I will be taking the train or driving to the CalTrain station in Sunnyvale and I am debating between a luxury 1BR in downtown San Jose for $2,500 vs. a luxury studio in San Mateo by the CalTrain station for $3,100. On one hand San Mateo is closer to SF, which is exciting to me, but on the other it seems even more boring than San Jose and I hate spending money since I still owe over 120K in student loans. Not sure if a difference of 7.2K per year is meaningful... Please, comment. TC is 200 base 10% bonus and some lottery tickets (oprions) which are supposed to be in the 150+ range, but who knows.
Depends on how many times a week/month you plan to go to SF
Would it be worse driving from San Jose or from San Mateo?
I’ve driven from SJ to SF and back during weekdays and it was a nightmare. You’re looking at a 1.5-2 hour commute each way.
San Mateo only makes sense if you love Japanese food, like "I'm down to eat it every day" level of like. If not, downtown Man Jose is the better bet
Love sushi on that level but mercury, so no. Why is San Mateo full of Japanese spots?
6k per year toward student loans will help lower your interest. I would go for the cheaper place.
If you are planning to take Caltrain anyway, just stay in San Jose, if you live in San Mateo, you can drive off to Daly City and take bart.
Why BART from San Mateo vs. Caltrain? More stops in SF?
It only makes sense to do San Mateo if you plan on going into San Fran regularly... When I first moved to the bay, I worked in San Jose and lived in Burlingame (15min Caltrain to SF).... I spent a lot of weekends & happy hours in SF, which allowed me to make a lot of friends in the north... most people you meet in SF are going to live in Oak/Berkeley/Peninsula and some San Jose folks.... I wouldn’t be motivated to do the long drive into SF for happy hour if I lived in San Jose, I would have definitely moved out of the bay.... it was worth it has a single guy!!!
That’s exactly how I feel... just have to decide if going on SF adventures is worth to me 14K of pre-tax money per year.
There are plenty of finance folks in SF, better network for you... considering you work at Bloomberg..... Also, you should work on paying off the loans... try getting a cheaper place to live.... drop a luxury spot for a basic apartment in a smaller building..... I lived a 1bedroom 4plex I found on Craigslist when I first moved out here.... there are plenty of them throughout the peninsula...
Prioritize paying out the loans. You can move later.
Save money, pay off your loan. Thank me later