What do you do with your BIG LAW salary? Forum

[09042014]

The only reason to live in a city is convenience. If living in a city isn't convenient for where you work or otherwise spend most of your time, you're an idiot for living in a city. LOL @ all you stupid morons who live in SF and commute to SV for work, just LOL.

Sure but if you live in SV, then you spend all weekend living in SV.

(pretending he wouldn't fit in better w/ the SV crowd)

[84651846190]

The only reason to live in a city is convenience. If living in a city isn't convenient for where you work or otherwise spend most of your time, you're an idiot for living in a city. LOL @ all you stupid morons who live in SF and commute to SV for work, just LOL.

Sure but if you live in SV, then you spend all weekend living in SV.

Yeah, because you're not allowed to drive to SF on the weekend. I forgot.

[sundance95]

The only reason to live in a city is convenience. If living in a city isn't convenient for where you work or otherwise spend most of your time, you're an idiot for living in a city. LOL @ all you stupid morons who live in SF and commute to SV for work, just LOL.

Sure but if you live in SV, then you spend all weekend living in SV.

Yeah, because you're not allowed to drive to SF on the weekend. I forgot.

No, you are. You just aren't allowed to park there.

[84651846190]

The only reason to live in a city is convenience. If living in a city isn't convenient for where you work or otherwise spend most of your time, you're an idiot for living in a city. LOL @ all you stupid morons who live in SF and commute to SV for work, just LOL.

Sure but if you live in SV, then you spend all weekend living in SV.

Yeah, because you're not allowed to drive to SF on the weekend. I forgot.

No, you are. You just aren't allowed to park there.

http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekendtimetable.html

[mirage1287]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

[sundance95]

Yeah, because you're not allowed to drive to SF on the weekend. I forgot.

No, you are. You just aren't allowed to park there.

http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekendtimetable.html

Nice if you are going to a Giants game, but utterly shitty if you are planning on going anywhere in the city besides South Beach/Financial District/Mid-Market (i.e., anywhere you want to be when you aren't working).

[84651846190]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

[rayiner]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

Having done both: spending a couple of hours in a car or train on the weekend to get to the city is also miserable. I mean, the problem here is that your work is in Menlo Park or somewhere equally shitty. It's so prole.

[WheatThins]

TBF, only a handful of US cities aren't just large suburbs of itself.

NYC, Chicago, SF, Boston, Philly, ?

I mean TBF what other large US cities would you want to live in anyway. LA is not a real city (just multiple smaller ones connected by dysfunctional highway networks), Atlanta is a godforsaken hell hole with an even less functional highway system, and Detroit is Detroit.

Atl is barely a city

It's just a bunch of different enclaves people don't venture out of except for like once a month for the novelty

Not really, but whatever. Agree the transportation issues are pretty severe.

[mirage1287]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

Actually I used to work at a firm in LA and my commute to/from work was over 2 hours/day. No benefit of public transportation like the CalTrain either, so you have to sit in the car and at least halfway concentrate on driving. Commuting was horrible, but I still chose to live where I actually wanted to be/hang out vs. where I worked.

[DELG]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

Actually I used to work at a firm in LA and my commute to/from work was over 2 hours/day. No benefit of public transportation like the CalTrain either, so you have to sit in the car and at least halfway concentrate on driving. Commuting was horrible, but I still chose to live where I actually wanted to be/hang out vs. where I worked.

The solution is move to Chicago.

[09042014]

Really the solution is to just buy a nice place in a desirable area. You'll pay out the nose, but you'll end up owning a nice place.

[84651846190]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

Actually I used to work at a firm in LA and my commute to/from work was over 2 hours/day. No benefit of public transportation like the CalTrain either, so you have to sit in the car and at least halfway concentrate on driving. Commuting was horrible, but I still chose to live where I actually wanted to be/hang out vs. where I worked.

