I have found it quite possible to spend ~$20k annually living in San Francisco and (currently) Palo Alto. Of course, I don't own a car, don't have kids, and live with six housemates, but the lifestyle suits me just fine for now.

Actually, MMM lives in the SF Bay Area.

See http://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-i-live-on-7000-per-yea... as also seen in @ProCynic's post.

Edit: ok, fail.

That's Jacob Fisker. MMM lives in Colorado.