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Thanks for responding! Well, I suppose what I'm looking for is: 1) Will we be able to spend money on some sort of hobby for my spouse? 2) What kind of car ins

Thanks for responding! Well, I suppose what I'm looking for is: 1) Will we be able to spend money on some sort of hobby for my spouse? 2) What kind of car insurance rates are we looking at as new immigrants (also young and relatively inexperienced drivers)? 3) What kind of vacations could we be looking given the income and living expenses? 4) Will we be able to have nights out, go to a sporting event every once in a while etc? Basically, will a $90K salary for a household of two in SV/San Jose force us to carefully set up a budget, or will we be able to not worry too much about money? Also, you mention that you're in a 4 br house with a garden for $1800. This sounds amazingly cheap to me, at least from what I've seen looking for housing online. How does one find a deal like that? Again, thanks!

davidandgoliath 15y ago
1) Will we be able to spend money on some sort of hobby for my spouse? I can't imagine why not. 2) What kind of car insurance rates are we looking at as new immigrants (also young and relatively inexperienced drivers)? Probably similar to ours. My wife's driving history isn't pristine, and she pays <$1k per annum for car insurance. Maintenance is simple enough in California as it's warm enough, too. Though we are married now so the price should come down even further. 3) What kind of vacations could we be looking given the income and living expenses? That's a loaded question -- apples to oranges and such. My version of a vacation is a road trip somewhere with the wife (e.g. grand canyon) and most of those can be had for a car rental & $500-1,000. Travel is relatively inexpensive in the U.S. -- you can often fly somewhere for $100 anywhere in the continental U.S. as long as you book properly in advance. Better yet, Hawaii & Puerto Rico are accessible, and as long as your visa is alright so is most of Central America / South America at reasonable prices. Even local doesn't hurt either, I'm preferential to road trips myself and there's the great state of California to explore -- and Oregon / Washington not too far. 4) Will we be able to have nights out, go to a sporting event every once in a while etc? Can't see any reason why not. Even a night out once a week wouldn't be difficult to have, esp. in light of them offering you $2k in housing assistance. >> Basically, will a $90K salary for a household of two in SV/San Jose force us to carefully set up a budget, or will we be able to not worry too much about money? I think money is worth auditing / following closely all of the time. You won't need to be counting every penny, but attach something like xero to your bank account just to keep an eye on it. It never hurts to use Chirag's online script to keep things under your finger: https://zetabee.com/cashflow/ https://zetabee.com/cashflow/ >> Also, you mention that you're in a 4 br house with a garden for $1800. This sounds amazingly cheap to me, at least from what I've seen looking for housing online. How does one find a deal like that? You don't in Northern California from what I hear. Housing is going to be your largest burden, but luckily that doesn't fluctuate as long as you're renting. All in all: Truth is so far from what we've experienced (admittedly, we're frugal, cook at home often, and when we do eat out it's banh mi or burritos) on $4k-6k a month is that there's really no surprises that can't be dealt with even on a monthly basis. http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ is a good little cost of living calculator that allows you to compare areas / geographical regions. Also, might not hurt to pester @jordansissel who I know lives in the area & seems frugal enough -- also probably has a good idea of local medical costs, housing, etc.

davidandgoliath 15y ago

1) Will we be able to spend money on some sort of hobby for my spouse? I can't imagine why not. 2) What kind of car insurance rates are we looking at as new immigrants (also young and relatively inexperienced drivers)? Probably similar to ours. My wife's driving history isn't pristine, and she pays <$1k per annum for car insurance. Maintenance is simple enough in California as it's warm enough, too. Though we are married now so the price should come down even further. 3) What kind of vacations could we be looking given the income and living expenses? That's a loaded question -- apples to oranges and such. My version of a vacation is a road trip somewhere with the wife (e.g. grand canyon) and most of those can be had for a car rental & $500-1,000. