Maybe she adds avocado in her sandwiches ??
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Vice news - What It Costs To Live In San Francisco
- Thread starter Armadilo
- Start date
Spending 10$ a day for a single person on lunch? That's definitely a luxury. That doesn't mean that there's something wrong with it if she enjoys it and can afford it.
I'm in SF, make $150k and live with my parents.
The weather sucks, there are bums and crazies everywhere and I grew up here, so it doesn't even have that special something for me. Not sure what to do - on one hand, the cost of living here is ridiculous and saving up to buy anything will take years. On the other hand, if I move anywhere else, I'll make like half as much.
The weather sucks, there are bums and crazies everywhere and I grew up here, so it doesn't even have that special something for me. Not sure what to do - on one hand, the cost of living here is ridiculous and saving up to buy anything will take years. On the other hand, if I move anywhere else, I'll make like half as much.
maybe but last time I went that's how much everything cost (cheapest food item )
If you consider my mother and my other brother as roommates, two.
(Outer) Mission.
lol Tenderloin. I'll rather live somewhere else than living the T-Lion. Almost got stabbed walking there once.
n0razi
Member
I'm not from the US, but prices are around the same here. I can get cheap food at the place I work though (2 euros for unlimited lunch). If I couldn't, I'd definitely not buy sandwiches at some place every day. I'd either take lunch with me from home or pick some stuff up from a supermarket with some colleagues and make our own sandwiches.
All these things simply add up quickly. Say you spend 10$ for lunch for 20 days each month. That adds up to 200 a month or 2.4k a year. If her husband does the same it's nearly 5k.
Kaleinc
Banned
See how convenient it is to have 5 roommates, you blow each other and don't need a sandwich.
IchigoSharingan
Member
i believe you are referring to a higher quality of life relative lower income
Wasn't always like that, but LA has definitely surpassed SF in the last 10 years or so.
Except for pizza. LA still sucks at pizza.
TurtleSnatcher
Member
I pay $3600 a month in SF for a 1 bedroom / 1 bath.
It is pretty bad.
On the brightside, I got my first month free, no security deposit or pet deposit so it prorates to about $3200 or something a month /shrug.
EDIT: I will say that I do get paid pretty well and Monday - Friday my breakfast, lunch, dinner are all free as my company caters in and covers it for employees. Snacks, Drinks, Alcohol at work etc as well.
It does save me a frick ton of money.
It is pretty bad.
On the brightside, I got my first month free, no security deposit or pet deposit so it prorates to about $3200 or something a month /shrug.
EDIT: I will say that I do get paid pretty well and Monday - Friday my breakfast, lunch, dinner are all free as my company caters in and covers it for employees. Snacks, Drinks, Alcohol at work etc as well.
It does save me a frick ton of money.
Just watched the video.
I mean she didn't have to live in the city itself, especially when their combined income is only 110k. That's her choice with her partner.
And buying breakfast and lunch every day? Yeah - you can't really afford that either.
I commute to work in sf everyday, and although we were lucky enough to buy before the housing prices went way up again, there's still alot of more affordable housing outside of the city than in. Commuting sucks, but it's just a way of life out here
I mean she didn't have to live in the city itself, especially when their combined income is only 110k. That's her choice with her partner.
And buying breakfast and lunch every day? Yeah - you can't really afford that either.
I commute to work in sf everyday, and although we were lucky enough to buy before the housing prices went way up again, there's still alot of more affordable housing outside of the city than in. Commuting sucks, but it's just a way of life out here
Widdle Puppy
Banned
I have zero interest in this overpriced shithole.
FaintDeftone
Junior Member
A good friend of mine lives outside the Bay area and both him and his wife commute to San Francisco every day. He took out a mortgage on a three bedroom ranch, 1100 sq ft. home for $800,000. His house is very similar to mine in size and style, and I paid under $100,000 for it in Ohio. That's insane to me.
I had airline miles and a free pass, so I went out to GDC this year. Stayed with a friend all the way out in Mountain View or somethin like that.
He makes well over 100k a year, and he was living in this awful little duplex and drove, like, a 2001 Ford Explorer type of thing. I forget the exact make and model. He had a roommate who made similar amounts of cash.
Like, I'm below the poverty line where I live, and I was on food stamps, and his place was marginally better than mine, despite making like 15x what I make in a year. Some guys on my indie team wanted to live in more expensive places, and I'm just like, geez, I'd rather move to Lenexa or something.
