Maybe you mentioned this in the past but how do you live on $17K/yr in SF.? Would I be correct to assume you have a paid off house or multiple roommates? I live on under $17K most years but I live in small town Wisconsin where I get a 2 bedroom, 1000 sq ft, top floor apartment for $560/mo.
Apologies for not replying to this sooner aaronc879. I didn't see this post originally, and only saw it when OrganicRain quoted it in his/her post above.
My trick is to have rent that is not much more than yours. I have a small (285 sq ft) studio in a lovely old house with a bay window looking out onto the local dog park. Lots of views of dogs, birds and squirrels, which my 3 cats love. It's small, but comfortable. The house is owned by an older gentleman who is aware that he could be charging more, but doesn't. For the first 5 years, the rent was constant, at $640/month including electricity. A couple of months ago, he apologized profusely that, due to the rising cost of everything, he had no choice but to raise the rent - to $651. Needless to say, I'm quite happy with my first rent increase in 5 years
The biggest difference in cost of living in high COL areas is due to housing, so I have that one taken care of, at least for the time being. I don't own a car, but a bicycle and public transport get me everywhere I need to go. The rest of it is the usual frugal living, as I know you are well familiar with, and a true artist at!
Why would one want to live on only 17k = boring.
I have told my story several times here, and don't feel like doing so again, especially as the wording of your post doesn't seem to indicate genuine curiosity. I think it takes a certain personality type - the ability to be satisfied with a low material standard of living, and a tendency toward frugality. In many major metropolitan areas, once you have the cost of housing taken care of, there are a lot of things to do that cost very little. We're lucky in the SF Bay Area that we have a lot of opportunities for outdoor recreation at minimal or no cost.
Last week, my SIL took me as a guest on her membership to SFMOMA. It has recently re-opened, and is well worth a visit. As a thanks for getting me in, I bought her lunch. I have spent the last few days building some neat portable ham radio gear (my hobby). This morning, I built and tested a lightweight antenna. Next week, I'll stuff it into my backpack and cycle to Volmer Peak, a local high spot up in the hills above Berkeley, with a great view of the Bay Area, and test out the radio gear. This weekend, my best friend is coming over. We'll have some snacks, drink a little wine (well, maybe more than a little), watch the new episode of SVU, listen to music, and generally chat and have fun. She is staying over the night. I'm sure you'd find that terribly boring, but it doesn't cost much, and we like it
Yes, it's a very dull life