My husband is applying to a specialized school in Seattle, WA, that virtually guarantees a job paying 30k+ more per year than he makes now. He is required to take an all-day, in-person test as part of the application process. So, he is going for at least 2 nights - no way around it. The question is: Can we afford for me to go too?
Plane tickets are about $400/person. Hotel is about $65/night, regardless of whether he goes or we both go.
If we go together, we'll probably splurge on one (maaaaybe two) restaurant meal(s), but otherwise eat from the grocery store. Stuff like transportation to and from the airport will be the same regardless of who goes and how long we stay, and he/we will stay in a hotel such that everything we need is in walking distance so there will be no other transportation expenses. I am calling all this stuff "fixed costs" and saying maybe $150 total, not counting the food at the grocery store that we'd have to buy regardless.
- Option 1 (the minimum, husband goes alone just to take test): $680
- Option 2 (we both go for 2 nights, minimal free time): $1080
- Option 3 (we both go for 3 nights, significantly more free time): $1145
Our financial situation is: we are debt-free and currently maxing our HSA, IRAs and 401(k)s. We have about 20k liquid at the moment, and after maxing those accounts and expenses we have about 1500 leftover every month. Once we move in July that will become more like 500 leftover every month due to increased cost of living in Seattle and him needing to quit his job -- we'll have more leftover if he can find part-time work, which he probably can. My job should not change through the move, and I am the primary breadwinner by far. We are expecting/hoping for two windfalls: a tax return in the 3-5k range (got married and switched jobs halfway through the year), and selling a car when we move for about 3-4k (we can share one car in the city, maybe we can even go carless). His school costs 20k, paid over the course of the 2 years of the program, beginning in August '15.
The practical advantages of me going too are that I can spend the time that he spends in testing, checking out apartment complexes and trying to find one that is cheap and not sketchy/scary, and also is in walking or biking distance of his school, a cheap gym, and a grocery store. This can be done online to some degree, but some things are much easier to see for yourself. The less-practical advantage is that I won't have to move to a place I've never even seen before, and I just REALLY WANNA GO!
Can I afford it?