Moving to Bellevue for 60k-Family of three- Will it be Livable ? (Seattle: apartments, lease)

[barooq]

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Well I'll be moving to Bellevue area in January on a salary of 60k/annum initially. I am a Pakistani national and we are a family of three. My wife would be a home maker initially and we'd have an year old son. I am a telecommunication engineer and working in the IT field. The employer would also provide 7k in relocation cost and insurance. The contract guarantees that after working for 12 months, the salary would be bumped to 84k.
What I wanted to know is that would 60k be livable for a family of 3 initially? We are looking to rent a 2 BR place, lease a decent car and generally not very extravagant.Of course the next two years, our son won't be going to school and after two years salary would be more.


I have searched this forum extensively and of course there is a lot of information here. But even after that, I am not 100% convinced whether I should say yes or no. The issue is that I do 'Want ' to move, and I am unable to make a rational judgment.


I'd appreciate frank analysis/assessment from the forum members.

[Xanathos]

Do yourself a favor and look for something in Kirkland, just make a longer work commute.

You can get by on 60K in Bellevue with 3, but it wouldn't be anything I would even remotely term comfortable.

I'd also be leery of any company that tries to bring someone in as an H1(b) for 70 cents on the dollar (relative to what you claim they will pay you after a year) with the promise of bumping them up to scale after 12 months. Don't be surprised if you find your sponsorship suddenly revoked after 11 months.

[barooq]

Thank you Xanathos for the reply.
Of course, once we move we'll look for a cheaper option to stay. Balancing commute vs the monthly rent will be deciding factor.

So, am I to think that at 60k, we will be barely making the ends meet (regardless whether we stay in bellevue or kirkland) ? Because I know its not too much, but I do expect at least a comfortable life, not worrying about whether I can make the month's bills and all.

I'd appreciate a thorough reply.

[Inkpoe]

Is the job in Bellevue as well? How much are you looking to pay in rent?

Bellevue does have a high number of Indian/Pakistani people, so I'm sure your wife will be comfortable in Bellevue.

[barooq]

Inkpoe
yes the job is in Bellevue. And at the moment, frankly I dont know what would I be paying for rent. I am making initial inquires to see whether we can live comfortably or not. Of course, I will ask you guys around when it would come to actually rent the place

Xanathos

I am not worried about the company revoking the sponsorship as contract provides safeguards regarding that.

Waiting for detailed replies from both of you gentlemen

[Inkpoe]

I think as long as you keep the rent under 1500 a month and not be extravagance spending-wise, it's workable.

Bellevue's a big area. The downtown area is very ritzy so that'll cost more money for sure. Look into the Overlake area (which is walking distance to the Microsoft campus), also the areas of Eastgate, Factoria, even parts of Redmond/West Lake Sammamish. They have more reasonable apartment rates, and wouldn't require the use of a freeway.

Kirkland (which is just north of Bellevue) could be cheaper. Renton (south of Bellevue) definitely would be cheaper, but requires the use of freeway (and the traffic, just ugh!). Newcastle is nestled between Renton and Bellevue and could work as well.

xoxo, "Gentlelady"

[barooq]

Thats good to hear. As long as its workable i'd be willing, rather happy to move.
I have been researching the rents on craig's list and NWhomes to get a feel of apartments and it seems you can get a 2BR apartment with basic amenities under 1400. I am not familiar with the area and once I land in Seattle, a final decision can only be made then ( though I spend an hour on google maps nowadays religiously )

Also, about the approximate cost of living and expenses, can you provide an estimate/month ?
For example my basic schema is as under

Rent: 1200-1400
Car payment + Car Insurance : 500
Fuel: 200-300
Bills ( Gas, Water, Electricity): 100-200
Groceries+Food : 500-700
Internet + Phone + Cable TV : 300 ( both me and my wife as tech addicts+ I am a sports nut and my wife cant live without cable TV... Frankly, so much so, I am a little jealous of Don Draper )
Emergencies+ Eating Out : 300

Total: 3100 - 3700 / month
Am I missing something here ? Are my estimates off the mark?


I also have a saving around 30K, but that I personally want to use for my wife's PHD in psychology ( if she feels up to it once we are there )... Otherwise, it can be used as emergency fund and emergency fund only

Waiting for your response

[Xanathos]

All contracts have 'safeguards'. They aren't worth the paper they're printed on. I happen to be in the IT industry. I'm not telling you how it's "going" to be, just how I've seen it "become" with regards to you H1(b) types coming over here. Let's just say the promise of an almost 30% raise after 1 year is highly unusual to actually occur. You haven't stated who your potential employer is (and you shouldn't on this forum), so there's no way for anyone to state whether they're one of the area's honorable type employers. You said telecom engineer - if it's T-Mobile, they're a pretty good company. If it's AT&T, I wouldn't bet on it. Of course, most of the T-Mobile engineers work out of the datacenter in Snoqualmie, not the corporate headquarters in Bellevue...

You'll find utilities cost more than you estimate. There are a lot of "fees" that go into a utility bill that result in a ridiculously high bill, particularly as it pertains to water and electricity. I've never lived in an apartment though, so I can't speculate too much.

[barooq]

Xanathos
"You H1(b) types" seems degrading.
Moving seems like a better option intellectually ( try living as agnostic and raising a son to honor rationality rather than religion in my country) and in the long run technically as well. I would have a much bigger chance working on cutting edge technologies here than I have anywhere else.
I understand the resentment in your tone but as I said, the purpose of this thread is to access whether a life in the means I described is possible or not, instead of determining the integrity of my employer or the long term risks.

In that regard, I would love your input regarding the bills ... Based on your experience, what do you pay, living where you live?


Inkpoe
My bad... Gentlelady it is

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by barooq

Also, about the approximate cost of living and expenses, can you provide an estimate/month ?
For example my basic schema is as under

Rent: 1200-1400
Car payment + Car Insurance : 500
Fuel: 200-300
Bills ( Gas, Water, Electricity): 100-200
Groceries+Food : 500-700
Internet + Phone + Cable TV : 300 ( both me and my wife as tech addicts+ I am a sports nut and my wife cant live without cable TV... Frankly, so much so, I am a little jealous of Don Draper )
Emergencies+ Eating Out : 300

Total: 3100 - 3700 / month
Am I missing something here ? Are my estimates off the mark?

Honestly, kinda hard to say...

I can't answer about the car payments.

A lot of times, apartments cover Water, Sewer, Garbage (W/S/G).

Electricity, gas, fuel-- depends on usage. Electricity/Gas for me is every other month, that might be the same for Bellevue. Like Xanathos say, there is a lot fees attached. What you can do is call the apartment and ask for average on the utility bills... they can give you a much better idea than we can. Fuel is very highly taxed here... 200-300 sounds reasonable, always go for Costco gas-- tend to be cheaper than the regular gas station.

Internet/Ph/Cable... expensive here, I'd say closer to $325 just to be on the safe side.