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Got that right zulu400!!!!!!! My house in Arizona costs us 1/4 of what our New York house does...........and it is the same size and even has an inground pool! And, my neighborhood is like a park there are so many plants and such. Here I pay tons and get nothing in return for my money. I just drove to the stores and looked at a bunch of stop signs in my neighborhood, some are so faded the stop signs you can barely see they are red anymore, and the village garbage cans are so rusty and dented, you would think for what I pay, they could replace them and fix the fences in some of the surrounding areas that are all messed up, but no.
My husband has been offered a position as an engineer in LI. We currently live upstate Buffalo, NY area. We have 2 children ages 5 and 2. My husband current salary is 62k and I have a BS in Biochemistry (but currently not employed). We live in a small town where everyone has land and the neighbors do not really talk to each other much. We HATE it!! To much land to take care of and not enough things to do.
My husband would like to accept the job offer, but I am unsure based on threads here that LI is an affordable place to live. I want good schools, and a safe community (Low Crime). I want to be able to walk my dog with my daughter in our community and be safe.
I am looking for a real idea of what type of income would be required to accomplish this. We would probably rent for a bit and I would either find employment on LI or work on my MS or PhD.
Thanks for the help.
Why haven't you checked out the suburbs outside of Rochester.I moved from Long Island to Brockport in October and it was the best move I ever made for my kids,my wife,and myself.The neighbors are very nice, homes are under $200k all over the place,and shopping is alot cheaper as well. Also the school district is MUCH better then the long island ones including some of the premier long island districts.I am to the west of Rochester and i'm always hearing how eastern suburbs are great too.Alot of jobs in medical careers are around as well.Harris corporation which is in Rochester is ALWAYS looking for engineers too.
Hi everyone, thanks for all the info. My husband got an offer for 75K which is 15K more than he is currently making. However, he would really like to take the job despite my unease with the cost of living calculation. I am currently volunteering as an EMT and In General Surgery and will be applying for my Masters in Physicians Assistant. We are hoping that we could make due for the two years that I am working on that degree. I would of course like to attend Stony Brook But we will see.
Hi everyone, thanks for all the info. My husband got an offer for 75K which is 15K more than he is currently making. However, he would really like to take the job despite my unease with the cost of living calculation. I am currently volunteering as an EMT and In General Surgery and will be applying for my Masters in Physicians Assistant. We are hoping that we could make due for the two years that I am working on that degree. I would of course like to attend Stony Brook But we will see.
I wish you the best of luck. I think you can make it if you really skimp on expenses, but it will not be easy.
Let me put in perspective for you. My wife and I make a little over 140K combined. We have a 2 year old child. We own a condo and have 2 cars that are 8 and 5 years old, respectively, both paid off. We haven't spent any money on a vacation in about 4 years. We have enough savings to cover about 6 months of our current expenses. We go out to eat maybe once a week, and I've been able to pay down about 12K in our mortgage with extra principal payments, however, that's about what our real estate has lost in value. Our expenses every month are about $5,300, including everything. Even my "if I lost my job" budget shows $4,000 a month in expenses (a big reduction because we wouldn't be paying for child care). We have $0 debt other than than upside down mortgage.
You'd be coming here incurring student loan debt, which probably adds up to what I've lost on my home. My $4,000 a month austerity budget is equal to about 90% of what your husbands take home pay would be with minimal deductions for medical and whatever else. That's pretty tight.
The key factor here is that you get an affordable rent. It looks to me like you could maybe get away with a 2 bedroom place, but I'm not sure how your kids are sleeping now. Working at BNL and going to Stony Brook, you can get away with living further out east where rents are cheaper.
75K for an engineer in this area sounds like he's getting low-balled. Since that is your sole income for your family, I think you're going to find it quite difficult to get by on Long Island for a family of 4.
It's not impossible, but the quality of life will be nothing like what you're used to now.
There's a $1400 3 bedroom apt on Craigslist right now in Rocky Point. That's a 20-30 minute ride to Stony Brook, probably 10-15 to Bnl, maybe less. Now add all of your other expenses on to that. Not bad. Hopefully you don't have any car payments or credit card debt. If not, you'll be able to get in under my 4,000 a month mark...maybe even 3,000 if you are frugal..although, who is watching the toddler during the day?
Hi everyone, thanks for all the info. My husband got an offer for 75K which is 15K more than he is currently making. However, he would really like to take the job despite my unease with the cost of living calculation. I am currently volunteering as an EMT and In General Surgery and will be applying for my Masters in Physicians Assistant. We are hoping that we could make due for the two years that I am working on that degree. I would of course like to attend Stony Brook But we will see.
Is this the starting offer ($75K) or is this the most they will pay him after some negotiations? If it's the starting offer, perhaps he could tell them that he has investigated the cost of living on LI and does not find $75K feasible and ask for at least $20K more. LI employers are NOTORIOUSLY cheap even to LI natives and they especially prey on the ignorance of the cost of living here versus other areas when making offers to out of town job candidates.
Under these conditions, if your family really wants to move here, rent until you become a PA, as suggested in the above post.
This thread is getting funny, someone moving in making 75K is the victim of cheap employers, will have a lower quality of life than expected and will find it difficult to get by. But in many other threads, popular opinion seems to be a civil servant working on long island making 80k is grossly over paid. I guess people are only over paid for positions if its tax payer money.
A cop making 80k on long island supporting a family of four solely on their own salary coming from another location with a lower cost of living will find it hard to get by here and will not get the same quality of life that they're used to either. I don't see your point, what's one got to do with the other? These are not mutually exclusive points.
Bottom line, Long Island is overpriced compared to other locations. A single paycheck under 100k is not going to cut it for a family of four that wants to own property.
A cop making 80k on long island supporting a family of four solely on their own salary coming from another location with a lower cost of living will find it hard to get by here and will not get the same quality of life that they're used to either. I don't see your point, what's one got to do with the other? These are not mutually exclusive points.
Bottom line, Long Island is overpriced compared to other locations. A single paycheck under 100k is not going to cut it for a family of four that wants to own property.
You are proving my point. People say teachers making 80K on long island are grossly overpaid and need to have salary cut by 30%, and then some people say a paycheck for anyone under 100K doesn't cut it ... doesn't add up. I agree cost of living is high here, I am simply using it to make a point about the common repeating thread of 'inflated' teacher salaries.
However, I think you overestimate it a bit. Saying you need more than 100K to 'cut it' for a family of four is a bit of an overstatement. Many people do it for less than that and live fine.
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Our expenses every month are about $5,300, including everything. Even my "if I lost my job" budget shows $4,000 a month in expenses (a big reduction because we wouldn't be paying for child care). We have $0 debt other than than upside down mortgage. 
