I’ve lived in San Francisco for more than almost 10 years, so here are some of my hacks on saving and being frugal in San Francisco. Growing up in an Asian household, I prefer to have backup plans and a safety net for when things go south. So even though I do enjoy having fun, I do it with strong consideration to my future as well.
If you’re similar to me and not an engineer, or just curious on how I save moneys, here’s how!
Save on Housing
Find Rent Controlled Housing or Get Housemates
Accommodations are usually going to be the most expensive costs while living in San Francisco. Studios go at about $3,500 or more these days. If you want a good walking score, it’ll be even higher. To offset these costs, there’s always something you need to give and take. Currently, we do live in a rent controlled building that is over 100 years old. The yearly rent changes incrementally, we have a good relationship with our landlord, and we plan on staying here for the next 3-4 years. We now pay $3,300 for two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and *drumroll please* a parking spot. We found the place on Craigslist during the pandemic if that helps.
Every unit in a building built before 1979 is rent controlled. That’s most buildings in San Francisco, except for newer high rises downtown. – Reddit user (ner_deeznuts)
I used to live at Avalon Mission Bay, one of the nicer luxury apartments, and my housemate and I were paying $4400 for two bedrooms two bathrooms. I know, it’s crazy and I regret spending so much on rent but I was also at home 24/7 and was figuring life out as I had just returned back from Asia to San Francisco. While it was nice and I enjoyed the amenities, we do have more space here in this rent controlled apartment, we’re closer to downtown, and it’s just a good situation so we plan on staying longer.
Save on Food
Get Cheap Food from 2Good2Go and Stop Food Wastage
I first heard about 2Good2Go from a friend who was a fan of the app; she was gushing about how much she’s used the app to buy cheaper food in San Francisco and Oakland. It’s still great food from our favorite restaurants, but it was normally food from the end of the day, or it was a surprise bag of items. She told me that she’d just wait for a specific time and go pick it up. I mean, I’d love a discount on $8 croissants too. You purchase what you want from the app itself, pick it up at a scheduled time, and you have a bag full of goodies!
In their own words, “Too Good To Go is a social impact company on a mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together. Our app is the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. We help users rescue good food from going to waste, offering great value for money at local stores, cafes and restaurants.”
Stop Eating Out so Much—they’re Gutting You
Nowadays, tips are starting at 18% or 20%. I’ve seen it at 25%! It’s pretty insane as I see these incremental changes start to take place. Imagine tipping 20% on a coffee that was just poured for you now. I understand how hard it is to be in the service industry, so I still do tip a reasonable amount to the f&b staff. I just wish the restaurants would pay them fairer wages otherwise consumers are always the one suffering the brunt of the costs. While dining out cannot be avoided, I have found other fun alternatives to save money, including:
- doing a themed potluck with your group of friends. Plus there’s tons of leftovers that everyone can dabao afterwards
- eating at home, but going out for dessert
- do picnics where you grab takeout and go eat elsewhere at a park or someplace with a gorgeous view
- Eat out, but skip the $15 drinks. My motto is usually: you can have anything, but not everything.
Learn how to Cook and Meal Prep for Weekdays
In our household, we’ve been doing a high protein diet and veggies on the side. The image below is all from Trader Joe’s! We have fresh cod marinated in suyaki sauce, steamed broccoli, and salad from a bag. Our meals have started to look more like this, and are healthier. We try to incorporate some sort of veggie during every meal.
Learning how to cook or make your own food is a nice life skill. Learning to make your own food, understanding what goes into recipes, and saving money is all pretty wonderful in my opinion. Because my partner and I work from home a lot, we cook and make our own food. Most recently, I have been getting into smoothies, which is a great way to get our protein and fruit intake in one-go. Also, it keeps us really full until lunch time and only takes 10 minutes for me to make. We have an older version of this Ninja blender, but they’re pretty powerful and can blend items in seconds.
My partner and I enjoy going to Chinatown for fresh veggies and fruits as it’s most cost efficient. Bring cash of course, though there is a Bank of America and Chase in Chinatown. We go to Trader Joe’s for fresh meat and snacks, and I also buy Asian groceries on Weee when I need to buy in bulk and cannot carry all of it myself through these hills.
Weee! does deliver door to door which I highly appreciate. Again, I don’t have a car, so it’s nice when I can bulk order over a certain amount and Weee! will do a delivery for free over $49 (subject to change).
If you grew up with Ranch 99 (a nostalgic Asian restaurant), then you will find everything you like on Weee! You can try it out and get $20 off your first two orders with my link.
Group Purchase When it Comes to Costco or Groceries
Folks in China do this a lot actually; they’ll make a group order and purchase items that helps offset the costs. There are certain bargains and deals that come with buying more in bulk.
While that’s not always the case or normalcy in the United States, you can go to Costco and split items with your friends. I don’t personally have a Costco membership, but will often tag along with friends when they go on a “life admin” trip. Then if there are bulk items we need to buy, we can just easily split it. I’m talking about toilet paper, croissants, and more. I also recently found out that if your friend with Costco membership buys you a giftcard (let’s say $100), you can go to Costco without membership and buy items.
As found on Costco’s website page:
Non-members as well as members may use Costco Shop Cards to shop at any Costco location in the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico, as well as online at Costco.com. You can check your Costco Shop Card balance here.
Costco Digital Shop Cards may be used to shop at any Costco location or online at Costco.com and Costco.ca. At this time, Digital Shop Cards cannot be redeemed at Food Court kiosks.
Save on Consumerism
Realistically, You’re Going to Spend but on what?
It’s easy for people to advise you to become a minimalist. Easier said than done, as we all have different shopping tendencies, needs, and wants. Here are some frameworks to help you think about each purchase before you swipe that card.
