Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not sure if anyone here has any experience living in both areas, but I would love some input.
I've got a lot of info to share, so I'm just going to condense it as much as possible.
Mom died, got house in Jersey. Hate Jersey, selling house. Have to split it 3 ways, am looking to walk away with 40-50K. Also, three way split of 15K saved, but I'm probably going to end up giving most of that 5k away. Also, get 1,300 a month for the next 24 years, 30ishK when I turn 25 (Just turned 22), 50k? at 30, and 100 something at 40.
I currently live in a 3,000ish SqFt house, so I do have a lot of furniture. I don't really want to toss it because it is really expensive and I do not want to just toss/give away my mom's possessions. The furniture was split 3 ways.
Wherever I go I would go to college. Wherever I go I'll pay for a year of county out of pocket (So that I can become a resident), and then transfer to whatever state college. I still have 2.5 years of free tuition thanks to Pell Grant (Went to Rutgers, but I'd rather start again as a freshman. Bad college experience with mother dying).
I don't drink or do any sort of nightlife, so that is non issue. I love the outdoors. I've always lived in Jersey, which is lacking in scenery/good bike trails/nature. The weather doesn't matter, so long as the actual scenery is beautiful. I'm accustomed to extreme heat/cold at this point.
Dating scene is important to me. I would just go to Colorado Springs if it weren't so male dense.
I have a small dog.
I would really rather not work during college (Or at most, weekends). I feel like Fort Collins is more of what I'm looking for, but I'm not sure my financial situation would allow me to live comfortably without working a fair bit during school. Because of my furniture, I can't just get a studio. My outside expenses are very low. I eat on ~150 a month. I own my car, no debt or anything. I have a CCNA certification and an A+ and coding experience.
My likely college route will be Biology for undergrad/Physical therapy for grad school... Or possibly even law school. I figure my best option will be Biology undergrad with a pre med minor, to keep all options open.
I don't really have any family to cosign a lease, so my best option will likely be offering the entirety of the lease upfront.
Any suggestions/advice? I know my writing style seems pretty impersonal on this, but I wanted to keep it short...ish.
Wow, 3000 square feet is pretty large. I did a quick search for rentals and found a 1,800 square foot place for $1400/month - 5 bedroom, 2 bath. If you're going to be the only person living in this place, you might want to consider putting some of that furniture into storage for now and renting a smaller/cheaper place.
I can't comment on the dating scene. Fort Collins is a great place for families, but that's my only experience here. There's almost always something going on downtown. If you want to have social events, we've got lots and lots. :-)
Just to give an idea, here is a link of my house posting. It has photos which shows my furniture. I'm sure this is against some sort of privacy policy on the site... But it's freely available information up on the Internet anyway. Random people look at it all the time.
3 couches (A two seater, a three seater, and an L), 1 bedroom set, 1 expendable bedroom, 2 chairs, 2 computer desks, and a few random table...Things (Like the one under the picture of the paintings).
I feel like the only way I can make this work is to get rid of/sell/give away one of the computer desks, and one of the couches.
It does seem like a really lovely place to live. I really have nothing against living in a smaller place (Would prefer 800 sqft, honestly), but, I don't want to waste this furniture.
What does a storage unit usually go for? 50 a month?
Last edited by JLRFalconpunched; 09-16-2012 at 04:42 PM..
Reason: Additional information.
Ahhh, Fort Collins is the no brainer answer. Especially is you like outdoors and want to meet people. Do yourself a favor and either sell your stuff in Jersey and bank the money or move it to COlorado and put it into storage. If it's worth that much money, put it on craigslist for the price you want. if it doesn't sell, move it with you. Moving is a big deal and moving with big bulky stuff is quite honestly a pain. Cut your losses now and sell off what you don't absolutely need.
With the "cash" you're walking away with, you will be fine. I would think it prudent though to still get a part time job for incidentals. You will be surprised how fast it will go. Good luck.
I'm not sure if anyone here has any experience living in both areas, but I would love some input.
I've got a lot of info to share, so I'm just going to condense it as much as possible.
