Could I survive in San Diego with 1200$ ? (Mesa: rent, where to live)

[Oerdin]

You'd be living like a college student and you'd be in deep poverty but I suppose it could be done. The cut off for food stamps is something like $1150 per month gross wages for a single person here (food stamps are free government food aid for the extremely poor) so that would give you an idea of how poor you'd be. My suggestion would be to get a second job because $1200 is a starvation amount.

[moved]

The food stamp income cutoff for a single person here is $897 per month. I received food stamps last year while waiting for my unemployment benefits to kick in. As soon as my income went up, the county decided that I owed them $71 for an overpayment of food stamps. This was THEIR fault, not mine. I wouldn't get them again unless I was desperate, though. Every month they would send me a letter saything that they were going to cut them off for some reason or another. Then I would have to spend at least two hours sitting in the HHSA office to talk to my worker (who was never in), or a supervisor. No thanks!

A second job is a better idea.

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by moved

There's no such thing in San Diego as $3 for bus fare. MTS did away with transfers, and you either pay $2.25/$2.50 each way, buy an all day pass for $5, or buy a $72 monthly bus pass.

And $72 divided by 30 equals?

Which is why I said around $3 per day.

[moved]

It's better to buy a pass.

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by moved

It's better to buy a pass.

Better?

I guess what you're still not realizing is that my $3 a day was based on getting a monthly pass.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Luc3er

Hi everyone.

I´m spanish, and i´m about to move to San Diego for 6 months. I am 24 years old single male. I have a job in a laboratory at UCSD, and I´m going to charge 1200$.

I have heard that SD is a fabulous city, but I also have read that is very expensive to live there. My question is if i could survive in San Diego with 1200$ (after taxes).

I will look for housing as a roomate ( 600$ or less). Do you think i will need much more money for living at SD?

Thanks everyone

You could do it. But you will have to rent a room and take the bus. Public transportation in SD and most places in America sucks. The expectation here is that you will have a car and it is difficult to have a good social life without one. You won't be able to afford one on $1200 a month.

In short, you could survive on that but it will probably not be a good life, especially the social aspect.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by moved

The food stamp income cutoff for a single person here is $897 per month. I received food stamps last year while waiting for my unemployment benefits to kick in.

From the County's website:

People in HouseholdGross Monthly IncomeNet Monthly Income
1 $1174 $903

County of San Diego: Food Stamps

It appears I was talking gross monthly income and you were talking net monthly income.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

You could do it. But you will have to rent a room and take the bus. Public transportation in SD and most places in America sucks. The expectation here is that you will have a car and it is difficult to have a good social life without one. You won't be able to afford one on $1200 a month.

In short, you could survive on that but it will probably not be a good life, especially the social aspect.

The good news is the college job probably only is something like 15-20 hours per week which isn't bad if he's going to college. If he's not then he can get a second part time job to help double his income. Or better yet just get one full time job that actually pays a decent amount.

[loveautumn]

he said he's only here for 6 months...so basically vacation and working to earn some money.

[moved]

If you can afford to buy your own food, forget about the food stamps. It's a big hassle to get them, and to keep them. I just finished paying back the county for THEIR overpayment mistake. I gave them all the documentation they requested every month, and they still overpaid me. So since there's a Tax Refund Intercept on my account even though they're paid off, I won't get that money back for at least three months.