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Ok, first off I know there are a million of these "could I afford to live in San Diego" posts, but everyone's situation is different, and everyone seems to get really good answers. So here's mine:
I was raised in San Diego, and have really started to miss it and want to come back home. I'm currently a cop in southwest Colorado in a town with the perfect combination of low pay and high cost of living, so it's hard getting by.
Just for information, I've been a cop for about 6 years and a Detective for a little over two years, and I make $52,000 a year base salary. I was able to find a cheap house to buy out here, but I'm about 40 minutes from work, and even worse I'm literally 20 minutes from the nearest ANYTHING. I'm 40 minutes from the nearest Walmart, and 20 minutes to a gas station or anything.
We've pretty much decided that it's time to get back to the city, but the question now is which city do we want to go back too? My wife wants to move back to Denver (where we lived before) and I'm really considering San Diego.
If I went to San Diego PD I would start at their top-out pay, which is $76,000 a year. My wife is a licensed cosmetologist, but she's doing medical billing right now because she got burned out on doing hair. She is going to school right now taking her pre-reqs for nursing school, and would hope to get into a nursing program where-ever we move to. She doesn't make much money right now, but would probably be able to get a job in SD doing medical billing or retail or something and make a little money to help out. Eventually once she gets her nursing degree she should be making pretty good money.
We don't have any kids right now, but we are planning to have a kid or two in the near future.
If we sell our house and I clear out my 401k (I'd be getting into a pension plan with SDPD so I'm not to worried about doing that) we should be able to move out to San Diego pretty much completely debt free, but probably without much cash for a down payment on a house.
I have been to all of the cost of living websites, and I've run the numbers and it looks like things should work out with the pay I'd be making (plus whatever she could bring in) compared to the cost of living. My wife is still pretty scared about the cost of housing, and doesn't think that we'd be able to make it in San Diego.
So my question is, if you had no debt and an income of $76,000 a year plus whatever you think someone would make working part time doing medical billing or working for a department store or something (she did that for a couple years so she has some work experience there too,) do you think you would be able to live ok in San Diego?
We don't expect to be rich anywhere we go, we just want to be able to afford to rent an ok house in an ok neighborhood with a yard for some dogs, and afford to pay our bills and not be living paycheck to paycheck struggling to keep the power on.
Any information that anyone can provide is extremely appreciated. Either to convince me that I'm an idiot and we would be borderline homeless living in San Diego with that kinda pay, or to help convince my wife that it isn't really that impossible, and we would be able to get by just fine until she finished nursing school and was able to get a better paying job.
If anyone has any advice on neighborhoods we should be looking at, or websites we could go to and get an idea of the rental/real-estate market, that would be great too. We’ve checked out craigslist, Zillow, and truila, but it’s hard to get an idea of the area, and whether it is completely in the ghetto or not. I lived in Oceanside growing up, so I don’t know San Diego city proper all that well, plus I’ve been gone for a long time, so I don’t know how much things have changed.
Of course the other thing to consider is, further down the road, if I'm making 80k-90k and she's a full time nurse making good money, will we be able to afford to raise our kids?
I know this is a long post, and kind of rambling, and I really appreciate anyone that has taken the time to read it and can provide me with some insight.
I'm new to this forum, and haven't provided any information or help to anyone else, so I would like to offer that anyone with questions about S/W Colorado, or any cop related questions, please feel free to message me and I'll help out as much as I can.
On an unrelated note, if anyone has any insight on working for SDPD, I'd love to hear it.
Last edited by SnowedUnder; 06-26-2014 at 03:59 AM..
Reason: cut and pasted from MS word and it was STILL all messed up
I think your initial plan is solid. As an officer and an RN you should be comfortable raising children in this area. Here is the take away for me.
1) Where does your wife want to go to nursing school? Schools most places have waiting lists and some are based upon merit (grades) and other based on 1st come 1st served.
2) What type of opportunities currently exist in SD police? As you may know scandals of officers accused of sexual assault has recently caused a change in leadership. With the new chief and the city hiring scrutiny will be more keen as to any ones previous work and record. Sounds like you are good to go there, but....are they hiring?
