[asdfasgasdgasdg]

> Doing the same in SFBA would probably require at least $250K. Maybe more.

Why? Each child might consume, generously, an extra 5k of food and 2.5k of clothes and other inputs per year. This is an increment of $30k on top of housing. For housing, you could add one or at most two bedrooms for four children. This does substantially raise housing costs, but there are still places in Sunnyvale for $1M or just above that that have three bedrooms. They may not be the nicest houses, but they would do.

So, before you have kids, save your downpayment. On a 250k salary, this would take one to three years if you're thoughtful about it. Then buy the house and start popping out babies. Times will be tight if you need to pay for childcare, but that's a defined and short period of the childrens' lives. You're not going to be taking lavish vacations, but if you wanted those, you wouldn't have four kids anyway.

[beamatronic]

Cheap homes in the Bay Area have terrible schools. You’ll need to factor in private school if you go that route. That’s $25k per kid per year.

[bsanr2]

Or, be involved with your school board, and raise up the schools you can afford to send your kids to?

Ego seems to be at play here, a bit. No one wants to admit that they're in the same boat as the people sending their kids to "those schools," but they are. The numbers don't lie. Looking on the bright side: admissions look at class rank. An outstanding student at a mediocre school has better odds than a mediocre student at a "good" school.

[thatfrenchguy]

... And your kids at those 10/10 greatschools schools will be stressed like hell and end up with crazy self worth issues.

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

There are plenty of houses listed near $1M on Zillow that have acceptable school districts. They aren't the best in the Bay, but I'm not a buyer on the premise that you need a 10/10 school for your child to have a good opportunity at success and happiness.

[akhilcacharya]

What exactly is a "terrible school"?

My elementary and middle schools were 4/10 and 5/10 on "Greatschools" in North Carolina.

[vkou]

In the Bay area?

Judging by this subthread, it's a school where people who 'merely' make 170k/year send their children to.

You really don't want to get your kids mixed up with that kind of hoi polloi. /snark

[mcguire]

Sounds like the Bay Area is a horrible place to live.