Moving back to Orlando? Timing? (Jacksonville, Kissimmee: for rent, insurance, crime)

[TiffanyPartyOf8]

Okay, a little background:

We lived in Orlando in 2007. Well, technically we were in Ocoee (The Vineyards) and LOVED it! We loved the area. Our neighborhood was literally less than 3 minutes to 429. We liked that we were pretty far from the bad traffic. The entire year we lived there, I dealt with traffic only a handful of times. My husband and mother (my parents and grandmother lived with us as my grandmother has dementia and my dad was retired and since I'm a stay-at-home mom, it was easiest if dad and I both took care of her.) dealt with traffic much more often but even they didn't think it was too horrible as long as they took toll roads and stayed far from I-4. lol. We kept our home in Jax (owned by my grandmother and not literally ours) and when my dad was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer, we moved back to Jacksonville to be at Mayo Clinic. They couldn't offer any treatments that would extend his life and he died not even 3 months later. I physically couldn't care for grandma on my own so she is now in a memory care unit here in Jacksonville. We are still living in the Jacksonville house. My mom will continue to live here after we move, so no one is abandoning grandma in a facility. Mom will still be living nearby to her memory care facility. But all of that to say that we don't have a home to sell in order to make the move. Since we are sharing this home with my mom, our bills are drastically reduced because everything is split, which will allow us to save more money.

My husband works maintenance and A/C work but hates it. He is considering becoming an EMT. Ideally, he'd like to be an EMT and also start a business cleaning duct work, restaurant commercial hoods (above the stove) and maybe even cleaning restaurants. That's just his plan. HOWEVER, the main reason he's doing the EMT thing is for income while he is building the business. He believes he would enjoy being an EMT and would gladly do it for a decade, but he really just wants to be his own boss one day. That said, he'd still rather be an EMT his entire life in Orlando than own his own business here in Jacksonville. We just really miss Orlando. When we moved back to Jacksonville, we thought we'd be back in Orlando within a year or 2. It's been far too long.

We could live in a larger 4 bedroom home in a decent area. I'm a stay-at-home with 6 children and if my husband is working nights we can't live in Crime Hills or anything.... lol. Our best case would be to live in Ocoee or Winter Garden, maybe Apopka. But we definitely like living off of 429. I'd say a minimum of 2400 sq ft. Right now we are in 3200 sq ft. and love it but could live with less.

Currently our goal is 1 year. My husband could complete schooling and we'd be saving money during this time. Hopefully the economy will be recovered some by then as well. The plan is to rent a home down there for a year before buying, it has been a while since we've lived there and want to be sure we still love Ocoee or Winter Garden. lol. Schools don't matter - we homeschool and will homeschool through high school. Homeschool groups in the area would be nice, but not necessary.

We figure by the time we move we will have at least 3 months worth of bills in savings set aside just as a fall back (and another savings that is for retirement, but don't plan on touching it). We will not move until my husband has secured a job. Living in Jacksonville, we would even be willing for my husband to move down and stay in a hotel during the weekdays for a month before moving the family if it were better to do so. Our only car payment is my minivan and it will be paid off by then.

So tell me if this looks right, it's been SO long since we've lived there and I really don't remember how much things cost:

Rent: $1500

Electric/Water: $300

Vehicle Insurance: $150 (2006 Sienna & my husband's motorcycle)

Gas & Tolls: $250

Food & Toiletries: $400 (I'm guessing that food costs are pretty similar from Jacksonville to Orlando and $400 is the high end of what we spend on food & toiletries here now)

Savings: $150

Entertainment: $100 (Disney passes & extra for movies and date nights)

Netflix: $12 (this will stay the same, we don't want cable)

Cell Phones: $160 (I'm assuming this will be about the same)

Internet: $40


Assuming he could find a job as an EMT before we move, is this doable? Are these costs about right or am I overestimating or low-balling something?


Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to get it all in so I could get educated opinions without assumptions. We refuse to move there until we are in a position to do so. We are willing to live in other areas of town if needed while my husband climbs the workforce ladder. He understands that he will be starting at the bottom of any company since he will be the newest worker. He cannot transfer from his company now as his company only has 1 office and it's here in Jacksonville - he works for his grandfather's company.

[Crane's Rooster]

Everything looks right except for possible the rent and electric. For a home that size and with that many people living there, I'd increase the rent and electric.

[TiffanyPartyOf8]

Okay, and I thought JEA was bad. haha. Here we are putting out about $350 a month for electric/water/sewer in 3200 sq ft. with 6 children, 3 adults and a cat. So maybe $450 for electric/water/sewer? Would that be a fair estimate? And maybe $1800 for rent?

