I think your issue is SF. In most of the Bay Area (including desirable parts of the South Bay like Mountain View & Sunnyvale) you can get 1BRs for $2000/month

I think your issue is SF. In most of the Bay Area (including desirable parts of the South Bay like Mountain View & Sunnyvale) you can get 1BRs for $2000/month or 2BRs for about $2600. Less in the East Bay. My family of 3 spends about $300/month on groceries - knowing the local immigrant grocers can shave off a lot on fresh produce, our vegetable bill is usually about $13/week for about 20 lbs. of fresh vegetables. We get meats at Costco for pretty cheap. I would also highly recommend paying off the student loans before having kids. My parents borrowed close to $100K to send my sister and I to college, and 4 years after graduation it was paid off completely, after saving 80% of my income and contributing it back to them. Because of compound interest, a few extra contributions towards the principal shorten the term of the loan dramatically, because it means that the loan balance shrinks, the amount of interest owed each month shrinks, and so a greater percentage of each payment is applied to the principal, which speeds up repayment even more.