Living on a teacher's salary close to Denver (Colorado Springs, Aurora: apartment, student loans)

[LostSailor4326]

My gf who is a teacher came from NJ and took about a 20% paycut. Currently, she is in Denver School district but can't wait to get out to another district.

Her and I do just fine and are very comfortable... but that is probably because we have no kids, no pets, get a good amount of free food from my restaurant job, she has little debt, no car payments for both of us, and we both live naturally simple lives. There are many stretches of weeks where the only money we spend together is going out to eat once/week, gas, and a small amount of groceries.

If we were in the same position now with kids, I think I'd find it pretty difficult and we probably wouldn't have money leftover for savings/debt.

[Erin_85]

I've noticed that teacher's don't get paid as well there. I would start here (southern Illinois) at 40K. We want to get out of Illinois and love the mountains. Correct me on my numbers if needed but this is my mock income scenario, somewhat based on our current lifestyle and some increased numbers reflecting life in CO.

450 truck payment
107 cigna insurance
155 phones
284 student loan
62 student loan
146 car insurance
150 electricity
10 netflix
600 food
400 gas
100 cable/internet
15 trash
50 water
200 fun
100 clothes, etc.
______
2829

70K - 20% = 56K
56K/12 months = 4666
4666 - 2829 = 1837
1837 - 1300 (PITI) (rent) = 537

I know my numbers don't take into account car maintenance, registration, etc.
It also doesn't take into account savings or retirement.
According to my numbers if we paid $1300 on a mortgage including taxes, insurance, and PMI we would have about $500 left, which we could use some to save, some to save towards vehicle upkeep, etc., retirement (which I will be already doing as a teacher, if it works the same way there)
The student loans will be gone in a couple years, which would also free up about $340/month. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems comfortably doable.

[flyingcat2k]

I'm using the following website for your income estimate. Colorado and Illinois have flat income taxes so it is an apples to apples comparison. https://smartasset.com/taxes/colorad...tor#AOQbhfwBP0 According to the site, you'll bring home 55,435 or 4,619 a month so your calc's are spot on.

I have a family of 5 and I WISH we could eat on 600/mo here in Champaign. We typically spend 800 to 1000 a month BUT we have 2 teenagers so if yours are younger, you might be able to get away at 800/mo. I'd recommend revisiting a move once your loans are paid off. It frees up more cash flow and would allow you and DH to earn more income while saving up for a downpayment. 1300/mo for an all-in mortgage payment or rent is too low for the core Denver Metro area. The Denver metro fire departments have very specific occupancy limits on any apartment/condo/home that is rented and they will raid rentals if the occupancy limits are exceeded. That said, a family of 5 MUST have a 3 bd/1 bt minimum as no bedroom can be occupied by more than 2 family members. At that price, you might be able to afford the hinterlands to the east of Denver but you'll be driving across town for an hour to get just to the foothills. For Denver Metro, you're probably going to see 1600/mo for 3 bd apartments at the low end.

I don't think this is doable and you should reconsider. I like Colorado, I'm from Montana but we chose to work in Illinois because it was the best economic situation for my industry (energy/utilities). You can't eat the scenery.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by SQL

My GF (who's a teacher) came from Dallas. She took a pay cut when she moved here with almost five years of experience, particularly in one of the wealthier districts in the state (Douglas County). She said that the only way to advance up the pay scale is to stay at a district for a long time. She's currently looking for another district where she'll stay long term. Otherwise, if you have 10+ years experience and decide to jump to another district, they generally will start you at the 5-year pay band. Not sure if that's specific to Colorado. But she has indicated that pay for teachers is pretty poor here, at least compared to Texas (go figure).

Douglas County has a different salary than the other districts. If you work in a highly specialized area, you can expect to make money. If you don't, you can expect to be looking for a new place to work after about 4-6 years in a higher paying district like Cherry Creek.

Boulder Valley SD pays the most and Cherry Creek pays the second most of the districts around Denver. Your starting range should be 35k (no experience/with BA) to as high as 58k (5+ years experience/with Ph.D).

[sarahd0816]

Originally Posted by LostSailor4326

My gf who is a teacher came from NJ and took about a 20% paycut. Currently, she is in Denver School district but can't wait to get out to another district.

Her and I do just fine and are very comfortable... but that is probably because we have no kids, no pets, get a good amount of free food from my restaurant job, she has little debt, no car payments for both of us, and we both live naturally simple lives. There are many stretches of weeks where the only money we spend together is going out to eat once/week, gas, and a small amount of groceries.

If we were in the same position now with kids, I think I'd find it pretty difficult and we probably wouldn't have money leftover for savings/debt.

If you don't mind me asking, why is she looking to get out of the Denver SD? I am also a teacher in NJ and looking to move out to CO, but the pay cut is really scaring me. I have a car payment AND student loans. I've been looking in the Aurora/Cherry Creek/Denver districts..

[Cyber Surfer]

I was actually going to post some questions about the job market in Denver. I have a comp sci degree and I'm using it to find work as a Front End Developer/Graphic Designer. I've heard about the huge tech market out there but didn't realize the CoL for apartments are higher than I thought.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, I would hope to find any form of employment if I decide to move since where I'm at now is dead end, no way to transfer any work so it's like starting all over.

[LostSailor4326]

Originally Posted by sarahd0816

If you don't mind me asking, why is she looking to get out of the Denver SD? I am also a teacher in NJ and looking to move out to CO, but the pay cut is really scaring me. I have a car payment AND student loans. I've been looking in the Aurora/Cherry Creek/Denver districts..

I'll try and provide the best info without being too abrasive and starting user attacks...

I'm pretty sure NJ ranks 2nd for education in the nation, CO is probably floating around 20. On top of that, she was in one of the best school districts in the state. I'm pretty sure DPS is on the lower end of the spectrum state wide. I'm pretty sure her school/students ranked in the top 10 for PARCC improvements nationwide. So there's some big differences right there although not sure how accurate these stats are.

The school she is just finishing up is wayyy different. Not enough money, not enough custodians (she cleans her classroom daily), not enough cohesion/consistency among teams and she talks pretty often about how the teachers here just roll to the beat of a different drum then she's used to. I think the biggest thing that gets her is that the parents of her students don't value education as much as back home.

Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. This is one teacher's observations in one school for just 1 year. However the fact remains, she can't wait to get out. I'm sure there are better schools than others within DPS, she just picked a bad one from 1800 miles away.

Cherry creek would have been more her style, although it may have been difficult for her to nail that job 1800 miles away. She will be headed to the Boulder school district next year, again, more her style.

[Tim Tim Tim]

It will be tough but quite honestly, there are a lot of opportunities around. The city and surrounding areas is growing quite a bit. I really wish teachers were paid more, you deserve more, but hopefully your husband can land something that pays a little better in the construction world and take advantage of all of the growth.

the 3 kids part is the biggest challenge in my opinion. Will you have childcare costs or are they old enough to not need daycare? If childcare costs are needed, even 100k combined will be somewhat tough. I am sure you can make it work, not sure what your accustomed to or what you expect for living conditions here

[MsMetal]

There's a lot of home bldg going on in Co Springs & it's only an hour from Denver with outdoor activities probably more easily accessible (just cuz there's less people & traffic), but the COL is high here too. D-20 is considered the best school district.

[beezle1]

Before you go much further in your thought of getting a mortgage, talk to a lender to make sure you will qualify, especially considering you will be transitioning jobs.