Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-22-2014, 08:56 AM
 
Location: NJ
155 posts, read 163,307 times
Reputation: 129

Advertisements

Sounds like you have a very balanced life in where you live. I live in NJ and working on moving to Dallas for the last 8 months. Visited Dallas two times so far. It has not been easy so far. The property taxes in good school districts was a shock for us ( But you do not pay income tax in TX). The area is growing so fast and I have doubts whether it is sustainable in the long run especially with traffic. Water resources is a concern as well.
Having traveled little bit in Europe I appreciate the echo friendly life style. Small spaces to live, smaller cars, no cloth dryers, good public transportation and wind power are some of the things I noticed.
At this point I am not convinced moving to Dallas will be good for us.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-22-2014, 09:04 AM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,086,670 times
Reputation: 28547
Quote:
Originally Posted by anavar View Post
Sounds like you have a very balanced life in where you live. I live in NJ and working on moving to Dallas for the last 8 months. Visited Dallas two times so far. It has not been easy so far. The property taxes in good school districts was a shock for us ( But you do not pay income tax in TX). The area is growing so fast and I have doubts whether it is sustainable in the long run especially with traffic. Water resources is a concern as well.
Having traveled little bit in Europe I appreciate the echo friendly life style. Small spaces to live, smaller cars, no cloth dryers, good public transportation and wind power are some of the things I noticed.
At this point I am not convinced moving to Dallas will be good for us.
Our lifestyles here are certainly far from eco-friendly, and there are few areas where you can get by without a car...and those areas are expensive (relatively speaking).

I worry too about sustainability and this area's explosive growth. It'll take a while for infrastructure to catch up and it raises costs for all of us.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2014, 10:24 AM
 
Location: NYC area
565 posts, read 716,635 times
Reputation: 989
You can definitely buy a house for $250,000 cash in the suburbs of Dallas, no problem. Check out Frisco, Allen, Grapevine, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Coppell, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Plano, Richardson.

My concern now after hearing about your parents is indeed health care. I feel like US healthcare is the worst out of any developed country in terms of expense to the individual. If you are young, healthy and only need the occasional check up or say, broken arm--then you will get top-notch care and not pay much out of pocket each year.

But as soon as you have a serious illness or injury (cancer, heart issues, car accident, maternal-fetal issues, labor and delibery, premature birth) you will find yourself with shockingly high medical bills, even if you have insurance (unless you are one of the very lucky ones to have truly great insurance). For example, when I was a public teacher in Texas, I would have paid a yearly max out-of-pocket sum of $7,000 to have a baby. If I would have had a baby or any other medical issue close to when the calendar year ends, I could find myself owning $7000 for the current year and another $7000 for the new year. And $14,000 is a huge chunk of change for a teacher making maybe $34000 a year after taxes. This is why people go bankrupt in the US after having medical issues.

Now I live in NJ, and as a state employee I paid $10 for all of my labor/delivery/infant care.

Employee health insurance varies so much by the company, and PPs are right, your parents will not be covered and will need to pay for private health insurance on their own. Depending on age, it could be $400-$500 a month and there will still be copays and % of overall costs you would have to pay in the event of big issues.

In all seriousness, have you considered Canada? If you fit the "points" requirements or have close family there, the immigration process is much easier than the US. My in-laws just retired there for the healthcare. It's cold, but they are going to be living the snowbird lifestyle.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2014, 02:08 PM
 
97 posts, read 169,060 times
Reputation: 91
I've been to both Europe and Dallas, and I would say to stay put where you are. Just my opinion. Sounds like you have a pretty good deal where you are now. :-)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-22-2014, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Both feet on banana peel's, on ice.
352 posts, read 566,867 times
Reputation: 290
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklyn2007 View Post
I have a very peaceful life here, and good quality of care (fresh food, health, shelter, security), but nothing fancy, just a normal life. Job location 20 min distance by walking, and Mediterranean weather (similar to South California). I have 4 weeks of vacations paid by my company and I usually would travel at least twice a year in different countries in Europe.


Just this quote alone is enough reason to stay put where you are. There are many people right here in the DFW that are looking for this combo, beginning with the weather where you are.

In fact, what part of Europe are you again? I need to check it out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-23-2014, 03:25 AM
 
72 posts, read 124,126 times
Reputation: 102
Quote:
Originally Posted by anavar View Post
Sounds like you have a very balanced life in where you live. I live in NJ and working on moving to Dallas for the last 8 months. Visited Dallas two times so far. It has not been easy so far. The property taxes in good school districts was a shock for us ( But you do not pay income tax in TX). The area is growing so fast and I have doubts whether it is sustainable in the long run especially with traffic. Water resources is a concern as well.
Having traveled little bit in Europe I appreciate the echo friendly life style. Small spaces to live, smaller cars, no cloth dryers, good public transportation and wind power are some of the things I noticed.
At this point I am not convinced moving to Dallas will be good for us.
Yeah that's true, I have a very balanced life. And what is even more important is that the job that I have is very laid back. I'm starting to get worried that I'm becoming pretty lazy person because of this lifestyle
But what keeps me concern about moving to Dallas is: Health insurance for my parents (mother is 56 y/o, and father 64 y/o), but also for myself too. I made this calculation for the monthly living cost for three people living in their own home in Dallas suburb (Allen for instance)

