I trust dis- moving from Midwest to cali?

[atthebeachclub]

Most midwesterners are 'road trippers' so an 8 hour drive is nothing. There are so many memes about this 'phenomenon.'
--signed, Nebraskan who drives 1500 miles (each way) to visit Disneyland.

Ha!!! This is my midwestern in laws, to a tee! Midwesterners really do own the road trip.

I advise considering your options: California is very expensive. And culturally it can feel like a big change. Definitely have a plan in case this move is not for you after all. I moved to Southern California a few months after college. I figured since I was from the west coast (PNW), it would be similar. It definitely wasn’t! There was a lot I liked, and much more I didn’t like. It felt very different culturally, which I hadn’t anticipated. Much more emphasis on plastic surgery. Getting to the beach was much more difficult than I expected. Turns out it isn’t really a surfing paradise when you are always stuck in gridlock traffic.

I was back to my home state in under a year. Now I am in the Midwest and it actually feels a lot more culturally similar to where I grew up.

I think you should try the move. But have a contingency plan just in case!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ha!!! This is my midwestern in laws, to a tee! Midwesterners really do own the road trip.

I advise considering your options: California is very expensive. And culturally it can feel like a big change. Definitely have a plan in case this move is not for you after all. I moved to Southern California a few months after college. I figured since I was from the west coast (PNW), it would be similar. It definitely wasn’t! There was a lot I liked, and much more I didn’t like. It felt very different culturally, which I hadn’t anticipated. Much more emphasis on plastic surgery. Getting to the beach was much more difficult than I expected. Turns out it isn’t really a surfing paradise when you are always stuck in gridlock traffic.

I was back to my home state in under a year. Now I am in the Midwest and it actually feels a lot more culturally similar to where I grew up.

I think you should try the move. But have a contingency plan just in case!

We only went to the beach a few times in the 1.5 years that I lived there. I was just too much of a pain in the butt. And honestly, the beaches there just aren't super pretty and the water is cold.

 

[greeneyedchick]

I trust my dis folks and wonder if those who live in CA would offer some thoughts and advice. If you don't have something nice to say please just don't respond. Totally not on topic to theme parks..

Currently live in the Midwest and make 127K a year. This is very comfortable in the Midwest.

For many reasons I'm looking for new job and a dream job opened in CA. Fremont, CA. If I got the job and could get the posted max salary (I have the credentials to make that happen) the salary would be 190k.

I am very aware the cost of living compared to Midwest is much much higher. We would need to rent and I'm seeing rent in that area being $4000 a month.

Moving to CA and this job would not be to simply make more money. Actually it's not that at all. It's about life improvement. Midwest winters are really hard on my husband and I. Current political climate of our home state. Closer to Disney- it's about quality of life. I

I am our breadwinner. Hubby is a disabled veteran. So we would have his disability on top of the salary. So would be looking to live in CA on about 210k a year.

All I hear is the cost of living being so high in CA . We have pretty low bills. No student loans. A little bit of car debt. Our current housing cost is $1000 a month. (Yay Midwest).

I did run the math factoring 4000 for rent, triple unities costs, triple gas costs. Double food budget. My math says we would do fine.

What else do I need to know and consider?

Have you considered the state income taxes? You mentioned renting. You should note how much property taxes increase each year. It's possible that the property tax increase will increase your rent by at least that much. Also, look into the cost of car insurance and renters insurance.

 

[disneychrista]

Have you considered the state income taxes? You mentioned renting. You should note how much property taxes increase each year. It's possible that the property tax increase will increase your rent by at least that much. Also, look into the cost of car insurance and renters insurance.

Rent can increase by no more than 10% each year. Anyone renting should keep this in mind

 

[mdmost]

If you look at the finances and can make it work then I would do it in a heartbeat, especially if it is your dream job. If you're good with renting for a while then I would certainly do it. Why not give it a try? Maybe it doesn't work out but you don't have to live with the regret of what could've been. I think we're sold a bit too much in this country on what we can acquire and what we need to feel whole. If that is good weather and natural beauty for you then that's all the more reason to do it. You can always do more with less. Somewhere along the way, I feel we lost sight of that in our consumer driven society.

