Thinking of moving out of state...

So, my fiance and I have been talking, and we were thinking of eventually moving out of state. We live in North central NJ, and the cost of living here is very high. We would like to own a home one day, but it is so expensive around here and the taxes are crazy, and it LITERALLY is like a rat race... the pace of life is crazy, and we think the quality of life might be better somewhere else. He is a parts manager for a car dealer and makes a good salary, and I am going to be a teacher. I know wherever we might go we might take a pay cut, but it might be worth it for other reasons. I just wanted to get opinions from people. We would most likely want to stay decently close to the east cost maybe Georgia or the Carolinas. I just wanted to get some opinions from you ladies... we feel like we have nothing tying us to the NYC area, and it might be a great move... any ideas? advice?

I love north carolina. I live in durham (near raleigh). the economy is great here. what type of work do you & your FI do?

Well you can probably teach just about anywhere, depending on what your certification is.

Here is where you can find reciprocity info (I also attached the Jersey info)

 

I have transferred my teaching license to VA from NV and it was pretty easy.

 

As for your DH I think his line of work can be anywhere.

Having moved across the country I would say visit any place you are thinking of if possible. We visited here twice before we moved and my DH stayed here with a friend for 3 weeks before we moved to do some job hunting and apartment hunting.

 

Good luck and let me know if you need more info on moving as a teacher.

 

 

New Jersey Table-08-06.doc

not sure how I missed before that you teach. definitly check out the raleigh area then. my friend's wife moved here from ohio to get a teaching job. they are always hiring teachers here. The populations has been rapidly increasing. i'm not sure what it is like in other areas, but it would have been hard for her to get a job in ohio.

Come to Minnesota! People from the east LOVE it here!

We had actually discussed NC and even Georgia... I've only been there once before but really liked it. I think we will definitely be visiting some places. Teaching is pretty universal, and I am studying to be a high school English teacher. My FI is a parts manager for Audi, but he could work at Audi, VW, or another car dealer. He says it is the kind of job where they pretty much hire on your experience, so he could move anywhere where there are car dealers ( I am assuming they exist outside of the swamps of Jersey lol). It just seems overwhelming here in NJ. For example, my brother just purchased a small 3 BR house for $370,000. He has almost no property (maybe 1/10 of an acre) and lives right on top of all the other houses in his neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, his house is cute, but in other states you could have quite a nice house with cheaper taxes (taxes equal about $7000 a year). The cost of living is way too much and it is just overwhelming. Also, if anyone has ever lived here, it is like you are on fast forward-go-mode all of the time. Even if we took a pay cut moving somewhere else, it would probably be well worth it because of a more affordable cost of living, and a better quality of life. I would love to eventually buy a house in the town I grew up in, but considering it costs on average $500,00 for a small 3 BR and taxes are probably about $8000 a year, it seems insane! Not to mention our outrageous car insurance! I really am appreciating all of this feedback!

Have you looked into South Jersey? That's where i live. I'm about 10 minutes from Philly. My taxes are a lot less than n. jersey and house prices are way less too.

This is a website where you can compare the cost of living in all different states. Check it out.

 

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas...Cost of Living Comparison

My FI and I have been talking about moving out of state as well since we also live in north central NJ. My FSIL moved to the phoenix area and we were shocked at the house they could buy for 150K. i love nj but the cost of living is crazy. we are looking at salt lake city to move to in a couple of years, once the FI is done with his dental hygienist degree.

Check out salary.com to see the difference in pay for each area.

Wow, Joanna - here in Chicago (in the nice neighborhoods that have decent schools) you can barely get a one bed plus den condo for what your brother just paid for a 3 BR house in Jersey! And don't get me started on the taxes...the property taxes here on a one bed plus den condo are about $8K! I have been realizing lately that I have no idea how my DH and I are ever going to afford to buy a place in the city, and we both are not really suburbs people. One of my girlfriends who just recently purchased a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit in our condo building spent $379,500 (I looked it up in the property transfer records for Chicago to be sure of the actual price - yeah for public records!) isnt that totally insane? That was just the purchase price... I am not sure that that price includes the parking space she bought in the building's garage. Then you have to also factor in the monthly condo board assessment fees to pay for the doormen, the gym facility, toward any necessary repairs, etc etc! holy cow!