Young Homeschooling family move to NY or NJ? (Millburn, Secaucus: appointed, for rent)

[Mumof2]

you will want to rent a car for your entire visit, not just the weekends. You can certainly research on line for some deals.



The car (the most basic four door) rental is something like $1000+ with taxes etc., excluding gas. That is completely beyond my budget. I have asked my DH to ask his collegues if we could borrow their car and pay them an affordable sum for that month. If that does not fall through, do you have any suggestions? I have borrowed a GPA or is it GPS from family to use there. I think it will save a lot of time for us if we can avoid getting lost. I have taken some printouts that I think will be useful (Thanks guys for the bus routes, Nancy--Thankyou for the bus numbers).

I have packed lite, just clothes, slickers, laptop, GPS, Printout of bus routes, and snacks for the kids during travel. We will be leaving from NJ on Sep 2. I have a list of priority apts. I need to visit (thanks to you all). Hope the car deal works out. The best part is the office agreed to upgrade our room to a bigger one, with two queen beds for free. That is totally cool. If everything goes on this good, it will be fun. Is it true that there is no self serve gas stations and no left turns. It will be something to see such a densely packed city. We are ready. We are all excited to be there.



NY / NJ, here we come. Hope we run into some "Movie Stars" too.

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by Mumof2

you will want to rent a car for your entire visit, not just the weekends. You can certainly research on line for some deals.



The car (the most basic four door) rental is something like $1000+ with taxes etc., excluding gas. That is completely beyond my budget. I have asked my DH to ask his collegues if we could borrow their car and pay them an affordable sum for that month. If that does not fall through, do you have any suggestions? I have borrowed a GPA or is it GPS from family to use there. I think it will save a lot of time for us if we can avoid getting lost. I have taken some printouts that I think will be useful (Thanks guys for the bus routes, Nancy--Thankyou for the bus numbers).

I have packed lite, just clothes, slickers, laptop, GPS, Printout of bus routes, and snacks for the kids during travel. We will be leaving from NJ on Sep 2. I have a list of priority apts. I need to visit (thanks to you all). Hope the car deal works out. The best part is the office agreed to upgrade our room to a bigger one, with two queen beds for free. That is totally cool. If everything goes on this good, it will be fun. Is it true that there is no self serve gas stations and no left turns. It will be something to see such a densely packed city. We are ready. We are all excited to be there.



NY / NJ, here we come. Hope we run into some "Movie Stars" too.

Try, some local and not airport rentals or go to Priceline.com NJ also has Rent a Wreck which means the car may be a year or 2 older.
Gas is pumped for you. Self service isn't allowed. There is something called Jughandles to make a left. Beware on some roads as they may have this and then have a random left. Rt 18 in Old Bridge has this.
You can check East Brunswick for Apts also. The office I work for is located there.
Diane G

[Mumof2]

Here we are! All these messages had helped me form an idea about NY / NJ. It was exciting. We ate dinner in Madison Avenue (the bill had me laughing, it was too ridiculous!!! $62 for what I ususally pay $23 back home). The night lights and the livliness were awsome and we took a bus back to the room. The room is nice and the weather here is good. Still have'nt started the day today. In Dallas, I would walk to the end of the street and feel good that I have excercised today, all that running here not to miss the bus was exciting as it was happening, but after we came back to the room, nope, cannot get off the bed as yet. The kids, think they will be up at lunch time. All the "bold" clothes seems to keep DH and DS's preoccupied the whole evening. Or maybe I am just imagining things...whatever! I am sure it will all get confirmed shortly. We are so used to keeping to ourselves, and most of us HSing moms hardly ever wear make-up, and we all look like middle aged mommies, nice and chubby, well fed, in shabby jeans and T's, most of the time is actively spent in cooking, cleaning, and yelling. All those pencil thin gals with curiously big chests in designer clothes was quite something. Very trendy and stylish lifestyle. We have to start exploring NJ as soon as we can and look at all the apartments. All is good till now. Take care y'all.

[Lepke]

Take a trip down to the shore. You will find plenty of mommies (and daddys) who look like real people. It’s nice down here, the homes are cheaper and it’s much less crowded. Plenty of folks commute to the city from the shore area. Take the kiddies to the beach while the weather is still nice. Take a walk on the boardwalk.

