Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I agree with bluskis and wintermomma. I don't have kids and i make ~100k. I am really worried about my future here. Barely able to save 1k/month with moderate life style. If there was a option, i could have quit bay area right away. Nothing is good here.. rent high, bad work life, traffic congestion, increasing crime. Going by to OP's story, he has wife and kid. He can never be able to share apartment. So 95k is kinda poor. We are not sure about his health coverage numbers, but even after considering his employer is making that for him, I am sure he wont be able to save more than 500/month. Forget about retirement/401k plan. If his kid is going to school, he has to rent at high cost of living area or pay for private school.
I agree with bluskis and wintermomma. I don't have kids and i make ~100k. I am really worried about my future here. Barely able to save 1k/month with moderate life style. If there was a option, i could have quit bay area right away. Nothing is good here.. rent high, bad work life, traffic congestion, increasing crime. Going by to OP's story, he has wife and kid. He can never be able to share apartment. So 95k is kinda poor. We are not sure about his health coverage numbers, but even after considering his employer is making that for him, I am sure he wont be able to save more than 500/month. Forget about retirement/401k plan. If his kid is going to school, he has to rent at high cost of living area or pay for private school.
Glad you are in agreement, I see your point 100%. Most people live paycheck to paycheck after paying all expenses, the perks of having a new car or going on vacations are often put on the back burner, because often there is not enough money.
It's even harder if you're supporting your spouse who is out of a job, carrying the health insurance cost $500/month through your employer and etc, two car payments, car insurance and so on.
I tell people that ask me about work in the Valley, all Tech related, to not do it for less than $125K and even that alone is not enough for many, the ones that do it are fresh out of school, single and do not have the mindset of the future or how it will pan out for them. For most, they wont' stay as it's just an experience thing and they will move on eventually.
Hi Blauskis,
Here is my post in another thread - dark side of silicon valley. perhaps no body noticed it. dont know what other think.
************************************************** ************************************
Let us consider my situation with 100k salary which is average salary for 4-5 year software engineer with masters degree. I am married with wife not working. Which is not uncommon for people working on work permit.
I earn 4.8k/month (after taxes, 401k, and health insurance cuts)
Rent 2.1k (10% inflation year)
water gas 100$
car 600$ (3 year finance honda civic)
car insurance 150$
fuel 150$
phone bill 100$
internet 50$
food 600$ . (wife cooks at home.)
misc (cloths, maintenance,electricity etc) 200$
I am roughly able to save 750$/month. This is fairly ideal situation without considering trips, medical problems etc. I am from other country and going there takes like 2k $. I make one trip a year to meet my parents. that will take up 5k which is equivalent to my ~5-6 month savings. I cannot think of having a kid, neither think of buying house for sure.
Considering a lot of techies like me, I see the life is miserable. I have done masters in good university, have 5 year experience and living such life which is on borders. I have to think twice when my wife asks me to take to places like Vegas, New york. Whatever I am earning is going in rent and taxes. Rent increments like 10% year making things worse. Salary does not even increase by 1%. Work is too much to pay attention anywhere/do hobbies, traffic is bad..
************************************************** **************
I think life should be enjoyable. We need to have enough savings. Spend time with kids and family. Have good sleep (at least 8 hours). Have workouts else age starts showing up really fast these days.
And life is unpredictable. We do not know when bad things happen. For eg, I met with an accident last year and had to spend 2k out of pocket. There was some miscommunication between leasing center and I had to spend like 1k for delaying leaving notice. I make one trip to my country which costs me 5k(me and wife). If i spend all money coming to me, how will i manage such random things. I do have responsibility of my wife, parents and her parents (to some extent). Kids are not there yet Money is not just needed for emergency but also for future of kids. Their college fees once they are grown up etc. I think savings are very important in life. On the other hand, what else a person can do to earn good living ? i have done masters, working in one of the top engineering companies. Things are totally unsatisfactory. I agree that one can be at top of their field and work like dog. By the end of 15-20 years, if you are lucky you may be able to make 300k/year in bay area. whats the cost ? no family life, no sleep, no attention to kids, wife when they are in trouble, no trips, rarely small trips and hotel food. just work and work.
Whenever I see organic section in various food stores, I feel like buying it. But it would increase my food expenses at least by 2.5 times. which means, food will go from 600$ to 1.5k$/month. Just can't afford that
100k is plenty to live on in bay area. My wife and I bought our first home in san jose making 100k in 09. I'm not sure what your take home pay is but we where saving 900 plus month.Just depends on what new clothes and shoes she wanted!!! We had to scale back and get rid of my truck and payment. Our mortgage payment was at time 2200 plus tax and hoa. Did a refinance last year and on once we add back in the taxes we save from write offs. Our total payment(taxes hoa etc) is 2200 . We make more money as of today, but we did it for 3 years on 100k. I use mint.com to manage establish a budget based on our income. @ jonlovet your car payment is $600 a month for a honda? That seems super high for a civic. My wife's 50k car on a 3 year lease is $595 a month.