- How long have you wanted this for? Was it just being influenced online? Was it a week or a month or half a year that you were wanting this?
- Realistically, how many times will you actually wear or use this?
Save on Commute
Get a Bike or Scooter, No Car
I’ve been car less for the past 10 years since I’ve lived in Bay Area. If you live in the city near downtown, you usually can take Muni lightrail, Caltrain, bus, Uber, or Waymo everywhere. As I live near Chinatown, I am able to walk around easily and get some strength training from walking up and down all those hills. It also really helps to just live close to a BART/Muni/Bus line that’ll take you to all the places you like.
For those who have a longer commute, a bike or scooter will suffice though I can’t imagine doing that in San Francisco hills. It still terrifies me. Taking a 15 min uber will probably cost you anywhere from $10-15 depending on where you’re heading and if there’s a price surge.
If you get a car, you will need to pay for maintenance, gas or electric fees, potential window break-ins, lease payments, etc. The list sort of goes on, and I’m a huge advocate of just doing a car rental on the weekends from Getaround, Turo or Zipcar. Some of the cars have been quite nice and some have been pretty dirty, which we’ll complain and they give us a discount.
Save on Education (books, classes, etc)
Get a Free Library Card from the SF Public Library
SF library is great; they have so many facilities across the city so I would recommend you get a library card to rent out dvds and books for free, or you can also register on Libby, which is their free digital version of a library. They have podcasts, ebooks, and digital forms of reading content you can check out. You can also check out their free events here. Many include toddler time, tax support, book readings, etc. Also this is where your tax dollars are going, so best make sure you’re taking advantage of these programs and resources.
If you are ever interested in taking classes, check out free classes at the neighboring QS top 50 schools, like Stanford or Berkeley.
Stanford has a plethora of free online courses. On their site, it says, “Our free online courses provide you with an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills and study new and emerging topics. Learn from Stanford instructors and industry experts at no cost to you.” Berkeley also has an online learning component where you can take free classes, but you may need to pay for the credentials.
Save on Fun
Attend Free Events Only
There’s always plenty of fun events happening in San Francisco, often times at spaces with great venues and free food. I know that large tech companies tend to sponsor events to plug in their own speakers or activate members of a group; you can also check company events, like where is NVIDIA hosting a meetup or what is Capital One Cafe is hosting. Check out these links below:
Lu.ma San Francisco – I use this platform for VC, tech, and art-related events in the city. Mostly geared towards 20-40s year olds who work in the city for tech-related fields. I am a big fan of Lu.ma and have found quality events there
FuncheapSF – fun and cheap events in the city. I like seeing local art walks and comedy lineups here
On Waverly Chinatown SF – great community space and gift shop for Asian Americans and friends to shop and bring the AAPI community together through mini concerts, creative events, book reads, and more. They also have amazing products made by AAPI founders if you’d like to take a look
Eventbrite San Francisco – the OG event platform that hosts a variety of events; you can honestly find everything and anything on it
Golden Gate Park – they have free days for residents, so you can also time it correctly and check out certain spots, like the Japanese Tea Garden or Cal Academy of Sciences when they have free events
SF Library events – you can check out free upcoming events at the library
Downtown First Thursdays – DFT is a free monthly street party hosted in Downtown San Francisco taking place on every first Thursday of the month from 5pm to 10pm. Get ready for disco in the streets, DJs, live music, drag, fashion, street performances, and more!
Go to City Clean Ups on the Weekends and Get Fed
I noticed folks cleaning up around the Tenderloin a few months ago; they don bright yellow vests and walk around with sticks, picking up bags of trash. Loved the initiative and was curious what they were doing out there. I later found out they were doing a large scale city cleanup on the weekends; you sign up, show up, get assigned a street and you pick up trash for an hour with all gear provided for you. Afterwards, every volunteer receives a free brunch, and you also get a list of offerings and discounts from local businesses. I’ve never done it myself, but I can see the appeal of doing some good for your city and then getting delicious food.
Sign Up for Birthday Awards
In San Francisco, there’s plenty of great restaurants and apps that will reward you for simply being a customer. I made a YouTube short on this below, check it out!
Get Stuff for Free Online in Facebook Groups
There’s a really great Facebook group called “Buy Nothing San Francisco.” I believe there are multiple groups around the world specific to each city. There’s one for SF, and the group engagement is pretty good. The moderators do a great job ensuring there’s no ads, scammy posts, and have strong rules set in place.
Everyone seems to be quite open minded and friendly, so you can find various things in the group. It’s quite heart warming, as people are kind. You can find a lot of great things, like bottles of glasses or stacks of magazines, or anything you need, you can request and see if anyone has what you need. It’s also a great way for me to upcycle or get rid of things when I can’t drive to donate items, or when I want someone to come pick up the items. It’s definitely more convenient.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
I’ve seen friends fall into this trap of comparing oneself to others, and keeping up with the Joneses. A lot of my personal upbringing was through my very Asian parents who were quite humble and saved very frugally. While I feel like it’s good to save, it’s also good to live well and be happy. There is a balance of doing certain things, and it’s not applicable to everyone.
What is most detrimental to your financial and personal health is comparison to others. What others want may not be what you want or even need. For example, when I started my first big girl job, I bought my biggest expensive purchase yet for $2,000 on an YSL bag I only used twice; all my girlfriends were pushing me to get one and they all had one as well. I ended up getting rid of it by gifting it to a dear friend of mine who helped build my travel community. Instead, I wish I had used that money for a flight someplace or invested it. Moral of the story is that we don’t need to live the way others do; we can choose to live differently, and provide a stronger security blanket or net for our future in various ways.
Like my content?
