Relocating to Phoenix area....Here are my reasons. Am I wrong? (Tucson: extended stay, to rent)

[tomahawk]

I don't think you can live in Gilbert or anywhere nice for that matter at $12 an hour.
Since you're young I would look into a career change.

[crystalys]

Originally Posted by bumpylemon

thanks alot for your response. ps I LOVE TORONTO. went up there for a redsox vs blue jays series. the neighborhoods im looking into are Glendale, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, and possible queen creek. my wife is looking at other jobs. i love working with autistic kids. so thats something i would like to do. she on the other hand doesnt care what she does. they did say that their is yearly raises...they love me as a candidate because of where i work now. its very well known for being the best autistic school in the north east... i understand that i cant have this decision's made for me. but i need these opinions. i guess im just looking for people to say...ya i have done this and its ok. i just wanna know people just pack up and GOOOOOOO. lol

Is it just me, or have we all missed the fact that bumpylemon is looking at a job for $12 an hour but he states that his wife will be working too. Even with the cost of child care if she can make a somewhat decent wage ($10 or more an hour) then I think they can both make it just fine in a rental that is less than $1000 per month. I also think he said that they would be willing to work different shifts to save on childcare costs. I know it has been awhile since I have been in a rental but I have a lot of friends who rent and who typically make the same wages I mentioned above and they are not rich but they seem to be making ends meet with a little fun money left over. So are there any renters out there who have similar wages as those mentioned above with a similar family situation who can weigh in with their opinion?

[Afterburn]

Here's some info for you to ponder. My daughter is 20, works 30 hours a week (most of her hours are on Fri/Sat/Sun) as a hostess in a fine dining restaurant here. She makes $12/hour (same as what you are looking at), and is a full-time college student. We pay her college tuition, books, make her car payment, and she lives at home. All she buys is her gas, car insurance, and her lunches and entertainment and clothese once in awhile. And she CANNOT find a way to move out of our house, even though she wants to give living on her own, with a roommate, a try!

We have sat down and gone over apartment rent, utilities, groceries, gas, food, and so on - many times --- and she just can't make the budget work - even with her proposed half of the rent in a 2-bedroom apartment being $450. Granted, she works just 30 hours, not 40 hours a week, but with a roommate splitting half the costs, they still can't do it. Trust me - I'd LOVE for her to be able to do this, but she isn't able to at this time.

But from reading your responses to posts, it seems like to you are going to do this move if you get this job, regardless of the feasibility of it, and while I admire your desire to just "pack it all up and go for it", your wife and child may have a tough go of it. If she in fact does get a job with a different shift than you, that should take care of your childcare, but did I also read that you'd have only the one car??? If so, that'd leave the one not at work stranded with a baby.

Good luck in your decision.

[ibarrio]

Here's some info for you to ponder. My daughter is 20, works 30 hours a week (most of her hours are on Fri/Sat/Sun) as a hostess in a fine dining restaurant here. She makes $12/hour

12X30=360

360x4=1440

Lets say 1100 after taxes.

Car insurance is? 250ish? Good student? under your insurance? $125?

So lets go expensive and say $300

so $800 on Entertainment, Gas, Lunch..etc?

Looks like it is a bit of a budgeting/spending problem.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Afterburn

Here's some info for you to ponder. My daughter is 20, works 30 hours a week (most of her hours are on Fri/Sat/Sun) as a hostess in a fine dining restaurant here. She makes $12/hour (same as what you are looking at), and is a full-time college student. We pay her college tuition, books, make her car payment, and she lives at home. All she buys is her gas, car insurance, and her lunches and entertainment and clothese once in awhile. And she CANNOT find a way to move out of our house, even though she wants to give living on her own, with a roommate, a try!

We have sat down and gone over apartment rent, utilities, groceries, gas, food, and so on - many times --- and she just can't make the budget work - even with her proposed half of the rent in a 2-bedroom apartment being $450. Granted, she works just 30 hours, not 40 hours a week, but with a roommate splitting half the costs, they still can't do it. Trust me - I'd LOVE for her to be able to do this, but she isn't able to at this time.

But from reading your responses to posts, it seems like to you are going to do this move if you get this job, regardless of the feasibility of it, and while I admire your desire to just "pack it all up and go for it", your wife and child may have a tough go of it. If she in fact does get a job with a different shift than you, that should take care of your childcare, but did I also read that you'd have only the one car??? If so, that'd leave the one not at work stranded with a baby.

Good luck in your decision.

I was in the same situation except insert son where daughter is. We paid for college tuition, books,bought him a car, he lived rent free. He paid his own insurance, gas and his cell phone bill and whatever odds and end. My son either had to move to the Carolinas with us or finally get out on his own. He chose to stay in Arizona because he did not want to leave his girlfriend but he is struggling working 2 jobs. It's been really tough for him and he has a roommate.

