If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Dh has just been giving the option of working from home full time. Dh wants to relocate out of state for more affordable living. Dh salary would stay the same. My questions are Where did you or would you relocate to? Is it really cheaper? Do you feel leaving your friends or family has/or would be worth it?

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Charlotte is awesome. We chose to move down there. Not sure if cheaper is word, but more bang for your buck.
It allowed dh to stop commuting and me to Sah.
Seeing each other more makes it worth it.
I cannot generalize...but people in Charlotte really live life. I don't see that in NYC. I see people up there living for the weekends.

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

I moved to Portland Oregon bc this is where my DH is from and the cost of living is about 30% less then living in NY. The housing, insurance, taxes are all signifigantly less as well as the food and day care. Like the OP stated, people live life out of NY, its true. Everyone here is so laid back. No stress.No fuss.Just fun. Its taken me a while to get used to it.

Message edited 5/1/2013 11:55:54 AM.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We moved to Rochester when DH took a job in '07. It's been great. We live on one salary so I can stay home with DS. We were able to buy a house. The whole area is very family friendly -- we always have something to do. And you have your choice of rural, suburbs or country all within about 35 minutes.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

if you can make the same money- that's the ticket

I would go some place warm- FL- but I don't think the cost of living is that much lower then NY (where I would go) my reason would be the weather and my family is there

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Charlotte or Richmond

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Message edited 5/1/2013 12:22:51 PM.

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Exactly.
When I am back in NY, I feel a level of aggravation in people that I do not get down here.
And health wise, I think a slower pace is needed.
South Charlotte is full of the happiest long islanders. You cannot throw a rock without hitting one. Believe me, they all have Staten Island jokes.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We are in Brooklyn and my ILs live around the block. My mother is on LI. The rest our siblings, as well as my dad, all live OOS. We do have extended family in different parts of the city, Jersey and Westchester though. That being said, I couldn't see leaving his parents or my mother anytime soon. They may be the only immediate family here but they help us out tremendously plus I couldn't imagine our kids not seeing them regularly. So for us right now, this is what works. And if and when we do decide to move, I think the furthest we will go is NJ.

My SIL relocated to an area right outside Richmond, VA. They really like it there! We've been down there a few times and it is really nice but I don't know if I could do it. But my SIL is able to SAH and they were able to buy a beautiful home there. They probably would have had to spend double to buy something like that in Brooklyn. I also know that if the opportunity presented itself they would consider coming back to be closer to their parents. But they really do love it. Their neighbors and friends have become their extended family and they seem to all help each other out.

Message edited 5/1/2013 12:40:50 PM.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We'd love to go to Charlotte or FL but can't go without my family.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

I'd love to relocate to NC (warmer, but driveable back to NY) but prob isn't going to happen for us. I know of people that moved to the Charlotte area and Raleigh area and are happy, also my cousin and his family moved to the Houston, TX area and they love it there, great for them financially. I visited them, and he took us to model homes trying to recruit us to move there too, its unbelievable what you can get down there for the money!!

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

I am no longer in Charlotte...I would move back to Charlotte in a second...to move back to NY, I honestly do not know what it would take. We love visiting.
As far as family, I see mine often, I had sisters here lt weekend. At then end of the month I will see my parents and sisters.
June we are in NY
July, my mother comes on dh's company vacation with us each year.
August I will be back up.
We spent Christmas in a cabin withi them last year.
You make it work.
My children 100% know my parents. Cll them all the time.

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

The standard of living is lower in other parts of the country, so yes it is cheaper. You can definitely get more for your money, especially if you are making the same salary.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

My husband took a job transfer 2 years ago in Richmond, Va. He kept his NY salary and that allowed me to become a SAHM. It took me 6 months to adjust to people being so nice and smiling all the time. Our families are all on Long Island but we come to visit pretty often (I'm here for two weeks right now actually) and have people visiting us frequently as well.

Part of what swayed us to move out of state was the cost of living and how much further we were able to stretch our buck. We are paying half of what we did in car insurance. We were finally able to buy a house last year. Our taxes are low. The slower pace has done wonders for our quality of life.

