Wow, impressively low for someone who lives in CA. I am humbled. Do you grow your own vegetables? Do you cook most of your meals?
Congratulations on the kitties. We adopted a kitty this year too, she is a wonderful addition to the 2 existing doggies. Everyone getting along and are spoiled
I'm not particularly proud of it - just happy that I can lead a life I'm comfortable with on this kind of money. My lifestyle is very simple. I was lucky to find a nice studio apartment in a lovely 100 year-old house in a good part of town for only $640/month including utilities. In the metro area I live in, that is very reasonable. The older gentleman who owns the house rarely raises the rent, so it's a deal that has worked well for the very long-term residents. Hopefully the "outside world" won't come as too much of a shock to them if they have to move out (he is getting rather old, and I'm not sure that a new owner would want to continue to run it as a rental property.)
As well as low rent, I have a landline telephone only with DSL (total internet and phone bill is $30/month including long distance), no cable or satellite TV, and no car - just a bicycle I bought for $100 from Craigslist. The bike also gives me much-needed exercise.
Other than rent, my only other significant expense is food, for which I spend about $300 - $350/ month. I tried eating very cheaply before, and it was affecting my health so now I include lots of fruit and vegetables in my diet.
Maintaining this low-cost lifestyle is made easy by my rather reclusive personality. My favorite place to be is at home with my cats. I rarely go out to socialize and hardly ever eat out, yet this is my preferred way of life - for many it would feel like self-imposed hardship. I'm sure a few of the other introverts here can empathize!
Glad to hear you're a pet-owner too. They are my pride and joy - both of which were adopted this year. Common wisdom says that you shouldn't expect an older shy cat to get along with a kitten but after a few bathroom incidents on the sofa, my older cat has accepted the kitten and they get along just fine. In fact, I think that the outgoing little girl has helped the shy older lady come out of her shell.
I LOVE these 2 babies very much indeed!