Howdy Cali TA's. I am inquiring from people that live in or near San Fran. I am being flown out shortly for an interview with a good company out there. I figure the COL is a hell of a lot more than it is in the Chicago area...

What does a decent apartment cost, utilities, groceries etc.

Thanks!

Decent 1 bedroom in the city will costs upwards of $1,400-$1,500/month. Two bedrooms $1,800+ min for good ones. You might get lucky and find a reall good place for cheaper...now there are places in the city that are cheaper than what I say but they will not be very nice. I mean...it's often a place that's newly painted, but they paint over EVERYTHING.....and it's like the 30th layer of paint so it looks so dingy. Housing here is mainly landlord based (only a few complexes) and they are stringent on the credit history.

The main grocery train in the city is Safeway and I know of two Albertsons. Prices are def more expensive than the east coast (thinking Florida here) and it urks me that every store here has CLUB CARDS you have to use to get stuff that's on sale. How annoying. There are a lot of froo-froo stores which are hella expensive, though.

Dave

I guess in reality the job is in the Mountain View area. Are prices worse/better a little south?

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Originally posted by _Nut_ I guess in reality the job is in the Mountain View area. Are prices worse/better a little south?

definitely cheaper than in downtown sf but still can get a little ugly. downtown sf and mountain view are COMPLEtELY different places though lol.

something else to consider is commuting if youre into it. for example, my city (sacramento) has exploded recently because housing in the bay is so expensive that ppl are willing to commute from here, which can take around 90 mins

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The job is in Mountain View (googleplex). I've only been to San Diego and never SF... so I know nothing about the area.

All of the cost of living adjustment tools online list only SF... so that is what I am trying to base it off of.

Also at this point in my life, I am not going to get a house (especially out in California). Renting would the viable option.

According to many cost of living calculators... I would need to make 78k a year to compare with what I am at right now. In your mind, how difficult would it be to survive off of 55+ out in the SF area?

quote:

Originally posted by _Nut_ All of the cost of living adjustment tools online list only SF... so that is what I am trying to base it off of.

I think it'd be better to browse actual apartments on Craigslist in the Mountain View area: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/ Since you're going to have to do this anyway

I would look for a roommate situation. If you do that and kind find a room for a good price and in a good location, you should be fine on that pay w/o many issues. Just a matter of being sure to keeping your debts down to a minimum.