living in LA

[Guest ecodear1]

I would like to know if 21000 a year is enough money to live in LA? Thanks!

[Guest]

related to that, is 15000 enough to live on in santa barbara (just a couple hours away)?

[Guest]

depends on where you want to live...nice areas? Westwood, Santa Monica?...I used to pay 550 to share a bedroom in Westwood....but if you are willing to commute to school, you will find a lot of good apts at reasonable price! I think 21k is more than enough! enjoy LA!

[dividedby5]

Get a roommate and it's totally do-able. You should be able to share a place for between $400 and $600 depending on where you choose, and how many ways you're splitting it. Gas prices are high but rent is cheaper the farther you live from Westwood. You can get your own crummy studio with a distance to drive for like $500 or $600 if you prefer. Food isn't more expensive than anywhere else.

I scraped by on $13k in LA being very, very, very frugal.

[Guest]

Anyone know about Pasadena as well? I got $25k/yr for LA and $24k/yr for Pasadena. I don't want to live too frugally, as I'd like to have a little bit of luxury cash.

[dividedby5]

They're practically the same- Old Town and S. Pasadena are expensive, but there are surrounding areas that aren't so bad. Pasadena areas SHOULD be slightly cheaper, but $1k won't make much of a difference...

[Guest]

Pasadena can be expensive, but there are places close by that are pretty cheap if you have transportation. Personally I live within walking distance from Caltech (which is great, even though I have a car) and pay $650. You might be able to find a cheaper place by searching around or finding a house to live in with a bunch of people. A good idea for finding out how expensive housing is in LA is to go to losangeles.craigslist.org and go to the housing sections and search around your school or city. Thats how I found my place.