100k is plenty to live on in bay area. My wife and I bought our first home in san jose making 100k in 09. I'm not sure what your take home pay is but we where saving 900 plus month.Just depends on what new clothes and shoes she wanted!!! We had to scale back and get rid of my truck and payment. Our mortgage payment was at time 2200 plus tax and hoa. Did a refinance last year and on once we add back in the taxes we save from write offs. Our total payment(taxes hoa etc) is 2200 . We make more money as of today, but we did it for 3 years on 100k. I use mint.com to manage establish a budget based on our income. @ jonlovet your car payment is $600 a month for a honda? That seems super high for a civic. My wife's 50k car on a 3 year lease is $595 a month.
Do you know what a relatively small fixer upper (~$1M) in solid (but not great) mid peninsula areas will cost you today with 20% down, strong credit, and a historically low 30-year fixed jumbo interest rate?
Let us consider my situation with 100k salary which is average salary for 4-5 year software engineer with masters degree. I am married with wife not working. Which is not uncommon for people working on work permit.
@jonlovet, why do you want to live in this area? I was in the exact situation as you years back. Even after living in the valley for many years I didn't make big money, life is still tough, barely any savings. I should have moved to CO or TX in late 90s. I suggest you look for opportunities in Seattle/Denver/Austin/RTP. Your quality of life will be better and you can save more. Don't do the mistake that I did.
Hi Blauskis,
Here is my post in another thread - dark side of silicon valley. perhaps no body noticed it. dont know what other think.
************************************************** ************************************
Let us consider my situation with 100k salary which is average salary for 4-5 year software engineer with masters degree. I am married with wife not working. Which is not uncommon for people working on work permit.
I earn 4.8k/month (after taxes, 401k, and health insurance cuts)
Rent 2.1k (10% inflation year)
water gas 100$
car 600$ (3 year finance honda civic)
car insurance 150$
fuel 150$
phone bill 100$
internet 50$
food 600$ . (wife cooks at home.)
misc (cloths, maintenance,electricity etc) 200$
I am roughly able to save 750$/month. This is fairly ideal situation without considering trips, medical problems etc. I am from other country and going there takes like 2k $. I make one trip a year to meet my parents. that will take up 5k which is equivalent to my ~5-6 month savings. I cannot think of having a kid, neither think of buying house for sure.
Considering a lot of techies like me, I see the life is miserable. I have done masters in good university, have 5 year experience and living such life which is on borders. I have to think twice when my wife asks me to take to places like Vegas, New york. Whatever I am earning is going in rent and taxes. Rent increments like 10% year making things worse. Salary does not even increase by 1%. Work is too much to pay attention anywhere/do hobbies, traffic is bad..
************************************************** **************
I think life should be enjoyable. We need to have enough savings. Spend time with kids and family. Have good sleep (at least 8 hours). Have workouts else age starts showing up really fast these days.
And life is unpredictable. We do not know when bad things happen. For eg, I met with an accident last year and had to spend 2k out of pocket. There was some miscommunication between leasing center and I had to spend like 1k for delaying leaving notice. I make one trip to my country which costs me 5k(me and wife). If i spend all money coming to me, how will i manage such random things. I do have responsibility of my wife, parents and her parents (to some extent). Kids are not there yet Money is not just needed for emergency but also for future of kids. Their college fees once they are grown up etc. I think savings are very important in life. On the other hand, what else a person can do to earn good living ? i have done masters, working in one of the top engineering companies. Things are totally unsatisfactory. I agree that one can be at top of their field and work like dog. By the end of 15-20 years, if you are lucky you may be able to make 300k/year in bay area. whats the cost ? no family life, no sleep, no attention to kids, wife when they are in trouble, no trips, rarely small trips and hotel food. just work and work.
Whenever I see organic section in various food stores, I feel like buying it. But it would increase my food expenses at least by 2.5 times. which means, food will go from 600$ to 1.5k$/month. Just can't afford that
-Jon
I see your point, $100K is not enough to survive on in the Valley if you have bills to pay and a wife that is out of a job. I think many miss the point, while it may be enough for a very frugal single person to live on, if your supporting someone else, say an additional car payment, food, medical expenses since companies do not cover spouses 100% on average, extra car if needed to get a job can be expensive as you have the car, car insurance, gas and the maintenance then you add in what the rent costs for a place to support two people. Then figure in water bill, utilities are higher.
If you can save at all, that's great, but it means not much dining out or spending your hard earned money on anything outside of living expenses.