[annerk]

EMT salaries are very low (under $30K) and most fire/rescue use paramedics, not EMT's, so the EMT jobs are kind of scarce.

[TiffanyPartyOf8]

And also, would becoming an EMT be a good move for him? I know medical occupations are in high demand there - RNs and all... but EMTs too? I think that's why he has picked EMT - schooling isn't terribly long, the pay seems to be decent and it's in the medical field which is in high demand. But is it really? lol.

[TiffanyPartyOf8]

Haha, as I send that last message, I see the reply before. Sorry.

annerk - What career field would you recommend? Would paramedic be a good choice? Or should he be looking into something else entirely?

[FL2MT]

The entertainment budget (if you plan on getting Disney passes) is probably too low.
Seasonal passes are about 250 per person (a little more for adults, a little less for kids), so 250*8 is $2,000 = 167 per month. That's just for the base Disney Seasonal passes that have blackout dates and no water park entry on them. So you're already at 167 without any other entertainment at all (movies, netflix, etc).
The Full premium pass (all the parks, no blackout dates, all the water park days you want) ends up around $500 per person so then you're up to $333 per month in Disney costs alone. That assumes you never buy any snacks or anything in the parks which can add up in a hurry.

If the kids are under 3 they're free so that would bring the cost down a little.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by TiffanyPartyOf8

Haha, as I send that last message, I see the reply before. Sorry.

annerk - What career field would you recommend? Would paramedic be a good choice? Or should he be looking into something else entirely?

Paramedic is much more demanding and takes a lot longer for school. It's not something you "just get into."

[xtin]

Let me be a little more realistic for you

Rent: $1500 -More like $2000 if you want leg room

Electric/Water: $300 - $450 easily for 8 people

Vehicle Insurance: $150 (2006 Sienna & my husband's motorcycle) I have no clue on this but I thought motorcycle rates went way up with the no helmet rule in place

Gas & Tolls: $250 - (low, but if you are home with the kids all day its probably feasible)

Food & Toiletries: $400 (I'm guessing that food costs are pretty similar from Jacksonville to Orlando and $400 is the high end of what we spend on food & toiletries here now) -SERIOUSLY? $400 A MONTH? I have a family of 4 that basically eat like a family of 3 since I have two toddlers and our food costs are every bit of $400-500 a month and I cook from scratch every single night. If you are living on boxed food like Hamburger Helper and Kraft Mac N Cheese then maybe but I would take a real close look at your last month of food for 8 people and be more realistic about this one

Savings: $150

Entertainment: $100 (Disney passes & extra for movies and date nights) - Moderator cut: snip $100 is basically 2 good date nights or one day out with 6 kids, lets just be honest here. Disney season passes are around $300 PER PERSON over the age of three and that also means you cant go from June-August and dont get to use the water parks. Seeing a movie at a theatre would cost you $90 JUST IN TICKETS ALONE! $100 for a family of 8 is totally ridiculous unless you are doing a ton of popcorn and movies in the living room, via Netflix. Id say $200 is more reasonable, but still low

Netflix: $12 (this will stay the same, we don't want cable)

Cell Phones: $160 (I'm assuming this will be about the same) - Do you have Iphones? Wow that seems high

Internet: $40 -Plus fees and taxes the least expensive one I have found is $55 a month after added expenses

So in my budget, you are looking at $3927 a month -almost $4k
Someone who makes $30k a year in their job brings home $1875 a MONTH

My husband makes a 6 figure salary and we have bills equitable to this per month and are just making it. We also have HALF the family size that you do . .. I just dont think you are seeing the big picture here.

You do the math. Moderator cut: rude and off topic

[BonVoyageNYC]

Hello Tiffany,
Please take the words of many of these people with a grain of salt. Some of the things said here were very cruel. You mentioned your husband will be in school for one year? That should be a Paramedic program then as most EMT programs are roughly 4 months. Is that your situation? Unfortunately, EMT's do not make the greatest money, medics do make more though. If your husband has HVAC experience, that pays better in the Orlando area.

Honestly, whilst you guys get back into the solo swing of things if you are good at budgeting, you could find a smaller home and have the children share rooms and keep your expenses lower with netflix, Redbox, etc.. I have seen some decent homes in Kissimmee and Poinciana for 900-1200 (so, you could save a good amount there).

I wish you the best of luck!


To those people who have nothing but crude things to say (you know who you are) Please STOP passing judgement, Do you know everyone's personal situation? No, you do not! This forum is meant for FRIENDLY advice. You could have simply said, "I do not believe that is possible on an EMT's salary."