MV/Palo Alto: $1300 - $1900 (The range is wide but the more closer you want to live to downtown,the more expensive it gets. Furnished is going to add a huge cost and getting a 1 br will definitely hike it up even more)
Food: $200 (If you cook and eat very rarely out). However, the average cost of a "cheap" meal is roughly around $10, so do the math for how much that would cost per month.
Transportation: If you are going to live in the valley, you will need to get a car. Things are spread far apart and I am not even sure how good public transport is. If you wanted to come to the city (SF), every now and then, that would be roughly $14.00 by Caltrain for a day pass.
1) I rarely see furnished apartments in the bay area. Most of the "furnished apartments" have either been high priced (Say $3K - $4K) or been sublets at someone's place. Depending on your aesthetic sensibilities, furnishing might not be too expensive. For example, I invested in furniture from Ikea when I first moved in and then have been slowly making the apartment nicer.
2) I live in San Francisco where I could just walk everywhere for basic amenities and public transportation is pretty good so in my case a ZipCar does work well. When I lived in Mountain View, I definitely felt that a lack of a car kind of put restricted by mobility to work and home. There is only so much travel you can do with a bike. Again, depending on where you live, where your work place is and what you like to do for fun, you might definitely be able to live without a car.
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MV/Palo Alto: $1300 - $1900 (The range is wide but the more closer you want to live to downtown,the more expensive it gets. Furnished is going to add a huge cost and getting a 1 br will definitely hike it up even more)
Food: $200 (If you cook and eat very rarely out). However, the average cost of a "cheap" meal is roughly around $10, so do the math for how much that would cost per month.
Transportation: If you are going to live in the valley, you will need to get a car. Things are spread far apart and I am not even sure how good public transport is. If you wanted to come to the city (SF), every now and then, that would be roughly $14.00 by Caltrain for a day pass.
thanks!
So 2 questions:
1) Would it be more worth it to furnish myself the apartment?
2) Do you really need a car daily? I read a car-sharing service like ZipCar is worth it.
1) I rarely see furnished apartments in the bay area. Most of the "furnished apartments" have either been high priced (Say $3K - $4K) or been sublets at someone's place. Depending on your aesthetic sensibilities, furnishing might not be too expensive. For example, I invested in furniture from Ikea when I first moved in and then have been slowly making the apartment nicer.
2) I live in San Francisco where I could just walk everywhere for basic amenities and public transportation is pretty good so in my case a ZipCar does work well. When I lived in Mountain View, I definitely felt that a lack of a car kind of put restricted by mobility to work and home. There is only so much travel you can do with a bike. Again, depending on where you live, where your work place is and what you like to do for fun, you might definitely be able to live without a car.