Advice needed, to move or stay the course

[2moveornot]

So I wanted to come back and give you all an update, and also thank every one that gave me advise, thank you!

So as of today we have been in Utah for 1 month we moved up here on 2/1 so far we are loving it, I'm thinking it was a great decision so far that we did pack up and move. Sure my pay got cut in half BUT with that being said the cost of living here is awesome compared to California and our bills actually dropped to less then what we had thought they would to the point that the only reason my wife is working is to help bring our savings back up to where it was.

We did have to have some sacrifices my biggest sacrifice was trading in our F250 crew cab truck that we both loved oh sooo much but on the brighter side our car payment went down $60 a month plus our gas got cut in half since the truck got an avg of 14mpg and the new xb is getting an avg of 33mpg

Also we down graded our directv plan (too expensive to cancel) and our new bill is $50, used to be $120, the apt complex where we are leasing has a bulk package deal with directv so that helped a lot.

We also don't have to pay water sewer trash so that saved us $80

We haven't gotten our electric bill or natural gas but the neighbors keep saying both avg $100 together so if that's true then that saved us $120 since we used to pay abt $220 a month for both back in California

Both the kids are loving it the only complaint I herd from both of them is that I promised them snow and so far no snow.... But I made it up to them by driving up to the mountains and taking then tubing, (best free entertainment)

I keep praying everything turns out for the best so far it has and I truly feel that it's actually brought my wife and I closer

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Glad it's all working out!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would do 3. THe cost of living in Utah has to be a lot cheaper than CA. You at least know you will have a job and so will DW. Even with your pay cut it should not seem that bad since cost of living will be cheaper.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

So I wanted to come back and give you all an update, and also thank every one that gave me advise, thank you!

So as of today we have been in Utah for 1 month we moved up here on 2/1 so far we are loving it, I'm thinking it was a great decision so far that we did pack up and move. Sure my pay got cut in half BUT with that being said the cost of living here is awesome compared to California and our bills actually dropped to less then what we had thought they would to the point that the only reason my wife is working is to help bring our savings back up to where it was.

We did have to have some sacrifices my biggest sacrifice was trading in our F250 crew cab truck that we both loved oh sooo much but on the brighter side our car payment went down $60 a month plus our gas got cut in half since the truck got an avg of 14mpg and the new xb is getting an avg of 33mpg

Also we down graded our directv plan (too expensive to cancel) and our new bill is $50, used to be $120, the apt complex where we are leasing has a bulk package deal with directv so that helped a lot.

We also don't have to pay water sewer trash so that saved us $80

We haven't gotten our electric bill or natural gas but the neighbors keep saying both avg $100 together so if that's true then that saved us $120 since we used to pay abt $220 a month for both back in California

Both the kids are loving it the only complaint I herd from both of them is that I promised them snow and so far no snow.... But I made it up to them by driving up to the mountains and taking then tubing, (best free entertainment)

I keep praying everything turns out for the best so far it has and I truly feel that it's actually brought my wife and I closer

Good for you! The moving has never been fun (we just retired from military life--14 moves in so many years), but yes, it kept DH and myself closer. The kids learned so much about all the areas we lived.

Sending prayers and good thoughts to you.

 

[dpswift]

Glad it is working out for you.

 

[crisi]

I'm glad to hear its working out for you - cost of living can make such a huge difference.

 

[yupikgal]

Sounds like things are definately looking brighter! I just found this thread, so I didn't contribute my opinion earlier. It appears to be the answer to your issues, to have moved to Utah!

We did a similar move last year (late fall) but moved within our state (Alaska) to a more rural community. The difference with us is we are on the last years of our working life and so we sacrificed being around family (including our kids who are 18 & 21 and living in our house which we will be selling this year) they are working and going to school..

Our financial situation has definitely improved since we moved here, for one thing we sold 4 vehicles (1 was paid off but just taking up space in our yard) 1 was an RV (our first but not our last, we plan on buying 1 upon retirement) and our 2 commuter cars. We had 3 loans out, and we replaced them with an older truck which we will have paid off before we retire. We plan on selling it before we move out of the area though, because it's in a remote area we would either have to fly it out (expensive!) or freight it out, and we don't plan on doing that. We are paying down debt and padding our retirement accounts. I just accepted another job since I've been here, I've been working at my current job for 4 months, but got an offer I couldn't refuse, I start on March 10!

The only thing I'm concerned about now is after we sell our house, we won't have the mortgage interest/property taxes to deduct, so we may have to up our non taxable retirement funds to offset this!

Good luck with your move and enjoy your new life with lower cost of living!