Meanwhile, I enjoy 10 hours of extra time every week doing whatever the fuck I want. I think I'm going to experiment with chocolate shell, a hooker and my nutsack for a while after work today, since I've saved up enough dough by not having to spend as much on gas and have oodles of time because I live close to work. Enjoy your books on tape!

[DELG]

Regardless of the commute, if you had the choice to live in either SF or SV, SF wins. Hands down. Every time.

(guy who has never spent over two hours in a car every weekday for years on end)

Actually I used to work at a firm in LA and my commute to/from work was over 2 hours/day. No benefit of public transportation like the CalTrain either, so you have to sit in the car and at least halfway concentrate on driving. Commuting was horrible, but I still chose to live where I actually wanted to be/hang out vs. where I worked.

Meanwhile, I enjoy 10 hours of extra time every week doing whatever the fuck I want. I think I'm going to experiment with chocolate shell, a hooker and my nutsack for a while after work today, since I've saved up enough dough by not having to spend as much on gas and have oodles of time because I live close to work. Enjoy your books on tape!

No way it'll harden...

...

...

Right?

[ScottRiqui]

No way it'll harden...

...

...

Right?

As long as he doesn't have any medical issues and the hooker is at least basically proficient, he should be alright.

[sundance95]

No way it'll harden...

...

...

Right?

As long as he doesn't have any medical issues and the hooker is at least basically proficient, he should be alright.

The chocolate, bro. The chocolate.

[Pulsar]

$1,500 for a 430 square foot studio 15 miles from Manhattan.

What. I've only ever rented apartments in Syracuse and St. Louis, both of which have low COL. Is $1,500 for a 430 sq. ft studio a good deal near NYC..? Is it significantly more expensive as you approach Manhattan?

Newflash. Manhattan is expensive. San Fransisco is expensive. Washington DC is expensive. Those cities are awesome. Syracuse and St. Louis are cheap. Those cities are dumps.

All the coastal people always forget about Chicago, which is relatively cheap and pretty awesome if you don't mind the winters.

[XxSpyKEx]

As a junior associate: Student loans, closet-sized apartment in Manhattan, lawyerly-clothing tax, poor person food, and the remaining $500 per year goes in savings.

As a senior associate: Student loans, closet-sized apartment in Manhattan, lawyerly-clothing tax, private school for spoiled children, alimony for bitch first wife, "self-medication," and you're accruing debt.

Ugh, reminds me of why living in Manhattan is such a shitty deal.

My take-home was like $8,000 per month (married + didn't live in Manhattan). Of that, $750 went to repaying my bar advance over 10 months. $400 (post-tax) for health insurance for just me and my daughter. $3,000 to student loans. $1,500 for a 430 square foot studio 15 miles from Manhattan. $200 for Metro-North. $250 for maid service since I was never home. $150 or so for dry cleaning. $200 for breakfast/lunch at the firm cafeteria. The remaining $1,500 or so went to diapers, formula, and eating out. Luckily, I had some existing wardrobe from before law school, because I couldn't have afforded new shoes, etc, at the time.

LOL @ people who say big law is worth it because you can support a family on one income. Just LOL.

You'd have been better off just spending $2k /month to live in that same studio in Manhattan when you factor in all the added expenses related to the commuting (metro, maid service, food, etc.)

$1,500 for a 430 square foot studio 15 miles from Manhattan.

What. I've only ever rented apartments in Syracuse and St. Louis, both of which have low COL. Is $1,500 for a 430 sq. ft studio a good deal near NYC..? Is it significantly more expensive as you approach Manhattan?

Newflash. Manhattan is expensive. San Fransisco is expensive. Washington DC is expensive. Those cities are awesome. Syracuse and St. Louis are cheap. Those cities are dumps.

Chicago is cheap (less than half the price of COL in Manhattan). Chicago is more awesome than NYC. Midwest representin'!

$1,500 for a 430 square foot studio 15 miles from Manhattan.

What. I've only ever rented apartments in Syracuse and St. Louis, both of which have low COL. Is $1,500 for a 430 sq. ft studio a good deal near NYC..? Is it significantly more expensive as you approach Manhattan?

