what is considered a good income in Oregon?

[drshang]

The gap between $180k and $115k is 65k. You will pay roughly 35% marginal tax rate on the 65k. That works out to $3,520 per month less in income after tax.

The payment on a 200k house should be roughly $1,000 a month, of course that's assuming you guys actually only spend 200k on a house. My experience is expat Californians do not usually do that. If you take into account savings on childcare due to a stay at home parent, (2 times $1000/mo) you should be net ahead. But not WAY ahead by any stretch of the imagination. Only around $1,000 a month better (3500 less income, 2500 less housing expense, assuming current expense of 3500 and future expense of 1000, and 2000 a month less in childcare). Of course if you buy a 320k house you will pretty much have the same standard of living as in California.

If childcare is $2000/mo you will have to earn roughly 35k simply to break even with those expenses...remember childcare is an after tax expense. So only any income in excess of 35k will actually yield an increased standard of living...

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by LeavingSoCal4Oregon

Really, in California, it's rent or house payments that are the most expensive ($3500/month and that's for a normal 3 bed house). That's where the bulk of our money goes. That and childcare which is $1000/month per kid. I love that housing is so much cheaper in Salem. It's amazing to me to see that you can buy a house for $200k. Here, you cannot even buy a one bedroom apartment for that.

If your tax burden is a typical 1/3 of your income, you still have $120k a year to spend. After house payments you still have $75k in your pocket. Your problem is not income or housing, it's lifestyle. Moving to Salem might improve your life, not because housing is cheaper, but because you are less likely to be surrounded by people who spend money like water. If you are really committed to making changes in your life, you might consider moving. If you are not committed to making those changes, you will just drag the rat race along with you and accomplish nothing.

As I said before, the key to affluence is the same in Oregon as it is in California; you have to spend less money than you make.

The Total Money Makeover

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

If your tax burden is a typical 1/3 of your income, you still have $120k a year to spend. After house payments you still have $75k in your pocket. Your problem is not income or housing, it's lifestyle. Moving to Salem might improve your life, not because housing is cheaper, but because you are less likely to be surrounded by people who spend money like water. If you are really committed to making changes in your life, you might consider moving. If you are not committed to making those changes, you will just drag the rat race along with you and accomplish nothing.

As I said before, the key to affluence is the same in Oregon as it is in California; you have to spend less money than you make.

The Total Money Makeover

This is absolutely the truth! When my husband and I moved to Oregon from Colorado, we went from a two income family to a single income family. It's been that way for three years now. We were fortunate in that our house payment went down about $300/month, but our income actually decreased by about $20K/year also. We've made some major adjustments to our lifestyle in order to make it here. We drive old cars, we don't travel as much, we only buy new clothes about once or twice a year, and we grow and can much of our own food.

It can be done, but you need to look at what expenses you can cut on a monthly basis if you are concerned about the single income (btw, I'm an elementary school teacher out of work--only 3 substitute calls so far this year).

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by delta07

This is absolutely the truth! When my husband and I moved to Oregon from Colorado, we went from a two income family to a single income family. It's been that way for three years now. We were fortunate in that our house payment went down about $300/month, but our income actually decreased by about $20K/year also. We've made some major adjustments to our lifestyle in order to make it here. We drive old cars, we don't travel as much, we only buy new clothes about once or twice a year, and we grow and can much of our own food.

It can be done, but you need to look at what expenses you can cut on a monthly basis if you are concerned about the single income (btw, I'm an elementary school teacher out of work--only 3 substitute calls so far this year).

I was thinking of you when I read this post because of your inability to get hired on permanently with the school district after so long. Salem isn't any different.

OP everyone brings up good points. One thing you will find, if you decide to move here, is how much less materialistic Oregonians are in general. It isn't hard to cut your budget, but people out here are generally a bit more frugal in their spending.

[LeavingSoCal4Oregon]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

If your tax burden is a typical 1/3 of your income, you still have $120k a year to spend. After house payments you still have $75k in your pocket. Your problem is not income or housing, it's lifestyle. Moving to Salem might improve your life, not because housing is cheaper, but because you are less likely to be surrounded by people who spend money like water. If you are really committed to making changes in your life, you might consider moving. If you are not committed to making those changes, you will just drag the rat race along with you and accomplish nothing.

As I said before, the key to affluence is the same in Oregon as it is in California; you have to spend less money than you make.

The Total Money Makeover

All good financial analysis. We are not moving because we can't afford California...but because in order to afford California, we have to work a lot, sit in traffic 2 hours a day to get to those jobs, and we sacrafice a lot of family time just to keep up and be able to have some savings. Luckily, we do have savings to help us during our "transition" to Oregon. And, also we are very fortunate that we are not those materialistic Californians-- we actually hate the sight of Land Rovers. It's good to know that this job offer is a pretty rare salary range, because we then think "well, if we really want to move to Oregon someday, now would be the time because you'll never find a job better than this." So I thank you all for the good info and feedback.

[laina1980]

Originally Posted by delta07

(btw, I'm an elementary school teacher out of work--only 3 substitute calls so far this year).

This really frightens me on our state of this country. I am seriously thinking of going back to home schooling my kids, last year my daughter had 3 different teachers from September to December, I was fuming......

[delta07]

Originally Posted by laina1980

This really frightens me on our state of this country. I am seriously thinking of going back to home schooling my kids, last year my daughter had 3 different teachers from September to December, I was fuming......

I completely understand where you are coming from. It frightens me as well. It's also very frustrating, as I left a career with the Forest Service to pursue teaching. I thought I would love it. Instead, I walked into a complete mess which left me overworked, underpaid, and disheartened. Now I can't find work in either profession, despite having re-instatement eligibility with the federal government. Our country is at a crisis level in terms of education (at least that's how I see it). I'm not sure I would even want to go back as a teacher right now. I'm really surprised your daughter had three different teachers though. What was the reason, if you don't mind me asking?