He makes well over 100k a year, and he was living in this awful little duplex and drove, like, a 2001 Ford Explorer type of thing. I forget the exact make and model. He had a roommate who made similar amounts of cash.
Like, I'm below the poverty line where I live, and I was on food stamps, and his place was marginally better than mine, despite making like 15x what I make in a year. Some guys on my indie team wanted to live in more expensive places, and I'm just like, geez, I'd rather move to Lenexa or something.
Oops...I spend closer to $20 everyday on lunch. That's living in a small, affordable Canadian city.
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
San Francisco clearly has a problem, but come on, she was spending like $15 a day on lunch/breakfast. Brown bag that shit.
When you're talking about how you can't afford cost of living, yeah, it becomes a luxury.
To be honest, having two kids in a major city is a luxury.
The case example is a perfect "miss the forest for the trees" bit, because she talks about cutting down on transportation costs yet in her day breakdown she's spending more on eating out.
Ultimately there's two things going on here: the environment, and what you choose to do in response to it. One is far easier to modulate than the other. The top Youtube comment puts it succinctly: "What the point in living there if you cant afford to enjoy it?"
Even in San Francisco gots its act together now and reformed its zoning laws to allow higher density, it's going to take 10+ years to start seeing a major effect on prices. There's no actual chance of relief for her family before her kids are already grown, and they're still going to be living in a one bedroom.
This definitely resonates with me, even if it's to a lesser degree in Toronto - it's still pretty bad here.
I'm currently looking for an apartment/condo for rent in or near downtown (somewhere along the subway line) and basically anything is $1700-2500 per month for a 1 bedroom. The lower range aren't exactly stellar units either - and they would have been going for about $1300 a month just a few years back.
The prices have skyrocketed recently and it'll likely only get worse. The entire experience of searching for a place is soul crushing - had my eyes on a perfect place last week and was out bid. Now back to square one and mildly depressed about it - fun.
I'm currently looking for an apartment/condo for rent in or near downtown (somewhere along the subway line) and basically anything is $1700-2500 per month for a 1 bedroom. The lower range aren't exactly stellar units either - and they would have been going for about $1300 a month just a few years back.
The prices have skyrocketed recently and it'll likely only get worse. The entire experience of searching for a place is soul crushing - had my eyes on a perfect place last week and was out bid. Now back to square one and mildly depressed about it - fun.
neurosisxeno
Member
That was my one gripe about the video. Assuming she works 5 days a week and spends about $15-20 a day on those 2 meals, that's like $300-400 a month on meals, which could easily be trimmed down if they spent another $30-40 on groceries and made meals at home. I know SF is stupid expensive and I don't doubt they are struggling, but that really stood out to me especially since she went on to say they rely heavily on meal planning.
The fact that having an iced coffee with a sandwich is a luxury for a university professor who is living with 1 car in a subsidized apartment makes san francisco a joke of a place to live in. Thats what i got out of it. Buying a sandwich and coffee for lunch will be a perfectly normal lifestyle choice in any other city, especially for such a highly skilled individual. I simply dont see why people are criticising this part of her life rather than the central thesis of the video in the first place. San fran is just too expensive to live in.
Look, i live in seoul. I can buy a sandwich and coffee whenever the hell i want, and i am basically the lowest rung researcher in a university.
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
Because no one is disputing that San Francisco is unaffordable for all but the wealthy. If you made a thread talking about how you're struggling to make ends meet, and you spend $20 a day on lunch, I'd tell you "Hey, pack your lunch. Easy way to save a few hundred bucks." No one is arguing that things should be that way in SF. However, making $110k a year, she has the freedom to leave.
She would save a whopping $3,900 a year if she never paid for lunch or breakfast again. In reality she would save probably $2,700. That's not gonna make a significant difference in her living situation. The problem is bigger than not buying lunch.
GoldenEye 007
Member
How is that supposed to be sustainable?
And what's weird is the amount of people even here on GAF that are just like, tough. Free market, baby! Move out further and commute over an hour to work on that wonderful mass transit we have here in the USA! Or as seen in here - then maybe you shouldn't be buying lunch or "nice" things. Which in reality by making your own lunch, it's increased time plus you're getting costs down to $3-$4 a meal. Which isn't a real dent in the situation anyway.
And what's weird is the amount of people even here on GAF that are just like, tough. Free market, baby! Move out further and commute over an hour to work on that wonderful mass transit we have here in the USA! Or as seen in here - then maybe you shouldn't be buying lunch or "nice" things. Which in reality by making your own lunch, it's increased time plus you're getting costs down to $3-$4 a meal. Which isn't a real dent in the situation anyway.
