California has long since been one of the dream destinations for many. Falling in love with it based on photos and stories, many people choose to make it their final home. For others, a work trip or planned vacation in the sunny, mild weather was enough to help them make the decision.
Perhaps the best thing about California is its vast diversity. There are hundreds upon hundreds of songs that mention California, written by every kind of musical artist you can imagine. From country singers to gangster rappers, the diversity shines through.
California has some of the most exciting, friendly, and outlandish people you’ll ever meet. They’re spread across every type of terrain – forest, grassland, desert, coastal, tundra, mountain, and valley. Not to sound like one of those holier-than-thou California people you always hear about, but CA has more to offer in its one state than some countries do!
So, if you’re considering a move to California but worried about the cost of living, I’m here to give you the run-down of how to make your California Dreams come true – on a budget.
After all, why live in the place of your dreams if you can’t afford to enjoy the things you came to see?
So, let’s talk about your move to California and how to make it happen while living within your means.
Why Choose California
It’s essential to consider the reasoning behind why you want to live in California. Sometimes a move to another state (if you don’t already live there) may sound great in theory but isn’t that practical or all it’s cracked up to be.
Here are some of the most common reasons people want to move to the big state of CA.
- Nature – there are too many things to name here, but the diverse environments provide lush opportunities for those who love the outdoors.
- Closer to your family – if you have family in the state or nearby, and they would be closer to you than where you live now.
- Career move – people in specific fields find that job opportunities can be plentiful in certain parts of California.
- The vibe – another part of California’s charm are the different vibes and ways of living you’ll find in different parts of the state.
- The weather – people from more harsh climates, tend to love the mild natured weather California has to offer.
- Education – Whether your kids are preschool-aged through college-aged, the educational opportunities in California are unmatched.
Check Your Expectations
Moving to the city and state of your dreams can feel life-changing. It may be something you’ve dreamt about and planned for years, or you may have picked up and moved on a wind. There are so many unique ways to end up in California. But the most important thing to remember is to give your expectations a reality check.
California has made quite a reputation for itself as boasting these fabulous lifestyles that so many people want to acquire. And that may not be out of your reach; it may be everything you’ve dreamed it would be. But it might also be just like living anywhere else.
According to one study, the happiness of midwesterners and Californians were compared and found to be no different than the other. The study found that the reasons why people make the decisions to live in specific locations don’t hold as much weight in reality.
If you think that living in California will make you happier, there’s no reason for us to rain on your parade. In the end, make sure your thoughts about life in California are realistic and do the appropriate research, and you’ll be just fine.
Make A Priorities List
Do you need to be seaside, or can you enjoy the sunny California beaches just as much living 30 minutes inland? When it comes down to purchasing your home or finding your dream rental in California, one of the most significant ways to save is by creating your priorities list and taking it from there.
It’s no secret that the housing costs in California are too much for many people to afford. That’s why you have to get creative! If you want to live in California for cheap, it’s time to prioritize.
Your priorities list shouldn’t just include your ideal square footage and closet space; in fact, those things should be more towards the bottom of your list if you want to save the most money on housing.
When you make your list of priorities, consider the following.
- Proximity to work – Whether you want to ensure that you have a short drive to work, don’t mind commuting, or are wanting to take public transportation should all be taken into consideration.
- Walkability/driveability – Being able to walk, drive, or use public transportation affects your transportation budget.
- Surroundings – what’s available to you in your immediate surroundings, not too far, and things that might be out of reach.
- Proximity to education – whether for yourself or your kids, you may want to be near their or your school.
- Overall vibe – different parts of California have a certain air to them, make sure you mesh well in your new happy place.
Ultimately, if you love to go hiking, you may want to spend all your free time doing wilderness activities that are cheap or free. If that’s the case, then you don’t want to choose a big cluttered city with no trails. You also don’t need to have a big sprawling home, if you plan to spend most of your time outdoors anyway. Then, you can choose a more reasonable home-base.
Likewise, if you hate sand, you don’t need a more expensive house by the beach. Whatever your personality, whatever your priorities, choose a housing situation that fits your lifestyle. And choose housing that will give you the most bang for your buck when you consider all the other parts of life.
Have A Lifestyle Plan
Remember the priorities mentioned above? Now that you have a list of things that are important to you, it’s time to think about how your housing will fit into your lifestyle. If you’re a little confused, stick with me here.
Here’s an example. Let’s say Joe is a 32-year-old guy with no dependents, works in IT, but loves the outdoors. He likes to travel on weekends and doesn’t have a significant need or desire for his own house, doesn’t want to keep a lot of possessions, and hates spending his free time on household chores like mowing the lawn and cleaning baseboards.
Joe is done with school and doesn’t plan on going back in the next several years, either. Joe might consider finding an available room to rent that’s close to some of the national parks if Joe doesn’t mind a 30 to 45 minutes commute to and from work. He can save even more by living outside of a major city, and either drives a car or use public transportation.
