How to Live in San Francisco on $500/month

[amha]

It's impossible to be a Mustachian in a super-expensive city like San Francisco, right???

Before my startup failed, my three co-founders and I survived on an mere $450 to $500/person/month. This included rent, utilities, food, travel and miscellaneous expenses. We never had to resort to cup noodles and always grubbed like poor princes.

Win.

How was this possible? That I grew up in a working class, Asian American household (cheap), lived in an Asian American SF neighborhood (super cheap), and shopped at Asian supermarkets (super fucking cheap) played a big role.

http://wlimdo.com/how-to-survive-in-sf-as-a-broke-startup

[dragoncar]

If you're already living with your team, and working at home, why not just rent a place 1-2 hours outside the city (say, Vallejo)?

[gimp]

Because startups need talent and VCs, and talent doesn't want to go to Vallejo, and VCs sure as fuck don't want to go to Vallejo. SF is a pretty logical choice to get money and workers.

[dragoncar]

Because startups need talent and VCs, and talent doesn't want to go to Vallejo, and VCs sure as fuck don't want to go to Vallejo. SF is a pretty logical choice to get money and workers.

Does talent want to live two to a room in the outer sunset?  Muni from outer sunset to the fidi takes about as long as driving from vallejo

[gimp]

Talent is sometimes idiots about non-engineering things.

[Beric01]

I'm surprised they didn't mention no car, but this almost goes without saying.

I would totally share a room with other people here in San Jose if anyone would be willing to do it. Housing costs are the number one cost living in this area, so attacking that it really allows you to drive that cost down. And cooking your own food is the other big one.

[sobezen]

Good ideas and you don't need to even work in a startup to appreciate or implement them.  I manage properties in SF and one of the most common thing I do is rent out rooms in multi-unit properties and converted houses in the $500-$600 range and everyone works together to make the common areas enjoyable.  IMO the catch is, at what tipping point are you willing to stop sacrifice privacy for savings?   Single Mustachians might accept this living arrangement and enjoy it, but for many working professionals in SF, they are willing to pay more for privacy and conveniences.  YMMV.

[gimp]

I manage properties in SF and one of the most common thing I do is rent out rooms in multi-unit properties and converted houses in the $500-$600 range and everyone works together to make the common areas enjoyable.

On a scale of 1-10, how shitty are they? Because if the answer is near the "not" side, and if they're conveniently located for eg shuttle stops, I might take a look... got a website?

[dragoncar]

I manage properties in SF and one of the most common thing I do is rent out rooms in multi-unit properties and converted houses in the $500-$600 range and everyone works together to make the common areas enjoyable.

On a scale of 1-10, how shitty are they? Because if the answer is near the "not" side, and if they're conveniently located for eg shuttle stops, I might take a look... got a website?

I was gonna say... there are a lot of mustachians in the SF area.  I'm surprised nobody has considered doing a mustachian cooperative.  There are some CRAZY cooperative housing setups in Berkeley... like 40 people.  Basically a private dorm in a mansion.

Edit: check it out.  Apparently they have some 100+ "houses": http://www.bsc.coop/housing/houses/medium-houses/ridge-house