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This post is starting to confuse the heck out of me. If you're already making 85K, you should already know if you're getting by or not. What do you want from us?
I am getting by perfectly fine right now (I make a little more than $85k, but that's beside the point). The issue is two things:
1. When we have kids, we will no longer be able to live in the small condo where we currently live. We would need a bigger place, plus the additional cost of raising kids.
2. If I lose my job, I would probably have to commute to the city, since there are no other jobs in my field on Long Island. I would honestly not be able to do the commute fromo where I live to the city. Anything close to the city that would be big enough for 2 kids would probably be too expensive for us.
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It seems weird to me that your wife thought non-academic positions would be pointless. Making money is pointless?
She is looking now for non-academic jobs.
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What employer would begrudge her that? When I was in law school, I taught SAT courses and tutored for Kaplan. I continued to tutor with Kaplan and privately during my first year as an attorney because starting salaries for LI attorneys, to put it nicely, are not as high as you'd expect. One of the other associates at my first job worked three nights a week as a waiter. People do what they have to do. My brother is finishing up his PhD...he actually worked at J.Crew for his first year or so until he was able to get a part-time teaching position and now works full time while he finishes his dissertation.
In terms of academia, if you want to make a living without relocation, you absolutely have to hustle. My father in law is a recently retired college professor. He didn't have a full-time professorship until my husband was nearly grown. Instead, he took 2 or 3 adjunct positions scattered throughout the city (they lived in the Bronx) and pieced together a full-time income that way. I have a friend who recently got her PhD and is doing the same thing -- one adjunct position in Jersey, one on LI. Another friend with a PhD is not interested in academia but is geographically limited because her husband (also a PhD) has a mindblowingly awesome job in Seattle. She works two part-time jobs, and recently got a very promising temporary consultant position. Your career is what you make of it in any profession, but that's particularly true in professions that are not exactly known for financial rewards.
We have resigned to the fact that she is not likely to make a lot of money.
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And to whoever was asking...yes, cost of living is higher in Queens. I just moved to LI from Forest Hills. For what we paid for our house in Merrick, we could get a 2 br co-op in FH.
Which is exactly the problem I keep talking about.
Actually, it seems that other posters on this forum are the ones who gave up and left Long Island at the tiniest possible amount of adversity. Looks like I am the one who is staying and trying to make it work. Looks like you are wrong.
The difference between myself and other posters here is that I consider relocation to be an absolute last resort, and something I would do after I have exhausted all other options. I have not gotten to that point yet. Others seem to consider relocation to be their response to the tiniest possible amount of adversity. I think this is a case where we are just going to have to agree to disagree. Nothing I say will make my values make sense to anyone. And nothing you say will make your values make any sense to me.
Same spin. Leaving long Island only equals "Fatalism" in your narrow mind. People don't only leave due to adversity. They leave because it makes sense. For an engineer you are the most rigid linear thinker I've ever heard, but then I realize it's all an attention grab. The Mits vortex is unquenchable!
She has never taken a civil service test. What jobs would she even be able to take a test for? I know nothing about the civil service system other than that it's basically closed to white males (since she's female, she might have a chance if a position she's qualified for is open).
It is more valuable having her at home than working at Starbucks .
She can take a test for a ton of different jobs. Many just require just a high school diploma, some just require a certain amount of credits (but the type of degree dosent matter). Closed to white males? Yes I know you are being sarcastic (and yes afirmative action exists) but come on! White males (and certainly females as well) get hired all the time. Bottom line is you have to be in it to win it. Certainly dosent hurt to take a few tests if you need a job.
MITS, you probably have to look at the cheaper areas to find an affordable house. A starter house in the $300k range might be doable for you. Figure 20% down on $300k home w. 8k taxes, the PITI payment will be about $2100/month...less than 30% of your income.
How about Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, Deer Park? so-so school districts, not terrible commutes if needed.
Or try hicksville (low taxes), East Meadow, possibly Valley Stream... and how about Levittown? You might end up being neighbors with Mongoose there .
MITS, you probably have to look at the cheaper areas to find an affordable house. A starter house in the $300k range might be doable for you. Figure 20% down on $300k home w. 8k taxes, the PITI payment will be about $2k/month...less than 30% of your income.
How about Farmingdale, Lindenhurst, Deer Park? so-so school districts, not terrible commutes if needed.
Or try hicksville (low taxes), East Meadow, possibly Valley Stream... and how about Levittown? You might end up being neighbors with Mongoose there .
But what if he has to commute to the ciiiiiityyyyyyy?! OMG the commute - THE COMMUTE!
Shopping and housework when you have no kids takes up about 2 hours of a 40 hour workweek, especially living in a condo. Let's get real here about something.
Shopping and housework when you have no kids takes up about 2 hours
Agreed.
She'd be SO much better off working at Starbucks, getting some work experience and networking.
The longer she's not working, the harder it's going to be to get a job.
According to the calculator at CNN Money, assuming an $80K down payment, property taxes of $8K/year, and homeowner's insurance of $1000/year, and a 5% interest rate on a 30 year mortgage, someone making $85K with absolutely zero other debt can afford a home priced between $309K and $375K (Affordable Home Calculator from CNNMoney). Go to MLSLI, put in a budget range of $250K-$350K (I recommend starting at $250K to weed out the Sandy-wrecked properties and places like Roosevelt which are downright unsafe), tell it to search Nassau County, and see what's out there. Those are the houses you can afford. Full stop. Why is this so ridiculously difficult for you to grasp?
The figure you quoted is already based on HOUSEHOLD income, so no need to multiply it by 2.66.
Per capita represents an average or mean; median does not. You can not use them interchangeably as you would suggest.
Per capita income was $40,140. This represents the average of all incomes and is sensitive to outliers, which is why I used the 2.66 average household figure to calculate an average household income.
The median household income at $83,438 is not sensitive to outliers as the per capita average is.
Considering that there are 2,475 households in Bayville, that would mean that half are earning $83,438 or more.
Going back to the fact that 40% of the population of Bayville is either under 18 or over 65, I would wager that a decent percentage of income under $83,438 is attributable to them.
Don't forget that 5.4% of Bayville's population is under the federal poverty limit. (That equals about 120 households. It is probably a safe assumption to believe that they are not homeowners, rather they are among the 20% who rent.
It is most probable that employed homeowners in Bayville are earning more than the median household income of $83,438.
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