Joe doesn’t mind sharing a house or an apartment with another person he can split bills with knows that someone else will look after the place while he’s often traveling, and he doesn’t have too much household work to do, other than keeping his space clean.
On the other hand, if Joe were a father of two with a spouse, his priorities may be a little different. His family may not want to share their space with other people. They could enjoy spending most of their time at home and prefer a larger home with a big enough yard for a pool, playground, toys, and accommodations for throwing large dinner parties for family and friends.
Joe’s family also might not care for a larger home, but rather small, easy to maintain, and leaving more of their budget open for exploring their surroundings. You can achieve a lifestyle plan that suits your needs within your budget if you plan it right.
Prepare For Your New Lifestyle
Now that you have your list of priorities and some thoughts on how you’ll be spending your days when you’re living in California cheaply, it’s time to think about preparing your move. You may already live in California, and you’re just trying to find cheaper ways to live. If that’s your situation, you’ll still want to consider this part.
Preparing for the lifestyle you’ve planned out about is simple. The first step to take is to create your ideal budget. You likely know how much money you already have coming in.
Arrange your ideal budget for how you’d like to allocate what you have. Some of your categories might be housing, bills, debt, savings, and discretionary income. If you have other necessary funds, add them in.
Next, write out your actual budget: the money you make and how you spend it exactly, each month. If you haven’t been budgeting before now, this is the time to start. If you’re completely clueless, pull up your online banking and start sorting out where your money is going.
Once you have the two budgets written out, start comparing them. Look at where you’re at right now with your actual budget and think about how it differs from your ideal budget. Here is where you’ll see what things you need to work on to attain living cheaper in California.
Watch Your Spending
If you want more dollars for your housing category because that’s what will suit your lifestyle, figure out where you can make up those dollars. Perhaps you can cut your eating out and entertainment category to make your housing budget larger.
On the flip side, if you’re spending too many housing dollars, think about what you’ll need to do to start saving on housing costs. Do you need to downgrade into a more affordable housing option to give your discretionary income a boost?
Think about whether or not you’re using your dollars in the wisest ways. Are you spending a ton of money paying credit card bills each month, but continuing to eat dinners out on cards? Then living cheaply in California for you is going to start by slowing down on the dinners out. Next, you’ll pay down some debt so that you’re paying less interest over time. Hopefully, you’ll eliminate your debt so that all your debt dollars can go somewhere else.
Another one of the highest costs for many people is food, groceries, eating out. If you feel that you’re spending too much on these categories, refer back to your lifestyle plan. If part of your strategy was to get healthy and eat better, then you know this will be one of the budget items you work hardest to readjust.
An easy way to save money when it comes to food shopping is to shop the perimeters of stores. All you need to eat well, you can find along the outer edges of the store. You can even commit to shopping more often at farmers’ markets and produce stands rather than the grocery store. Both are plentiful in most places in California.
Here are other ways to rearrange your budget so that you can live within your means, even in California.
- Consider a part-time job, temporarily – a part-time job can give you enough income to help you pay off a debt that’s costing you more money.
- Consider relocating to a city with easy public transportation so you can cut auto-costs.
- Challenge yourself to no-spend days, weeks, or months.
- Talk with more of your friends and family about money – this can open up new perspectives and advice from others that could be helpful.
- Think about alternative solutions to problems. Want to cut cable, but you’re not impressed with Netflix? Invest in a Firestick and get rid of your cable.
- Love eating out, but know that you spend too much doing it? Shop for deals on gift cards to your favorite places and set a limit to stop yourself from overspending.
- Rather than depriving yourself of anything, replace a money-eating hobby with a similar, more cost-effective one.
There are tons of resources on how to trim your budget, so we won’t bore you with the details. It’s likely that you already know the weaknesses are in your budget, so take some time to work on those.
Give yourself some time to master your budget and let it run its course before you jump to conclusions. Will it be not-that-fun to work an extra job for six months, probably. But, if doing so allows you to pay off your car loan or your credit card debt, then you’re just six months away from an ideal budget that will enable you to do more of the things you want, within your means.
Consider the Most Affordable Cities
Whether you’re moving to California from out of state or thinking about an in-state relocation, do your research on the most affordable cities. Remember, when you’re looking up the most affordable cities to live to compare them with the things you know you enjoy most, those things from your priorities list, and those things from your lifestyle plan.
You can compare all of these things with your budget to see how they’ll all fit together so that you can make the most out of your time living in the golden state.
Don’t Discount Alternative Housing Solutions
Depending on whether you’re single, married, or living with a spouse and kids, your options for alternative housing are surprisingly plenty. If you want to live in the golden state and enjoy all it has to offer while living cheaply, one way to do so is to be open-minded about your living situation.
Efficiency Apartments
If you own a home already, think about what it would take to add an efficient apartment to the house. You could put it in above the garage, convert the garage, or add it into the backyard. Now that you have an efficient apartment, you can either move into it and rent out your home or live in your home and rent out the apartment.
If you don’t own a home and your lifestyle permits it, you could find an efficient apartment to live in that will save you tons of money on rent.
