In a “Pickle”—> The search for an affordable place to call home

This could easily be a #runandrant but instead I write this cozily from bed on a Sunday morning looking up at the Cupertino hills. A deer roams in the backyard (canyon) and I take a second to pause and enjoy this moment because I know it’ll soon be gone. The short term rental with “mountain living” feel comes to a close when the lease is up in two weeks.

In a Housing Pickle- Worth the Risk?

In baseball, a pickle (also known as a “rundown”) is when a player is trapped between two bases. They may have the intention of running to 2nd, only to find that it’s safer to run back to 1st. The Bay Area housing situation is like being trapped in a “pickle” wanting to try to move on up to a nicer place, only to realize what you can afford is back where you came from.

Many people I know are faced with housing and job decisions every day in the pricey Bay Area, and it’s not just teachers. My roommate, a UX designer, is moving to Seattle for better job prospects there. My boyfriend, a personal trainer, is currently on the housing search only to be disappointed by the 4,000+ views on a single bedroom rental posting on Facebook marketplace or the strict living conditions laid out on a Craigslist housing post. Tech workers and teachers alike are moving out of the Bay Area due to the rising cost of living (According to this USA Today article from April 4th, 2019, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA TOPPED the list of “America’s Most Expensive Cities”)

When I moved to Silicon Valley 10 years ago to start my teaching career, I knew I’d have to be smart about how I spent my money. That first salary of $45,000 a year would need to stretch across rent, utilities, food, and a few local adventures. But in my early 20s, living with a roommate and living modestly was never an issue. It was simply an extension of college living. Fast forward ten years later, having moved 5 times to keep up with housing prices/appropriate commutes, I’ve had 8+ roommates and have kept the dream alive of one day being able to rent my very own 1 bedroom apartment. Any time my lease is about to renew, I check the local listings to see if “this year” it is possible to have my own space, and once again, the dangling carrot just gets further out of reach.

According to RentJungle.com, an average 1 BEDROOM apartment in Mountain View goes for $3,063 a month (April 2019). That’s $1,572 MORE a month than the average price 8 years ago of ($1,491- April 2011), or over double the earlier rent. Yes- we are in a tech boom. Yes- there is inflation. But the reality is people are not actually getting richer, they just have to spend more for a worse quality of living.

As my boyfriend is looking for a place to move to, we decided to do some investigating of what’s available for about $1,000. We came across some interesting finds…

An unfurnished converted living room space, complete with a 6 foot divider for privacy. Hope the ideal candidate is a heavy sleeper and can ignore the 4 other roommates coming to and fro throughout the apartment!

This is not uncommon… many people are trying to squeeze too many people into one home, as in this 2 bedroom apartment with 5 people.

Or this “one bedroom” complete with twin bed furnishings:

This setup may work for 10 year old girls, but professionals in their 30’s… not so much.

Or my favorite… the shared living space with the following limitations, including but not limited to:

No cooking
No guests
No alcohol

So much for “adulting.”

So… what do we do about it?

Through this whole search, I don’t have a solution to the problem or an answer for “how to make it” in the Bay Area. But this is my home, it is where I was born and raised, and for at least the time being I’d like to make the most of living here.

Instead of trying to “steal second base” and splurge on a 1 room apartment that cuts into a significant amount of my take home paycheck, I’ll head back to “first” and settle for roommate living, just like most other single or unmarried professionals in this area.

Hopefully those extra pennies I’m saving at the end of the day by having “cheaper” rent can be put to good use in being able to enjoy this beautiful place I get to call home. Thanks to all my easy-going roommates and accommodating landlords that have helped keep me in the Bay Area for the time being.

Will the housing bubble “pop” ?? Possibly. But now it’s simply a waiting game.

For now, I simply wait and enjoy the moment each day.

And I can’t complain… while other parts of the country are suffering from crazy heat or wild thunderstorms, blue sunny skies shine into my room on this moderate 65 degree day. Should I head to the City (San Francisco)? Or the beach? Hike in the redwoods? Maybe even visit wine country? Decisions. Decisions.

Oh yeah… that’s the real reason we pay the big bucks to live here.

Your Thoughts??

Bay Area Residents- what keeps you living here?

Teachers- Where are you will to “splurge” and where do you “save” when budgeting?

Comment below or on Twitter @AlishaZ143!

2019: How will you spend your 8,760 hours? Four books to kick off the New Year!

Ahh, January 1st. Maybe you were bundled up cozy in bed after an eventful New Year’s Eve. Or possibly you’re the go-getter type, and started day 1 of the year with a hike or healthy habit. Are you thinking of what made last year’s New Year’s Resolution list and is back on for a second, third, maybe even fourth time?!

With the days turning into weeks and the weeks turning into months, we’ve all looked back in shock wondering… how did another year go by in a flash?! But when you really nit pick… it didn’t. We had the same number of days, the same number of minutes, and the same chance as every other year to turn our decisions into habits.

In 2019, how will you spend your 8,760 hours?

Before you look forward, you must first look back.