Well, she didnt make this thread and this thread is not about how she can save money. This is thread about a Vice video showcasing how expensive it is to live in San Fran, and it does that very well. But of all the things we can discuss, many people seem to want to criticize her for buying a perfectly normal looking sandwich and a coffee for her lunch.
Seriously? I feel like i am watching a parody here.
My wife and I spend $400 on groceries a month and have breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.
Yes, it takes time, but it is a completely viable way of saving money.
snausagesUK
Member
While in Dublin I lived with someone from San Francisco and I got the sense that there's a kind of ethnocentricism about people who come from there. Like they are very liberal and progressive, which is great. But the rest of the world is HickTown central to them it seems.
Sorry if that's offensive to SFGaf but I did not like the feeling of looking-down-their-nose-at-you that I got from some of them.
MysteryQuesadilla
Member
I've visited the Bay Area twice recently and while I can see why people move there in droves (comfortable weather, culture, etc), I certainly couldn't swing it as a long time married guy unless my wife was pulling in some big bucks.
Gully State
Member
While I certainly don't think "tough shit, free market baby," (norcal is where I grew up and I would love to move back some day) it's certainly sustainable price wise unfortunately. Fact of the matter is that the Bay Area is a highly desirable area to live in and it's not an area that's just artificially propped up like Riverside prior to 08.
IISANDERII
Member
75k is still really good. I would've been outta there instantly. Why do you stay?
MysteryQuesadilla
Member
Noe Valley is a nice neighborhood. Ate at a donut shop there almost every morning for a week.
Hell you won't even let me stay for the weekend
i3allistic
Member
she can easily live outside SF for $2400 a month instead of her whole family cramping in one bed room apartment ... what a dummy , I guess it the quality of life they want ....I grew up in the city btw and moved out to Oakland a few yr ago ....not looking to move back
Yeah, that's crazy. Ive been to San Fran a couple times, and while beautiful, I personally never found it enticing enough to be even close to worth the trouble. I'm lucky enough to live in Vancouver though, which I think is a nicer city and is downright affordable compared to San Fran.
Rent prices in Vancouver are skyrocketing, but you can still get a one bedroom with a decent amount of space for like 1700-2000.
Rent prices in Vancouver are skyrocketing, but you can still get a one bedroom with a decent amount of space for like 1700-2000.
demosthenes
Member
Friends (will probably be married in 2018) are moving to sf. Their rent is going to be 5,100/month.
GoldenEye 007
Member
I thought it was somewhat artificially propped up in the sense of there being massive local resistance to increasing housing density to even try to cope with demand.
The wife and I lived in LA for a few years right after we got married. But as soon as we had kids, we noped the fuck out of there. Way too expensive to raise kids there. I can't imagine trying to live in the Bay Area with a family.
Now we live in the Triangle area of NC and for the same amount that we were spending on rent for a shitty 2-bedroom apartment in Hollywood we have a nice, 4-bedroom 2000+ sq ft house.
Now we live in the Triangle area of NC and for the same amount that we were spending on rent for a shitty 2-bedroom apartment in Hollywood we have a nice, 4-bedroom 2000+ sq ft house.
Gully State
Member
Lack of housing is just one of the factors. You still have foreign investors, huge booming industry, naturally desirable living region etc...Building a ton of housing is obviously going to help but the property value for the current places aren't going to drop because of it (they'll still go up). Vancouver is a good example. Owning property is ridiculously expensive but renting is affordable because of all the apartment complexes that keep springing up.
CherryWoodFuton
Member
SF home owners are rare these days. They are either rich as fuck or have owned their homes before the housing boom and decided not to cash out
I'm moving to SF next month and my rent is about triple what I used to pay in Florida but I'll be fucking damned if I ever go back to that shithole
Plus me and my wife are nurses and the Bay Area has the highest wages for nurses in the country
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
I just don't know how any of this is sustainable. How does the next generation of kids even attempt to make it in these towns if prices continue to rise at these rates for another gen years? Most major metropolitan coastal towns are becoming so far fucked there has to be a breaking point.
Lil'DigiOp
Member
You guys really sound like you honestly haven't struggled in your lives.....
I'm not talking college..... I'm talking struggle....
Please correct me if I'm wrong
i3allistic
Member
this, highest wages for jobs, low amount of housing (THANKS NIMBY), and jobs jobs jobs ...that why bay area and sf is a damn mess right now