So you just moved to San Francisco
This blog post entails some of my learnings moving to San Francisco. Disclaimer: this is my experience only and therefore your mileage may vary.
Before I begin let me set the context for my move. When I moved, I was single, living at home and had nothing tying me down in Australia.
Let’s begin.
Mobile Plan
I have the T-Mobile $30/month plan where you get 5gb of data (throttled to 2g after) and 100 minutes.
Note: 100 minutes includes calls received as well as calls sent out. It’s fucked.
I feel like this is the most value for money plan. To get it you’ll need to purchase a sim and activate it. If you can’t activate it to get the $30 plan, just call up T-Mobile until they give it to you.
Social Security Number
This is that bullshit piece of number that you hear in movies and tv shows that’s super important. Well, this is essentially your TFN but it’s used for EVERYTHING. Well… not everything… but practically everything important for you to live. It’s used for opening bank accounts, credit cards, renting property, health insurance… you get the picture.
So here’s the thing. This number is so important that you need to memorise the number. They also send you the number on a flimsy piece of paper that you cannot laminate because that would deem it “tampered”.
Anyway, this is pretty much the first thing you should get sorted as soon as you land. There’s one conveniently close next to my office.
What you need to bring:
- Passport
- I94
Get there as early as possible as the wait can be tediously long. There’s also no reception inside the building so bring a book or kindle.
Protip: It can take up to 2 weeks for your SSN to arrive in the mail BUT if you revisit the SSN office after 3 business days they can tell it to you directly
Bank Account and Credit Card
Now that you have your SSN it’s time to open up a bank account. Yay!
Citibank is extremely friendly to resident aliens. Just bring your passport, driver’s license and your banker can set you up with a bank account within minutes.
Here’s my protip for getting your credit card setup ASAP.
Travel back in time 3 months and open a credit card with Citi Bank. Keep your eyes open on ozbargain to find any promotions. I have the Citi Signature with no annual fee for life.
Ok. You might be asking “Why do I need a Citibank Credit Card John? I’m moving to the US”. You see, my naive reader, in the US of A there is a concept known as “credit”. Credit is a concept that’s more solid than money. Nobody cares how much money you actually have in the bank, they care about how much “fake money” or “credit” you have under your name. When you enter the US, you have no credit. You might as well be a bum on Mission Street.
By establishing a 3 month history with Citibank, you’re eligible to apply for a Global Citi Credit Card. This bypasses the credit history check normally. The downside is that you need to wait weeks before you get your credit card. But the upside is that you don’t need to wait 6 months to build your credit before applying for an actual credit card.
Banking
The US is so backwards when it comes to banking. There’s no standard on bank-to-bank transfers. Wire transfers can cost $25 per transaction. Some banks offer transfers but they literally just send out a check. The US runs on checks. Don’t ask me why. You can google it yourself. Tl:dr; it’s fucked.
To save yourself some hassle. Download Venmo. Transferring money is ridiculously easy. Australia may have bank to bank transfers, but having to ask for people’s BSB and Account number’s is still a pain in the ass. Some banks have made the process simpler but it’s painful. Most people in the US use Venmo and it makes things super easy.
Getting around
Get yourself a clipper card. It’s pretty much the Opal/Oyster/Octopus card for SF.
There’s also Uber and Lyft for cheap rides around SF. Most often than not it’s just easier and cheaper to use Uber or Lyft to get around town.
Protip: Lyft only accepts US credit cards and is usually cheaper than Uber
Conclusion
I realised that this blogpost is getting pretty damn long and there’s actually a lot more content than I have the patience for to jot down. Anyway… SF is a great city. It has it’s charms and repulsions. It’s not for everyone but I don’t regret a thing moving here.