Were you constantly feeling “busy” with a long to-do list, without actually getting much done?
Did you set goals for yourself only to find yourself falling back into the same poor habits from the prior year?
Were you dragging every Monday, stressed that another weekend flew by?
Did you miss out on opportunities for fear that you weren’t good enough, prepared enough, or ready for the challenge?

If you answered yes to any (or all) of these questions, I challenge you to read one of the books below.

They were among some of my favorites for 2018 and challenged me to look at how I spent my time and how I could change my behaviors in order to meet my goals.

Book #1- The One Thing by Gary Keller

Turn to your to-do list and you’ll see how you value your time. Like most of us, you probably put the easy things on the top, saving the important items for when you’ll have better energy. If you’re like my college self, you value the quantity over quality aspect, even putting on a few items you’d already completed just to convince yourself you’ve “done” a lot (Don’t lie, I can’t be the only one who has done that!)

But, like most times, you never get to the core items due to being tired from all the menial tasks that were simply busy work. Flip that model around, and The One Thing by Gary Keller teaches you to evaluate your priorities and find, “What is the ONE THING such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

“It’s not that we have too little time to do the things we do, it is that we feel the need to do too many things with the little time we have.” – Gary Keller

Most of my life I’ve taken pride in being a busy-body, a multi-tasker, someone who was always working. It wasn’t until I was on the brink of burnout with last school year that I realized how important prioritizing my time was for my health. Like too many of us in this modern fast-paced world, most of my to-do items revolved around my work, rather than seeing all of the other areas in my life I needed to give attention as well. So essentially, it is not a “What is the ONE THING such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary…” for work alone, but all the essential aspects of life as seen below:

What is the ONE THING for my…

Spiritual Life?

Physical Health?

Personal Life?

Key Relationships?

Job?

Business?

Finances?

My favorite quote from the book has helped me see why it was so important to re-evaluate my priorities in where I was spending my time and energy:

“Work is like a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.”

– Gary Keller

This quote rung a bell. How often had I put all my time and energy into my students, my lessons, my grading (aka “work”) — only to be left sacrificing my own health and having to skip out on being fully present with my own family and friends? Like the first post of this site, Your mask first, you must first take care of yourself in order to take care of others. Work– the people, the responsibilities… it’ll bounce back. It’s just like how much time and energy goes into a sub day, only to realize that the class was able to carry itself fine without you (hopefully due to all the prep in setting up those routines and autonomy in your students! Not there yet? Go check out 40 Hour Teacher Workweek from Angela Watson)!

But your health? It’ll “shatter” due to inattention or inactivity.

Your family and friends? They’ll stop inviting you after too many times of you saying “No,” or “Sorry, I’m too busy,” (sadly had to learn this one the hard way).

Your integrity? I’ll answer that with one of my favorite quotes from the late John Wooden- “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Your integrity matters as much as the rest of the more tangible aspects.

In closing, The One Thing by Gary Keller helped expose a lot of my misconceptions about productivity, reminded me to diversify my time with the multiple areas for goals rather than hyper-focusing on what I had spent my time on– work, and helped identify my ONE THING each day to make the rest of my to-do list easier or unnecessary.

How will you spend your January? Simply busy? Or productive?

A year later from first reading the book, I can’t say I’ve “mastered” the ONE THING mentality, but like any new habit, it takes intentional practice, which leads me to my next book…

Keep posted for Part TWO, coming soon…

Book #2- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

(Here’s a sketchnote sneak peek!)

What books/videos/experiences did you learn from in 2018?

Share in the comments below!

And don’t forget to like and subscribe so you can get Part 2 delivered straight to your inbox.

Get outside.

Last weeks of summer got your mind racing with a million to-do’s?

Get outside.

There’s nothing more grounding than being in nature. When I am most anxious or stressed, I usually want to push through until I see the job done.

What happens in reality though is the moment an emotional response happens (stress/frustration/burnout), my productivity goes down to minimal, leaving me even more angry that I didn’t get done what I expected.

I’ve learned this the hard way, but anytime you’re in a situation where you start to see yourself turning toward the negative, go take a break. In particular, get outside.

As I write this post, I’m sitting on the sandy beach of Morro Bay (central CA coast). The chirps and squawks of the seagulls make me chuckle as they remind me of the student in the front of the class wanting to be heard. (Cue Finding Nemo sound clip- “Mine. Mine. Mine!”) The chilly breeze alerts my senses, reminding me to stay protected. Nature can be powerful. The consistent waves crash along the shore reminding me that even amongst the calm, there will always be a new tide, a new wave, a new obstacle ahead. You can see it as a challenge and head for a lake or pond where the ripples won’t rock you. Or you can embrace the waves of the ocean and see that although they take you for a ride, they are a consistent part of life.

When I woke up this morning, I realized I had dreamed about all the tasks I needed to get done before school starts next week. But instead, I chose to get outside. Be it a walk, a jog, or even just simply a minute of fresh air, you will benefit from the recharge of mind, body, and spirit.

The tasks have not gone away, but I’m more relaxed and level headed going into them. They will get done. This breath of fresh air was worth it.

Unglue from your screen and get yourself outside. You won’t regret it.