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Hi
I need to ask a blunt and sorta tacky question.
We live in NY on Long Island and really want to move to the Raleigh area.
Job offer in Cary for 75K yr- Partner makes about 50k.
Where we are now we could not make ends meet on that. can barely make it on alot more and HATE the crowds and the self serving attitudes.
Homes that we are looking at are under 300k. our commutes are close to 30 min each day. kids in college...2 @ home.
I am scared that we won't be making enough to not be worried about making our bills each month. Am I being overly afraid? I want our life to be a little bit easier for my family...
Is that enough money to COMFORTABLY live on?
Not a tacky question--more would-be transplants to the area would be served by asking this kind of question instead of just moving down without thinking things through.
$125K is a nice salary here for a family, though with two in college, that's going to take a bite. It will partly depend on how much you can put down on the house payment, since mortgage will be your biggest regular expense. With many factors unknown, I think you can live comfortably though not necessarily "high on the hog" in Cary. Caveat: I don't have children, let alone 4, so my expectations of what it costs to live are probably more conservative than they should be.
Before answering that question, one would need to ask (and you need not answer here): What are your debts? What do you spend your money on? What do you need to buy? What are you used to? How much do you spend on vacations? How much is paid to your kids' colleges? And as Francois said, what will your down payment be? What will your mortgage payment be? What do you want to put into savings?
What are your highest bills now and how will they change when you move here?
Of course you'd do fine here on those salaries, but the salary info isn't the whole story.
You say "better cost of living." Is it? -- outside of housing and real estate taxes, which of course, are high up there. Gas may be less here. But food and clothing are pretty much the same, aren't they?
Plugging numbers into one of those COL comparison calculators shows that 125k in Raleigh is supposedly equivalent to 175K on Long Island. Most of the difference is in housing costs, however, so if you really want to take advantage of that difference you need to make sure you actually spend much less on housing in NC and not just "get more for the same money."
What are your highest bills now and how will they change when you move here?
Of course you'd do fine here on those salaries, but the salary info isn't the whole story.
?
Agree with this and other posters. As a recent transplant from Long Island, I will give you a perspective on the difference in our bills - we've been here 16 months.
Insurance - homeowners - twice as big house, half the insurance
auto - paying about the same, twice the liability coverage
Gas for house - I don't think we've paid over $100 a month, and that's not on a budget.
Electricity - have not paid more than $220 a month, again that's not on a budget.
Sanitation - $14 a month in Cary (part of property taxes in NY)
Water - averaging about $90 a month
Food - about the same...and there's a tax on it here (2% I think)
Gas - cheaper
Clothing - no discernable difference
Property taxes - $3200 - were $12K in NY
The biggest issue is how you spend your money. Be honest with yourself - if you are spending your money foolishly now, are you willing to give that up and take advantage of the lower cost of living? Or are you just spending on the necessities every month and still just getting by? If that's the case you will do great down here.
Agree with this and other posters. As a recent transplant from Long Island, I will give you a perspective on the difference in our bills - we've been here 16 months.
Insurance - homeowners - twice as big house, half the insurance
auto - paying about the same, twice the liability coverage
Gas for house - I don't think we've paid over $100 a month, and that's not on a budget.
Electricity - have not paid more than $220 a month, again that's not on a budget.
Sanitation - $14 a month in Cary (part of property taxes in NY)
Water - averaging about $90 a month
Food - about the same...and there's a tax on it here (2% I think)
Gas - cheaper
Clothing - no discernable difference
Property taxes - $3200 - were $12K in NY
The biggest issue is how you spend your money. Be honest with yourself - if you are spending your money foolishly now, are you willing to give that up and take advantage of the lower cost of living? Or are you just spending on the necessities every month and still just getting by? If that's the case you will do great down here.
Good luck.
Being here for eight years, the above quote is spot on.
LI water was really cheap, never even noticed the bill until here. ESPECIALLY if you live in a community where you get double-banged for sewer. Water your lawn and you pay for the water - doubled.
Property tax is cheaper, you do pay some for your car's value each year as a tax, but it is nothing like LI property tax.
Let's see...how old are your kids? How much is college tuition for the oldest children and are you receiving financial aid or paying completely out of pocket? Do you have to pay daycare/before school/after school/summer/track out childcare costs? How much a month would the insurance at your new job cost?
What are your house expectations?
IMO things would be tight on that salary with 4 kids. We live somewhat modestly, low mortgage on a 2000 sf house we've owned for 15 years, drive our cars for 10+ years each, don't have childcare expenses because I stay home, steadily contribute our 10% to a 401k, go one one NC beach vacation a year, shop for bargains on food and clothing, and we have security but we certainly don't live it up in style. And we don't have to worry about college (yet). We have no commuting or other costs associated with a 2nd job either.
I think you could make it work if you live somewhat modestly. Of course, you may be bringing tons of home equity along with you that may help you get into a house with a small or no mortgage, which would help tremendously.
What kills us every year is healthcare costs! $400/month for premiums through DH's office and another $150/month into the FSA. And we've been informed there will be a substantial increase for next year
...calculators shows that 125k in Raleigh is supposedly equivalent to 175K on Long Island. Most of the difference is in housing costs...
^^This.
The groceries and utilities and all the rest of most peoples mixed average of annual expenses...
what people spend money on is pretty much the same everywhere across the entire country.
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