
Originally Posted by
phoebesdream
Hi,
Our family moved here last year due to my husband's work. We are family of 6 (although my kids are aged 7 or under so probably a bit cheaper to keep than teenagers!) and we are living on my husband's wage of $90000. This sounds OK but we are in New Jersey which is quite expensive compared to other parts of the country. Rent on a 4 bed house (in good school district) is $2200 per month. I don't think food is appreciably cheaper here although petrol is (just over $3 per gallon at the moment). Utilities aren't too bad, water around $40 per month. Electricity high due to AC in the summer and heat in winter, although in sunny CA you might pay less! We do OK as we are pretty frugal, only run one car and stay home a lot. Overall we are better off here, the tax breaks are good for single earners with kids. Back in the UK we were both working (me part time) to maintain a similar lifestyle.
We would like to buy but only once we have greencards, in any case it is difficult now to get a mortgage without one (most companies also want a 2 year US credit/employment history). I think there is definitely more house to be had for your money here.
Check out which visa your husband would have as you would be able to work on some of them (my husband has an L1 which would allow me to work with authorisation, although childcare issues mean I don't).
Sorry for rambling, hope this helps a little, (and good luck!)
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