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Here's my counter-anecdote. I hesitate to do this but I think it's nice for aspiring software engineers to have details. I moved to San Francisco in 2006 strai
by slewis 9y ago
Here's my counter-anecdote. I hesitate to do this but I think it's nice for aspiring software engineers to have details.
I moved to San Francisco in 2006 straight out of college to work at Google as a SWE. I was $27k in debt (student loan + credit card). My rent was $1450 at the time (2 bedroom with a roommate in a nice part of town), and I took out a $26k loan to buy a car. I'm not particularly frugal.
I did well at Google, left in 2010 with >$200k saved, and used that to fund my entrepreneurial adventures from then til now.
I was very fortunate to land that job, YMMV.
- driverdan 9y agoSo 7-11 years ago. Not very relevant anymore since the cost of living has increased significantly in SF since then.
- kobeya 9y agoThose numbers are still reasonable for the South Bay, which has just as much opportunity, or the East Bay where you could commute in to SF. Or for someone more frugal than the GP. I get what you're saying, but it's still possible to work.
- rconti 9y ago7-11 years ago everyone was saying exactly the same thing about the cost of living here as they are now.
- jsmthrowaway 9y ago$1,450/2BR in SF is the giveaway that this is a dated, and no longer even remotely likely, anecdote.
- 0xdada 9y agoSaving that much money (even adjusted) in 4 years is totally realistic though, so I'd say it passes as anecdote.
- slewis 9y agoThat was my share, the total was $2750. Also, I didn't mention, but I paid $2k for my own one-bedroom for half that time. That same one-bedroom would be $3k today. Salaries at Google have scaled with cost of living, so it seems relevant to me.