Hey everyone!
I am coming out of a VERY antimustachian young adulthood and paying for it. Long story short, my partner and I bought a house in 2006 with no money down and now the cost of living here eats up my take-home pay. Add in student loan debt, some credit cards, a car that we're still paying for, and some Little 'Staches...and we're lucky when all the bills get paid on time. Getting ahead? A foreign concept.
But I'm a regular reader, so I'm no complainy pants I've found a much cheaper town where I'd like to relocate. Salaries are on par with what we make now, but housing is a great deal cheaper--and the public schools are excellent! Right now foreclosures are going for $30k-$100k. Since our smallest just finished daycare, we're finally in the black again. We could easily put down 20% or more on a foreclosed property in our new town. We've been watching the market in our current neighborhood and even though our house lost value at our last assessment, we live in an "up and coming" neighborhood near several graduate schools and it's probable that we'd break even on a sale.
But. Our debt is an emergency. So would it be wiser to stay up here for another year and pay off the debt faster or is it better to dump the big expensive lifestyle ASAP? Am I looking at this situation through rose-colored glasses?
For those who like numbers, here are ours:
CURRENT BIG CITY:
My take home [after family health & dental]: $2616
Partner's take home [after IRA]: $2484
Total take home pay: $5100
Mortgage: $1698
Security system and phone line: $45
Home insurance: $180
Utilities: $175
Partner's car: paid off
My car: $165
Kids' school expenses [uniforms, supplies, activity fees]: $100
After school program/childcare on holidays: $150
Gas: $100
Tolls: $100
Groceries: $400
Cell phones: $70
Student loans: $655
Credit cards: $300
Total expenses: $3963
+975 to put toward debt, savings, etc.
NEW SMALL TOWN:
My take home [after family health & dental]: $2616
Partner's take home: $0 [for the first few months, until the kids get settled. Then partner would start a design business or work part time or both.]
Total take home pay: $2616
Mortgage: $400
Security system and phone line: $0 [town has low crime]
Home insurance: $100 [insurance goes down because of low crime]
Utilities: $175 [estimate, based on Google fu for the area]
Partner's car: paid off
My car: $0 [I'd sell it. The town is small and bikable, and if partner stays home, I don't need to pick up kids]
Kids' school expenses [uniforms, supplies, activity fees]: $20 [I'm estimating. There are no uniforms in this system, which make up the bulk of our expense. $20/shirt and $50/gym outfit!]
Afterschool/childcare: $0
Gas: $50 [This goes down if I'm not driving]
Tolls: $0
Groceries: $400
Cell phones: $70
Student loans: $655
Credit cards: $300
Total expenses: $2170
+446 to put toward debt, savings, etc.