[Jen38]

Mumof2 - I grew up in NJ and my parents still live there. It is definitely expensive but not a bad place to raise children. My husband grew up on Long Island and loved it. However, if you think NJ is expensive, LI is ridiculous.
Mercer County NJ is very nice, definitely pricey but great families, safe environment and good schools if/when you choose to send your children. Robbinsville, NJ is beautiful and not a bad commute from the Sloan Ave. train station. Also, look at Bordentown, NJ - a friend of mine lives there and her husband makes $85, they managed for 4 years before she had to go back to work. It depends how much you have saved and how much equity you have in your current house. You most likely will have to pay between $4 -$600,000 for neighborhoods with your criteria. There is a small older neighborhood with ranch style homes in Robbinsville, NJ off of Rt. 526 (exit 7A on the NJ turnpike) where you can get a home in the $4's. It's just started changing over to younger families of school age children. Also, try Allentown, NJ - a further drive to the train station but good safe neighborhoods with lots of kids.
Look for train stations and then search surrounding towns/neighborhoods. Driving into Manhattan every day is awful. Pull up Amtrak or NJ transit on line to find the stations then go to realtor.com and pull up that city plus surrounding areas within a ? mile radius. He will probably have an hour commute into the city so take that into consideration when driving to the train station. Each house will have a school district listed, even though you are not using the schools you can go on GreatSchools.net to get a feel for the kids that are in that district. It gives you a broad overview of all the schools. Btwn realtor.com and greatschools.net you can get a really good feel of the area you would be moving into. We get transferred a lot and I spend hours on those websites to find what I want in an area. It's a ton of research going back and forth through both sites but well worth it when you have children.
Good Luck - watch out for NJ property taxes!

[Mumof2]

Thanks Jen38. Great info. I am not sure about buying a house at this point of time, but a nice, safe, kid friendly place is certainly important. We just went to Wal Mart here, it is really awful. So is Sams Club. The prices are 40% higher in comparison, as expected. We still are saying too many Excuse me's and Thankyou's to all the cabbies and everybody else. The car deal seems to be moving too slowly. The solid piece of advice that I understand loud and clear is, despite my homeschooling, its important to find a place to live in a good school district. I am going to use the resources you gave me Jen. Tomm. I'll look at the places I got down on the list. I feel like I have "jet lag" after all that running around after the bus...hee..hee. The children did wake up at about 9.30 AM after which we went to WM and Sams. I stocked up for the whole month, so that is set for now. We also have our lunch boxes and water bottles. Water tastes funny from the tap here; I went to buy some bottled stuff, stopped after checking the price. For the same stuff, I am used to paying 49 cents, not $3.30!!! So, I decided to boil and cool water and then pour it into the water bottles. My children are having a lot of fun here. My DH is as busy as ever. So long.

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by Mumof2

Thanks Jen38. Great info. I am not sure about buying a house at this point of time, but a nice, safe, kid friendly place is certainly important. We just went to Wal Mart here, it is really awful. So is Sams Club. The prices are 40% higher in comparison, as expected. We still are saying too many Excuse me's and Thankyou's to all the cabbies and everybody else. The car deal seems to be moving too slowly. The solid piece of advice that I understand loud and clear is, despite my homeschooling, its important to find a place to live in a good school district. I am going to use the resources you gave me Jen. Tomm. I'll look at the places I got down on the list. I feel like I have "jet lag" after all that running around after the bus...hee..hee. The children did wake up at about 9.30 AM after which we went to WM and Sams. I stocked up for the whole month, so that is set for now. We also have our lunch boxes and water bottles. Water tastes funny from the tap here; I went to buy some bottled stuff, stopped after checking the price. For the same stuff, I am used to paying 49 cents, not $3.30!!! So, I decided to boil and cool water and then pour it into the water bottles. My children are having a lot of fun here. My DH is as busy as ever. So long.

mum, you should be abble to find cheaper water in the supermarket.If you buy the store brand you should be abble to get a gallon for about .65. Don't drink the water in NJ. that was another of our problems there. The water caused problems with my husband's skin.
The towns the previous poster mentioned are furthur from city but are cheaper and nicer. They are what is considered south Jersey. I don't know about the hour comute though because I lived in Cental NJ and it took more than an hour.
If you end up in Sayerville stay away from Winding Woods Apt, its cheap for a reason, there have been a few murders there.
Not everybody in NJ is paper thin.

