How affordable is Santa Fe for a single blue coller woman? (Albuquerque: insurance, to buy) - Santa Fe County - City-Data Forum

kauaifruit · 09-15-2007, 03:50 AM

I'm thinking seriously about moving to Santa Fe. I've lived on Kauai for about 9 months and besides it being financially tiredsome there's not much of the sort of opportunity and entertainment I would like. I'm thinking of going to Santa Fe because I love the desert and mountains, love Southwest culture, realy want to take some art classes (I might have hidden tallent, don't know until I try), and because there is a little bit of a night life. Here on Kauai it is so expensive that many blue coller women will spend 2 weeks of their paycheck on rent. I'd much rather pay 25%. My only worry about moving to Santa Fe is that making rent, groceries etcetera would be possibly just as difficult there as it is here. There's lots of information on cost-of-living pertaining to couples who are professionals and have enough money to buy a home, but that's not me for the moment. Also, I wouldn't want to dedicate more than 40 hrs a week to making money because I realy want time to take some art classes and do some art work. Are there small towns right near Santa Fe, like a 20 minute drive, that are more affordable? It would be great to hear from people that are at a similar place in life and living in the area. I don't have to have fancy things, but I do like organic food.

catman · 09-15-2007, 01:35 PM

I can't say for sure, but I would say that Santa Fe, while expensive, is not as high as Kauai. There are small towns around it, but I don't know about their living costs vis-a-vis Santa Fe. Some higher, some lower is my guess. You might think about some of the towns east and northeast of Albuquerque...I'm looking at Moriarty and the towns in that area. I don't live in the area. but I've been there several times. Organic food almost certainly won't be a problem to find.

Sorry I can't be more helpful...but I saw that no one had answered your post, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Zoidberg · 09-15-2007, 08:40 PM

Kauai and Santa Fe are probably pretty comparable in terms of cost of living.

Why you'd choose the latter is beyond me. I'd pick Kauai 9 times out of 10.

Now, Albuquerque on the other hand.. much more affordable, much more to do, and just an hour away.

Julia2sf · 09-15-2007, 10:46 PM

There are many words that come to mind when I think of Santa Fe, but "affordable" isn't one of them! That said, I went on one of those relocator calculators, plugged in a salary of $35K per year, some arbitrary Hawaiian location (Kauai wasn't on the list), and learned that Santa Fe was 6.7% cheaper.

The costs of living here really isn't bad. It's more the cost of housing. Also, if you're looking of "entertainment opportunities," I guess it all depends on what you mean by that. There's some live theater, your garden variety gallery openings, fund-raising events, and other things geared toward the well-healed. But if you're looking for bonified night life, I suspect that Zoidberg is right. You'll have more luck in Albuquerque.

I was so enamored of my new friend, Mr. Relo Calculator, that I plugged in a variety of Southwestern towns as well as some that are considered either bonified or budding art communities.

Santa Fe is 6.7% cheaper than HI
Austin is 50% cheaper
Helena, Montana is 48% cheaper
Flagstaff is 37% cheaper
Phoenix is 42% cheaper
Albuquerque is 47% cheaper
Eugene, Oregon is 44.5% cheaper

It looks like no matter where you relocate to, you'll be ahead in terms of cost of living. But it might be worth exploring some other options as well.

designer · 09-18-2007, 06:19 AM

35K per year would be pretty much living in poverty in Santa Fe but people
do it and you mentioned being a single blue collar lady. I know some white
collar couples that are having a tough time making it in santa fe and they
both work. Possibly if you can wait on tables and you worked in the right restaurant you could do pretty well with the tips. If you had a roommate
it might be much more possible to do.

LLD · 09-21-2007, 03:34 PM

Santa Fe is expensive. Not as expensive as Kauai on average but still expensive.

You might consider living in far north Rio Rancho which is only about 30 miles south of Santa Fe.

Or you might consider Albuquerque proper, which is about 50 miles from Santa Fe. Albuquerque has lots of artists and art classes.

roberth · 09-25-2007, 01:43 AM

NM is a great place to liv. Santa Fe has its own beauty and so do nearby towns. We have a great state. cost of living I agree with everyone else.

Albuquerque is cool place to be. You gotta love the mountains.

roberth · 09-25-2007, 01:44 AM

If you need some assistance let me know. I have some great photographs of NM to share with you.

hideaway · 10-14-2007, 10:50 AM

Several folks have responded re: the cost of living in Santa Fe, so I'll just second it: it's high. Everyone has at least two jobs. Albuquerque is only 50 miles from Santa Fe and offers a wider range of job opportunities and housing options but still allows access to SF's arts community and ambience.

If you're still considering SF, I'd suggest you watch the Santa Fe New Mexican's classified ads for a few weeks to get a feel for housing costs and job opportunities. We do have a living wage ordinance here but it doesn't begin to make up for the high cost of living (not just housing - insurance is high, food costs are high, gas is generally at least 20 cents higher in SF than Albuquerque, etc).