SF true cost of living

Honestly I don't even budget. Here's why:

Starting bonus = $15K ($10K after tax) Base salary = $85K ($60K after tax)

Total of $70K "spending power"

Rent = $1.8K per month ($21.6K per year)

So you're now looking at $48K in post-tax money after taking off your rent. Now to get to the $30K that I have saved, that meant that my Visa bill was at $1.5K per month. And that's honestly not hard to do. Here's a few tips:

• Buy breakfast food at the grocery store on the weekend - I do two scrambled eggs on a bagel every morning for breakfast - it's quick, tasty, and dirt cheap

• Don't buy lunch every day for $10 to $15, instead go to Trader Joes on Sunday and buy five ready made sandwiches or salads for $3 a pop - you just saved $35 to $50 a week, which is $1.8K to $2.6K in savings for the year - obviously you can go out for lunch sometimes with colleagues, but don't make this a habit

• Use your firm's meal allowance at dinner - you'll be at the office past 6pm everyday anyways, this means that you never have to pay for dinner

• Same with coffee, I drink the coffee from the Nespresso machine at my office - This saves $5 a day, or $25 a week, which adds up to $1.3K in savings for the year

• Don't spend insane amounts of money at the bars on the weekend, this is especially easy in SF - the cover is cheap at most bars, and as long as you focus on pre-drinking with cheaper booze at home before going to the bar you should be fine

• Adding onto that point, I feel like lots of bankers have this innate desire to pay for everyone's drinks - stop doing this. Obviously get one or two rounds a night for you and your friends, but don't be the one paying for every round - your friends are just free-loading off you

• Don't buy excessive amounts of clothing and other materials goods - I personally look at clothing like a fixed cost that depreciates over time - buy a few nice staples up front and wear them until they're worn out, then replace them - especially in SF, there is no reason to be updating your wardrobe quarterly to match what is "in trend" as appearances here are not as highly judged as they are in, say, NY

I think for me, I don't have to budget because I have an internal thought process that just naturally says "do you need this" when I go to purchase something. I find that prevents me from making a lot of unnecessary purchases that end up costing a lot of money. I also think that I have a thought process where "every little bit saved adds up" which is true.

It genuinely shocks me how people can say that they are not able to save any money in their first year as an investment banking analyst. I understand that it is nice to have the finer things in life after living frugally in college, but come on. You're going to take home ~$100K after tax when you factor in all of your bonuses. There's no reason you should be spending $100K in a year on things.