relocation & cost of utilities - irvine, ca (Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa: coupons, renting)

[DDavid]

Anyone...please help.
Our family (husband & I with 2 girls) thinking of moving to either Tustin or Irvine, CA

We are having a hard time trying to figure out the following?
How much of a salary do you need to be able to "live" in Irvine? or not run of out money by the end of the month
100K, 125K, 150K ???

We know that we do not plan to buy right now...so renting a 4 BR is about $3000 a month.

Can anyone help with average per month....how much the utilities would cost?

Average food/groceries - is it that expensive?
We cook a lot....so we dont plan to eat out that much, we mostly buy food at the grocery store & cook.

Any other expenses?

Thanks for your help!

[bhcompy]

4bed is pretty big. expect 100$+ in electric bills and double or triple in the summer if you use AC(energy prices are also higher in the summer with lower baseline usage limits). gas i spend about 25/mo(2bed, gas stove/waterheater) and never use my heater. water and garbage are covered by landlord.

food, i have a wife and a young child. spend anywhere from 100 to 250/week in groceries for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and various household items depending on what we want/need at a given time.

cars are expensive here. lots of traffic means a lot more gasoline used. gas prices are also higher here than the rest of the nation. biannual smog tests cost a little bit of money and any necessary work to meet smog requirements cost good money

as far as how much money you'll need, traditionally they say 25% of your gross income should go towards rent. bit tougher in CA, but i wouldnt go above the low 30s, especially if you have debt obligations

[Aqua Bliss]

I've lived in Irvine for 3 years but just me and my wife. We have a 3 bedroom condo and approx expenses are:

Cable/Telephone/Internet (all Cox): $130/mo
Gas: $25/mo
Electric: $50 - $125/mo depending how much we use the AC
Groceries: $160/mo (buy your produce at 99 Ranch Markets - there are 2 in Irvine) and you will save a ton.
Gas for the Cars: $400/mo. Go to Costco if you can! We both have sports cars with bad gas mileage so this kills us even though we both work <10mi from home.

It's going to be tough making it on $125k, we are close to that and break even about every month, but our mortgage is less than your expected rent.

Hope that Helps.

[oc2nyc]

I would say $150k to live in OC. If you have your kids in any type of activity or plan to use babysitters.
Your utilities really depend on how conservative you are and whether you run your air, use heat, etc. Our house is an older 1600 sq ft home with no insulation so we don't use air except for a couple really hot nights here and there. My electric bill is usually $100-$170 depending on the season. Gas bill is $54.00. Trash $50 and water $130. I would hate to give you an estimate of my grocery bill. I have four kids, 3 of whom are teens, so it would only scare you. I do know I am spending much more these days and I use coupons, bargain shop, and go to Costco.
Gas and insurance is what is really killing us as we have 4 drivers. I don't think you would have to worry about that yet. You didn't say how old your girls are. We are trying to get out of California just to catch up financially. You will have some great weather though. Good luck in your move!

[killer2021]

My parents live on 50k/year in OC. Then again they did buy before the boom so their mortgage is only 1k/month for a 3bed/2bath. Oh yes and we do save enough to live decently. All our utilities are below 100/month even in summer because we have no air conditioning. I am guessing 100/week for groceries. Cable,cell phone, internet is around 150/month. If we didn't have the 1k/month house payment we probably wouldn't be able to make it.

Good luck making 150k though. Only way to do it is if you are in a solid field, educated, and have at least 5 years relevant experience. My mom got laid off a couple years back making 60-70k and she couldn't find anything near that for 6 months. Eventually she settled for your dead end job that pays 11/hr and even that job took 4-5 months to get! Unemployment is very high right now in CA.

[EricReingen]

There are many areas close to Irvine that are definitely livable on less than 100k. Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, or Costa Mesa are all areas which have cheaper rents than Irvine. Irvine is, however, the perfect suburbia if thats what you are looking for. I am a realtor in the area so please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions about different areas.

Eric Reingen
949-698-3573
ericreingen@pruoc.com

[BRinSM]

if youre combined salaries are in excess of $100k, you should be able to make it work. to be more comfortable you'll proabably want to be in the $125k range. If you can earn $150k, you should be very comfortable.