't think they would pay for your gf's health insurance, as I know people who worked at UCSD and they would not cover their significant others (probably with the exception of gay couples who cannot get married in the state of California) but you should check into it because health insurance is expensive. Good luck to you!

You don't have to own a car 24/7 to see San Diego. Again, cartogo or other rental. If someone invites you somewhere it's cheaper to rent than pay for everything else that comes with car ownership. Now if you live near la Jolla it's
Very car oriented so it would not be easy or in anyway pleasant. living in Hillcrest, you can walk or take public transportation everywhere. People can't possibly say that leasing a car a few times a month for exploring or visiting friends would cost anywhere near what owning a car costs.

Toroid · 09-13-2012, 09:50 PM

Pressed for time right now, but quickly you're not on either the main campus in La Jolla or the Medical Center, that address is in an area a couple miles north of the main campus in a tech park. It is not easy to access from Hillcrest without a car.

Have you been out to visit?

Don't bother with Del Sol or any subsidized postdoc housing. You can find better and might consider places in the North County since you will be right off the coaster at that satellite.

Push for as much salary as you can get. $40k is the lowest that they can pay you right now since they've been pegged to NIH salaries. You will still be responsible for monthly insurance deductions and depending on your classification mandatory retirement contributions.

I was a postdoc a few years ago at UCSD. You can shoot me an private message on here for some more details if you'd like. I am pretty busy with some travel and wrapping up a grant deadline (transitioning to tenure track isn't that glorious) so I won't be online much but will try to answer anything that you have to ask.

BTW....Congrats and I welcome you and your wife to the US! It is an absolutely gorgeous city. You'll enjoy it.

Clevelandgal · 09-13-2012, 10:10 PM

This web site may have info on shuttles
Campus Loop Shuttle

Toroid · 09-14-2012, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clevelandgal

This web site may have info on shuttles
Campus Loop Shuttle

That loop doesn't head up to the satellite facility that the OP will be working at as far as I know.

I would guess that there might be campus service up to that area but it will be very minimal since that address only houses a few labs. It is walkable from the sorrento valley coaster station, public transportation to that station would be much more reliable than UCSD transit. UCSD does subsidies public transportation.