| or.... You could consider living somewhere like Berkeley, which is a short (and direct) 20 minute BART ride into S.F. (if you don't have a remote or local job). I'd push hard to get your salary up to ~$165k/year as a senior-level (totally doable). After taxes and whatever you throw down for partial Health Care payments through your job, you can target around $9k/month in your pocket. 1) About 1/3 of your income can go to housing. You can rent a small home in Berkeley (very nice areas) for $3k to $3.5k/month [1][2] The market is just now starting to open back up, so it'll only get better. 2) About 1/3 of your income can go to bill's, groceries, car payments, BART tickets, etc... (~2.5k to 3k) 3) Last 1/3 of your income (~3k) can go directly into your savings account. It's doable, in very nice areas, with a high quality of life. That said... ...it all depends on what your personal definition of "high quality of life" is. Top rated public schools (9/10 & 10/10 rated), great weather year around, hiking, biking, sailing, surfing, beaches, skiing, fishing, local farmers markets (supplied by actual local farms from the central valley), amazing & unique local Grocery markets [3], stellar independent eateries [4], etc... all out your back door, most of it walkable [5], most of it bike friendly [6], and/or very close by. Big, spacious, modern house with lot's of acreage. Nope. [1] https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/eby/hhh?nh=49&min_price=... [2] https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/sub/d/beautiful-and-serene-... [3] https://www.yelp.com/biz/monterey-market-berkeley [4] https://www.yelp.com/biz/gourmet-ghetto-berkeley [5] https://www.cityofberkeley.info/bicyclingandwalkingguides/ [6] http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/07/11/berkeley-gets-first-b... |