Hopeful Movers to the NOVA area! (Arlington, Alexandria: apartments, rental, car insurance)

[thebigbehr]

So I posted first in the "READ if you are asking about where to live in VA" to avoid making a new post, but got no answers so here it is.

I am less than a year out from exiting active duty military (Quantico area) and my fiance and I have decided that Northern Virginia (Alexandria/Arlington area) is the place for us hands down and want to relocate from my hometown in SW FL when I exit my active service to pursue school/work.
We do consider the new costs/expenses of moving to a new state especially as non-residents for a a small bit.

Thankfully the Gi bill covers the costs of school for myself, and a monthly housing allowance of $2,175 is given to me each month. We have found nice studios/1 bedrooms for the $1,400-$1,500 price range in south Arlington leaving the rest of the money to pay for utilities/groceries/etc. I'll be going to school full time/working part time and she will be doing vise versa.

Are our odds looking pretty good to stay afloat in Nova? Has anyone gone through anything similar? I've seen a lot of great information on the boards already and was looking to get something more detailed!

Robin&Kaillie

[Carlingtonian]

Welcome to the area! Glad you've done the math on budget, which is a big factor in living here.

I believe your question is whether you can survive on (playing it safe, using your max rental number above) $675 a month for groceries and utilities. I would cautiously say yes, but don't forget cellphone, cable TV/internet, car insurance and gas (or Metro fare), car payment (if any), healthcare copays, and entertainment. I would say you might be cutting it close. It could be done, but I think you'd be living on pasta, eggs, and beans and rice.

Will your fiance be working? A little more income would help a lot, I think.

[thebigbehr]

Thanks for the reply! Her and I will definitely be working (hopefully in the area). We will only have one vehicle between the two of us with no car loan thankfully. The apartments we are looking at are only two miles from school so i'll make the commute via bike a majority of the year.

She'll be working full time, and i'll find myself back into the civilian sector once again to work part time/school full time. We made sure to realize that we couldn't survive off a monthly fixed housing allowance.
We are really stoked on this possible move, and see ourselves staying in SWFL less and less each day!

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by thebigbehr

She'll be working full time, and i'll find myself back into the civilian sector once again to work part time/school full time. We made sure to realize that we couldn't survive off a monthly fixed housing allowance.

Ah, I see now that I glossed over that part. Well, that's good. So if I'm reading that right, your total budget will be $2175 plus whatever she brings in part-time. With no car payment, I think you should be OK.

Best of luck!

[LynchburgLover]

I don't have any advice to add. I just wanted to say thank you for your service! Best of luck -- sounds like you're thinking everything through.

[thebigbehr]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

I don't have any advice to add. I just wanted to say thank you for your service! Best of luck -- sounds like you're thinking everything through.

Thank you very much! Just letting us know that we are thinking this over in an educated manner is advice good enough for us!