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Should we stay or should we go? We are a family living in the wonderful bay area. I work in tech and currently make in the $250k-$300k range (this is not some dumb humblebrag, you're all strangers on the internet, why would I care?). It is a boatload of money, but somehow it is still difficult to provide a decent home in a good school district that is not a 1.5 hour commute each way. We currently have one child but have #2 on the way and are planning to aim for three by the time we're done. Looking at homes on the peninsula anything in the 4br range is going to be $1.5M to be in an even average school district. Also that home is going to be outdated and not much bigger than 1500 sqft. My wife is from the mid-west and has family in Minneapolis and Madison so we've naturally began discussing if a move back is right for us. We are torn what to do and I wanted get input from the goons. Reasons to stay, in order of priority: 1) Job opportunities - long term. While I can move and find another good job, I'm deeply concerned about the long-term prospects of moving. I get recruited on a daily basis out here. I doubt there will be much upward movement in the midwest. 2) Job opportunities - short term. I'll need to take a pay cut, which isn't the end of the world, but while some things are cheaper (houses) a lot else don't change in price (cars, groceries). 3) Things to do - skiing, beach, national parks 4) Weather - enough said 5) Support the progressiveness of California. Reason to leave, in order: 1) Closer to her family, (e.g. within a few hours) 2) Affordable housing with space for five 3) Good schools in many areas - don't need to pay a fortune or go private 4) Midwestern people seem friendlier and communities have a more neighborhood feel (based off my experience in Silicon Valley). Thoughts? Any major things I'm missing? Help me goons!
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Apr 24, 2017 23:58
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pig slut lisa posted:OP do you have any thoughts on what's been shared so far or are you still stuck in traffic? Thanks for the reminder! oRenj9 posted:You're probably going to have to take a big pay cut. Low 100s seems to be the high-water mark for tech salaries in much of the midwest and the BLS suggests the median salary is right at $90k. And being a red state does not guarantee lower taxes when there are three local government entities taking a few percent of your income each (on top of federal, state, property, sales, etc). gently caress special assessment bonds. Yes, this comment got me thinking about I actually need to figure out exactly what kind of pay I can be expecting in the midwest. Obviously there will be some sort of cut, but the actually amount is far from known. I manage a team of software engineers so my skillset is both SWE and management which I am hoping can translate into keeping a higher paying job in the mid west. mishaq posted:how the gently caress can you not live comfortably in sf on 300k a year I didn't say we're uncomfortable. I said we can't provide the life we want (e.g. good public schools, a yard that is over 100sqft, enough room in the house that we don't have my desk, the kids toys, and our living space all in the same room). Plus like any good BFC's we save a lot. For your information on a $280k gross: Taxes: ~$80k Housing: ~$50k (rent+util) Food: ~$15k ($9k of that is grocery) Kids: $10k (mostly preschool) Shopping: $15k (everything, hard to break out but this includes essentials and all fun as well) Travel: $7k (multiple trips back to see family) Medical: $7k Retirement Savings: $55k Investment Savings: $40k I know if we needed to belt tighten we could cut down on a lot of expenses. AA is for Quitters posted:And you can get a huge 5+ bedroom mcmansion for sub $1mil if that floats your boat, or just an average sized split level in the $200k range. With regards to space, I don't think we qualify as wanting a McMansion. Just something with enough room for us to not be on top of each other (e.g. ~2k sqft). As I think more about it, the main reason we'd move is for family. We would never consider moving if it wasn't closer to family. Better schools and lower housing costs are just additional nice to haves. Still not decided but I think we'll start poking around. app fucked around with this message at 21:18 on May 21, 2017 |
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May 21, 2017 18:07
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Well I figured I finally remembered this thread and figured I owned an update! tl;dr - we moved in November! I ended up taking a promotion which comes with greater responsibility and also the ability to do more in the future. It should have come with a ~10-15% bump and ended up only getting a 3% raise in the move due to lower cost of living so it was a net 'loss' of 7-12%. It has been great to be around family and spend the Christmas holidays with family. I'm glad to no longer be wasting time on 101 or dealing with the complete loving arrogance of the Bay Area. I can now confirm that I have had **multiple** conversations where we didn't discuss where someone worked. Thanks BFC!
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Jan 13, 2018 09:08
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