[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

As for the OP, make sure your budget is sound from day one. This is an ultra expensive state, and your present one is still incredibly economical. Can your father subsidize you until he comes to Ct?

If not, you may need to do a gig job (Uber, Door Dash) on the side.

I'm going to be frank here. If you need gig jobs in order to move to CT and get by then my advice would be this - Don't move to CT. I would strongly urge against it. This is starting to sound kind of pie in the sky.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

I'm going to be frank here. If you need gig jobs in order to move to CT and get by then my advice would be this - Don't move to CT. I would strongly urge against it. This is starting to sound kind of pie in the sky.

Agreed, and it did from the beginning. $20 an hour is decent in Ct for data entry. It converts to under 65% of the state median income. It is not a sustainable income for an individual here, though.

I'd advise the OP, come together with your dad, when he is ready.


When you take out annually $3k SS/Medicare tax, likely $4k combined Fed & Ct income tax, plus $2k for employee medical deductions, at $20 an hour, that leaves $2,600 a month to live on. A studio apartment with building utilities (UI, water, heating oil , or gas bill) and w/o cable or the internet will consume at least $1,500 of that. Down to $1,100 a month left.

Add in gas, auto insurance, down to $800 a month if your commute is short. Food will wipe out most of that, as groceries have soared here since covid.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Stratford Ave, Bridgeport north of the cemetery is a horrible area. The worst IMO since Father Panik Village era.

They were talking about mill towns outside the major cities... Every state has an area like that.

[simonusa3]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Agreed, and it did from the beginning. $20 an hour is decent in Ct for data entry. It converts to under 65% of the state median income. It is not a sustainable income for an individual here, though.

I'd advise the OP, come together with your dad, when he is ready.


When you take out annually $3k SS/Medicare tax, likely $4k combined Fed & Ct income tax, plus $2k for employee medical deductions, at $20 an hour, that leaves $2,600 a month to live on. A studio apartment with building utilities (UI, water, heating oil , or gas bill) and w/o cable or the internet will consume at least $1,500 of that. Down to $1,100 a month left.

Add in gas, auto insurance, down to $800 a month if your commute is short. Food will wipe out most of that, as groceries have soared here since covid.

I agree with what you’re trying to say…and I know you too are just trying to make sure the OP has both eyes open when moving here (a common mistake with young people) …but with some maneuvering, hustling (and I mean that in the good way), and effort…I think she CAN move here if that’s what she wants.

It IS tough for a single person to make ends meet if they don’t have a highly skilled job/professional position. Subtracting average rent, food, gas, insurance …etc., it is tough for a single person with a modest job to sustain. Maybe she intends to move here with family who could also contribute financially? Maybe she intends to come here with a little nest egg she has saved? She’s likely figured out long ago that cost of living is going to be higher on the East Coast than Oklahoma.

As far as affording a rent, I know many of the younger people in the New Haven area from out of state who move here to attend one of the colleges (including Yale) room with another person (sometimes two) to share costs after their 2nd year (grad students are always looking for a short-term person to share costs with – lol). She should check the Whitney Ave are, East Rock area, and near the Hamden line on Whitney Ave, as many of the students go here.

If she is looking in the Hartford area, Central Connecticut State has something like 15,000 people attending the university, there are always people looking for a roommate in off campus locations to cut costs. She can cut her gas costs to nearly nothing by living in these two areas and using public transportation. The CCSU area in particular has a great bus system goes all over the cities/towns of central Connecticut (where a lot of the jobs are as well). This might not be easy long term, but to get started if she cuts costs she might be able to swing it until she can increase her skills/salary.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by simonusa3

I agree with what you’re trying to say…and I know you too are just trying to make sure the OP has both eyes open when moving here (a common mistake with young people) …but with some maneuvering, hustling (and I mean that in the good way), and effort…I think she CAN move here if that’s what she wants.

It IS tough for a single person to make ends meet if they don’t have a highly skilled job/professional position. Subtracting average rent, food, gas, insurance …etc., it is tough for a single person with a modest job to sustain. Maybe she intends to move here with family who could also contribute financially? Maybe she intends to come here with a little nest egg she has saved? She’s likely figured out long ago that cost of living is going to be higher on the East Coast than Oklahoma.