Food: $600 (mother loves to cook at home)
Utilities (gas+electricity+internet+water+cable tv): $300
HOA+Property taxes (1800 sqf home): 450
Car expenses (suppose I buy cash $5000 car) gas+tolls+maintenance+insurance = $300 (average for 60 miles drive/day)
Health insurance (basic cover for 3 people): $1000
Other expenses (living frugally): $500

Total: $3150/month

Basically I have to find a job that pays at least $50000/year to go break-even, and I must get a working full-time wife ASAP to save some money

Tell me about the numbers
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-23-2014, 07:02 AM
 
1,190 posts, read 2,619,269 times
Reputation: 1412
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklyn2007 View Post

Food: $600 (mother loves to cook at home)
Utilities (gas+electricity+internet+water+cable tv): $300
HOA+Property taxes (1800 sqf home): 450
Car expenses (suppose I buy cash $5000 car) gas+tolls+maintenance+insurance = $300 (average for 60 miles drive/day)
Health insurance (basic cover for 3 people): $1000
Other expenses (living frugally): $500

Total: $3150/month

Basically I have to find a job that pays at least $50000/year to go break-even, and I must get a working full-time wife ASAP to save some money

Tell me about the numbers
I think some of your numbers are low.

A lot of the utility bills depend on the size of your home and how energy efficient it is, but I think you are low. My home is about 2400 sf and my electricity bill can easily be $300 in the summer months. Our cable/internet bill is around $150-200. Gas for our two cars runs about $80 per week ($320 per month) not counting insurance, tolls, etc.

good luck as you figure things out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-23-2014, 07:19 AM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,101,157 times
Reputation: 13124
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklyn2007 View Post
Yeah that's true, I have a very balanced life. And what is even more important is that the job that I have is very laid back. I'm starting to get worried that I'm becoming pretty lazy person because of this lifestyle
But what keeps me concern about moving to Dallas is: Health insurance for my parents (mother is 56 y/o, and father 64 y/o), but also for myself too. I made this calculation for the monthly living cost for three people living in their own home in Dallas suburb (Allen for instance)

Food: $600 (mother loves to cook at home)
Utilities (gas+electricity+internet+water+cable tv): $300
HOA+Property taxes (1800 sqf home): 450
Car expenses (suppose I buy cash $5000 car) gas+tolls+maintenance+insurance = $300 (average for 60 miles drive/day)
Health insurance (basic cover for 3 people): $1000
Other expenses (living frugally): $500

Total: $3150/month

Basically I have to find a job that pays at least $50000/year to go break-even, and I must get a working full-time wife ASAP to save some money

Tell me about the numbers
Utilities look low -> I'd budget closer to $500 and be happy when it's less than that! Electricity in our old home (2000sf) was $200-300/mo, water about $100, cable/internet about $150, etc.

Health insurance & health care costs still look low -> I think coverage for 3 adults going to be closer to $1200-1500/mo especially since 2 aren't employer insured. Plus, depending on if of you are on prescription meds or go to the doctor more regularly, up to another $50-100/mo in healthcare costs above insurance.

Property taxes & Insurance are about $450/mo for a $200k house, THEN add HOA dues on top of that.

Car - 60 mile commute is going to cost around $250/mo gas, $80/mo car insurance, and up to $120/mo in tolls (unavoidable for many commutes)....so we're up to $450/mo without car maintance, which you'd have a lot of with driving about 1,350-1500 miles per month. You'll need an oil change every other month ($30) and new tires every 2 years (runs about $1500-2000).

Car - that's only for you. How are your parents going to get around? There's absolutely no mass transit in Allen, for example, and the neighborhoods aren't really close to shops and other things to do.

You also have no savings for emergencies or routine repairs to house and cars and no long-term savings for retirement. Don't think for one second that a $1200/mo Social Security check is enough to live off of in retirement! And the majority of US jobs don't have any sort of retirement benefits.

I think you're going to need a lot more than $50k job to make it work in Dallas. The average household income in Allen and most northern suburbs is closer to $80-115k range if that gives you an idea of what it costs to live there.....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-23-2014, 07:27 AM
 
Location: Mostly in my head
19,855 posts, read 65,587,238 times
Reputation: 19374
Listen to TC80! She's very knowledgeable about all aspects of living here.

I spend $40/week on tolls working 3 days/week plus shopping, etc. Gas is roughly $80/week as well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-23-2014, 07:36 AM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,101,157 times
Reputation: 13124
Another thought to consider -> unless your parents worked in the US for a number of years before moving back to Europe, they won't be able to draw Social Security checks in retirement. The US doesn't just hand out checks to all senior citizens every month! So they'd have to consider the opportunity cost of the retirement benefits they might lose if they move to the US. Worth looking into to fully understand how this effects them, too. A quality assisted living home in the US can easily run $8,000/mo++, which is rarely paid for by Medicare.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top