anybody in residency in cali...

[mfrederi]

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How do you guys live there? My wife is from LA area, and is interested in returning when I head off to residency. However, the cost of living there seems to be prohibitive to being able to live there on a resident's salary. Does anybody have any secrets as to how they make it on a resident's salary in the inflated So. Cal economy?

 

[tiene dolor?]

How do you guys live there? My wife is from LA area, and is interested in returning when I head off to residency. However, the cost of living there seems to be prohibitive to being able to live there on a resident's salary. Does anybody have any secrets as to how they make it on a resident's salary in the inflated So. Cal economy?

Why don't you ask your wife? 😕 She is from the LA area isn't she??

 

[cyanocobalamin]

How do you guys live there? My wife is from LA area, and is interested in returning when I head off to residency. However, the cost of living there seems to be prohibitive to being able to live there on a resident's salary. Does anybody have any secrets as to how they make it on a resident's salary in the inflated So. Cal economy?

Don't eat out, especially not at Spago's.
Don't buy expensive clothes.
Rent/buy in a cheaper areas, share with another family, maybe. Live in the Valley not in Beverly Hills or South Pas. Install solar panels.
Drive a commuter car, maybe a Hybrid, not a Hummer, use 87 octane gas.
Don't go to the opera.
Don't go to ball games.
Don't go to Britney concerts.
Don't subscribe to cable tv.

Actually, socal isn't the most expensive place to do residency. It's much better than SF or NY. So just chill. And live frugally. And just think, no large heating bills! There are people in LA county living on less than you. They don't live like Ashlee Simpson but they survive. Just bring your lunch and skip In-and-out burger. And the beach is free.

 

[mfrederi]

Why don't you ask your wife? 😕 She is from the LA area isn't she??

she hasn't lived there for 8 yrs and was living with her parents at that time, so doesn't really have experience in the actual finaces of living there. We have plenty of friends / family there, however all of them make more than 39k / yr or have gotten fortunate in the real estate market so they were able to sell a house for double what they bought it for a few years ago.

 

[neilc]

the cost of living throughout CA was a very large factor in my deciding not to go back until after residency. even in the cheaper areas it was way more spendy that i thought was reasonable on a resident salary. i was talking to the resident's at UCLA harbor and it seemed rough. i would hate to live in that area, and it would still be tough to make it on a resident salary there!

i am sure you can do it, and there are a lot of people living in the area and making less. but, when i lived in so cal in 1998-2000 i was making a lot more than a resident, and it still was not like i was living large.

 

[miko2005]

We have lived in the LA area on that income last year. It can be done, it just depends on how you want to live. My husband and I don't mind renting a 1 bedroom apartment since for now its just the two of us plus a little dog. You can rent a nice apartment in the Sherman Oaks area, which is about 20 minutes from UCLA. You can't really buy a house on that income and if that's important to you, then CA is probably not the best place.

Also, although the bay area is more expensive, both UCSF and Stanford provide a very sizable income supplement for housing (at least that's the case in pathology) so that a resident's salary is about $50,000 per year.

 

[mfrederi]

thanks for the info.

 

[tiene dolor?]

you could try panhandling at local LA intersections? seems popular these days.

 

[cyanocobalamin]

you could try panhandling at local LA intersections? seems popular these days.

This would be my favourite place to pandandle, given a choice.

Place to pandandle

 

[LADoc00]

you could try panhandling at local LA intersections? seems popular these days.

Key panhandling locations:
110 Entrance near LA County Hospital, that way you could hit people up and still make it to rounds.

210 Entrance at Lake Blvd. in Pasadena.

Anywhere in Santa Monica usually.

I would stay out of Westwood as the competition from scrubby UCLA students is fierce.

In addition, I would encourage your SO to look into exotic dancing. Tons of options there. Adult film industry in Van Nuys too, but that might be a stretch if you are the jealous type.

 

[tiene dolor?]

Key panhandling locations:
110 Entrance near LA County Hospital, that way you could hit people up and still make it to rounds.

210 Entrance at Lake Blvd. in Pasadena.

Anywhere in Santa Monica usually.

I would stay out of Westwood as the competition from scrubby UCLA students is fierce.

In addition, I would encourage your SO to look into exotic dancing. Tons of options there. Adult film industry in Van Nuys too, but that might be a stretch if you are the jealous type.

sage advice, indeed.

 

[cytoborg]

How do you guys live there? My wife is from LA area, and is interested in returning when I head off to residency. However, the cost of living there seems to be prohibitive to being able to live there on a resident's salary. Does anybody have any secrets as to how they make it on a resident's salary in the inflated So. Cal economy?

Well, I don't know about LA, but SF is more do-able than I had thought...we do get a housing stipend though, which the LA programs have yet to cough up. 😎 Anyhow, I was quite worried about the cost of living, but it turns out a resident's salary is a pretty cush lifestyle compared to being a student. We are paying our $1750/mo rent on our one-bedroom just fine, we go to concerts, eat out daily, have cell phones, have even managed to buy some new clothes and furniture. We don't have kids, a car payment or cable, so we're not going hog wild or anything, but we are comfortable.

 

[mfrederi]

how did you know about the housing stipend? Is this info they disclosed during interviews or can you find on the website if a paticular program has this available? Do you feel the housing stipend accounts for most of the cost of living discrepancy? Thanks alot for the info.

 

[atsai3]

how did you know about the housing stipend? Is this info they disclosed during interviews or can you find on the website if a paticular program has this available? Do you feel the housing stipend accounts for most of the cost of living discrepancy? Thanks alot for the info.

Most programs that offer housing stipends will advertise this prominently, as it is to their advantage to do so. At the very least they will mention it during the interview day.

Cheers
-AT.

 

[person2004]

Actually, socal isn't the most expensive place to do residency. It's much better than SF or NY.

Most NYC programs pay $8-10,000 more than LA programs plus you save on car/insurance/gas. I think LA has the worst cost/income ratio of any residency location in the US by far. You can still easily afford to live there, you just have less spending money than you would anywhere else (with the possible exception of Chicago).