[AstridMonster]

Our story:

My husband finished school right when the economy crashed, and has just found a permanent position after being unemployed for the last 2 years. We are thrilled he has found something perm in his field, however it does not pay much ($12/hr). My salary is also not so great ($40,000 per year). At the beginning of the year we basically ran out of money and instead of renewing our apartment lease we moved in with his parents to try to pay off some of our debt.

Now we need to move out, as his parents are moving out of state. We have been able to pay off much of our debt, but have not been able to actually save anything, so we will be living strictly off paychecks.

My husband's job is in Trumbull and mine in New Haven. We decided to try to look in Stratford since it is close to Trumbull and New Haven; we have also looked in Hamden and New Haven. Our current problem is that we can't afford to pay a monthly rent or mortgage - including taxes and ins. for more than $950.

This is seeming to be a problem since we need at least 2 bedrooms or a 1 bedroom with an office space, and most one bedrooms are 1200 or more. We also have a cat, and most apartments do not seem to allow pets anymore.
All of the homes we have seen for sale that fit our budget seem to need complete renovation. We also don't want to sacrifice safety for affordability.

So, what do we do when we are living in one of the most expensive states that we can't afford? Are there any affordable areas that would accommodate both of our commutes?

[dazzleman]

Maybe you could try a good section of Bridgeport, like the North End. That might be a bit cheaper.

[andthentherewere3]

Or try the Valley towns, such as Derby/Ansonia/Seymour.

[JayCT]

West Haven may be a good option too. Jay

[derbyshire]

Derby is great for someone like you. It is affordable and close to Trumbull and New Haven.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by derbyshire

Derby is great for someone like you. It is affordable and close to Trumbull and New Haven.

That is a good choice, as long as you don't need the schools.

[mlassoff]

All good suggestions. Think about Black Rock in Bridgeport, too.

I think you should also rethink the "need" for a second bedroom or an office. You will greatly open your options if you can deal with a one bedroom. I don't have an office and I run my company from a desk in my living room... And the Starbucks in Manchester and occasionally West Hartford. My laptop and Android phone go with me everywhere. My "office" is wherever I am at. I work on airplanes, in the doctor's office waiting room, in coffeeshops, at my brothers house, etc.

Minimize and throw out crap and you'll be able to make it in a one bedroom-- and won't have to deal with living in a sketchy area.

BTW, you're not poor. You may feel poor, but with 60K + income for two people living in Connecticut is not easy, but it can be done. If you look at what the poverty line truly is you'd be astounded.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

All good suggestions. Think about Black Rock in Bridgeport, too.

I think you should also rethink the "need" for a second bedroom or an office. You will greatly open your options if you can deal with a one bedroom. I don't have an office and I run my company from a desk in my living room... And the Starbucks in Manchester and occasionally West Hartford. My laptop and Android phone go with me everywhere. My "office" is wherever I am at. I work on airplanes, in the doctor's office waiting room, in coffeeshops, at my brothers house, etc.

Minimize and throw out crap and you'll be able to make it in a one bedroom-- and won't have to deal with living in a sketchy area.

BTW, you're not poor. You may feel poor, but with 60K + income for two people living in Connecticut is not easy, but it can be done. If you look at what the poverty line truly is you'd be astounded.

Black Rock is actually pretty expensive. My brother is on a limited income and I was helping him look for places. We checked out Black Rock, but it was much more expensive than the North End, where he ended up. I guess there are parts of Black Rock that are cheaper, but they're not the better parts.

Good suggestion about ditching the second bedroom. So often, we convince ourselves that we need something we don't really need, and we often don't recognize what we're giving up in other ways to get this thing that we could do without.

[renovating]

Originally Posted by AstridMonster

We are thrilled he has found something perm in his field, however it does not pay much ($12/hr). My salary is also not so great ($40,000 per year).

Our current problem is that we can't afford to pay a monthly rent or mortgage - including taxes and ins. for more than $950.

Your monthly income is over 5k....why do you think you can't afford over $950?

Based on what you posted your combined income is over 60k and it sounds like you are young and starting out....you aren't poor.

[AnonChick]

Actually I did the math - if he's being paid hourly, that means he might not be getting 40 hours per week but only 35. And he might not be getting paid vacations his first year...but still might need to take some unpaid time off, at least the first year. So what I did, was do 35 hours/week * $12/hour * 50 weeks/year, and came up with $61,000 combined.

You've got student loans, probably at least 1 car payment, utilities, food, phone, monthly TV fee (cable, satellite, whatever), internet.

That's a lot of stuff for a new grad to deal with, so I can definitely see that the rent itself, needs to be under $1000.

As such, I highly recommend West Haven. It's a PITA to drive long wharf into New Haven but at least it's *right* next door so the commute is up one highway entrance ramp, and right back down again 1 or 2 exits later. Rents are MUCH more affordable than neighboring New Haven, significantly more available than the tonier Milford, it's still close to two highways so the Trumbull commute will be easily doable (rte 15 or 95), and not so far away from civilization that you'll wish you were homeless in downtown New Haven (such as you might feel if you were in the Valley).