Cost of Living • Hacker News Board

Re: Cost of Living

#51

Post by sbraford » Sat, Sep 15, 2007, 11:35 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #40

sbraford wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's snarkiness and then there's honest to goodness questions about whether one can afford to get into Y Combinator. (if you can get that far, of course) I personally would need to save up for a while & pay down some debt before even trying to apply. But I would never knock the idea of cutting ramen-noodle checks to YC founders. It's at the very least much better (for the probably outcome of the business) than cut…

Since in my job I have to quote hourly and daily rates to people, I always keep in the back of my mind a rate for "barely living", a rate for "swimming", and a rate for "comfortable living". I'm always aware of the amount of money it takes to pay the mortgage, lights, car payment, etc. That's the thing about getting married and having kids: it makes your life a lot more complicated. Personally I don't mind living out…

While I totally hear you... there's not much YC should do about it.

I've got myself into sticky situations befre re: money, and have had to get out of them myself.

All of the money-managing books & articles I've ever read say that one of the most important decisions you'll ever make re: your financial future is the spouse you get married to.

The right one could be a net positive (moral support, financial support, etc), while the wrong one could lead to disaster in your financial life.

Kids? Now that's a whole different story...!

Re: Cost of Living

#52

Post by jdavid » Sun, Jul 13, 2008, 5:53 AM UTC

So I thought I would update this post.

I am now living in the bay area and here are some hard numbers

our 3brdm is $3350 a month, and it fits 4 people snug but comfortably. So that is about $1200 a bedroom.

Internet is included, but you might expect to pay a bit more than $50 a month.

food well, eating at Mel's Dinner will run you $12 for a meal, and about $2.50 for a drink, and another $2 for tip, or about $17 for a dinner meal. Milk is between $4-$8 a gallon, and ground beef is $3 a pound. Cereal is about the same cost, and Starbuck's Coffee, is the same price in SF as it is in MKE or Chicago. Bagels at Noah's will run you about $2.50 for a bagel with cream cheese, and lunch will run about $8 a person without getting a drink.

You will be using a laundry mat, and it will cost you $2 a load to wash, and $1-$2 to dry them, so $3-4 in total at the brainwash laundry mat.

Beer is about $5-$6 in most of SF, but last night I was in the mission drinking micro brews for $3-4 a beer. On another occasion in north beach I paid $11 for a beer in a plastic cup.

The AMC theater on VanNess is $10.50 a person and matinées are $8.50 a person.

The bus will take you anywhere for $1.50 a trip, with a transfer that is good for ~2 hours+ depending on how the driver tears the transfer ticket. The BART is about $5 to Berkley, or SFO and a bit more if you want to go to Freemont or to Palo Alto, etc.. CalTrain is a bit more expensive and runs about $10 for a trip between Sunnyvale and like SF. Taking a cab between the Mission and say "the Richmond" will run about $10-20, and where I live its about $10.

Oh, parking is a bitch. Expect to pay $200-$400 a month more for rent or a separate parking space.

Living in SF you will also save money for heating and cooling costs, because the weather is so temperate.

There are at least 5-10 tech events a week, so you will have to choose wisely which ones you are going to go to and during the week its not pleasant getting between Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and Mountain View and SF proper.

Living in the Mission is probably the cheapest and has the best transportation options for a tech entrepreneur, but pacific/laurel heights and the richmond have their advantages too. potrero hill is a great area but pricier than others.

if you are going to try to save on rent by being a bit farther out in the city, make sure you are near a bus line that runs regularly, at night many of the buses really reduce their schedule, but for example lines like the 38 will run fairly late with 7 min intervals, and then 20 min in the late night.

Re: Cost of Living

#53

Post by jdavid » Sun, Jul 13, 2008, 5:56 AM UTC

anamax wrote: post #37

jdavid wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have found more opportunity working in a cafe, and going out, than i have by working in an enclosed space. I figure 2-3$ for breakfast (egg, cereal, organic milk) lunch will cost (12$) at any reasonable panera, etc... and if i get something else cheap for the day, that means another day i can invite someone to lunch for a networking opportunity. that leaves me with ($10-$20) for dinner. eating just noodles does not…

> I have found more opportunity working in a cafe, and going out, That may be true, but are you really lacking in opportunity if you're in a decent startup? >i can invite someone to lunch for a networking opportunity Is this "networking" for the startup, you, or is it a euphemism for a social life? Let me suggest a test. Networking involves enough pre-meeting prep to enable a non-trivial agenda. Post-networking, ther…

I guess now that I am in the bay area, Networking is a whole different beast. Everyone is doing something, so its more about something in detail and with an agenda, than it is about just finding people in general.