4 ms·

How much more are you spending (on non-avoidable cost of living stuff) now that you live in SF, though? If I hypothetically doubled my salary _and_ my expenses

How much more are you spending (on non-avoidable cost of living stuff) now that you live in SF, though? If I hypothetically doubled my salary _and_ my expenses, that hardly seems worth it. Although NorCal is gorgeous.

cma 2y ago
If you already earn more than you spend, doubling both does seems like a no-brainer.
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  Unless they demand twice the work from you.
hot_gril 2y ago
I would wager that you still end up with more disposable income in the end if you're single. I only decided SF or the rest of Bay Area wasn't financially worthwhile when I wanted to start a family.
sodality2 2y ago
> If I hypothetically doubled my salary _and_ my expenses, that hardly seems worth it. Although NorCal is gorgeous. All else being equal, the improvements in other non-financial areas (chances to grow social life, many more attractions, etc) should make up for it. The savings gap hopefully should widen as well (unless it's a deficit, in which case, cut expenses).
- harrall 2y ago
  Altho I want to state the perhaps obvious that different big cities have very different subcultures. Portland vs. SF vs. Nashville vs. NYC. I would not limit yourself to just one specific big city.
lesuorac 2y ago
Pretty much if you ever double your salary you will come out ahead as everything else doesn't double. (And even if it does, your savings also doubled so you can retire to a lower cost of living and come out ahead). If you go from say 120k to 240k in salary your housing may go from say 1k (12k/year) to 3k (36k/year) but at the end of the year 120k-12k is 108k while 240k-36k is 204 which is a net gain of 96k! Of course you still need to eat and stuff but when you check out the "Regional Price Parity" [1] you'll see that nowhere do things actually become twice as expensive. So you're really getting a 2x boost in salary in exchange for a 1.3x increase in expenses. [1]: https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-par...
- free_energy_min 2y ago
  your salary is probably not doubling fully post-tax though
  - lesuorac 2y ago
    YMMV. At least for me since the compensation tripled, the salary effectively doubled post-tax. Given that the BLS puts the median programmer at 99k/yr [1] I think your salary will double if you go to the bay area. [1]: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151251.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151251.htm
itake 2y ago
In Atlanta, I earned $70k/yr ($4k/mo after taxes). I saved about $2k/mo When I moved to SF, I earned $130k/yr ($6k/mo after taxes). I saved about $3k/mo You can't expect the same quality of life as you did in the lower cost cities, but it is much easier to save way more money when you have a high income, than a low income.

cma 2y ago

If you already earn more than you spend, doubling both does seems like a no-brainer.

inglor_cz 2y ago
Unless they demand twice the work from you.

hot_gril 2y ago

I would wager that you still end up with more disposable income in the end if you're single. I only decided SF or the rest of Bay Area wasn't financially worthwhile when I wanted to start a family.

sodality2 2y ago

> If I hypothetically doubled my salary _and_ my expenses, that hardly seems worth it. Although NorCal is gorgeous. All else being equal, the improvements in other non-financial areas (chances to grow social life, many more attractions, etc) should make up for it. The savings gap hopefully should widen as well (unless it's a deficit, in which case, cut expenses).

harrall 2y ago
Altho I want to state the perhaps obvious that different big cities have very different subcultures. Portland vs. SF vs. Nashville vs. NYC. I would not limit yourself to just one specific big city.

lesuorac 2y ago

Pretty much if you ever double your salary you will come out ahead as everything else doesn't double. (And even if it does, your savings also doubled so you can retire to a lower cost of living and come out ahead). If you go from say 120k to 240k in salary your housing may go from say 1k (12k/year) to 3k (36k/year) but at the end of the year 120k-12k is 108k while 240k-36k is 204 which is a net gain of 96k! Of course you still need to eat and stuff but when you check out the "Regional Price Parity" [1] you'll see that nowhere do things actually become twice as expensive. So you're really getting a 2x boost in salary in exchange for a 1.3x increase in expenses. [1]: https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-par...

free_energy_min 2y ago
your salary is probably not doubling fully post-tax though
- lesuorac 2y ago
  YMMV. At least for me since the compensation tripled, the salary effectively doubled post-tax. Given that the BLS puts the median programmer at 99k/yr [1] I think your salary will double if you go to the bay area. [1]: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151251.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes151251.htm

itake 2y ago

In Atlanta, I earned $70k/yr ($4k/mo after taxes). I saved about $2k/mo When I moved to SF, I earned $130k/yr ($6k/mo after taxes). I saved about $3k/mo You can't expect the same quality of life as you did in the lower cost cities, but it is much easier to save way more money when you have a high income, than a low income.