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I never said it would be impossible it will just be much more of a struggle than she thinks it will be. If someone is used to lower 48 prices they will subconsiously think 52k is decent money but in anchorage its below average income.
If her employer really does set her up with a nice place then that will be all the difference. The route that you suggest to find a place is a nightmare, its the whole brothers uncles moms sisters second cousin has a place and might give you a good deal. I personally dont want to hang my hat on something like that unless I had soemthing in writing before I left. Maybe thats just me.
A truck was my choice because like 50% of other vehcials on the roads are trucks or semi's (in no other city have I seen so many buses, semis or box trucks). Subarus are all wheel drive but if you get hit by something big your likely going to get hurt I dont care what kind of safety reports they put out, F=MA. BUT there are a fair number of subarus on the roads so its an option.
Beans and rice every day .... sounds like we would be joking about that 20 years ago, thats not my idea of good living.
From your post it sounds like the slum lords in anchorage have done a good job of normalizing a drastic lack of maintence on properties and just generally run down rentals.
I like game and fish too but because of the volume of people up here trying to hunt and fish the fish and game has had to crack down so it is now a nightmare to go fish or hunt. Most places you had to have a plane to get to now have 4 wheeler trails so most areas are hunted out. In my grandfathers day he could fly out and set down and there were moose everywhere now there is garbage from all the 4 wheelers.
I personally refuse to accept the normalization of our slow slide into second world living.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haolejohn
You seem to have a warped view of reality. Nice to me means safe. Craigslist isn't the only place to find a place to rent. As a matter of fact is recommend the OP contact her possible employer and find a place to rent that way. Inside leads are a great way to find a good place to rent that is affordable. Anchorage will be expensive. All of Alaska is.
As far as food costs. What the heck you buying at Costco and where are you eating out? I fed my family of four plus a nanny for pretty affordable rates. Dried beans and rice were staples in our diet. We saved a lot with moose (which OP won't have the luxury) but we still bought chicken and pork. I only put twelve salmon up too. It's all about living within your means. Why does someone need a "man's" truck? She will be in anchorage where any car will be fine with a good set of tires. At least that's been my experience with my anchorage trips.
A truck was my choice because like 50% of other vehcials on the roads are trucks or semi's (in no other city have I seen so many buses, semis or box trucks). Subarus are all wheel drive but if you get hit by something big your likely going to get hurt I dont care what kind of safety reports they put out, F=MA. BUT there are a fair number of subarus on the roads so its an option.
In all seriousness OP it isn't cheap up here. $58k a year here would be similar to $40-45k down south. At least that is my experience. Take what you are making now and add $10k to it. That's what you will need to make.
It's not all gloom and doom like Pitt is trying to make it sound. Just live within your means. Make cuts where they are needed. Eating out with 4 is expensive. When we visit Anchorage we eat out two meals a day or more. It costs my family about $100 a day eating out, but we are on vacation so we do tend to eat one meal a day at the more expensive places (moose tooth, snow city, gweenies,etc).
One nice thing about living up here is no state income tax (though not sure how much longer that will last).
Will you be needing childcare for your children? That is another expense that might surprise you. I'm paying $1600 a month for two kids. We have used nannies in the past but decided this year we wanted to use the daycare so we'd have our house to ourselves. I'm in the bush though so my prices are slightly higher than yours would be.
I suppose it all depends on what you want your life style to be. If you consider mooses tooth and gweenies to be luxury vacation eaterys then we are not even talking on the same level.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haolejohn
In all seriousness OP it isn't cheap up here. $58k a year here would be similar to $40-45k down south. At least that is my experience. Take what you are making now and add $10k to it. That's what you will need to make.
It's not all gloom and doom like Pitt is trying to make it sound. Just live within your means. Make cuts where they are needed. Eating out with 4 is expensive. When we visit Anchorage we eat out two meals a day or more. It costs my family about $100 a day eating out, but we are on vacation so we do tend to eat one meal a day at the more expensive places (moose tooth, snow city, gweenies,etc).
One nice thing about living up here is no state income tax (though not sure how much longer that will last).
Will you be needing childcare for your children? That is another expense that might surprise you. I'm paying $1600 a month for two kids. We have used nannies in the past but decided this year we wanted to use the daycare so we'd have our house to ourselves. I'm in the bush though so my prices are slightly higher than yours would be.
I suppose it all depends on what you want your life style to be. If you consider mooses tooth and gweenies to be luxury vacation eaterys then we are not even talking on the same level.
I'm a simple man. I don't need anything fancy, just something good. I also want to be able to take my children out to eat with me. I don't take them to fancy places. No need. I have a two year old.
Also there is a major misconception with your lifestyle comment. Life isn't all about glamour and materials. Life is about being happy and having fun. Our trips to Anchorage are for restocking the pantry and medical/dental visits and good eats, that I don't have to eat. By having my lifestyle the way it is, I don't have to worry about any economic boom or busts. I will be happy and my life won't change very much. You on the other hand will probably be screwed.
I'm a simple man. I don't need anything fancy, just something good. I also want to be able to take my children out to eat with me. I don't take them to fancy places. No need. I have a two year old.
