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Full-time homeschool is an option for us. My wife is/was a school teacher for many years. Is now, just w/o the paycheck! Public schools also a valid option too. I am getting mixed input on the quality of schools so far.
Internet is a concern of mine as its a lifeline for me for work. I definitely appreciate the heads up there. Being from CA, I am amazed at what $500k will buy in the area. We would absolutely rent and hold off until we were certain of the area we would want to be in. I don't want to move there and buy/build a McMansion CA style. Not what we're after.
We shop mostly at Sprouts here and love it. Not interested in Bristol, Whole Foods, etc. Safeway is fine.
$3k rent is higher than we are wanting to spend, although rents here in SD are much higher than that for much smaller house. This is all very helpful, thank you.
I like your plan. Most people arent that rational about it. This is a much different climate than you are used too and renting for a year is a great idea. Knowing what you want in a rental is important. Internet is important you said so making sure that you have access to cable is a priority. Especially since you work from home and home school.
Thanks Shaner. Internet is a dealbreaker for us b/c of work. Where I live here in SD, the internet is actually not so great. AT&T UVerse and I was 12/3 for the past 5+ years. Was not great. Still w/ AT&T (my only option) and finally at 50/12. Far less than other cable options here but it's my only option here and it works.
We don't HAVE to move, so no need to rush into something. We've looked at TN, TX, CO and a few other states and keep coming back to the CDA area for many reasons. Other than family in Spokane, we know next to nothing about the area or the state. Yet.
Cheap housing is one of the things that brings lots of people here from CA. Just know that the locals who live and work here without out of area income (pensions, oil fields, etc) can’t afford that 500k house. So, in resale, you limit your potential buyers. Groceries are more expensive.
School is the tough one. I homeschool, so am partial to that choice. So Cal has so many options for families who want to homeschool, and take it seriously. On a side note, I may be enrolling one of my kids in a So Cal charter next year, so I am aware of the differences. Up here, I find lots of homeschoolers who would be considered significantly behind. They call it unschooling, code for no schooling. Idaho allows that. Quality support for committed hsers is limited. So your wife who is trained in teaching could absolutely put together her own homeschool, but without funds from the state. If you wanted a charter, there are 2-3 choices. But nothing like you are used to. No all day programs, and no $3k budget per kid to buy materials and classes.
The winters do scare me a little but only b/c I have no real experience living it.
Hi! I was born/raised in California and never lived in snow until a few years ago. I lived in Canada for a year after living my whole life in CA, that was an eye opener! I then moved to snowy Utah. If this beach girl can do it, so can you. It really is not a big deal. Surprisingly, I love it!
Have to say the Canadians thought I was pretty entertaining, first time it snowed hard I went out to try and drive and didn't know how to scrape my windshield. It was pretty hilarious.
I also work from home and am totally reliant on my internet connection to do that (I do graphics for company in CA). I'm in an outskirts area that has no options but satellite which is iffy. I just switch my wireless connection over to my ATT phone data on our windy days. I am not in ID, just relating that there are ways to deal.
BTW I have a friend who moved from CA to CDA 25 years ago and has raised her kids there. She obviously loved it as she never came back!
No Sprouts in CdA, as far as I know, but there is a Trader Joe's in Spokane, thank goodness!
In Sandpoint we always shop at Yokes, and they have a natural foods section. I don't believe it is a chain store, though (right?).
Yokes is a small chain based out of Spokane that has stores in Washington and Idaho.
There is no Sprouts in Sandpoint, or CdA either. There are a couple small stores in NID that focus on selling "natural foods," including Winter Ridge in Sandpoint.
Trader Joe's in Spokane is just way too far away. We were dedicated Trader Joe's shoppers when we lived in CA, but now just go there when we have some other reason to be in Spokane. I'm hoping they put a store in CdA at some point.
Yoke's is regional, Idaho, Spokane and Tri-Cities. CDA has Pilgrim's and Natural Grocer's too. I am getting speeds from Spectrum this morning in town of 110/12. Spokane now has 2 locations for TJ's.
Yokes is a small chain based out of Spokane that has stores in Washington and Idaho.
There is no Sprouts in Sandpoint, or CdA either. There are a couple small stores in NID that focus on selling "natural foods," including Winter Ridge in Sandpoint.
Trader Joe's in Spokane is just way too far away. We were dedicated Trader Joe's shoppers when we lived in CA, but now just go there when we have some other reason to be in Spokane. I'm hoping they put a store in CdA at some point.
Dave
I'll take Yokes over Sprouts any day!
It's funny, we have 3 TJs within a 10 mile radius here in SoCal, but we usually only go shopping there once every 6 weeks or so, and then we stock up big time. Parking is a nightmare, and lines are long on weekends. So we figure that we can do a stock-up run to Spokane from Clark Fork every two months or so, and it'll amount to the same. Gotta have my frozen white corn! But we're not going to complain if they put a TJ's in CdA!
You've hit on the key thing about Trader Joe's: They have some proprietary products that you just don't find other places. Yes, the white frozen corn is good. We also like the spiced nuts for adding to salads, dried wild blueberries, and a number of other items sold under their brand. Have you tried their hazelnut chocolate cookies? Yum!
We started doing a lot of shopping at Trader Joe's during one of the grocery strikes when they became a better option than the grocery stores. It gave us a lesson in how much of our shopping we could do there, and from then on we only went back to grocery stores for the things we couldn't get anywhere else. Our routine became weekly visits to Trader Joe's and Sprouts, and the grocery store about every 3 weeks.
Between runs to GEG and going to some specialty stores that are only found in Spokane, we find we are there 3-5 times per year, and usually make a stop at Trader Joe's (and Total Wine & More) part of those trips. I am in CdA at least once a month, so it really would be nice to have Trader Joe's there.
Up here we shop at all the stores in rotation because we've found things we like at/about all of them. Yokes definitely has a nice selection, but they are also the most expensive (maybe other than Winter Ridge). We've found produce quality is more consistent at Super 1, and they are cheaper overall than Yokes. They do have a small natural foods section as well. Safeway is sometimes convenient just because it's around the corner from my wife's office. Winter Ridge has some unique products, particularly if you want "natural" or organic.
We also really appreciate the Farmers market in the summer months and other than what we grow ourselves try to buy most of our produce there. There are also some good suppliers of some homemade items there such as goat cheeses, breads and of course jams.
Overall our assessment is that if you like to cook you won't have a problem finding anything here in north Idaho other than perhaps some very specific items you've come to like from your previous location. The only caveat would be that groceries do seem to be a little expensive, even beyond the impact of the sales tax.
Dave
Last edited by Cnynrat; 02-24-2018 at 11:24 AM..
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