Relocating for afordability etc..

Frugal Father (tm) · #1 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 06:04 AM

I am considering relocating considering cost of living and the ability to include frugality and to simplify things more. NYC is expensive , although we do well , I'd like a more positive financial change...anyone out there moved for the sake of frugality, cost of living or what ever...

Thanks.

simpleselu · #2 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 06:14 AM

We are moving and one of the reasons (although low on the list) is that the cost of living is lower while the salaries where I am now and where I will be are dollar for dollar the same.

Ima saver · #3 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 06:21 AM

We did not move because of that, but I found living in florida was much more expensive than living in North Georgia. My electric bill was higher (22 years ago) than it is now. Property taxes are much higher in florida.

Frugal Father (tm) · #4 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 06:29 AM

Yes I see that. I work at home (writing and painting) and keep the house, My wife however has a nice position in the developmental disabilites field working with retarded adults. She could make even more in NYC than she does if she moved to other comapnies and she could make less somehwere else, but I fiqure with a lower cost of living, frugality and adopting a simplier course of lving we'd be better off, buying a house or condo and having no mortgage or even putting a nice chunk in the bank would be nicer. We would even consider a rental community because property taxes and taking up weekends to upkeep a house are things we'd rather not due.

What places do you guys like...I've looked at upstate NY, (NJ for rental communities-no ptax involved) maine,connecticut, and even arkansas...HMMMM?

ShoppingInsider · #5 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 06:40 AM

Personally, I consider moving in order to afford a better standard of living a very sound reason to move. We moved quite a bit during the first years of our marriage for precisely that reason and are now where we want to be and prospering. My sisters, on the other hand, did NOT want to leave the large city in which they live and they & their families have struggled financially.

FWIW, the town I live in is consistently rated one of the top 10 mid-size cities (mid? small? About 90,000) as far as affordability, what it has to offer, recreation, unemployment, etc. by Money magazine. It's smack-dab in the middle of the US, the biggest employers are universities, medical facilities, and insurance companies, and we bought a 2500 sq ft house on 14 acres, less than 2 miles from the city limits, for $235K.

Sometimes I watch those HGTV shows that compare what you get for the money (housing-wise) in different cities and I can't IMAGINE paying that much money to live!

Diana

Frugal Father (tm) · #6 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShoppingInsider

Personally, I consider moving in order to afford a better standard of living a very sound reason to move. We moved quite a bit during the first years of our marriage for precisely that reason and are now where we want to be and prospering. My sisters, on the other hand, did NOT want to leave the large city in which they live and they & their families have struggled financially.

FWIW, the town I live in is consistently rated one of the top 10 mid-size cities (mid? small? About 90,000) as far as affordability, what it has to offer, recreation, unemployment, etc. by Money magazine. It's smack-dab in the middle of the US, the biggest employers are universities, medical facilities, and insurance companies, and we bought a 2500 sq ft house on 14 acres, less than 2 miles from the city limits, for $235K.

Sometimes I watch those HGTV shows that compare what you get for the money (housing-wise) in different cities and I can't IMAGINE paying that much money to live!

Diana

Diana,

If I may ask where is it that you live. I don't need particulars I klnow this is a public forum. Thanks

ShoppingInsider · #7 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 07:22 AM

Columbia MO

Ima saver · #8 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 09:40 AM

I would always live in the south and we hope to move someday to the mountains of North Carolina or Tennessee. I will check out the property taxes first, I can't imagine paying what some people pay in prop. tax.

tinapbeana · #9 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I would always live in the south and we hope to move someday to the mountains of North Carolina or Tennessee. I will check out the property taxes first, I can't imagine paying what some people pay in prop. tax.

Property taxes will always be lower outside the city limits and away from the touristy areas. As for NC vs TN: TN has a high sales tax but that is in lieu of either state income or property tax, i can't remember which... Either way, works out nicely when one doesn't spend much & therefore don't get hit w/ the higher sales tax!

banana · #10 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 01:48 PM

We did about 10 years ago. We relocated from NY to PA.

ren · #11 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 08:12 PM

No matter where you go, it might be a good plan to rent for a year. It'll give you time to get familiar with the area, so you'll know where the best/most convenient place to live would be. Also, just in case you end up not liking the area, you won't have to worry about selling and paying the realtor's comission.

PRICEPLUS · #12 (**permalink**) 10-27-2006, 11:29 PM

I am told the Raleigh/Durham area is pretty nice and reasonable!

jacksprat · #13 (**permalink**) 10-28-2006, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

I am told the Raleigh/Durham area is pretty nice and reasonable!

As as resident of RDU, I think it's very overrated. Nice , but still overrated. And as for basing your relocation decisions on a magazine article,- DON'T ! For example, many transplants compain about the roads and road conditions here.. I agree, even South Carolina - who used to be close to the bottom in the road rating - fares better. The median home price in this area is the highest in the state. You won't see any mention about these kind of things in one of those magazines and I think people put way to much validity in them..