 

[mel2014]

To throw one other consideration into the mix -- if you have a kid(s) that will be headed to college in the future, don't discount the fact that California has some of the best public universities in the nation and you can get the benefit of in-state tuition (a savings of around $30,000 per year for UC schools) by living here:

https://www.usnews.com/best-college...king=top-public&_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc

California also offers a further fee waiver program for the children of disabled veterans: https://www.calvet.ca.gov/VetServices/pages/college-fee-waiver.aspx

 

[LKing]

To throw one other consideration into the mix -- if you have a kid(s) that will be headed to college in the future, don't discount the fact that California has some of the best public universities in the nation and you can get the benefit of in-state tuition (a savings of around $30,000 per year for UC schools) by living here:

https://www.usnews.com/best-college...king=top-public&_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc

California also offers a further fee waiver program for the children of disabled veterans: https://www.calvet.ca.gov/VetServices/pages/college-fee-waiver.aspx

UC admissions are very competitive and can be unpredictable. I wouldn't move banking on my kid being able to attend a UC (with the possible exception of Merced). CSUs, on the other hand, give preferential admission to those living in their local service area. For Alameda County, that would be CSU East Bay (formerly CSU Hayward). CSU tuition for in-state residents is approximately half of UC tuition.

 

[AlohaNow]

It sounds like you've looked at this from all the angles and run those numbers.
Girl, just do it!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If it’s your dream job go for it, but factor in extra stress you may have since you’re not used to having to worry about money.

We’ve been talking about doing the opposite of you. We live in a very expensive area and we’re thinking about moving to a place with lower cost of living.

This won’t be popular but just be aware that along with the increase in cost of living you’ll also be moving to a place with increased crime (with huge increases in property crime and violent crime over the past few years) homelessness and in some areas open drug use. Also be aware that Cali has the largest exodus of people leaving any state in recent years, creating a net-loss of citizens, with many more leaving than are coming in. Most people leaving cite high costs, high taxes and high crime. Just fyi.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you do end up moving to CA, don't call it "Cali" when you're there.

 

[ibob52]

cali - said by out-of-state-folks . cause they think it is cool . um no

 

[barkley]

native californian here-moved out of state in 2007. worked in the bay area and like the majority of my co-workers commuted a long distance to afford housing. we had allot of people from out of state apply for and accept jobs with my employer only to face sticker shock when they started setting up their relocation and ended up declining (we were highest paying in the state for the particular job) so good on you for researching.

that said-look at everything you pay for currently in your life and make a few phone calls/google search. call insurance company and see how much auto/renters will run (I pay less than half what I paid there in the early 2000's), play with a payroll calculator that allows you to figure in state and federal taxes (there's a reason so many retire out of state), not sure if there's something you can plug in vehical info on but yearly car registration was pretty costly, see what utilities where you consider moving run (note-common upcharge to base advertised rent is separate trash and water flat rate despite your usage, if there's any enclosed parking spaces which can save on insurance they can be a significant upcharge and a long wait list-i think these are still exempt from the 10% maximum rent control caps so they can go up substantially year to year), any specific services you need/use (obscure I know but as an example I was shocked how much more dry cleaning was 'back home' until I moved out of state-prices were like a time travel back to the '70's).

I think I read your dh is a vet (I extend thanks to him for his service)-research medical and supportive services (if needed) in any area you are considering. I had co-workers whose housing and commute were much further to our jobs b/c they wanted to be in close proximity to particular VA providers/hospitals. on the subject of medical-if you will be doing health insurance under your employer research what is offered and if it has a geographical price variance. by this I mean-many employers offer a few different plans and most people running the numbers initialy figure they will opt for the one that looks from onset the best value for their needs. thing is it's not uncommon in california for employer supported health insurance to have geographic limitations so the best value plan may require you live in a much higher cost of living area (I just took a peek at my former employer's hr site-there is now OVER a $2500 PER MONTH difference on the employee share of cost for a single person if you live outside the smaller very high cost of living radius of their offices ) so read the fine print.


best of luck in whatever you decide.

We’ve been talking about doing the opposite of you. We live in a very expensive area and we’re thinking about moving to a place with lower cost of living.

it was a huge change for dh and I but we don't regret it.

 

[barkley]

Fremont is far from Anaheim. CA is a very large state and it can take 8+ hours to drive between the Bay Area and Anaheim. Flying is an option but either way, you will need to factor those costs into your Disney trips. You won't be driving to DLR and back in one day.

Agree. But I'm always surprised at how many people don't realize how big California is and long it can take to drive from one end to the other.

you can tell a Californian when you ask someone how long it takes to get one place to another and they begin their reply with 'what time are you going to leave?' my California commute according to all the apps was 51 minutes door to door-depending on the time of day the last 10 miles at best was 20 minutes but averaged during the early morning and from about 3:30 p.m. on at least an hour.