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Old 03-15-2012, 07:48 PM
 
7 posts, read 11,070 times
Reputation: 12

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I know this is another topic about someone moving to Phoenix, but I have been a reader for a long time and really think there is a lot of good insight on this forum that is why I have decide to start this post. My wife and I live in Kansas and we want to move to Phoenix for a better lifestyle and entertainment options. My wife has a masters degree in communications and I am getting ready to start my masters soon. We just recently graduated a year ago and we are very comfortable here financially because neither of us have any debt and we live a frugal lifestyle. We are making 70000 dollars a year here and we are a little concerned about leaving this situation. If we are making 70000 a year in the Phoenix area will we be able to have a solid quality of life there?
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Old 03-15-2012, 08:32 PM
 
Location: Hard aground in the Sonoran Desert
4,866 posts, read 11,218,212 times
Reputation: 7128
Sure, $70k per year can give you a great life here but how you live will be important. The question would be, can you find a $70k/year job here? If you have jobs and live within your means you can be quite comfortable here on $70k.
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Old 03-15-2012, 09:52 PM
 
112 posts, read 292,682 times
Reputation: 175
If you're making 70k combined you can easily match that here. 70k alone might be a little more difficult to find. But 70K per year would be fine here if you do not have debt. You can live an average lifestyle.
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Old 03-15-2012, 10:03 PM
 
Location: Hayden
446 posts, read 708,992 times
Reputation: 1165
Employers here are not kind. There is a big demand for jobs, pay is down, benefits are down. It's customary to wait SIX MONTHS after getting a new job to get medical coverage.

You should consider the old adage, 'bloom where you're planted'.

I wish I could, but it's hard to bloom in the desert.
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Old 03-16-2012, 08:47 AM
 
Location: prescott az
6,957 posts, read 12,054,901 times
Reputation: 14244
Do you have any leads for jobs here? Do you have a company that will transfer you here? Are you
will ing to take something less in pay and/or experience level if you come here? Do you have a house you need to sell first? There are lots of questions that you ought to ask yourself before trying to move. I think $70,000 would be a great life here, but what would you need to do to get it here??
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Old 03-16-2012, 09:46 AM
 
Location: Southeast Valley
1,123 posts, read 3,056,482 times
Reputation: 798
Try googling "cost of living comparison." There are many sites that should help give you a better idea of the differences. Have you ever been here before?
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Old 03-16-2012, 10:18 AM
 
Location: Oxygen Ln. AZ
9,319 posts, read 18,742,090 times
Reputation: 5764
Unless the economy catches on fire here in AZ, I would stay and as the other poster suggested, "bloom where planted."
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Old 03-16-2012, 10:19 AM
 
Location: Hyrule
8,390 posts, read 11,598,532 times
Reputation: 7544
Yes, yes, you will welcome no tornado alarms. No black ice, and plenty of entertainment. I know several old ladies from your parts and they love it out here. Should be even better if you are younger and full of fun.
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Old 03-16-2012, 03:24 PM
 
7 posts, read 11,070 times
Reputation: 12
Yes, I would be able to transfer and have a job there making just under $40,000, and my wife is currently looking. The main concern would be if we can get by on that for a while until she finds something she would be willing to do. She is pretty easy to please so it would not take much to keep her happy until she can find something she really wants to do. We do not have a house to sell, just apartment lease that is ending June 1st. Neither one of us have any family here so there are no major connections that we would be leaving other than friends. We are both 25 so there is plenty of time for us to blossom.

I have looked at the cost of living calculators but we don't live like "average" people so I don't believe that is a good gauge for us to use.

I have seen different reliable sites that say the cost of living in the Phoenix area is anywhere from 10% less than US average to 2.4% above the average. Tough to know what is correct.

We have been there twice and the heat does not bother us, my wife's brother lives on the border of Phoenix and Scottsdale, from what he has said about there bills they seem to be similar to ours.
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Old 03-16-2012, 03:37 PM
 
Location: Living on the Coast in Oxnard CA
16,289 posts, read 32,333,368 times
Reputation: 21891
Living a lifestyle that is differant than the norm such as you are living may be a little harder to figure out. Still by using similar items you should be able to determine your cost differance in the Phoenix area.

Take housing. What are you paying now for a place? What will it cost you in rent or mortgage in Phoenix?

What about utilities?

Something that you may ask, or read about within the Phoenix forum would be with the cost to heat and cool a home. Remember though that you will have people like my parents that keep the Thermostat set at 80 during the warmest months. When it is 110 outside, 80 doesn't feel so bad inside. My sister and brother in Law think 80 is a bit warm. They keep their home at 75. You would want to know the cost of electricity and natural gas. (Most homes in the Phoenix area will have electric and or gas.)

You may find out that it makes more sence to stay in kansas. Or you may find out that Phoenix is cheaper.
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