Diane

[NJTina]

Originally Posted by Mumof2

My husband got a job in Manhatten ($90,000) this month. After being jobless for a frustrating few months, he has no choice than accept this. I homeschool my two children(under 10) here in Dallas and we have a nice house and a lot of friends. My husband's new company wants us to relocate and will not pay for his monthly commute to Dallas anymore. He wants me to sell everything and move there as quickly as possible. I have never been to NY/NJ. What should I expect? As I have no choice, but move; I need advice as to where I should move, NY or NJ? Where do we stay so my husband can commute easily? I heard it is too expensive there, is it possible for me to earn money by baby sitting to supplement our income? How are the homeschooling policies there? I plan to sell everything, I can't get rid of the car (lease) to start a new life there. The relocation package is pathetic. We have no other choice but move.(sell everything)...please help. I do not want my children to suffer because I have no clue as to what we are getting into. I am particular about a neighborhood where my children can safely ride a bike, go to the park, and I can go out for a walk with my kids after dinner without being worried about all the frightful gangster/mugging/drugaddict stories we have been hearing from some people.

Thankyou in advance for all your help. I am a little scared thinking about the move.

Mum, Relax, take a deep breath. I know it's overwhelming, but there are many places that you can live in the NY/NJ area and not be a pauper. For example,Monmouth County is a wonderful place to raise kids and with the ferry, train and bus going into the city hubby would have loads of company. I raised 2 kids here on a lot less money than 90k. While visiting NJ I hope you will visit. I live in Middletown and the Belford ferry project has drawn hundrds of commuters into our town since it's completion. Lemke mentioned Sandy Hook, which is just down the road. You could easily buy in Atlantic Highlands, Middletown, Port Monmouth, Leonardo, Hazlet or any of the bayshore region. Someone else mentioned real estate prices dropping and that is a huge factor in the area. Loads of homes for sale. There are wonderful places to live in the Northeast and I am sure that you and your family will find contentment. Good Luck and God Bless.

[Mumof2]

[quote=Diane Giam;1222653]mum, you should be abble to find cheaper water in the supermarket.If you buy the store brand you should be abble to get a gallon for about .65. Don't drink the water in NJ. that was another of our problems there. The water caused problems with my husband's skin.
The towns the previous poster mentioned are furthur from city but are cheaper and nicer. They are what is considered south Jersey. I don't know about the hour comute though because I lived in Cental NJ and it took more than an hour.
If you end up in Sayerville stay away from Winding Woods Apt, its cheap for a reason, there have been a few murders there.
Not everybody in NJ is paper thin.


I met somebody who had visited other supermarkets locally, they had the same idea like I did, it's not good. Maybe this area is like this and I should go out of here to buy water. For now, boiled water is serving the purpose quite well.
As far as paper thin figures go, that was one of the main attractions besides the colorful lights etc. There were a lot of people in all kinds of sizes, but only the attractive ones in bold clothes were attracting my DH and DS's attention. All the other people were quite fashionable and trendy looking. Of course there was another bunch of people that looked like we did, real simple.

It is very humid here. DH was very pleased to have us here, he enjoyed the "fix up meal" very well as he had not had a chance to eat lunch today. He came at 9PM and after dinner, he is on the phone again.

This is how our second day went, hopefully tomm. will be good for apt. hunting. Good thing you let me know about Winding Wood Apt., what a creepy place!!

[Mumof2]

I appreciate all the info and encouragement you have given me NJ Tina. We already spent quite a bit from the time we have landed, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed. I have to really plan my schedule properly and make sure that everyday is spent productively. I have to start immediately and maintain an accurate list. Hope the car deal works out soon. Somehow all the apprehension and fears I had back home is gone. I feel more confident and was even able to get my job finished with a chatty rude clerk at checkout. I try to sound stern, not the way I usually am, and it has worked out with the cabbies (ofcourse the thankyou's and excuse me's are still intact) and store people. Guess all the mental prep is helping, I am not scared anymore; just feeling confident enough to get my job done. And here is my crash pad, I have all of your support and encouragement. The children are such a blessing, not one complaint so far, just cute smiles and excitement.

Blessings.