Mom died, got house in Jersey. Hate Jersey, selling house. Have to split it 3 ways, am looking to walk away with 40-50K. Also, three way split of 15K saved, but I'm probably going to end up giving most of that 5k away. Also, get 1,300 a month for the next 24 years, 30ishK when I turn 25 (Just turned 22), 50k? at 30, and 100 something at 40.
I currently live in a 3,000ish SqFt house, so I do have a lot of furniture. I don't really want to toss it because it is really expensive and I do not want to just toss/give away my mom's possessions. The furniture was split 3 ways.
Wherever I go I would go to college. Wherever I go I'll pay for a year of county out of pocket (So that I can become a resident), and then transfer to whatever state college. I still have 2.5 years of free tuition thanks to Pell Grant (Went to Rutgers, but I'd rather start again as a freshman. Bad college experience with mother dying).
I don't drink or do any sort of nightlife, so that is non issue. I love the outdoors. I've always lived in Jersey, which is lacking in scenery/good bike trails/nature. The weather doesn't matter, so long as the actual scenery is beautiful. I'm accustomed to extreme heat/cold at this point.
Dating scene is important to me. I would just go to Colorado Springs if it weren't so male dense.
I have a small dog.
I would really rather not work during college (Or at most, weekends). I feel like Fort Collins is more of what I'm looking for, but I'm not sure my financial situation would allow me to live comfortably without working a fair bit during school. Because of my furniture, I can't just get a studio. My outside expenses are very low. I eat on ~150 a month. I own my car, no debt or anything. I have a CCNA certification and an A+ and coding experience.
My likely college route will be Biology for undergrad/Physical therapy for grad school... Or possibly even law school. I figure my best option will be Biology undergrad with a pre med minor, to keep all options open.
I don't really have any family to cosign a lease, so my best option will likely be offering the entirety of the lease upfront.
Any suggestions/advice? I know my writing style seems pretty impersonal on this, but I wanted to keep it short...ish.
Many thanks!
You may want to double check on the pell grant, last I heard you had to qualify yearly, and once you turn 23 the rules change. While $1300 a month is not much, it maybe enough to dq you on the grant.
While the lifestyle you seem to be searching for fits in Fort Collins, the money you will have to spend will not last you long enough to get through school, unless you are looking at having roommates and a smaller place to live. Even 1200sq ft 3 bedroom houses rent for $1200-1500 a month in fort Collins depending on neighborhoods.
Also food, gas, and incidentals are different in every area, unless you are eating ramen noodles and peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for every lunch and skipping breakfast it will be pretty damn hard to eat on anywhere close to $150 a month in Fort Collins.
Also take a long hard look at college expenses, my cousin went to school in Lincoln and said that she paid less as an out of state student then she would have as an in state student at University of Northern Colorado, CSU, or CU.
Personally I have family from Council Bluffs Iowa and Lincoln NE, and would have moved to Lincoln if they had better options for my severely autistic daughter. While I know you are not looking for a job, the job market is considerably better with very low unemployment, the pay is better, and the cost of living is much cheaper in that area of Nebraska then it is in Fort Collins. Long term it may be the better option for you.
For you it is a decision that you have to make, but if you goal is to live just on the inherited money, while living alone I do not think Fort collins is the best option.
another option is to look at other schools in the Colorado/ Wyoming area. I know it is much cheaper to live in laramie Wy where University of Wyoming is located. There are several smaller colleges throughout the mountains that have decent reps and some of them have cheaper costs of living then Fort collins.
You may want to double check on the pell grant, last I heard you had to qualify yearly, and once you turn 23 the rules change. While $1300 a month is not much, it maybe enough to dq you on the grant.
While the lifestyle you seem to be searching for fits in Fort Collins, the money you will have to spend will not last you long enough to get through school, unless you are looking at having roommates and a smaller place to live. Even 1200sq ft 3 bedroom houses rent for $1200-1500 a month in fort Collins depending on neighborhoods.
Also food, gas, and incidentals are different in every area, unless you are eating ramen noodles and peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for every lunch and skipping breakfast it will be pretty damn hard to eat on anywhere close to $150 a month in Fort Collins.
Also take a long hard look at college expenses, my cousin went to school in Lincoln and said that she paid less as an out of state student then she would have as an in state student at University of Northern Colorado, CSU, or CU.
