It’s May 1. And for about 60% of San Franciscans, that means the rent is due. 

The average renter in San Francisco spends about 34% of their salary on housing, according to 2024 census data (opens in new tab). And somehow, they have to find a way to use whatever’s left to cover, well, everything: groceries, child care, healthcare, that $6 coffee, and — if you’re lucky — some semblance of a social life.

So this week on “PST,” we’re asking how you’re supposed to make it all work — and if it’s possible to “just say no” to spending all your money on life in our very expensive city.

I’m sitting down with Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist for 20 years, to untangle the bizarre paradox underlying our city’s AI-boom-fueled rental market. As Egan puts it, “despite the fact that housing has actually gotten cheaper since COVID, the amount people pay has actually gone up.” (To which I say, “Um … what?”)

I also chat with André Lucas, a recent transplant who is determined to live affordably in SF. He shares his take on the city’s best deals (get your hair cut in Chinatown) and tips for how to save (have you heard of the Too Good to Go app for groceries?). But perhaps his best tip is the simplest of all: Just say no. Say no to that $22 beer at the music festival. Say no to that slightly-more-convenient Waymo ride. Say no to the night out at the bar. Buy a case of Modelos and have your friends over instead.

“I think a big reason that a lot of prices keep going up is that we keep paying them,” Lucas says. “Just don’t pay for it.”

That might just be my new mantra.

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