[wavehunter007]

Over the last few years my wife and I (and 2-year old son) have been thinking of moving out of coastal southeastern Connecticut to another coastal region. Our main reason for leaving is the cost of living. As cheap and frugal, and non-materialistic as we are - (I’m 43, and only own three pair of shoes), it gets tougher and tougher to make ends meet. We live with just the basics in life and try to enjoy the beach, sunsets, waves, and exploring interesting things. But where’re losing ground every month.

The cost of electricity here in southern Connecticut is through the roof! I pay $200-240 a month for electricity. The gas is killing us (my wife commutes 37 mile to work), I pay about $3500 a year in taxes. We live in an average 1,600 square foot ranch, nothing fancy. They say its worth around $375,000. I owe $155,000. We have it decorated nice and simple, with a touch of a shoreline theme, and bamboo and maiden grass growing along our driveway. It’s kind of cool because it like our little south Asia tropical house/garden hideaway.

We are only a few miles from interesting things to do (museums, hiking, casino, parks, malls). We love the little beaches in southeast Connecticut and the huge waves and suger white sand beaches in Rhode Island. When we want to do the city thing - New Haven and Providence are about 40-min away. The winters are not too bad along the coast, snow along the Connecticut/Rhode Island coast happens infrequently, and never last long. The weather is nice from April to late October, summers are hot and humid, but I love that tropical heat. I live for it!

I love warm weather. I love it here from late April till mid October. Then when the leaves fall, I get serious depression. As anyone who live along the upper East Coast knows – the local TV stations and the stupid Weather Channel ram that winter theme hard from November till March in the Northeast- even if the winter is mild. My wife says I have the worst case of SADS that she has ever seen in her 40 years

Our main problem is that WE LOVE THE OCEAN! As anyone who has ever been raised near the coast knows - fishing shacks, boats, seagulls…etc. gets in your blood – you can’t live with out it. In most areas I looked, we cold never afford. Our jobs are average semi-professional - my wife works at Yale, I have worked on and off as an environmental consultant. We have thought about Stuart, Florida, Palm Coast, FL, Wilmington, NC, Virginia Beach, VA, Cape May, NJ, and anywhere in Rhode Island. North of Rhode Island is totally out of the question because I hate winter. The West coast would be great from Santa Barbara south to San Diego (Central and Northern CA, and Oregon/Washington coast is too cold in summer for me), but from what we heard, we couldn’t afford a garage there even if we could find good jobs,

So where do we go?

[backtofla]

wilmington nc is not that nice from what i understand. you may be disapointed with that one... from your list of choices, it would be easy for me to pick stuart, fl.

[wavehunter007]

We have been to the Stuart, Florida area alot. We really like it, however, as you must know, it's quite expensive. Tell me what you think are the pro's and con's about life in Florida.

Also, I know it's hot in summer, but tell me how much of an effect it really has on life and life style. For me personaly, I love the heat.

thanks,

Wavehuter.

[gypsychic]

Honestly? It sounds to me like you have a great situation right where you are, and will be hard pressed to do better anywhere in Fla. I don't think that a few months of weather that you don't like should be enough to make you move entirely. Especially if you have good jobs right now. Good jobs are hard to get in some of the areas you are thinking about. And the cost of living in any nice coastal area will be just as high, maybe more. Taxes will be more than that here on a house of that value, and homeowner's insurance is off the chart. Utilities would probably be the same as you pay now, but for AC.

Also, you may want to try visiting here in the summer, when the weather is at it's worst - very hot and humid and threats of hurricanes/storms before you give up a lifestyle that you are pretty happy with up north.

[Jammie]

My wife says I have the worst case of SADS that she has ever seen in her 40 years//Unquote

As far as I'm concerned, this says it all. Our happiness and sanity are so much more important then anything else. I have a touch of SAD and for anyone who hasn't experienced it, it may seem trivial, but in reality it is HUGE.

[ania]

Have you considered the Gulf Coast? Specifically TX?
I used to live in Galveston before moving to the mountains of TN - I had a 2/2 condo with a view of the gulf for a great price. I think the prices have gone up since the cruise industry moved in, but is may still be a great buy.

[backtofla]

well, if your house is worth 375k, and you owe just 155k, you can walk away with a nice chunk of change, and keep your new home mortgage in stuart cheap. i like stuart most of all (out of your list of choices) because of the ocean and lifestyle. i realize wilmington nc may be close to the ocean, but there is a big difference b/w the two. if you dont know yet, i'm speaking from a demographic point of view. not that there's anything wrong with that, but i think crime, the economy, and so forth may not be what you are looking for... never been to va bch, it may be similar to wilmington, but i dont know. palm coast has grown so much, i dunno if it will be too congested for you. i'm sure parts of palm coast are not so congested.

i like martin co. (which is where stuart is) a lot, crime is low, real estate is cheaper than palm bch, broward co.'s... family atmosphere... fishing... i just like that area a lot. wouldnt mind living there myself!!!

ps- if you want to be in an area w/ low crime, beaches, laid-back atmosphere, i'd consider st augustine area...