3) The two areas which take your money here are housing and transportation. Both in rentals and in purchases shelter is expensive. Is it required that you live within a certain distance of your work site? In general East of San Diego is the better of the starting locations. Plan to pay 2k for a comfortable rental....yes cheaper exists but 2k will be comfy and safe.
4) Nursing jobs are hard to come by however new nurses have a chance to apply for new grad programs with Scripps, Sharp and Kaiser. They are very competitive.
My advice
Decide on the where of nursing school and get a solid year or two of experience.
Polish your own experience and make initial inquiries out in this area.
If you want to come out sooner, have your wife contact the schools in this area and ask about waiting lists and pre reqs. Bear in mind that private schools are pretty pricey but she will get an excellent education and get in much more quickly.BSN is the basic to get.Few employers if any will consider a non BSN nurse.
Finally keep your eyes open for police departments (sheriff) which may have more openings.
Good luck. We can always use a good cop and a better nurse....or is it the other way around?...
Sounds like you are out of GJ? Anyway, my wife and I squeaked by on that amount for years and if you aren't worried about buying then you have options. You can also bail out to something like Ramona if it got tough. Doesn't SDPD kick down something for housing too? Welcome to SD from another CO transplant back in the day.
I would not restrict myself to San Diego PD. The following cities within the county have their own police departments:
Chula Vista
Coronado
National City
El Cajon
Escondido
Oceanside
Carlsbad
La Mesa
Port of San Diego
and the San Diego County Sheriff's office
all these agencies are comparable in pay unless you start as Correction's deputy with the Sheriff's office but even they become comparable after six or seven years. All are 3% @ 50 for retirement as well. No matter what agency you pick you will have to go through the regional academy in Miramar unless you have a California POST certificate. I do not think they recognize other state certificates, I can't imagine the PC and VC are the same as California. There may be an abbreviated academy that you might qualify for seeing that you are currently sworn peace officer, but that would be up to the department and again California POST would have to approve.
There are also state agencies like the CHP and Cal DOJ, and Cal DOC that have a different academy in Sacramento but there is no guarantee where that you would receive San Diego as a duty assignment.
There is also a myriad of federal agencies if you have a degree.
San Diego PD is a fine agency, and there will be people here that will howl in disagreement. It is just their time in the barrel and they have caught the media's attention. Does anybody remember CHP officer Craig Peyer? There have been major scandals at just about every agency and these scandals are not indicative of the overall quality and training of the department. They have some shortcoming right now and I'm sure they will be addressed. There are no bad or crooked cops...just bad and crooked people that somehow got through the hiring process. They were never a cop in the first place, just a weasel that scammed a uniform and badge.
I'm going to echo what Echo42 said (pun intended). As a police officer in California, the pension system and pay/benefits are very much under attack. San Diego PD has instituted one of the harshest pension reforms in the state. Therefore, what you may think you are getting in a "retirement," you aren't. San Diego PD's pay is also very low (my agency we start at 96K a year). However, San Diego is a very desirable and livable area; albeit expensive.
Since you lived there before, you realize to own a decent home, you would be looking at Chula Vista or other outlining areas, which is going to have the same commute factors you have now. Not too mention, remember California's tax rates are some of the highest in the country, along with its overall cost of living is some of the highest in the country. Take that into consideration when making a decision.
If you truly want to get out of Colorado, I'd make the suggestion of looking at Texas. San Antonio PD is right now in a constant state of hiring. Places in Arizona also come to mind.
On a side bar, I'll be retiring very soon and my most likely destination will be Colorado Springs. This after being born and raised in California.
I'm going to echo what Echo42 said (pun intended). As a police officer in California, the pension system and pay/benefits are very much under attack. San Diego PD has instituted one of the harshest pension reforms in the state. Therefore, what you may think you are getting in a "retirement," you aren't. San Diego PD's pay is also very low (my agency we start at 96K a year). However, San Diego is a very desirable and livable area; albeit expensive.
Since you lived there before, you realize to own a decent home, you would be looking at Chula Vista or other outlining areas, which is going to have the same commute factors you have now. Not too mention, remember California's tax rates are some of the highest in the country, along with its overall cost of living is some of the highest in the country. Take that into consideration when making a decision.
