new england to austin--2 family income to 1?

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by blakesq

Hi all,

My wife and I are planning to move to Austin from New England with our 6 month old baby. Using round figures, I make around $100K, she makes around $40K. The plan is she will stop working, and take care of the baby full time (no more child care at $200/week). I am lawyer with my own transportable biz (I have a Federal Practice, no necessity for a Texas Bar License, but I plan on getting it). I am originally from TX (born, raised, up through Law School), with many more contacts down in TX than here in NEW ENGLAND. One of the new expenses will be health care insurance, which her job currently pays, but we will have to pay for if she stops working. Based on the cost of living in Austin, vs expensive NE, I believe we can do it without sufferering too much loss of quality of life due to going to 1 income. Any other opinions? We are looking at SW austin. Thanks in advance.

What price of house are you looking for. You should be fine. If you keep your home price in the 300s. If you are looking at 400K-500K that extra income might help. That being said, 100K is totally doable in Circle C or Meridian, etc. SW Austin is wonderful. There are plenty of SAHM's.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Originally Posted by blakesq

Hi all,

My wife and I are planning to move to Austin from New England with our 6 month old baby. Using round figures, I make around $100K, she makes around $40K. The plan is she will stop working, and take care of the baby full time (no more child care at $200/week). I am lawyer with my own transportable biz (I have a Federal Practice, no necessity for a Texas Bar License, but I plan on getting it). I am originally from TX (born, raised, up through Law School), with many more contacts down in TX than here in NEW ENGLAND. One of the new expenses will be health care insurance, which her job currently pays, but we will have to pay for if she stops working. Based on the cost of living in Austin, vs expensive NE, I believe we can do it without sufferering too much loss of quality of life due to going to 1 income. Any other opinions? We are looking at SW austin. Thanks in advance.

Welcome home.

[blakesq]

Thanks all. Anymore comments from those who went from a 2 income household to 1?

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

Welcome home.

[mark311]

Since it sounds like you're going to be making so many changes all at once, I would strongly suggest renting a nice apartment for the first 6 months or so before buying a place. Not only will it be cheaper, but you'll also be able to enjoy your new area without all the extra homeowner headaches right away. You won't have to worry about yard work, painting, furnishing a house, etc. You'll have a nice maintained pool in the complex as well.

I'm very happy that we rented for 6 months when we first moved here because it really gave us a chance to find the right neighborhood for us. I guarantee that we would have purchased a home in a neighborhood where we wouldn't have been happy had we not had that 6 months of time to study the area on our own. It's funny how our perspectives quickly changed on different neighborhoods after really visiting them for a couple months.

You should be fine with the income level that you stated while purchasing a home in the low $200K range as long as you don't have a bunch of other outstanding debt in my opinion.

[ctmoving]

Hey There!

I see that you and your family are moving from New England to Austin. Just curious where you are in NE?? I currently live in Fairfield County, CT and will be moving to Austin in the fall!!

[blakesq]

any other stories from people who have gone from 2 incomes to 1? Would love to hear them, success or non-success. The more data points, the better, Thanks!