Personally I have family from Council Bluffs Iowa and Lincoln NE, and would have moved to Lincoln if they had better options for my severely autistic daughter. While I know you are not looking for a job, the job market is considerably better with very low unemployment, the pay is better, and the cost of living is much cheaper in that area of Nebraska then it is in Fort Collins. Long term it may be the better option for you.
For you it is a decision that you have to make, but if you goal is to live just on the inherited money, while living alone I do not think Fort collins is the best option.
another option is to look at other schools in the Colorado/ Wyoming area. I know it is much cheaper to live in laramie Wy where University of Wyoming is located. There are several smaller colleges throughout the mountains that have decent reps and some of them have cheaper costs of living then Fort collins.
Thank you for this, I very much appreciate it.
From what I've researched, I feel like these are my possible options. Let me know if they sound about right.
1) Go to Lincoln, NE, and float by on the money I have during college. (I WILL get Pell grant money, for the record. My money is tax free and I had a full ride through it to Rutgers).
2) Go to Fort Collins and work while going to school. How much I'll need to work, I do not know. I'm going to guess that I'll need around 2K a month. While I do think my current savings could float me through school on this, it would be dangerously close.
3) Go to Lincoln, work, and go to school so that I can "make it rain".
4) Go somewhere else. This is not off the table. I just don't really know of many affordable mountain towns.
Ahhh, Fort Collins is the no brainer answer. Especially is you like outdoors and want to meet people. Do yourself a favor and either sell your stuff in Jersey and bank the money or move it to COlorado and put it into storage. If it's worth that much money, put it on craigslist for the price you want. if it doesn't sell, move it with you. Moving is a big deal and moving with big bulky stuff is quite honestly a pain. Cut your losses now and sell off what you don't absolutely need.
With the "cash" you're walking away with, you will be fine. I would think it prudent though to still get a part time job for incidentals. You will be surprised how fast it will go. Good luck.
Thanks! Geographically, I would definitely prefer Fort Collins. I just fear that I'm really running it close in terms of financials, since I would be living off savings in FoCO, whereas I would pretty much get by on the monthly stipend I receive in Lincoln.
My first year I intend to go to the local community college and essentially live there. Summer/winter course with a surplus of credits during the actual term, since I can't apply for financial aid until after I've lived in the area for a year.
It's also important to note that I don't believe CSU FoCO has any physical therapy program, whereas UNL does. So, after 4 years, my move from FoCO would be inevitable.
Hands down I would pick Fort Collins over Lincoln, especially if the outdoors are important to you. As someone who has moved quite a bit in the the last 15 years, sell your furniture! It will never fit in a new home the way it does in your current home, as you bought it for that home. As a college student, you don't need all that furniture either and you can drastically reduce the amount of space and your rent by doing this. We payed to store our furniture for a year and it was the worse decision we could have made. Once we bought our house, we realized it just wasn't going to work.
Hands down I would pick Fort Collins over Lincoln, especially if the outdoors are important to you. As someone who has moved quite a bit in the the last 15 years, sell your furniture! It will never fit in a new home the way it does in your current home, as you bought it for that home. As a college student, you don't need all that furniture either and you can drastically reduce the amount of space and your rent by doing this. We payed to store our furniture for a year and it was the worse decision we could have made. Once we bought our house, we realized it just wasn't going to work.
Even then, one of the other posters is saying that I just can't make FoCo happen with my level of income.
Any chance a couple of you FoCo people could break down your budgets? I know that FoCO is cheaper than Jersey, but it is still far from Lincoln in terms of cost.
Also, CSU FoCo doesn't have a physical therapy program. I would have to move to Denver area/Boulder area after undergrad. With Lincoln, I can always stay right in Lincoln.
Agreed. I've driven through Lincoln several times on my way to the new race track in Hastings, NE and, I dont mean to offend anyone that's from the area but Lincoln looked kinda run down and dumpy. Now granted I never strayed to far from my route on SR2 and I-80 but what I saw from the freeway looked like crap. Have been to Omaha several times during trips to Mid America Motorplex and it always looked like a nice, decent, albeit sleepy city but Lincoln...not so much.
Just my $0.02.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
