Inspired by a Money with Katie episode, I thought I would document my “lifestyle upgrade fantasy,” which is basically defining an attainable, but aspirational vision for what life would look like with a bit more money.
I figure it’ll be fun to look back on this 5 years from now and see where I landed 🙂
Things that annoy me in my day-to-day
- Struggling to crawl out of bed as I wake up to my freezing apartment with poor insulation and limited (as in, only in the living room) heating
- Accidentally knocking over my spices from the shelves in my small kitchen with cabinets that have the most infuriating separator in the middle, making it difficult to fit anything in
- Walking up and down from my building’s laundry room because we have no in-unit washer dryer
- Living far away from friends, making it difficult to meet up, spontaneously or planned
- Not having a car that can take me to places I want to go (camping, hiking, backpacking trips, road trips to other cities)
- Not living in walkable neighborhood where I can easily get my daily needs
- Still thinking about avoiding “poor value” purchases in the grocery store
- Taking the cheapest flights that I can, even if they’re at inconvenient times or likely to be very uncomfortable (basic economy in a middle seat)
- Having to wake up at 6:30AM – I’m more of an 8-9AM kind of person
- Spending 40 minutes to bike to the office, climbing inclines that I can barely nudge my bike over while doing the standing peddling thing
How would I upgrade my life to address these inconveniences?
- Wake up to a much nicer, well-insulated apartment, with functional climate control
- Cook in a kitchen that has all the space I need, where there’s a home for every tool, utensil, and ingredient I might want
- Walk 10 steps to drop off my laundry in an in-unit washer dryer
- Live near friends that I can easily invite for dinner (which I can make in my fancy kitchen while still being a part of the conversation)
- Have a sturdy and reliable car I can take on adventures to the backcountry and long road trips, shuttling me and 3-4 friends to different parts of the country
- Walk 15-20 minutes to get my groceries, get a haircut, see a doctor / dentist / medical professional, or go on a stroll in nature (with an outdoor calisthenics park!)
- Throw anything I want into my grocery cart without caring about the “value” of the purchase
- Choose slightly more comfortable seats in the airplane, with flights that depart at a convenient time for a normal human (no 12AM – 6AM flights, thank you)
- Wake up at 8AM every day, walking 15 minutes over to the office at 9AM 2-3x a week, where I work in a medium-sized room with a handful of teammates in close proximity. I never feel rushed hopping from one thing to the next, and I can take pauses throughout the day to shoot the shit with my team. Lunch and snacks are provided. On the other 2 days, I work from home, where I can hang out with my pet cat.
Some of these are probably intractable problems due to the way cities in the US have been designed. And others will be highly dependent on the circumstances of my employment. But hey, we’re dreaming here right?
How much extra would this upgraded lifestyle cost?
I figure I might as well do a rough estimate of how much more it would cost to live this kind of lifestyle in the US for all the actionable items, assuming everything else falls into place.
- Apartment. If I wanted to live in an apartment with all my desired amenities, in a nice part of a VHCOL city like San Francisco (where friends, groceries, offices, etc. would be in walking distance), I estimate it would cost around $3,500/month for a 1 bedroom apartment, which is more than I currently spend by $2,300/month.
- Car. To have a car (and parking), assuming I get it new for around $30,000 with a $10,000 down payment, I estimate it would cost $400/month.
- Groceries. To buy whatever groceries I want, regardless of value, I honestly can’t imagine spending more than an extra $200/month. One guy can only buy so many groceries before they go bad.
- Travel. To get flights that are more convenient / comfortable, and based on my current travel patterns, I would probably end up spending an additional $1,200 / year or $100/month.
- Pets. I have no idea how much pets cost to be honest, but according to the ASPCA a cat costs an average of $1,149/year or roughly $100/month.
All-in-all, I would need to spend an additional $3,100/month to live this upgraded lifestyle.
That pretty much doubles my current spending (which hovers around $3,000-$3,200 a month). I’ll take the high end and guesstimate I would spend an average of $6,300/month.
Compared to what I’m spending right now, that seems extremely luxurious, but I imagine it’s also realistic for someone who makes a high income working a tech job in San Francisco. So hey, maybe I’ll get there one day.
Looking forward to seeing your reflection on this post, me in 3-5 years 👋