If you truly want to get out of Colorado, I'd make the suggestion of looking at Texas. San Antonio PD is right now in a constant state of hiring. Places in Arizona also come to mind.
On a side bar, I'll be retiring very soon and my most likely destination will be Colorado Springs. This after being born and raised in California.
I lived in the Springs 12 years, great choice. Good luck if you go outside of SDPD and have options. OP, I know of two guys that were academy trained and volunteered for over a year as sworn officers for some agencies on that list to be left holding the bag a year later with empty promises. My point being, be sure what they are telling you is honest information. Both guys had to move on after a year without pay. They LOVE free Cops.
I am the wife of the poster...just tossing in some of my own thoughts-
As far as the nursing goes, I realize that programs are very competitive and potentially hard to come by I have been working really hard to keep a 4.0 GPA, though in a city I'm sure there are plenty of others doing the same. I have always heard that nursing jobs are in demand so I am a little surprised when AADAD says that they are hard to come by...Does anyone else have an opinion on that?
Secondly...I think that my biggest concern is that the salary of an officer isn't enough to support us while I'm in school full time and unable to work. Combined, the 2 of us now barely scrape by and that's what he would be making alone in SD; with higher (though not much) cost of living, is that enough to get by?
Also, he didn't mention that we have moved once already to my "home" in Kansas City, we were there 8 months and hauled ass back to Colorado. The cost of moving is a bit terrifying, moving to KC about killed us, however, to SD all the expenses are higher, gas for uhaul, deposits for rent, etc.
One of my biggest pros for SD is that the cost of education is so much lower there. The school that I am currently attending I am paying about $150/credit in state tuition, I just glanced at Mira Costa (in Oceanside, I know) and their in state tuition is $46/unit. I'm not sure the difference b/w a credit and a unit, but education seems much cheaper there, thought I would have to wait to get residency.
Lastly, it's the beach or the mountains for us. Definitely NOT Texas!
-SnowedUnder's Wife
I'm going to chime here because I do know some officers and some nurses. The officers that I do know didn't seem to have a problem finding a job. Not sure of the pay (never asked) but from what I understand right now, SDPD is hiring. So are other cities and the Sheriffs too. Look on the SD city page and search jobs. As for nursing. All my nurse friends tell me that if you are just getting into nursing right now, it is best to go straight to a program to get your BSN. SDSU has a BSN program and they are relatively inexpensive compared to private schools. There may/may not be a wait list and I'm not exactly sure of transfer programs or if they work like those going from City Colleges to UC schools. A couple of my friends who did go into nursing were on a wait list at National University (still an expensive option) and chose to do an online program (an even more expensive option) and one friend right now is working on a MSN online also. They get pricey but they felt it was their only option. I do know that my friends with BSNs are more likely to get hired if they were looking than those who didn't have the bachelors (of course you can sit for an RN license either way). There are also satellite programs. I can say that one friend who has been a nurse for about 10 years (maybe 7 with a MSN) making about $115K.
A couple without kids making $72K/year doesn't seem too bad. if you don't plan to have kids in the next 3-5 years, it shouldn't been an issue. I"m not sure where you plan to live. When we were renting (with no kids, combined income of $80K out of college) we lived in UTC rent for $900 (probably $1200 now). We didn't spend much money or anything but still went on trips and bought things we may not have necessarily needed and never felt like we tight on cash. However if you are planning on buying, saving for a downpayment and things like that, it would be a different story altogether.
Here's where I would draw the line: children. This would be my deciding factor.
San Diego and Southern California is terrible for young families with children just starting out, from a financial point-of-view, due to the punitive tax and expense environment. If you forget kids, you will be o.k. No kids means you will have a ton of flexibility concerning jobs, housing, commutes -- everything. From a small condo near the water to a half-acre property in El Cajon, you can make anything work. It will, in my opinion, be a much less stressful and more enjoyable life in San Diego, because you will have optionality.
