San Francisco Living Costs: Can You Afford Comfort?

Buzz Feed

3 days ago

Looking at the cost of coffee and avocado toast these days, I began to ponder over my spending habits and what purpose it served. I very soon realized my desire for convenience at every step of the way is really hurting my wallet.
It goes without saying—our current spending habits are born out of convenience, but realistically not possible. And I think we need to rethink how we get by on a day-to-day basis without the need to get an iced coffee every time we step out the door.
In order to see if we can truly leave behind these worldly pleasures and live more reasonably, I decided to research how much it would cost to live practically in San Francisco for ONE DAY.
Why San Francisco? It is an attractive hub for newcomers, with a strong job market, opportunities, and Silicon Valley close by. And it is also pretty popular for families, with a bustling culture and good education. However, it is also one of the most expensive cities to live in in the US.
Given this, I read up on the average rent, public transport prices, and miscelleanous expenses I would need to know in order to spend in one day in this city. Using sites like Zillow, Uber Eats, Reddit, and the SFMTA, I was able to come up with a rough estimate of what it would take to survive a day in San Francisco. So without further ado, here is the breakdown!
First, the rent:
According to Zillow, the average rent for all property types in San Francisco comes to $3500. This comes down to $116.6 per day.
And while I am aware that rent is not paid daily, for the purpose of this article, it makes sense to add it in to see the full round up of expenses. And in addition to rent, the electricity bill also takes up quite an amount on the bill.
According to Energy Sage, San Francisco residents spend 18% more than National levels on electricity bills, paying around $259 per month. Taking this average per month, the price of the electricity bill on the daily rounds up to $9.
Moving on to the next necessity in any major cosmopolitan city: public transportation.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency offers monthly passes on the Clipper card. For an adult, a monthly pass with access to the Cable car (which has unlimited rides on all Muni vehicles for the calendar month) costs $86 per month. Breaking that down, it is $2 per day. For those who don't opt for the monthly pass, a single-day pass for all Muni vehicles costs $5.75.
Public transport is quite affordable with $2 a day with the monthly passes. Although not all residents may choose public transport, given that the city is quite walkable irrespective of the hilly terains.
Like this redditor correctly says,
"Yep. Walkability isn't really a measure of "can you easily cross the whole city on foot" and is more "in this city, can you navigate daily life on foot?" So if you live in Telegraph Hill, it's not about whether you can quickly get to a neighborhood on the other side of town without a car, it's whether or not you have the amenities needed to support yourself within walking distance on pedestrian-friendly roads. Most parts of SF ace that test."
However, if someone were to consider taking an Uber to travel within the city, the average cost ranges from $20-50 for a single ride. You can expect that to double if you change the car to UberXL.
If I were traveling normally without knowing any better, I would've taken the Uber any day to make it on time and comfortably. But after seeing these prices? I'm just going to walk.
Moving on to the third priority of the day: food!
Before I get into the breakdown of prices that I have estimated, I will share this redditor's take on food prices in this city:
Taking into account this breakdown, I took it upon myself to see what the delivery prices are in the city using Uber Eats. Here is the breakdown:
Uber Eats:
Wingstop delivery in 15-30 mins in Downtown San Francisco
Order: $21.67
Delivery fee: $0.49
Taxes: $7.75
Total: $29.91
Now if you were to cook one meal for the day, assuming the bare minimum ingredients required, this is how much one would spend on groceries from Costco Wholesale:
$7 for free-range eggs
$24 for Kirkland Chicken thighs
$8 for Cauliflour and Broccoli florets each ($16)
$20 for Basmati rice
Total: $67
But what would the actual cost for just that one meal of chicken fried rice?
Say you used two eggs from the dozen tray for the fried rice, it would come up to roughly $1.20.
You used two chicken thighs, it comes up to half a packet. This would round up to $6.
If you used half a cauliflower and broccoli, the total of each half would be $4.
Finally, for the fried rice, if you used 1 cup from the pound of rice you bought, it would cost $4.
So the total of that one meal for the day would actually cost you: $15. This would, of course, increase or decrease depending on the food you cook, the veggies you need, the quantity, and which store you visit. If you buy from Whole Foods, it may be more expensive.
Hypothetically considering that I have ordered from these apps for lunch, and groceries reuqired for one meal, living in downtown San Francisco, the money I'd spend in total on food is $44.91— which is within the $50 range as mentioned in the thread above, but reasonable given grocery shopping. If we were to add in the random snacks, drinks, and total grocery budget, it might just exceed well beyond $150.
Now, let's move on to the miscelleanous expenses (phone data, grooming, activities):
Of course, these prices may differ for brands, products, and a person's lifestyle. With the research I have conducted, I have taken the minimum price for each of the following, and compiled a list.
Here is the breakdown:
The AT&T data package for 12 months is $25 per month. Which rounds up to $1 per day.
For a good haircut, you can expect the minimum price to be around $40 + tip: $45
If you want to work out, the cheapest option for the gym is the YMCA, where the membership is $80 per month. which comes rounds up to $3 per day.
And finally—even as a local, if you want to visit a museum, say the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, it costs $30 per adult.
Public toilets are free of cost, which is life-saving!
This is the list of expenses that I could arrive at, thinking as a local from San Francisco. Here is the total cost of a day in San Francisco: $250.91.
If we were to exclude the rent and electricity which is not paid daily, it would come down to $125—which is still pretty high to be surviving on the bare necessities in San Francisco.
With the average salary per year in San Francisco being $95,265, navigating a day in this city while trying keeping it strictly about basic needs, is pretty expensive to me. I have not factored in the avocado toasts, the coffees, the drinks out with friends, the dates—let alone raising a child.
Yes, the quote I have mentioned may be lower for some with different lifestyles. But the biggest expense that add to this list are rent and food, and those prices don't seem to cut down.
If anything, this break down confirms one thing: affording convenience and little 'iced latte' treats on a daily basis, is near impossible and might just make me very broke.
SNL / Giphy / Via giphy.com