She needs family to have a shot. The states are at two extremes, there is a 31.5% COL difference between them. Not only is Ct very expensive, Oklahoma is very inexpensive.

W/O family, she will need at minimum to do Uber or Door Dash most nights, and absolutely, every weekend.

Data entry is amongst the lowest paying white collar jobs.

She has indicated it isn't a sure thing her Dad moves, and he isn't ready to go anywhere short-term.

She is young, so she may be up for 60+ hour work weeks. Many doing gig jobs have full-time jobs, also, in Ct.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

She needs family to have a shot. The states are at two extremes, there is a 31.5% COL difference between them. Not only is Ct very expensive, Oklahoma is very inexpensive.

W/O family, she will need at minimum to do Uber or Door Dash most nights, and absolutely, every weekend.

Data entry is amongst the lowest paying white collar jobs.

She has indicated it isn't a sure thing her Dad moves, and he isn't ready to go anywhere short-term.

She is young, so she may be up for 60+ hour work weeks. Many doing gig jobs have full-time jobs, also, in Ct.

You do realize that the minimum wage in Oklahoma is the federal rate of $9.50 an hour. That’s less than $20,000 a year. Data entry jobs there pay only a little more than that so she likely knows what it’s like to live on low wages.

Also note that a close family member recently moved to Tulsa. While there are apartments there for $1,000 a month, believe me you don’t want to live there. One complex told them that they ”hardly have any breakins”. There was a brutal one the night before they were there.

Plus note that the 30% rule at Oklahoma wages likely means her needing a rent below $800 a month there and those are near impossible to find in a safe area. So the point is that she knows money struggles. Whether it’s in Oklahoma or Connecticut doesn’t really matter. There are challenges in both states. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You do realize that the minimum wage in Oklahoma is the federal rate of $9.50 an hour. That’s less than $20,000 a year. Data entry jobs there pay only a little more than that so she likely knows what it’s like to live on low wages.

and it sounds like she is living at home. $20 an hour in Ct, like whatever she makes in Ok, is not sufficient to be on her own.

She indicated many times on the thread her dad is not coming as of now. If he comes, she should follow. Otherwise, her focus at this young age should be build marketable skills at median income levels, to widen her options. Data entry will not cut it, to go solo, in virtually any state. Fortunately, time is on her side to widen her future possibilities.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by simonusa3

Not everywhere in the state looks like FFC or West Hartford:

Lol, some streets in Greenwich, Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk, Fairfield and Westport look like those pics.
OK is wrought with drug and alcohol addiction on reservation lands.
CT storybook aesthetics far outweigh those pics posted.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by WoodwindsRock

I hope you're right. I've got to make this work no matter what. but it almost does feel like moving to a different country for me, the standard of living is just night and day from Oklahoma. It's sad that it has to be this way in our "United States".

I would start adding a gig job in Oklahoma, to get a feel for doing both. I know many in Ct who do several nights a week delivering food or groceries, on top of a full-time job. I suspect that would bridge some, but not all of the cost gap. I'd also look online at renting in Ct towns like Ansonia. It is old, industrial, but less costly, as the Naugatuck Valley is not our best looking region, but it also may bridge some of the "night and day cost of living" you accurately mentioned.

If an agency can get you $20 an hour full-time, the max rent you'd qualify for using the 30% gross rule is $1,000 a month. That is way below most Ct towns stock. However, the inner cities and Naugatuck Valley might come close.

Good luck.

[mdovell]

The other thing is that the pricing of the market pretty much sets that not much is going to go online for actual houses for awhile. How many have a 2.5-4% rate that would not move because it's about 2.5-3 times that now? In terms of renting there's no way I can see that much on the northeast under $1,000. Maybe 10-15 years ago but not now.

Anything within 30 miles north or south of I90 going from western NY to Boston is a hot market. Hartford, Springfield, Worcester, Rochester, Buffalo etc.

Oddly a old colleague of mine moved to midwest and wants to come back after a few years. I don't know what caused her to move but it was a huge mistake. You can move out of the northeast but moving back is hard financially. For a long time coastal areas were high value but that old drop off if you were 30+ miles away isn't happening anymore.