I live in the Bay Area (East Bay for the locales). I make about 3k/month before taxes working 40/hrs./wk. I live alone and don't have any dependents.

Last year I made about 42000 thats gross though.

That's about 44 hours a week roughly. This year same family way more hours.

I am paying 1250 in rent plus college loans car insurance health insurance utilities cell phone and so forth. I've been juggling expenses but it's okay. I like my job.

When I was a nanny, I lived on $620 a week...monthly break down:
Rent:$500
Utilities (including cable):$150
Car/Insurance:$300
Phone:$100
Student Loans:$300
With incidentals, I still felt like I was more than comfortable (and this is in Chicago).
Now that I am a grad student, my rent is up to $950 monthly and my income is closer to $2000 monthly. It's amazing what you can become comfortable living on.

I don't think $1,000/week is that much for fulltime childcare.

^^ take home does not include babysitting.

Because my husband makes so much more then me, we are in a pretty high tax bracket, I only bring home about $600/40 hr week. I make close to 50k/yr without taxes.