Clearly doing something wrong if making over 200k and not banking a #*&! ton of cash.
I don't know about that. Mortgage, kids, cars, gas, food, taxes, etc. It all adds up, especially if you factor in some fun funds so you're not living like a hermit.
Clearly doing something wrong if making over 200k and not banking a #*&! ton of cash.
I don't know about that. Mortgage, kids, cars, gas, food, taxes, etc. It all adds up, especially if you factor in some fun funds so you're not living like a hermit.
Maybe if you live down in FF county or hold a mortgage that is beyond what you need.
Mike , please explain the lower cost of living there ? Don’t confuse housing prices ( only some areas ) With lower cost of living .
For me that's a big part of it though. A lower house price for substantially more house and more land directly equates to lower costs per month and year. Also it would appear my insurance rates would go down substantially with a move to the areas that I want to be in. The property tax values would be correspondingly lower as well.
Food, gas, oil those things still cost the same as far as I can tell. But the huge break on a house and the amount of land I would get is a major reason for me. We don't want to live on the shoreline or where it cost the same as Connecticut, we want to move out into the woods, so there's a big price difference.
What have you found Tony? Just in terms of your cost of living expenses? It sounds like they really didn't change from what Connecticut would be for you and I'd love to know why as we're planning the potential move in the next year or so.
Mike. What I have found and experienced is this : Housing / taxes / utilities etc the same or higher than here in Ct . Insurance ( my girls not mine ) about the same . The house is on the coast and with that it's worth more than inland. The house was listed last Wednesday and sale pending this morning . The market there is really strong . We are selling that and buying a house here and if the stars align go back in 9 years when I retire . One thing I will tell you , the schools seem to be top notch and you won't find nicer people ( as you already know ) . I do love it there for so many reasons . I'm guessing Maine is what Ct was like 40 years ago . I guess some of the geezers need to chime in for that . If I was young again and raising a family I'd move in a minute . Good luck
Barn1, my experience in driving in VT is a little different, been going back and forth for the past 4 1/2 years because both grandchildren attend or attended the University of Vermont and daughter finally moved to Vermont in June. Speed on 91 and 89 seem to be 75+ but the roads don't have a lot of traffic so it seems safer, obviously the harsher winters not an advantage. Housing is not far off CT costs but education system no where as good as CT. VT has a drug problem, state is losing population and medical facilities no where near as available as CT. VT has only one certified trauma center, I know, I spent three days at the UVM Medical Center.
The plus for VT may only be their recreational opportunities but those diminish greatly when you reach 65 or your health goes down the tubes. Doubt most people will be using anything other than the bunny slopes at that age. Like most states, be careful what you choose for the rest of your life. Florida caters to old folks, thus the attraction but the weather sucks but old folks have a tendency to stay inside anyway.
Ray, for the most part, everything you said is not what I've found. We've bought a house twice the size of my CT house with 10X the land for the same money. The taxes on that 2X house are only 1.2X the CT taxes. The VT State Cops don't mess around and everybody knows it so they drive "reasonable" speeds. Not like the CT drivers. We have no kids so the school system matters nothing to me. In our location, we have 3 medical facilities within 30 minutes.
The weather in the Champlain Valley is almost the same as inland CT. Perhaps a bit cooler, but not significantly. We do get more small snows due to being on the down wind side of Champlain, but that won't bother me once I'm retired. It'll give me something to do with my new John Deere tractor with plow. There are drug problems in Rutland and Burlington, but not where we bought. Besides, there's drug problems in every state. There's no escaping that. And, finally, as a fisherman, even as I grow older there are plenty of places and techniques that I will be able to go/do without any problems.
...we should be proud,our "acting"governor has the dubious honor of being the hands down,most unpopular governor in the entire country,Rowland is more popular and he's a felon....yeeeaaa,we r # 1....gosh darn proud of this state...and fyi Jam has done his homework,pretty much dead nuts nailed it...and may God bless you Barn,...happines is at a premium these days,try and not watch to much news,you'll add 10 years to your life.take care of what you can and the hell with the rest...enjoy,the good Lord didn't put us here to be miserable,...have fun.
Tony, thanks for the great information. You have what we found was the prices along the shoreline were very similar to Connecticut but as soon as we moved in land and started our search things were really a lot cheaper. Everything really dropped Like a Rock. We're definitely moving to the Inland portion, and won't be anywhere near the shore.
Clearly doing something wrong if making over 200k and not banking a #*&! ton of cash.
I don't know about that. Mortgage, kids, cars, gas, food, taxes, etc. It all adds up, especially if you factor in some fun funds so you're not living like a hermit.
Maybe if you live down in FF county or hold a mortgage that is beyond what you need.
Like Mitch said, it all adds up. Mortgage, student loans, $500 a month for private school in South Windsor..it doesn't go that far! My student loans alone were $750/month...i can tell you we were not living high off the hog. Realistically weren't much better than paycheck to paycheck.
Team Daiwaimano Team too many broken rods to count Team bluefish lawn ornament Team "oh shiit we are out of gas"
Holy cow Dusty that's insane? $750 a month just for student loans? That's almost my entire mortgage payment monthly.
I move to Maine means to hardships for us. One is winter, to is distance from family. The second one for me is not a problem at all, quite frankly. I will learn to adapt to the harsher winter up in Maine, because the trade-off is once the ice breaks I am treated to the best fishing on the planet, what I need to hook a striper I drive 3 hours down to the coast.