[Leaving AZ]

Me and my husband make about 60,000 a year together and we bought our house at 140,000 all the way out in Queen Creek we spend so much in gas and have racked up the miles on our cars! so with those wages that they would be making they would have to move way out which is ok if they make there life out there, but houses did go up in price and to have a nice home in a nice area with good schools and good community you are going to pay for it. Plus the whole reason they said they wanted to move here was to own a home which is possible but they would be living a little tight and that isnt fun considering there isnt a ton to do in AZ and eveything you do want to do cost money eveything you end up making a little vacation going to San Diego, Mexico, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, etc...... You want a little left over to enjoy life I would look somewhere where you can get a home for in the 100's North Carolina, Missouri, New Mexico, etc......

[Afterburn]

Originally Posted by ibarrio

12X30=360

360x4=1440

Lets say 1100 after taxes.

Car insurance is? 250ish? Good student? under your insurance? $125?

So lets go expensive and say $300

so $800 on Entertainment, Gas, Lunch..etc?

Looks like it is a bit of a budgeting/spending problem.

Okay, I'll explain her situation - she certainly earns enough money to live at home and pay some of her expenses, but my post was about her not being able to afford to move out.

Of the $1440, after taxes, she brings home $1087. We don't think she can make it because:

Her car insurance is $216/month (under 25, they get you, and it's a fairly new, but compact car - it was cheaper to get her her own policy than include her on ours at this juncture)
Cell phone is $59/month - a necessity in these times
Gas is $50/week, or $200/month average

1/2 rent would be $450
1/2 of utilities we figured $100 (average - most of the apartments are all electric)

So we're at $1,025 - and we don't think she can buy food and sundries for $62/month.

Add in the coin-op laundry at the apartment complex - $2.00/load to wash and dry; she just had to replace a tire that blew out - almost $100.

We pay her car payment, tuition, books, and would continue to do so if she moved out. But like I said, no matter how we rearrange her budget, she can't do it. They did find a cheaper apartment at $750/month, but it's not in a very good neighborhood, the apartment complex was old, and not really a secure one, and it was not close to school or her job.

She's saved and has a small bank account, but things like the tire or having service on the car, her contact lenses, glasses - various "life events" just happen every month as they do to us all, and so it's hard to get ahead. So no, she doesn't have a budgeting problem - life is expensive.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by bumpylemon

honestly we looked at the eastern seaboard...thats where we looked first...and honestly this is the place that offered me a job and has a good outlook...12 dollars before taxes, man now you got me really thinking..i guess i just want to be spontaneous. i dont know...i still have the idea in my head that if it doesnt work out to just come back home....

I seriously DON'T mean to be rude, but did you graduate from high school? Because Phoenix is NOT the same as it was 2 or 3 years ago. Prices have more than DOUBLED for rents and homes. It is NO LONGER CHEAP to live here - 12 bucks an hour, is NOT much for a big place like Phoenix. ITo even live here in even a lower middle class way, you'd need to make more than 12 bucks an hour. Food is WAY more expensive, gas, A/C, rents, restaurants, entertainment. Too much to name.
Phoenix is the PERFECT place to live if :
1: YOU HAVE MONEY
2: YOU ARE YOUNG AND EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL/RICH
3: YOU OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS -
4: YOU HAVE A TON OF FAMILY HERE (YOU WILL NEED THE SUPPORT)
5: YOU LOVE ALL THINGS HISPANIC
6: YOU CAN AFFORD A 500K DOLLAR STARTER HOME
7: YOU DON"T MIND AN HOURS DRIVE TO WORK
8: HAVE GREAT HEALTH BECAUSE OUR AIR AND DRYNESS WILL EVENTUALLY KILL YOU.
9: HAVE FAMILY HERE - especially with a young one.

I am not trying to discourage you, but to make you face the honest truth. I would hate for *another* person to move here thinking that because it is hot and sunny, there are no problems here. Seems all Phoenix gets nowadays are people who don't realize that the economy has turned and it's MUCH harder to make it work here now.
Now seriously folks, if your family lives on the east coast and you can't afford to fly home for holidays -- don't move here -- you will only be miserable and blame the city for your problems.
AZ is GREAT for any west coast state or for people who already have family here or for people with a TON of money. Otherwise, do yourself and all of us a favor and don't move here just to trash us 6 months later.

[joemomma]

You'll sure love the wildlife out here.

[bumpylemon]

ok. well we made our decision, although the job would match my 14.50 an hour and my wife was also offered a job at 16.00 (lucky her) but we decided with our baby being so young that it wasnt good to rip him from the rest of the family..

and yes i did graduate high school. i have 3 years of college as well. londonbarcelona you say its expensive now....1000 for 3 bedrooms 2 baths and 1700 square feet is not expensive. trust me.

and oh ya..some one mentioned 1 car...we have 2 now


and some people had mentioned Indianapolis...lol uck. we need to live on a coast...i would love to go north carolina. its hard finding jobs for autism. good thing that field is growing now. but i thank everyone for all their repsonses.