Newflash. Manhattan is expensive. San Fransisco is expensive. Washington DC is expensive. Those cities are awesome. Syracuse and St. Louis are cheap. Those cities are dumps.

TBF DC is not awesome.

+1

$1,500 for a 430 square foot studio 15 miles from Manhattan.

What. I've only ever rented apartments in Syracuse and St. Louis, both of which have low COL. Is $1,500 for a 430 sq. ft studio a good deal near NYC..? Is it significantly more expensive as you approach Manhattan?

Newflash. Manhattan is expensive. San Fransisco is expensive. Washington DC is expensive. Those cities are awesome. Syracuse and St. Louis are cheap. Those cities are dumps.

All the coastal people always forget about Chicago, which is relatively cheap and pretty awesome if you don't mind the winters.

+1. Chicago is super cheap relative to Manhattan. Good luck finding a half way decent apartment anywhere near Manhattan for $600-800 in a safe neighborhood. You can find that in Chicago. $2k /month is a super luxury 1 bedroom apartment in downtown. The winters are pretty cold though (although, I don't think NYC is that much better in with respect to weather).

[ymmv]

+1. Chicago is super cheap relative to Manhattan. Good luck finding a half way decent apartment anywhere near Manhattan for $600-800 in a safe neighborhood. You can find that in Chicago. $2k /month is a super luxury 1 bedroom apartment in downtown. The winters are pretty cold though (although, I don't think NYC is that much better in with respect to weather).

Ordinarily I'd jump in to say Philly has all the advantages of Chicago without the brutal winters, but given this past winter I'm not sure we can lay claim to that any longer.

[DELG]

+1. Chicago is super cheap relative to Manhattan. Good luck finding a half way decent apartment anywhere near Manhattan for $600-800 in a safe neighborhood. You can find that in Chicago. $2k /month is a super luxury 1 bedroom apartment in downtown. The winters are pretty cold though (although, I don't think NYC is that much better in with respect to weather).

Ordinarily I'd jump in to say Philly has all the advantages of Chicago without the brutal winters, but given this past winter I'm not sure we can lay claim to that any longer.

Philly is more expensive than Chicago

[Nelson]

+1. Chicago is super cheap relative to Manhattan. Good luck finding a half way decent apartment anywhere near Manhattan for $600-800 in a safe neighborhood. You can find that in Chicago. $2k /month is a super luxury 1 bedroom apartment in downtown. The winters are pretty cold though (although, I don't think NYC is that much better in with respect to weather).

Ordinarily I'd jump in to say Philly has all the advantages of Chicago without the brutal winters, but given this past winter I'm not sure we can lay claim to that any longer.

Philly is more expensive than Chicago

Blatantly untrue.

[09042014]

+1. Chicago is super cheap relative to Manhattan. Good luck finding a half way decent apartment anywhere near Manhattan for $600-800 in a safe neighborhood. You can find that in Chicago. $2k /month is a super luxury 1 bedroom apartment in downtown. The winters are pretty cold though (although, I don't think NYC is that much better in with respect to weather).

Ordinarily I'd jump in to say Philly has all the advantages of Chicago without the brutal winters, but given this past winter I'm not sure we can lay claim to that any longer.

Philly is more expensive than Chicago

Blatantly untrue.

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

says philly is slightly more expensive.

[gk101]

I really like Philly but Chicago is much better than Philly in almost every way

[DELG]

I really like Philly but Chicago is much better than Philly in almost every way

While not being cheaper which makes it hard for me to not resent Philly

[Nelson]

Maybe Philly is more expensive in the aggregate if yo include ring suburbs or Chicago is cheaper if you're talking about living in Hyde Park, but living in Center City is much cheaper than the Loop and the tax burdens are comparable. Philly local taxes are higher but PA state is lower. Rent is comically low in downtown Philly compared to downtown Chicago.