Also there is a major misconception with your lifestyle comment. Life isn't all about glamour and materials. Life is about being happy and having fun. Our trips to Anchorage are for restocking the pantry and medical/dental visits and good eats, that I don't have to eat. By having my lifestyle the way it is, I don't have to worry about any economic boom or busts. I will be happy and my life won't change very much. You on the other hand will probably be screwed.
Amen to all that. I enjoy life the most when I have the people I love around me, not when I'm driving a $60k pickup to an overpriced meal at a restaurant.
If something happened right this very moment I would be screwed but I am setting myself up so that I can live through a lay off without too much impact. Unfortunately if you want to live reasonably well AND have that piece of mind it requires you have a lot of paid off stuff (house, car, no debt, etc).
The supply and demand dynamic in anchorage makes accomplishing that VERY difficult. That's why some people I know have these complex life styles where they work on the slope and live in the lower 48 because they can leverage Alaska pay with a low cost of living area and even run another business down there at the same time. But the cost is having to spend 2 weeks on the slope which is a major degradation to life style and it does not pay SO well that you can punch out after a year.
I am saving like crazy right now to get stuff paid off but the reality is anchorage is expensive. I don't live that lavishly which is what prompted me to post because if you live in anchorage you have to live like a pauper to save money (which I am slowly learning to do).
BUT if you live in the sticks you have no hope of getting a good job without an awful commute or working on the slope so you can never pass a certain standard of living.
Its a vicisious cycle but at least if you can manage to get a nice place in anchorage paid for and can keep a good job then life can be way better than in the sticks, you may even be able to build a cabin in the sticks to weekend then go back to the nice house. But living in anch at 52k a year is living hand to mouth and its not living terribly well.
Its like going to north Dakota to make $20/hr when you could make $15/hr at the sandiego wal mart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haolejohn
I'm a simple man. I don't need anything fancy, just something good. I also want to be able to take my children out to eat with me. I don't take them to fancy places. No need. I have a two year old.
Also there is a major misconception with your lifestyle comment. Life isn't all about glamour and materials. Life is about being happy and having fun. Our trips to Anchorage are for restocking the pantry and medical/dental visits and good eats, that I don't have to eat. By having my lifestyle the way it is, I don't have to worry about any economic boom or busts. I will be happy and my life won't change very much. You on the other hand will probably be screwed.
What about people you love AND a nice car and good food. I agree having people you love is first but the beans and rice thing every day is flirting with the normalization of second world living. Our fathers and grandfathers who worked hard would have never thought that was ok.
But yes these places around anch are over priced but when your busy and don't have time to cook sometimes its nice and if your budget is so strained you cant manage an extra $40 for some pizza or what ever then I don't know how that's not flirting with poverty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by riceme
Amen to all that. I enjoy life the most when I have the people I love around me, not when I'm driving a $60k pickup to an overpriced meal at a restaurant.
What about people you love AND a nice car and good food. I agree having people you love is first but the beans and rice thing every day is flirting with the normalization of second world living. Our fathers and grandfathers who worked hard would have never thought that was ok.
But yes these places around anch are over priced but when your busy and don't have time to cook sometimes its nice and if your budget is so strained you cant manage an extra $40 for some pizza or what ever then I don't know how that's not flirting with poverty.
That is the point. I do have those things and the OP could too if she budgeted. (Side note, you seemed to miss that she HAS four kids but they are not all coming up here with her. Only one or two are). I live on a budget because I don't want to have to work until I'm eighty, and I am not leveraged up to my eyeballs in debt because having fancy, flashy STUFF is not important to me, but mostly because I'm not stupid.
I own a very nice truck that I SAVED for, same as my last truck which I took good care of, and it took good care of me. I had it for 16 years and it never caused me a day of problems. I eat better than most people (and for very little cost) because I know how to cook. I live in a great cabin that's 20-minutes from work and about 25-minutes from town. It took me 9-months to find what I wanted: running water, affordable (very!), close to work, small (because I don't want to have to heat a big place), close to town, etc., etc. And yes, I spend lots of time with my family and friends. And yes, I also go out.
I generally cook from scratch and that often includes beans and rice. And moose and salmon and caribou and pork loin roasts and bacon and all kinds of tasty things. Eating beans and rice does not have to mean that it's bland, that you're poor, that you're in a 3rd world country status. Believe it or not some people actually enjoy cooking from scratch. And it's likely better for you than eating out or eating boxed crap they sell in the freezer or at the end of the canned goods aisle. And you can still cook from scratch when you're crunched for time. I did it for years when I worked 16-hour days alternating 6 and 7 days a week. Crock Pot + Tupperware + Freezer = Delicious Dinner Magic.
My dad was born in the Dust Bowl and grew up in a tent. I don't mean that he lived in one for a little while. I mean that a tent was his family's home. He turned down a full-ride scholarship to stay home to take care of his siblings and mother. It was his singular mission in life to ensure that his children had a better life than he did. He and my mom are the people who taught me to budget. They taught me that utilitarian, functional vehicles are more sensible than flashy expensive ones. They taught me that if I research and save and make smart, quality purchases my money will go a lot further. And they taught me how to cook delicious rice and beans from scratch.
So please do not tell me that MY hard working father and grandfather wouldn't think it was okay that I budget, research my purchases, buy for function and not for flash, and cook rice and beans from scratch. They would be disappointed in me if I DIDN'T do those things.
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