Living in Pleasanton is putting me in the poor house! (San Francisco: to buy, prices)

[SFbayareawoman]

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

Seriously you are paying $1450 for an apartment in Pleasanton?? Why oh why?? For that price you could get an apartment in San Francisco, ditch your car (and all its associated costs), and walk to work every day. And if you were willing to have roommates $1450 will get you a very nice place.

I don't agree with you! You can get a dump in SF for $1450. Or you can live in the Mission District which is primarily a ghetto area. If you have to pay 1,450 in Sunnyvale, or Mountain View (way south of San Francisco) to get a decent 1 BR, then you'll have to pay 20-30 percent more in SF to get the same. She works in Pleasanton, mind you.

[MovingAloha]

Here is something someone posted on another thread (San Diego). I hope you don't take this as preachy, just some friendly advice when you consider your move or not. Not all will be appropriate for you, but you can delete or add as you like.

"Do yourself a favor and just be totally honest and objective with how you spend money. Take the time to make an Excel spreadsheet with your income and then these expenses and see what you have left over (keep in mind some of this stuff doesn't apply to you since you don't have kids:


-Mortgage or Rent
- Property taxes if you own
-Phone (Land line and Cell phone, blackberry, etc)
- Utilities (gas, water, electricity, cable, internet, etc)
- HOA fees
- Maintenance and repairs (if you own a property)
- Car payments
- Car insurance
- Auto Fuel each month
- Registration fees for your car each year
- Maintenance on your car
- Home/rental insurance for your property
- Life insurance
- Health insurance premiums
- School expenses for kids (tuition, stuff for school, ballet classes, etc)
- Babysitter expenses
- Clothes for kids and yourself
- Toys for kids
- Dry Cleaning
- Health club / gym
- Beauty (hair salon, nails, make up, etc)
- Extracurricular activities dues/fees
- Entertainment (movies, theatre, plays, Seaworld, Zoo, concerts, sporting events, etc --- TONS of stuff to do with kids here)
- Magazine/newspaper/Ipad subscriptions
- Dining out at restaurants (Especially if you're a young single guy and dating a lot of girls)
- Grocery budget
- Retirement savings contributions
- Kids college fund savings contributions (401K, Roth IRA, IRA, etc)
- Emergency savings fund
- Charity
- Travel / vacation expenses
- Federal/State/local income taxes
- Any revolving debt payments you might have (existing and possibly new credit card debt, student loans, furniture, etc)
- Bad habit type stuff (alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc --- this doesn't apply to me but it does for many people)"

It's good stuff and I've incorporated a lot of this in my own budget and planning.
Good luck to you, I love my home state and I'm anxiously planning on my return.

[Ol' Wanderer]

Originally Posted by zezt

...electricity=$150/mo avg, last was $270 which was a shock but has been corrected).

We live in a 1600+ sf condo in FL.

Our A/C kicks on a few times a day all year long. Three ceiling fans are on almost all day. I cook (electric stove) at least once a day, sometimes twice. I do the laundry (full size electric W&D) twice each week. Two desktops are on 16 hrs/day.

During the summer, our electricity is at the max $80. This month, it's back to $50, and it will be between $50-$60 again until next summer.

I don't know how your electric bill is $150 for one person who is only home in the evenings and weekends. Never once in our life, in all the places we lived -- CA, WA, CT, SC, FL, and Italy (where electricity rate is the highest in Europe, perhaps even the world) -- that we had an electric bill that reached $100.

There is a thread on the Frugal forum on how to reduce your electricity bill, with hundreds of easy and no-cost tips. Perhaps you would want to take a look at it.

[Boompa]

Move close enough to your work to walk or bicycle there

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by zezt

So, I had a requirement to move to the bay area, unfortunately I was not able to come out before hand so I asked co-workers and eventually settled on Pleasanton, as the prices seemed to be comparable with many of the other areas.

All in all, I like Pleasanton; it's quiet and safe (and boring!)...

But my high cost of rent and bills is driving to forced fasting. I'm 23, I make 70k/yr and my apartment runs me $1450 a month.

Now, according to my budgets I should be more than able to live here on my salary even after paying student loans, car payments, etc etc but the fact of the matter is ever since I have moved here I have had virtually no money to the point that I end up going a day or two without food between paychecks and I'm tired of it.

I want to get out of where I am, but I'm not sure I can. My lease ends September 30th and I don't think I can save the money required to pay for a deposit + first months + moving assistance; still, I want to try to get out of this situation and I don't know where to look.

I commute via BART to SF for work and I would really want to stay in a city near a BART, preferably a bicycle friendly city so I can get rid of my car entirely.

My 'desires':
- Safe, relatively quiet
- Bicycle friendly
- Somewhat more affordable
- Has a BART

I don't think that's asking for too much, I just don't know where to look. My price range would really be <$1450 a month

So I ask, where might you recommend a 23yr old with the following desires look?

Thank you
zezt

You're making $70k/year at that young age and whining about being broke? Give me a break. Many people would be grateful for even half that much at your age (or many ages, these days). Just stop spending on gratuitous luxuries.

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by zezt

Because someone at some point in my life sold me on the idea I needed to go to college, and to pay for that college and other associated costs of living I should get student loans.

So now I pay over $600 a month in student loans. $370 for the car I don't use, plus another $160 for insurance. Tack on rent and other bills and that leads to where I am.

I have no lavish luxuries. I have my own apartment, my own car, and not much else.

I'm curious what sort of work you do, and was it made possible by the college degree that you treat as a liability? I'm into my 40s and have never made more than $55k, so be grateful for what you have.

I'll take a guess that you don't work with your hands much. The default thing in America is that the less one interacts with the physical world (i.e. sitting in air-conditioned offices) the more money one makes. It ought to be the opposite, save for menial labor jobs.

Nothing personal, really, but in this recessionary climate, I think stating one's salary can be in poor taste, especially if it's relatively large.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by ca_north

You're making $70k/year at that young age and whining about being broke? Give me a break. Many people would be grateful for even half that much at your age (or many ages, these days). Just stop spending on gratuitous luxuries.

Need to have that cash to pay the summer AC costs. How about that 105 in Pleasanton today?

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Need to have that cash to pay the summer AC costs. How about that 105 in Pleasanton today?

Just setting the A/C to 80 vs 75 can save a lot, plus using a programmable thermostat effectively.

Energy will only get more expensive (see "Peak Oil") and these heat waves will become more and more frequent in some areas. A frugal mindset should be the norm to prepare for the future. I'd like to see the age of American bling end soon.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by ca_north

Just setting the A/C to 80 vs 75 can save a lot, plus using a programmable thermostat effectively.

Energy will only get more expensive (see "Peak Oil") and these heat waves will become more and more frequent in some areas. A frugal mindset should be the norm to prepare for the future. I'd like to see the age of American bling end soon.

Build underground. Cooler down there.

[0'Farrell]

I don't understand this thread. Isn't Pleasanton cheaper than San Francisco?