Bottom line, research and visit before you move !

LuxLiving · #14 (**permalink**) 10-28-2006, 08:48 AM

Retire Columbia

http://chamber.columbia.mo.us/retire/

Ima saver · #15 (**permalink**) 10-28-2006, 10:34 AM

I think Tennessee has no state income tax.

tinapbeana · #16 (**permalink**) 10-29-2006, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I think Tennessee has no state income tax.

according to the TN department of revenue "The individual income tax is imposed only on individuals and other entities receiving interest from bonds and notes and dividends from stock." they also offer a property tax relief program for those over 65 and a type of expanded Medicaid called TennCare.

both sets of my grandparents live in TN & GF has a heart condition, this is stuff my family talks about a lot.

MonkeyMama · #17 (**permalink**) 10-29-2006, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frugal Father (tm)

I am considering relocating considering cost of living and the ability to include frugality and to simplify things more. NYC is expensive , although we do well , I'd like a more positive financial change...anyone out there moved for the sake of frugality, cost of living or what ever...

Thanks.

Yes - and I say GO FOR IT!!!!

We pretty much moved because we could not afford to raise kids the way we wanted to (be home with them) AND afford a house. Maybe if we waited 20 years, but I Wanted to have kids when I Was 30, not 50 - LOL.

Anyway, we moved from San Francisco area to 2 hours out, and it was the best thing we ever did. At the time I was VERY bitter we had to move, that we could not afford to stay in the city where we had grown up. But it quickly passed once we traded in our tiny condo for a 5-bedroom home and a smaller mortgage. All the comparisons said to expect a 10% pay cut, and I even remember my boss in my interview complaining about us Bay area folk asking for unrealstic pay. In the end my pay stayed the same and I got better benefits too boot. IF I had known that I Would have moved sooner - LOL. Anyway, we put our condo up right before 9/11 and lost 100k in equity so we moved here having a $200k mortgage instead of a $100k mortgage like we planned. BUT in the end we felt liek we were financially ready for kids 3-4 years earlier than we had originally planned and we just love the simpler lifestyle out here. At the same time we are still close enough to all of our family and friends, and close enough to enjoy the big city.

For that reason I would recommend NJ or NY, just not to get too far from your roots. Test it out and see if it works well for you. Depends how attache dyou are to NYC. ?? I think the further out you move the more culture shock you may find - like in Arizona. Definitely do as much research as you can. Everyone says Oregon is great because of no sales or income tax, BUT the property taxes are insane. You need to find out as much as you can about places you would liek to move...

We have talked about cashing out our house and going to oregon. There was a time we could have walked away with 400k cash easily, but we are hesitant to leave our family, I absolutely love my job, etc. The time is not right now, but something we are considering before we get too settled here. Part of me hesitiates because I don't want to spend my whole life moving somewhere cheaper - LOL. Oregon is hot right now with all of the Californians moving up and I Wouldn't be surprised if we made that move, we would want to move again down the road, somewhere even cheaper.

We settled here because I knew many friends who made the move, and the same about ORegon, and plus I knew the cities well, visited a lot in the past, etc. I know many friends who made the move and told us about what they learned in the process - they didn't know such and such would be so expensive here or there. So I say talk to as many people as you can. Being in NYC I am sure you know plenty of people who have fled. When we moved here we knew quite a few people that had already fled and if we decide to move to ORegon we have a ready made community of friends up there. Makes the decision easier.

Good Luck!!!

Frugal Father (tm) · #18 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 06:58 AM

I am definvately not married to NYC at all. I personally want to move just because I don't really care for it anymore. Yeasr of frugalness and simplifying life brought me to another idea of living and well as the important financial aspects. Like towns, small cities but also like suburbs, we are water poeple..views and such, like free things to do, love arts and culture and of course a lower cost of living , don;t care if its a house, rental communities or condo.

tinapbeana · #19 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 07:19 AM

all this talk about moving for frugality has made me *really* appreciate where i live.

wai98007 · #20 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 08:07 AM

You can always try moving to Wyoming. My wife and I were going to go abroad and teach English for a year (we both love to travel and are both bilingual). At the last minute our plans fell through. Without a clear backup plan (I was preparing to go to grad school, but missed the deadlines because of our plans to go abroad) I took a job here in Wyoming as a way to try something new. The cost of living is very very low where we live. There are more expensive parts of the state (Jackson being one of them). Even though the cost of living is low, there are tradeoffs. There is pleanty of outdoors to enjoy, but little access to big city amenities. It is definitely a different culture, but small town living is very quaint. It has been a different sort of adventure for us. We really feel like we have an impact for good in our community.