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I currently live in NY and I make around 55k per year. That may seem like a lot to people outside of NY, but to those of us living here, it's not enough to live...cost of living is very expensive. My question is this....I have a job offer in charlotte for 33k per year. I have a wife and 2 little kids. Do you think this will be an adequate salary to support my family until my wife can work full time( 3 more years, when my little one starts school)?? I plan to live in Waxhaw. These online salary comparisons are saying I need to make 31k per year in Charlotte to maintain my current standard of living. This is a big move for my family and I want to make sure 33k will be ok for my family to live. I appreciate your responses. Thank you...Mike
mpassaro - you can go to a website called www.paycheckcity.com and put in your salary in NC (make sure you pick state at the top) it lets you enter med costs/ 401k etc...you then can see the net salary you take home...take this figure and then deduct costs-mortgage, taxes, etc...Everyone has a different lifestyle and while one person may live very well on 33k in char, another might not...The salary comparisons are good only you know how much you need to maintain the lifestyle you area accustomed too....I have stated this in another post, it is all relative costs to live vs. salary that is why you should do your HW....While it is very expensive to live in certain area of NY (NY is a big state) it is all relative...In my personal situation, due to what my husband does, he can make a similar salary in NC vs. NY...but if he were to make $30-40K less then just using costs (as there are other factors) it would not pay for me to go as after paying bills etc, I am left with the same amount of money there vs. here...
I think it really depends on what kind of lifestyle you have. If you have no debt, and plan on renting for a while, you'd be ok. I don't think you could buy anything on $33K a year, not even a townhouse. If you were willing to make sacrifices and give up most luxuries, then yes, you could make it on 33K a year.
We've gone to one income also, mpassaro. It's difficult, even after you sacrifice and downsize where you can.
I'd think long and hard about accepting almost half the salary, especially if you're not going to make up the difference by selling a house in NY. Then again, if you don't mind renting an apartment for a while, and commuting in to work, it might buy you some time while you find a higher paying job in NC.
Well, the two of us having been living off about $32,000.00 a year for years. I get a Social Security check each month and we live pretty well for most people around here. Of course we don't have a mortgage either. But my medical cost and medication more than make up for any good size mortgage. But we don't do a lot of things like normal people do like eating out, going to movies and when we do go out of town, we stay with relatives.
Well, the two of us having been living off about $32,000.00 a year for years. I get a Social Security check each month and we live pretty well for most people around here. Of course we don't have a mortgage either. But my medical cost and medication more than make up for any good size mortgage. But we don't do a lot of things like normal people do like eating out, going to movies and when we do go out of town, we stay with relatives.
I understand what you're saying, Bethany, but it doesn't quite translate to mpassaro's situation. In your situation, it might be that y'all have acquired a decent net worth over many decades, and are now able to downsize and scale back, without having to live in a questionable neighborhood, drive an unreliable vehicle, etc. Mr. Passaro makes, what, $55K in New York--which is modest for the area--and is looking to live someplace where he can support his family more affordably. So the $33K that he might make in Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham won't buy the same that y'all's $32K might. Plus he's gotta pay for rent and medical costs. I feel for him because I've been there.
I'm not trying to beat up on ya, it just struck me that the two situations were quite different, even if the incomes were the same.
the reason why I posed the question re happiness, money does not always bring it...many people feel that if they have money or there money goes further that will make them happy...and I have come to learn over my years, that money is not always everything, while it doens't hurt, again more is needed in this entire equation....
Well, I have wonderful friends, a little too over bearing mother but her heart is in the right place, my husband is great, and to be basically stuck in the house nearly all the time because of so many allergies that I can't even began to mention them all, I guess I am as happy as I can be. I am blessed and I know that. It could be worse. I have a computer which is a lot better than most people around here are doing. I have an education which again is a lot better than a lot of people that I come in contact have. The best thing I have is my word and my name. All I have to do is call someone and tell them who I am and what I need and it is here before I could even think about getting out of here and going after it. My husband works not even a mile from the house so he is able to come home several times a day to make sure things are going well here. I see the babies as they are born, I have several former foster children as well as numerous God children.
Most of the time I am busy doing things for other people and that occupies my time. I went out on Monday to the doctor and then to the hospital to see my friend's husband that broke his neck. I was huffing and puffing so badly before I got out of there I thought the nurses were going to send me to the ER before I could get out of there. It took me a good day to get over that adventure. But yes, I would say for the most part I am happy to at least be home where I was born. If I were somewhere else where no one knew anything about me, I would probably be miserable. Moving back here was the best decision that we made under the circumstances. But there is an art to living here. We had not aquired anything prior to moving here. We came out of a 70 X 14 foot mobile home. The only thing I had going for me was 1/4 interest in a lake house that I gave up my part in order to get the house we are in now. But we were buying cars with payments right on up until the last one we bought in November of last year. That is the first one we have actually paid cash for. We are both very practical people as well. We won't spend money to travel even if I were able to do it a lot. I would love to do it but I can't see taking every penny we have just to go on a trip. Also Chris doesn't buy cut flowers. He will buy a rose bush and plant it for me but we just don't see the sense in cut flowers that die in a week or so. No offense taken Backfist. And you're right about what you see as the differences. He is probably younger than I am for starters. I am 54 years old.
Last edited by Bethanytedder; 06-29-2006 at 05:23 PM..
I think what you explained is what a lot of people do not understand, the simple things in life..Many neighborhoods here do have a sense of community in that many neighbors become friends and family....If there is a sub-division of transplants-maybe those people have no history and they share that comm om ground looking for an extended one, and they have children that can afford to stay there and raise their families...then after years they create the history and traditions...
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