But with kids, a sub-$100k income is going to be awfully tight. Limited options on a limited budget. You will be constrained financially, yet you will desire the best neighborhoods and the best schools for your future children. But this is what everyone wants. Thus you will be paying a fortune to buy or rent. And you'll be competing against the real whales: wealthy San Diego retirees and foreign investors with millions in the bank, millions more in stock and bond assets who print money every quarter from their disbursements, and they think nothing of stroking a seven-figure check to buy properties up and down the coast, and spend tons more on their kids. This is not an exaggeration, the middle class is simply priced out of any near-coastal properties in San Diego. This is why any sub-$650,000 home in a good place with good schools is going to be bought, and more likely than not with cash. You will need the horsepower to compete, else you will be only the latest in a very long line of dissatisfied young parents who are outbid and outbought.
I'd take a real hard look at the numbers. At $76k, you are going to be paying more in taxes, esp. California income state tax and sales tax. Everything will be more expensive. The big one will be housing, and right now, the prices are ridiculous for what you get. And be sure to review both HOA and Mello-Roos, two monthly budget busters that are insidious in San Diego. But as someone else said, and as I posit here, if you don't have kids, you can get some pretty cool places, albeit with a bit of a commute. Could be ideal for a dual income, no kid couple.
Nursing jobs are indeed tougher to come by in San Diego. There are a lot of medical professionals who want to work in San Diego. This is because you will be serving a reasonably wealthy population of adults and retirees who have the money, the insurance, the means to employ an army of health professionals. La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas, Coronado, Rancho Santa Fe, Cardiff, Solana Beach, Point Loma, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, Scripps -- these are reasonably wealthy, to very wealthy, communities who can both afford and demand top-flight health care, and lots of doctors and nurses would much rather be in San Diego working with these patients. Sure beats toiling in some hot and humid backwater jammed with low-fee Medicaid reimbursement patients. Truth. Medical professionals want to be here, and they want to raise and educate their children here. So do the biotechs.
if you want to move you can make it work. I hear the fear in "wife" poster. With that kind of attitude I think you won't be happy, it will never be enough money. It sounds like hubby wants to go to SD more and that is imbalanced. That's not to say your (wife) attitude can't change, it can but you have to want it before you can get past the "its too expensive, we can never have kids" challenge.
Yes, you can. Two professionals in your field would do just fine, with kids especially if you have to wait awhile to go back to school while getting residency (That means you could both work when you get here and before kids). If you are barely making it now in CO I'd have to ask where your money is going. Look at that, then ask again if you can make it. You CAN but you have to want to. If you don't really want or value the idea of a move to SD then it won't make sense on paper.
It never would. It would never feel worth the cost and effort of moving unless you want to be some place or had a reason to go which right now it sounds like the reason is your husband wants to go.
Do more research into it and decide if you would rather be in SD than Colorado -- I mean really look into it and maybe take a trip here.
As for finances -- two adults on 72k here with no debt, and married taxes would be doing as good or better than me (probably better actually) and I live in a $2000+ a month apartment and make closer to 100k a year but I have a lot of debt. So I pay out close to $1500 a month just in bills that you probably don't have at all.
Since you are used to having a home and no debt the idea of having a lower amount of spending money is probably scary to you as is the idea of risk. Everything is a risk whether you are enterting into it thinking that way or not. STaying where you are is a risk, anything can happen and you can't predict the future...the best laid plans...you know the quote.
I Wonder if you feel pressured by your husband so its making you more resistant to the idea. I'd understand that and why I say really look at this and try to be objective.
I have moved many times, it is expensive. But, I'd never be like...well here I am, I don't have quite enough in my savings account yet for kids. I'd figure out how to make it work because that is life and that is life for most people in the world.
I would take a look at your budget and see where your money is really going and see what is really important to you.
I suspect in 5-10 years your husband and you would have far fewer financial concerns than most people here with your dual incomes. It might be hard to get started and if I were you I'd be more worried about resentment toward husband if you are just not amped up about moving and having to start over and go through hardship to get to the other side.
not being judgemental that's just how it sounds. It's hard to make these decisiosn as a couple, hard enough on my own.
But yeah, you can do it financially it just may not be as cushy as first as you are used or you would like.
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