The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: NorCal on June 22, 2014, 07:38:58 AM
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Hello everyone,
I'm new here, and it's great to find this community. I'm curious to see if anyone has advice for doing an out-of-area job search, or if anyone has any other ideas for our situation that I haven't thought of yet.
Here's some background on my situation. My wife and I currently live in Silicon Valley. We make more money than I ever thought possible to make, but it also puts us in one of the most expensive places in the country to live. This has been great for us so far, as we've managed a good (but could be better) savings rate, and we're close to friends & family. There are two factors listed below that are driving me to start looking for employment outside CA.
1. Cost of housing: Housing in this area has gone from merely outrageous to downright ridiculous. We want to buy a house, and have finally saved enough to buy a "starter" home around here. However, in our area (and anyplace remotely close to our jobs), an 1100sqft fixer-upper runs nearly $1M. Since our current rent for an 80 year old 1000sqft home is "only" $2,800/mo (that actually is a pretty good deal around here), there's no way I can financially justify buying a house.
2. Commute: Until a month ago, we had a pretty good deal with the commute. I lived about 10 minutes from work, and my wife was about 40 minutes from her job. I could help out with daycare, kids stuff, and other household chores, while my wife dealt with a crappier commute. However, my job just got relocated an hour away (opposite direction from my wife's work). I can make it work in the short term, but it isn't what I want to do in the long term. I do need to find a job in the near future regardless.
Benefits of moving:
1. Lower cost of living
2. Our savings would allow us to buy a small home outright in some cities and to live mortgage-free. We might still take on a very small mortgage depending on which city we end up in.
Cons of moving:
1. We would probably take an income hit, possibly major. While we think my wife could transfer to another office within her firm if I find a new job, they may not let her transfer. This income hit could be big enough that it would push out FI by a few years, even after the improved cost of living.
2. Moving away from existing family and friends. I don't know how to put a price on this one.
3. Purely sentimental reasons. We like it here.
Possible jobs / locations
My wife could probably transfer to other offices within her firm in Seattle, Denver (Broomfield specifically), LA, or San Diego. My wife doesn't like Seattle and I don't care for LA. I'm personally leaning towards the Denver area.
I currently do work in corporate finance (FP&A) for a publicly traded company. I would like to find a similar type role.
Any thought on our situation, or advice on a remote job search would be greatly appreciated.