Condos
If you’re looking to own your home, think about whether or not you could be happy in a condo rather than a traditional home. Plenty of people don’t want to rent because they feel it’s a waste of money. But with home prices in California soaring, it could be a smart move to think smaller and invest in a condo instead.
RV Living
Don’t think I don’t know that you just gasped at the thought! But come on. It’s 2020; people are doing all sorts of things to make their dreams come true. Tons of people fall in love with RV living and never go back. Alternatively, you could use the RV to move into on land that you buy while you take your time building the house you want.
If you’re doing some of the building yourself, or opting for something like a prefab modular home in the future, spending a year or two in an RV on your property could save you a ton of money.
Mobile Home
Mobile homes and modular homes are similar but have a few critical differences in build and foundations. The most significant difference between both and traditional houses is that they are significantly less costly. If you can find a good deal on a property that will allow this type of dwelling, you can save thousands, even hundreds of thousands on your housing costs.
Flip Houses
If you’re handy and skilled at specific trades, you could consider flipping houses. Even if you don’t have any construction-type talents, you could flip houses if you know how to manage projects. Tons of people teach themselves how to flip houses.
Of course, you might need some capital to get started. But, flipping houses can be a lucrative business. If you plan it outright, you can live in homes that you’re flipping to lower your costs even further. You may have to move often, which won’t be ideal for everyone.
If becoming a house flipper sounds a little over the top for you, think about it this way. You buy a fixer-upper, living in it, make some improvements over time. Alterations can be done full time as a job, or on nights and weekends when you’re not working.
When you feel ready, sell the property again and start the process all over again. Congrats, you’re now a house flipper!
House Boat
With all the water in California, boats and houseboats are plentiful! You’ll have to find the right spot if you want to save money. There are tons of houseboats that are expensive, but if you look in the right place, you can find some money-saving options too.
Tiny House
You can build your dream, a tiny house, or buy a little prefab house. If you already have a piece of land that allows tiny houses within its zoning, this is a great option. If you’re purchasing property, just make sure you’re able to have a small house on it.
Some people get around this by having a tiny home built on someone else’s land because then it’s considered another type of allowable dwelling when it comes to zoning. Either way, you can save thousands by going tiny.
If your tiny house is on a decent-sized piece of land that allows you to spend time outdoors doing things you love, you’ll adjust to small living, save money, and be able to do the things you want!
Pay Cash
Paying cash is easier said than done. Many people look at others’ stories of paying cash, and the first thing they think is that they could never do that! But, when you hear about these stories, most people aren’t getting a windfall of money to use as their cash payment.
The cash payment came from years of planning, sacrificing, and making things happen. You might not be able to pull it off overnight, but if you want to pay cash for your housing, there’s no shortage of ways to make it happen.
Picking up a second job, paying down debt so you can save money, renting out rooms in your home, or keeping your tax refund. These are all ways you can give your savings account a boost to save up that cash payment.
Find a Job with Housing
Did you know that there are tons of real jobs that come with free housing? From park rangers to security guards and seasonal workers to building managers, many career fields will give you a place to live.
Although less common, some people who have families to the house could find jobs where housing is a covered expense. Of course, you may not want to change career fields, but if the right opportunity opens up, free accommodation is one of the best ways to live cheaply in California.
Here are some ideas of jobs that offer housing to their employees.
- Military
- Nanny/au pair
- Live-in caregiver
- Travel nurse
- Various jobs on oil rigs
- Personal Chefs
- Cruise ship workers
- Seasonal hospitality workers
- Agricultural workers
- College/University faculty members
Some jobs may require that you live somewhere that isn’t California for part of the year. But that doesn’t mean they won’t work for you. If you’re spending part of the year in free housing, that leaves you with more money in your pocket for the rest of the year.
Keep an open mind, and don’t be afraid to try things!
Wrapping Things Up
Living in California for cheap can be attained by most people, with a plan and a little bit of hard work. If you’re just looking for ways to live more within your means, you can do the usual budget-saving hacks, make more money, and spend less money.
Some folks will feel like they don’t have the resources or ability to increase their income immediately. You may feel like you’ve trimmed the fat off your budget and you’re not able to envision what else to do. This guide should have helped you get a fresh perspective and some new ideas.
The process of living cheaply doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that you should remember not to get overly stressed with, be kind to yourself. With the right planning, time, and trust in yourself that you will reap the benefits, you’ll be setting your future self up to live more affordably in the future.
For some, they can go all in, get crazy with the process and make things happen in a short amount of time. But, don’t be surprised if, like most folks, your journey to living cheaply in California takes a little time and effort.
When you’re just starting, read through our guide and take some notes. Then go back through and start the process step by step. If you don’t like how things are going or change your mind halfway through, go back to your priorities, lifestyle plan, and budgets to see where you can still make changes.
You should get to the end of our guide with a more clear picture of how to move forward. Remember to enlist the support of your family and friends. You’ll never know what excellent guidance, tips, and resources others’ may have until you trust them with this journey that is dear to you!