Livable wage? (St. George: HOA, car insurance, mortgage)

[UtMover2018]

What's a good range for a livable salary in the area for a family of 4. Still 20 years away from retirement but looking to escape to some more open country and be closer to family.

[Code Stemi]

Might be helpful if you could be more specific, and describe the type of lifestyle/moderation you desire.

[mysticaltyger]

Too vague of a question. What's a "livable wage" is very subjective.

[UtMover2018]

Sorry everyone.

We are not looking at a fancy lifestyle at all. We are mostly outdoors people. We already own an RV and some kayaks. We hope to buy some 4-wheelers in the future. Our idea of a fun family event is hiking, Sunday drive down some dirt roads, etc. Looking for a home around 1800 sq ft minimum. Have 1 teenager and 1 almost teenager...so older children.

Lifestyle is just very simple. Biggest goal is enough money to get by without struggling to pay bills or get food for the kids and a little extra for fun things like weekend camping trips or a trip to the lake to kayak. Where we are now is giving some of the family some health problems (bad air, especially in winter...stuff like that)

Looking at jobs in the area so would like to know more about what we would be looking at with monthly expenses...house payment (will have some money to put down on a house from current sale), food, power bills, etc.

Thank you.

[slomofo]

You'll get mixed responses.

I would say $65k minimum to live the lifestyle you describe.


My rough guess is based on a mortgage loan of $200k with a 4.6% interest rate having property taxes & insurance in escrow, utilities for a 2,000 sq. ft. home with the a/c running 24 hours a day for half the year, car insurance for two adults and one teenager, cell phone service for 4 people, and leaving some extra room in there for possibility of an HOA fee.

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by slomofo

You'll get mixed responses.

I would say $65k minimum to live the lifestyle you describe.


My rough guess is based on a mortgage loan of $200k with a 4.6% interest rate having property taxes & insurance in escrow, utilities for a 2,000 sq. ft. home with the a/c running 24 hours a day for half the year, car insurance for two adults and one teenager, cell phone service for 4 people, and leaving some extra room in there for possibility of an HOA fee.

And to that, add RV expense (significant unless it's sitting on blocks) and future ATV's (also not cheap and needing ongoing maintenance, etc). These toys are not cheap.

Then consider retirement savings. If retirement is 20 years off then the time to max out savings is NOW while there's still plenty of time for compounding to make an impact. And do you believe that Trump et al will succeed in bringing us freedom and enhancing our future by dismantling social security/medicare? Your neighbors in St George are certainly counting on it. Better take that into account too.

Finally, are kids college-bound? If so, and unless you want to assume a lot of college debt, then there should be savings for that too. $65k for a family of 4 seems quite low to me, especially if that includes savings. Need more like $100k. Where are you now and what are your expenses like?

[UtMover2018]

RV is paid off. We do the maintenance and it isn't that bad. Same would be on the 4-wheelers.



I'm aware of the constant running A/C during the summer...grew up in southern Nevada.



We currently reside in Northern Utah. And we live rather humbly. 1 vehicle is 19 years old, the other almost 2...replaced an 11 year old vehicle.



Expenses.....only debt is car payment and house.

We live on a tight budget but always have.



Honestly, $65k would probably get us by rather well....


what are summer power bills like? I've heard it depends on the area you live in.

[karenSG]

$195, Aug. '17
$196, Sept. '17
$122, June '18

From St. George Utilities.

[slomofo]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

And to that, add RV expense (significant unless it's sitting on blocks) and future ATV's (also not cheap and needing ongoing maintenance, etc). These toys are not cheap.

Then consider retirement savings. If retirement is 20 years off then the time to max out savings is NOW while there's still plenty of time for compounding to make an impact. And do you believe that Trump et al will succeed in bringing us freedom and enhancing our future by dismantling social security/medicare? Your neighbors in St George are certainly counting on it. Better take that into account too.

Finally, are kids college-bound? If so, and unless you want to assume a lot of college debt, then there should be savings for that too. $65k for a family of 4 seems quite low to me, especially if that includes savings. Need more like $100k. Where are you now and what are your expenses like?

.

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