How to verify/roadtest an ER budget?

[DRiP Guy]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

This is a little rough, but simple:

http://swz.salary.com/CostOfLivingWi...etail_217.html

Fill in your salary, where you're coming from and where you're going to. No detail, but its a data point.

Cool site!

I like the fact it does both ends of the equation (salary and cost of living) for those relocationg and needing work, but if I do an ER out there, then all I need to know is that it is 16.6% cheaper than what I am paying now! Yeehah!

[P.S.]

Brewer:

not sure what kind of a lifestyle you all live...but here are threads from a mothering forum that touches on life in Denver:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=576436
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=584562
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=557431

[BarbaraAnne]

Brewer,

Here is a good website forum with information on moving and living in the Denver area.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/denver/

It also has forums for other cities and states.

[shiny]

Originally Posted by BarbaraAnne

Here is a good website forum with information on moving and living in the Denver area.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/denver/

It also has forums for other cities and states.

Wow! That's a neat site! Thanks BA

[brewer12345]

BA and PS, thanks for the links. Sounds like we would definately fit in.

Raw milk?

[Martha]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

Raw milk?

Not pasteurized or homogenized. I grew up on raw milk. It tastes different. People have "political" positions on whether raw milk is a good thing.

[Oldbabe]

Originally Posted by none

I can see living in Boulder, on one of the streets in the old town near the Boulderado Hotel, that would be wonderful. I'd keep well away from the CU campus. I don't understand the enthusiasm for Denver, it strikes me as a pretty boring city, nice ballpark though.

Denver is overrun with traffic and has horrible pollution. But it's anything but boring. Downtown is getting really interesting. Lots of bars, restaurants, clubs. All the twenty-somethings want to live in downtown Denver.

Boulder is still gorgeous but is growing some and traffic can be annoying. Students can be super duper annoying. Lots of the hippie/street bums around town are pathetic and annoying.

Houses in the downtown (old town) area cost about $600K -$2M. You can rent a crummy apartment or condo for around $1300/month. Other areas are growing fast with very attractive new construction at around $300K for a 1 bdrm condo.

Ask me anything you want to know about Boulder.

[bongo2]

Brewer, this thread may have died down, but I'm curious how you're calculating such a huge cost of living difference -- or if it is as huge as I'm gussing from your comments. I get the impression that moving will cut your required nest-egg in half or more? Am I way off here? The COL calculators suggest that it is a 20-25% lower cost of living (from most of NJ to Denver), and basically all that comes from housing. If the housing is the difference, then I'd think you would just cut a couple hundred thousand off your requred "stash." How do you cut so much time off your years of "working hard?" What am I missing?

I also wouldn't put all that much faith in the COL calculators. When I compared St. Cloud MN to Denver one said +20%, another said +3%. It also depends on how your lifestyle changes when you move. Lower COL in an area may partially mean lower standard of living. I know one guy who moved to MN from San Francisco and swore up and down that it was more expensive to live in MN. For him this was true, becuase he behaved like he still lived in SF, and it was expensive to try and replicate that here.

[brewer12345]

bongo, you divined the crux of my post. I tallied up an estimated budget for NJ and Denver and I came up with roughly 1/3 less for Denver, significantly bigger difference than the COL calculators show. The big drivers are housing, health insurance, RE taxes and utilities. Most of the other stuff isn't that much different.

The other thing that cuts off time is that the stash required to stay in Nj is so large that in t he intervening time I would have to overcome a lot of extra inflation.

[flipstress]

Originally Posted by Oldbabe

Ask me anything you want to know about Boulder.

What about Nederland, CO--about 20 miles from Boulder? What is it like?

Is it more of an (aging) hipster place? Is housing a lot cheaper than in Boulder?

[Oldbabe]

Originally Posted by flipstress

What about Nederland, CO--about 20 miles from Boulder? What is it like?

Is it more of an (aging) hipster place? Is housing a lot cheaper than in Boulder?

Don't know much about Nederland. A lot of young people like living there. One problem is the winding road tjat is inaccessible during bad snowy days. A really nice mountain town that is north of Boulder is Lyons. Apparently it lies is in a pocket that gets LESS snow.

One more affordable option that is actually in Boulder is called Gunbarrel, just NE. Lots of open space, affordable condos and houses.

[flipstress]

Thanks, Oldbabe! I have cousins and friends in the Denver/Boulder area. I almost moved there 9 years ago. I accepted a job and all but chickened out at the last minute.

Still, it is in the back of my mind as another place to live.

[newguy88]

Originally Posted by brewer12345

bongo, you divined the crux of my post. I tallied up an estimated budget for NJ and Denver and I came up with roughly 1/3 less for Denver, significantly bigger difference than the COL calculators show. The big drivers are housing, health insurance, RE taxes and utilities. Most of the other stuff isn't that much different.

The other thing that cuts off time is that the stash required to stay in Nj is so large that in t he intervening time I would have to overcome a lot of extra inflation.

Brewer, Hey I was a NJ guy for almost 50 years. Taxes on the house were going to be 9K this year the house if I had to purchase it now for what I sold it for 513K.

The new house in North Carolina around 300K taxes 2500K a year Nuff said.

[. . . Yrs to Go]

Originally Posted by bongo2

Brewer, this thread may have died down, but I'm curious how you're calculating such a huge cost of living difference?

NJ/NY is ridiculous.

Example. Here is the range in annual health insurance plans quoted by ehealthinsurance.com for Denver and my zip code in NJ

Denver: $1,920 - $4,272
NJ $3,720 - $18,984 . . . . . .

For a ~38 year old couple with no health conditions and no kids I'm planning on paying between $10,000 - $11,000 per year. The $3,700 plan you see listed doesn't cover most of the major medical blow-ups you buy insurance for (chemotherapy, for example, is not covered in that plan).

[Charlie_Boy]

It seems this topic has gone astray and everyone is talking about moving to Colorado. So, let me warn you all. It is cold, barren, and expensive. The crime rate is high, no social life to speak of and a generally bad place to live. I recommend you stay away from here, I mean there, I mean... Oh heck, OK, its a nice place to live.

There are many nice towns and cities in Colorado. Some are cheaper than others. Unfortunately, many of these cities like Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Ft Collins have received notice in various financial and living magazines as being places to move to. As for the expense of Boulder, why not try the south end - Manitou Springs. Now, there is a fun town suitable for many of the aging hippees that might lurk in this forum. Here are some images from the Carnivale celebration there last weekend: http://charlie.zenfolio.com/p566212809.

Now that I have settled here I wish I could keep others out. Still, to be honest, there is no better place to live. In a recent topic started when Old Babe asked where she could move to to get away from the cold and snow, I followed all the replies. I realized for all the discomfort this winter, there is no other place I would move to. So, the Springs, Denver, Manitou, Boulder, it doesn't matter what city, any place in Colorado is better than any place outside of Colorado.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

All I can offer is that I spent a few months in Colorado Springs about 27 years ago.

Best burgers and strip clubs.

Colder than crap. Pretty scenery.

Good balance, all in all.

[laurence]

I love the state, lots of snow in winter, but the tempurature seems to stay above that critical point where cold turns into pain (that seems to be about 20 degrees for me). My parents have a spread near Colorado Springs (o.k., it's an hour away, but that's the closest thing to it). Deer, Bear, a little creek on the land - amazing. They only spend a little time there as their home base is L.A. - what's wrong with these people? :P