kalikat Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 So - It has been three years since I accepted a teaching job in San Francisco. Within two weeks, I packed up my house in So Cal, and moved up north. No one told me that the cost of living up here was out of control. I thought I would be able to find a cute little one bedroom in the city for less than $1500. Boy was I wrong! The least expensive apartment was in the harshest part of the city - a 450 sq ft studio...for the low, low price of $2850! I kid you not! And then - parking was an extra 100/month. A pet cost you another$100/month. So total rent monthly (for a shoe box) was over $3000. And my income, after taxes, totaled a great big $3155. And I am a 10 year veteran teacher! So I had to compromise - in a big way. I ended up renting a place in the east bay. A city called Richmond. A city that has the great honor to be the #1 city in California for murders per square mile. Not exactly what I had in mind when I had accepted this job. These past three years, I have been doing the commute from the east bay to the "city". And although it is only about 14 miles, it has been the most stressful, most unbelievable, commute I have ever done. Simply for this reason: those 14 miles take anywhere from 45minutes to 2 hours to travel! If I have to be at a school site by 8AM, I have to leave Richmond NO LATER than 6:15AM. Which means I wake up every day around 4:45AM. The high rents of San Francisco have forced (literally) thousands of people over the bridge to the east bay. Which is what has made this route so overcrowded and slow. Down in Southern California, if there is a lot of traffic on one fwy, you have multiple alternative ways you can travel. But where I am located, there is one fwy (the 580) that I can take to go either north or south. So if there is an accident - I might as well call in sick. Okay - fast forward to today. This will be my 4th year teaching up here. I know without any doubt, that if I don't change the situation, I will not last the year. So I have decided to take the big plunge - I have rented an apartment centrally located to the 5 schools I teach at every week. The rent is double what I pay now, and the space is less than half the size. I came into a little cash which will allow me to cover the difference for one year. But I will still need to account for every penny of my salary. I will also have to purge thru my "stuff". Get rid of furniture, clothing, etc., so that I will fit into the new location. The apartment itself is cute, and has a fantastic view of the city - which I hope will help me justify the expense. I wanted to start this new journal to keep something of a running dialogue throughout this new adventure. See if i can actually survive on the salary they pay. At the end of this year, I will need to make a decision - stay or go.... should be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalikat Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 click to see photos of apartment, and the view[ATTACH=CONFIG]11099[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]11097[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]11098[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalikat Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 Okay - Changed things up a bit. Ended up not moving to that 1st. apt. Although location was ideal, the space was just so small. No way I could be happy there. So continued my search - and found a fantastic place so much closer to the city. In the moving process now. School is back in on Monday. [ATTACH=CONFIG]11131[/ATTACH] Amazing view of the bay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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