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Old 08-06-2009, 02:53 PM
 
2 posts, read 16,079 times
Reputation: 10

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I have been offered a job with a salary at $50,000. Using a paycheck calculator, it appears I will only clear $35,800. I am single. My car is paid for. Also, I will not have a roommate, as I would be new to CA.

The question is can I live, not just barely survive but actually enjoy life. I get that this is dependent on a number of various factors. But I've spent the past 6 years barely making it as a grad student and now that I have my Ph.D. I was hoping to get off the ramen. But I'm not so sure now.
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Old 08-06-2009, 02:58 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
288 posts, read 917,024 times
Reputation: 147
Yes. I moved here making about that much a few years ago and lived comfortably in a somewhat expensive neighborhood while saving a several hundred bucks every month. I'm a habitual cheapskate when it comes to buying things though, so YMMV
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Old 08-06-2009, 03:17 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,395,718 times
Reputation: 6435
As long as you live modestly, in a modest apartment, you will be fine.
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Old 08-06-2009, 04:03 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,537,811 times
Reputation: 17829
Quote:
Originally Posted by studentemeritus View Post
I have been offered a job with a salary at $50,000. Using a paycheck calculator, it appears I will only clear $35,800. I am single. My car is paid for. Also, I will not have a roommate, as I would be new to CA.

The question is can I live, not just barely survive but actually enjoy life. I get that this is dependent on a number of various factors. But I've spent the past 6 years barely making it as a grad student and now that I have my Ph.D. I was hoping to get off the ramen. But I'm not so sure now.
Did you use any internet tools to check realistic rents in neighborhoods close to your job?
Did you look at how other costs of living (auto insurance, health insurance) might change moving to CA?
Did you factor in 401(k) and Roth IRAs?

These wouldn't take long to do. So, as far as cranking the numbers, it seems like an easy task.

From this you should be able to come up with a monthly payment for housing.

So, what is your monthly housing budget? Where is your job?

What the forum can do is provide candidate neighborhoods based on housing costs and distance to your job. Essentially, the forum can answer "Where would recommendations be to live for $X/month near xyz intersection?". The forum probably knows neighborhoods and things not easily found online. Your question (Is it sufficient to live on?) is easily figured out online.

Here is a great tool for you:

HousingMaps
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Old 08-06-2009, 04:50 PM
 
23 posts, read 62,431 times
Reputation: 16
Try a couple different calculators for pay comparison. I've seen a 25k difference between a few of them comparing my salary now to what it would need to be in san diego. A more accurate method would be to find out how much rent, insurance, food, etc will cost yourself and use a salary tool to figure out how taxes change between where you are and sd.
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Old 08-06-2009, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Escondido
10 posts, read 57,326 times
Reputation: 29
I can tell you that we are a family of 3 currently living on only slightly higher than that amount, living in a modest apartment, one car paid for, one not (so already you're ahead!), about 30-45 minutes from everywhere we like to go. We aren't in the best neighborhood in the world, but we do okay.

I think you'll be fine, and relatively ramen-free with places like Henry's, Trader Joe's... It depends a lot on the neighborhoods around where you'll be working.
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Old 08-22-2009, 11:11 PM
 
2 posts, read 16,079 times
Reputation: 10
Many thanks for the replies. All are very helpful.
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Old 08-23-2009, 06:24 AM
sd1
 
16 posts, read 46,991 times
Reputation: 14
my suggestion is never move to a place based on money. if you want to live somewhere, move there! you'll be much happier and the money thing will figure itself out. if people only lived in places where it was cheap then everyone would live in the south and not on the coast. places like san diego and miami would be vacant. i rather make less $$ and be happy living where i want than be loaded living somewhere i don't care for. just be confident in yourself--i really think the cost of living thing is way overdone on this board. i know some people live in really cheap areas then move to sd, but it's not like sd is impossible to afford (look how many people move there every year). it's all relative. do you think a secretary in arkansas gets paid the same as a secretary in sd? it's not dubai, it's only calfiornia. you'll be fine dude.
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Old 08-24-2009, 04:03 PM
 
39 posts, read 173,664 times
Reputation: 25
$50K is more than sufficient especially if you're a single man who can save and spend wisely.

I used to live in an area where I've seen family of 5 live under a $28k salary -- these people were still very happy..and I've heard their kids are now in good colleges.

It's all relative.
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Old 08-24-2009, 11:38 PM
 
17 posts, read 198,217 times
Reputation: 28
Quote:
Originally Posted by studentemeritus View Post
I have been offered a job with a salary at $50,000. Using a paycheck calculator, it appears I will only clear $35,800. I am single. My car is paid for. Also, I will not have a roommate, as I would be new to CA.

The question is can I live, not just barely survive but actually enjoy life. I get that this is dependent on a number of various factors. But I've spent the past 6 years barely making it as a grad student and now that I have my Ph.D. I was hoping to get off the ramen. But I'm not so sure now.
The answer is yes, I started out at that and I'm buying a house now with 20% down years later. It's more than enough. CA is more expensive to live in, but also a lot better.
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