I found a pizza place that has NY quality pizza (the owner is from NYC), a place for bagels (another former NY'er) and even a good cannoli place. All of the stores i shopped at here on LI I have there. It was the right move for us and our growing family. Ideally, I would love to have our family and friends nearby but we've really grown as a couple and into our own little family.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Well, the fact that your husband's salary would remain the same is a big factor. While living OOS is cheaper, a lot of times the salary reduction makes it that you are running the same equation, just with different numbers. Since that is not the case for you, it makes a difference, in a good way for the OOS side of the fence.

From a family and friends perspective - that's just something you can't put a price on DH got laid off last year and couldn't get another job for a while - we sold our first home, which broke our heart, but we felt we had to in order to avoid a financial pitfall. Luckily, he obtained another job and actually, I ended up getting a really great, much higher paying job also so it worked out (we got lucky) and we are now purchasing a home to raise our family in here on Long Island, which is ideal.

But, when we were in 'limbo' and didn't know that DH and I were going to get these jobs and that it would work out we looked into moving OOS. We looked into Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and it's surrounding areas... Isle of Palms was one name, I forget the others. I liked the area because it was near the water - I felt this would be similar to Long Island. When traveling to both Texas and Nashville I really did not like the "land-locked" feel. So, this area of SC worked for that reason. The schools rate very high on a national level as well which, to me, is very important. The taxes were, my God, in some cases they were what we pay a month for the YEAR.

But, we do not have a single friend or family member that lives anywhere but here on Long Island. We have one close family friend, like an Uncle, who has a retirement home in South Carolina - that's it. That was the whole thing for me. I just cannot go without seeing my parents and siblings. Now that DH and I are expecting our first child, it is even more apparent that we want them in our daily lives. I can't imagine otherwise. But that depends on your relationship with your family/friends and where they live.

But, if you do want to consider it - definitely look into the surrounding areas of Charleston like Mount Pleasant. It's just beautiful, affordable, good schools, and a lot of really nice families - mostly people relocating from NY and NJ!

HTH!

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We're tossing around the idea if moving OOS. Charlotte, NC area. We're going to visit this summer and see how we like it. Honestly, we'd miss our family and friends, but we need to do what's right for us and our family and not worry about everyone else. When it comes down to it, you're paying the bills, not your friends. If you feel that it would benefit your family, then go for it. You can always rent for a year and see how it goes from there.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We are currently living in Queens but moving to Charlotte (Indian Trail) this summer. We are having a house built down there - it is AMAZING how much you get for your money in NC. We are having a 5 bedroom house built for less than $280,000. My husband is able to work for his company from home and I am hoping and praying and applying to every teaching position I see! It is so nice in Charlotte. People are friendly and everything is just so different. You do have to be willing to sacrifice being close to family but for us, my sister and her family moved down there first and my parents are also moving so it's not an issue.

If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

We are moving to New Orleans in July. DH got a job transfer and his NY salary will go with us. We just can't survive in NY anymore. The cost of living is about 30% cheaper. We are leaving friends and family, but it's close enough where visits,can and probably will happen frequently.

Message edited 5/2/2013 8:54:03 AM.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

The LI lifestyle isn't the only way to live. It's just not. And if I couldn't buy a house here, or was barely making ends meet or there was some other issue that prohibited me from living the life I want, I'd absolutely move. There's life beyond LI. My parents would encourage me to seek a better opportunity, even if put distance between us. There's always Skype and visits and FB to stay connected. It just doesn't make sense to me to not live the way you want to because you don't want to be away from family. Family should be supportive of wanting you to have a better life.

If we ever moved off the island, I'd pick the Highlands of Kentucky.....such an awesome area and we have family there.

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

I relocated to the Raleigh, NC area -- I actually make more here than on LI....I love it and don't regret it for a second. The house and acreage I have here, I could NEVER afford in NY. And my taxes are 2K

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?

Re: If you moved (or want to) off the island for cheaper living?