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Old 06-19-2008, 04:23 AM
 
1 posts, read 8,348 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi all,

I am thinking about moving from Old Europe to the bay area, but I have no idea about how much is the cost of life.
Any idea on how much I could spend per month (I am alone), having an apartment of 1 bedroom in the Bay area (not SF center, but around Santa Clara, Stanford), and average spendings (for example, decent food, once a week to the movie, twice a month out for dinner, twice a week a beer, a car, etc.).

I checked the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005-2006 and they report $66,000 dollar expenditures for a 47 years-old with 2.5 person in the family, 2 cars. How could this be projected for a single alone, with 1 car?

Suppose I earn 100K per year, how much could I save per year if I have an 'average' life?

Tnx a lot!
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Old 06-19-2008, 07:55 AM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
802 posts, read 2,265,217 times
Reputation: 257
I have actually lived in Santa Clara in a 1 BR place for the past seven years (though I'll be moving up to SF soon). During one of those years, I grossed around $100K and didn't have a problem saving around $25K. Of course, your potential savings can vary a lot depending on how your rent, your entertainment budget, your food expenditures, etc. $100K annual works out to a $8333 monthly gross, which probably yields you around $5000-5500 monthly net, so if you can live on $3000 a month, you shouldn't have any problems saving $25K/year.
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Old 06-19-2008, 08:39 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,354 posts, read 51,942,966 times
Reputation: 23776
There are tons of factors that could change things, but I can give you an idea of my expenses - also a single person with one car in SF, but I do have roommates. Here are my approx. monthly costs, which I'm able to support on a $50K salary...

Rent: $1395 with 1 roommate
PG&E: $150 (was about $50 when I lived in apartments)
Phone: $30
Internet: $59
Cable: $89 (premium package)
Cell Phone: $65
Food: $350-400
Entertainment/misc: $200
Gas: $150-200 - I commute 50 miles round-trip 5x/week
Bridge Tolls: $80
Car Insurance: $135
Health Insurance: Zero - covered by work
Pet expenses: $200+

I think that's it! So by those calculations, I spend around $2900 a month, which leaves me an average of $500 to save (after taxes) - or $6000 yearly. I'm not very good with money, so this isn't really how much I end up with... LOL. But luckily my salary will be increasing soon, and I'm planning to buy a home within the year. Anyway, that should give you an idea of what is needed here... good luck!
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