[quote=bearishgurl]flu, if the checkstub you posted was YOUR old checkstub, it must have been from a job in the bay area. SD companies don’t pay like that … especially years ago.

Yeah, I agree about the low net pay. Even gov’mt lawyers were making that net pay (and lower) back when I worked with them ~15 years ago, mostly due to heavy deductions for dependent medical plans (spouses were very expensive) and their 457 plans. Especially the ones who were planning on “retiring” in <10 years.

Yes, I also brown-bagged my lunch every day for three decades as did most of my co-workers (including attorneys). Lunch (and dtn pkg) eat up a LOT of money every week while trying to support a family. We only got $60 month for a parking stipend on our paychecks when dtn parking cost $110 to $150 month around the year 2000. OR, you could apply the stipend to the cost of a monthly bus/trolley pass but I never did because I used ~3 lunches per week to conduct all my family's errands so I could ensure picking up my kid(s) from daycare/after-school care by 6:00 pm. (I routinely kept an ice chest in the trunk.) I'm sure the stipend is higher today for current workers but so is downtown parking and a monthly bus/trolley pass. So it's all relative.[/quote]

Missed this...
Nope. I can guarantee you the paystub was not from the bay area. It was right here in San Diego. This would be considered on the lower side if was in the bay area.