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Old 05-31-2009, 02:45 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,672,505 times
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It really depends on lifestyle and career choices...

There are always people with the right skill set at the time of great demand...

There are also people that are in the right place at the right time...

My Godparents daughter took a part-time job back in High School in 79? at a little company in Cupertino called Apple Computer. I think she was one of the first 200 employees.

After high school she decided to go full time in the customer service department... the pay was OK... but she had profit sharing and stock options... I think in 1985 she cashed in a lot of her stock and paid cash for her Santa Clara Home... pretty amazing case of being in the right place at the right time.

Thing is, she is not alone... several of her friends also made out like this at other companies in the 80's. I think the chances of doing this somewhere other than California would be almost zero...
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Old 05-31-2009, 05:07 PM
 
Location: Pacific Beach/San Diego
4,750 posts, read 3,566,566 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
from what I've seen people with high education and wanting to live more simply can make quite a bit of money in California. I have been pricing stuff in the Bay Area and the rent isn't really any more than it is in a little college town here. Housing is another story but rent...about the same out of SF proper, but that is to be expected... I wouldn't really expect somebody who is simple and frugal to live in Manhattan or River North Chicago either... but taking the BART or bus in? No problem. For what we eat... smaller ethnic stores and Trader Joe's are significantly cheaper for the food items than the mega chain grocers here. Especially true for people like me and my gf... double incomes, no kids, smaller living space, no car, no insurance... but can get high paying jobs not found elsewhere and if saved right that money starts to compound. We are actually projecting to have a lot more expendable income there.
You can. Many people who moved to California came from places that were very expensive in the first place. Rhode Island was very expensive to live in as well - - plus you had to pay for home heating and air conditioning (we've never had to turn on the heat or air conditioning once in San Diego). We have savings accounts that we never had back east because we are getting paid better and have found more work.
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Old 05-31-2009, 08:12 PM
 
730 posts, read 1,918,005 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
I glanced at this like three times but it seems it doesn't address those of us (me) who bought when housing was less expensive like in 1997. I bought a brand new home in Thousand Oaks for $150/sqft (2200 sqft for $330K). My wife didn't work. We drove older cars. We never had a credit card balance. We never contributed anything less than the max to 401(k)s and two Roth IRA and college savings accounts. We never had a car loan either. We took out a 30 year conventional loan too, I think at 6.5% back then. We never took out any other loans except the mortgage. While my neighbors were putting in $100K landscaping/hardscaping, I did all the landscaping including renting a trencher and putting my own irrigation system in, planting shade trees, planting my lawn. I only paid someone to put in the concrete patio and patio cover and a some crafty brick work.
In other words you did it right so you didn't have to whine and blame someone else for making poor decisions. Good for you. By the way I did the same in 2000 and even though housing in my area is way down in price I will still be able to sell and make money. I had no trust fund, no parents to help, no drug sales, no anything illegal or immoral. Just hard work and the application of a little common sense, which is not common anymore. Most of my neighbors did the same thing.
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Old 05-31-2009, 08:17 PM
 
730 posts, read 1,918,005 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TristramShandy View Post
You can. Many people who moved to California came from places that were very expensive in the first place. Rhode Island was very expensive to live in as well - - plus you had to pay for home heating and air conditioning (we've never had to turn on the heat or air conditioning once in San Diego). We have savings accounts that we never had back east because we are getting paid better and have found more work.
Yes.

I moved back to Calif from Texas. My housing price went up but my property taxes stayed about the same. I have a very nice savings account due to running a business very carefully and can now semi retire without much strain.

As for A/C. In Texas it ran day and night during the Summer. Here in So. Calif I run it a couple of hours a day during the hottest days and let the evening breeze cool the house at night. My electric bill is lower than it was in Texas.

Insurance is a little higher but all in all the base expenses are about the same. Only now I can drive to the beach in 45 minutes, where in Texas (near Dallas) it was over 4 hours.

Mind you Income Taxes stink here compared to Texas, but even now my home appreciation is still better than in the Texas market, so all in all I am ahead.
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Old 06-01-2009, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Sacramento CA
138 posts, read 510,862 times
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I am an RN and the wages are higher in CA than any other state. I have been living in NY for a year(moving back at the end of this year) and unless I want to live in NYC I will definately earn less here. There is need everywhere and the pay is soooo much better at "home". Wages very from specialty,setting and facility but I am making alot less here ,about 15 less an hour.
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Old 06-01-2009, 04:19 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,672,505 times
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$15 less an hour is significant
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Old 06-02-2009, 08:59 AM
 
Location: roaming gnome
12,384 posts, read 28,513,296 times
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it is for me... while I was making equiv to 30 dollars an hour last year for a CHEAPER ...yes CHEAPER COL in Chicago, I'm making 13 an hour now with no benefits for same position title in a small city in FL, b/c jobs here pay crap and they don't value their employees. (yes I'm leaving)
rent is the same, electric bill is actually higher plus I have to drive every where and getting quality groceries is more expensive.
per capita income here is actually 18k a year ...so at 13 an hour I'm making about 10k more than the average person here and they say ohhh u should be happy,,, yeah OK.
Same sysadmin position in California pays about $35 per hour...

Last edited by grapico; 06-02-2009 at 09:13 AM..
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Old 06-03-2009, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Aurora
357 posts, read 1,286,574 times
Reputation: 288
here's how to do it: move from CA to a lower income state and take your higher CA wage with you .
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Old 06-03-2009, 08:07 AM
 
24 posts, read 52,167 times
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If you are in High Tech, like I am, wages here are so much higher it evens out the higher cost of living....
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Old 06-03-2009, 08:15 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,761,592 times
Reputation: 17831
Quote:
Originally Posted by drewcrewof2 View Post
If you are in High Tech, like I am, wages here are so much higher it evens out the higher cost of living....

Did you actually verify this? Or, are you just assuming this? (One datapoint, your salary, doesn't prove anything.)
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