In my LinkedIn network, I get a lot of inquires and people who ask me for work or if there are any openings, I ask them what their expectations are, it's amazing how naive many are of the Valley's high cost of living, they do not even have a clue what typical rents are or what they will lose in deductions.
What I'm seeing and hearing now is a big rejection from people who are being contacted on LinkedIn regarding job leads in the Valley, many know they won't get what they need to even consider pursuing anything and most are frank and tell recruiters at Apple "Thanks for the interest, but I cannot begin to consider opportunities with Apple due to the high cost of living and housing expenses in the immediate area" or "I love to work for Apple, but I cannot afford it" and so on.
Apple has a large staff of internal recruiters, I like to see the look on their faces when they get these responses, also I was told by another former Apple recruiter that they have to report back leads to their superiors and provide reaction feedback on why they rejected for their quota. So it's good it's getting back, what difference it makes does not mean anything it appears as Apple has no plans of leaving the Valley unless their new HQ is going to fly off like the space ship in the film Prometheus.
I laugh at these people on here that say $100K is enough to live comfortably on for a family, or even a couple with a non-working spouse who is out of job. I knew Engineers in Miami who were making $65 to $75K/year before taxes and were paying upwards of $125 to $150/month car insurance, $1500 to $2000 a month for rent for an apartment in a safer area, $600/month for groceries if not more, never went out to eat too often, had car bills and all the other stuff, $100 to $125/month utility bill, and one guy was paying $500/month for insurance for him and his wife on a company plan. Most in the company admitted they were living paycheck to paycheck and not saving much as the bills and expenses were out pacing wage growth. This is a common problem all over, but Miami is not a cheap place to live either and salaries are notoriously bad in relation to it.
I agree on Organic Food, you can spend plenty on a small bag of food, $5 loaf of Rudi's Organic bread, two organic Apples for $3 and etc. Most people that shop at Whole Foods are loaded, so the prices are not out of line to them. You have to try to find markets that you buy directly to avoid the middleman.
100k is plenty to live on in bay area. My wife and I bought our first home in san jose making 100k in 09. I'm not sure what your take home pay is but we where saving 900 plus month.Just depends on what new clothes and shoes she wanted!!! We had to scale back and get rid of my truck and payment. Our mortgage payment was at time 2200 plus tax and hoa. Did a refinance last year and on once we add back in the taxes we save from write offs. Our total payment(taxes hoa etc) is 2200 . We make more money as of today, but we did it for 3 years on 100k. I use mint.com to manage establish a budget based on our income. @ jonlovet your car payment is $600 a month for a honda? That seems super high for a civic. My wife's 50k car on a 3 year lease is $595 a month.
Sure you can buy a mobile home or double wide for under $200K, but you failed to mention what you bought or what you put down to buy?
Leasing a car is a big waste of money as you will now be in perpetual car payments, especially paying $600/month to lease a $50K luxury car, you could have just got a Toyota Corolla for a 1/4 of that and put the rest into a Roth IRA or invest in stocks. Apple stock has increased 72% over the past 12 months.
@jonlovet, why do you want to live in this area? I was in the exact situation as you years back. Even after living in the valley for many years I didn't make big money, life is still tough, barely any savings. I should have moved to CO or TX in late 90s. I suggest you look for opportunities in Seattle/Denver/Austin/RTP. Your quality of life will be better and you can save more. Don't do the mistake that I did.
I believe the homes being discussed come with turn signals, reflectors and axles or are apartment conversions, $2K/month mortage with even 3% down is a sub $200K dwelling. That will get you a nice garage in Mountain View.
Thing we are all forgetting, our images of homes are not all the same across the board.
@jonlovet, why do you want to live in this area? I was in the exact situation as you years back. Even after living in the valley for many years I didn't make big money, life is still tough, barely any savings. I should have moved to CO or TX in late 90s. I suggest you look for opportunities in Seattle/Denver/Austin/RTP. Your quality of life will be better and you can save more. Don't do the mistake that I did.
Do you work in tech? Just wondering because many think they are going to move to the Valley and hit pay dirt with a lucractive salary, sad truth is many don't and leave after realizing it, often too late. The experience is great as is the weather if you like the climate, but when you see housing as something you will never obtain and rents keep going up it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Money is not just needed for emergency but also for future of kids. Their college fees once they are grown up etc. I think savings are very important in life. On the other hand, what else a person can do to earn good living ? i have done masters, working in one of the top engineering companies. Things are totally unsatisfactory. I agree that one can be at top of their field and work like dog. By the end of 15-20 years, if you are lucky you may be able to make 300k/year in bay area. whats the cost ? no family life, no sleep, no attention to kids, wife when they are in trouble, no trips, rarely small trips and hotel food. just work and work.
