[Tangaroa]

At minimum wage or slightly above, you would need to work about 60 hours a week to get by. You should make it a priority to find roommates to split costs.

California community colleges charge upwards of $500 a unit for out-of-state students. Find out what your preferred school charges and factor that into your plans.

The cheapest place to live in the Bay Area might be Vallejo, or possibly some run-down areas of the East Bay. However, moving there would put you out of daily driving range of most of the Bay Area's software companies which are on the south end of the peninsula in the Menlo Park area, or in San Jose.

[jmau5]

I figured I'd need roommates to make things work. What I didn't think of was how far Berkeley is from Menlo Park/San Jose. Seeing as I may not have a car for a while, I might have to consider moving to San Jose.