Salt Lake City on $60K? (Murray, Herriman: coupons, renting, car insurance)

[coolcats]

Originally Posted by alexei27

....ahh the good old days I was a sous Chef for awhile and was in the catering business for about 10 years. I sold out and became a meteorologist

Do you work for the NWS? When I was a kid, I dreamt of becoming a meteorologist. I even had a home weather station and everything. Of course now the Internet gives all that info and more. And of course, I was in Tornado Alley, not the Great Basin.

[BorderGirl]

Has your husband looked into any of the resorts for employment? Specifically in the ski resort area. I have a good friend that is a chef and was out here in Park City on a little vacation and from what she gathered from other chefs, they can make a pretty reasonable living.

[alexei27]

Yup...I work for the NWS. It's a great job. SLC is a great place to be meteorologist because the weather is quite bizarre. Thanks!

[mitskits]

We live on 50k right now. Had read this post before moving to Utah from Ca. Since moving here my husband got a 10% pay decrease due to the economy.Yet we faithfully tithe on earnings before tax ,give somewhat generously to charities, put away monthly for medical expenses and paying our mortgage on a 15 year loan.There was a time we were deeply in debt (90k)but starting thinking and using our money in a biblical way and beside a mortgage,we are debt-free,not fearful of the future and still have fun.Thrift stores,consignment,and prudence with a big helping of gratitude and contentment are keeping us living a lifestyle that resembles double ours.IT ALSO DOESN'T HURT THAT UTAH HAS SUCH LOW TAXES in income,state and property.You can afford not to get into financial trouble here. Just breathe and choose wisely,the nature here is free and so many educational forms of e.ntertainment that are reasonable.May His force be with you.

[dcisive]

I must be living in another universe. The "Average" family income in the State of Utah is $38,000 a year and it is well known that Utah's wages are BELOW the average. My wife and I combined income is higher than the OP mentioned but we do fine with NO kids, NO car payments (we paid them off) and own a home in Herriman. $60,000 should be fine if you watch your budget, have 2 or less kids and are not extravagant. Otherwise good luck with that.........the reason so many homes are in foreclosure in this area is that couples have way more than 2 kids, have an average income of LESS than $50,000 a year and in many cases the mother doesn't work. School taxes are high and just went higher. So I have no idea where people come up with saying that average incomes are 60k or better, ..........in their dreams............

[frogandtoad]

Google cost of living comparison. There are several websites which have you put in your current city/state and the one you are considering. It lets you know how much more/less things cost (breaks it down into multiple categories--electricity, water, etc. etc). This will give you a lot more accurate idea of how various places in the U.S. stack up.

For $60K you're going to have some people say it's plenty and others say it would be tough. It's just an opinion based on someone else's lifestyle or ideas, not on the actual cost of living numbers

Here's one:Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

And the OP posted over 2 yrs ago.

[frogandtoad]

Still worthwhile thread though. I like when people continue on older threads--many of the questions are the same ones another person will have or has had recently. This way info. can build on the old info. rather than starting from scratch over and over. I read tons of old threads when moving!

Also, the cost comparison calculator I provided above is not a great one I realized. It compares state to state and o course prices vary widely within a state. A better one isModerator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed . Also compares crime and various other things.

[MrAnderson]

Originally Posted by dcisive

I must be living in another universe. The "Average" family income in the State of Utah is $38,000 a year and it is well known that Utah's wages are BELOW the average. My wife and I combined income is higher than the OP mentioned but we do fine with NO kids, NO car payments (we paid them off) and own a home in Herriman. $60,000 should be fine if you watch your budget, have 2 or less kids and are not extravagant. Otherwise good luck with that.........the reason so many homes are in foreclosure in this area is that couples have way more than 2 kids, have an average income of LESS than $50,000 a year and in many cases the mother doesn't work. School taxes are high and just went higher. So I have no idea where people come up with saying that average incomes are 60k or better, ..........in their dreams............

They're saying the combined average income is 60K. Anyway from the last Census Bureau in 2000 regarding Salt Lake County:

The median income for a household in the county was $48,373, and the median income for a family was $54,470.

[Chango]

Hey, I live in a pretty house in one of the nicer suburbs with a family and 3 kids on a single income of around 50k, so 60k means living large. you should do just fine.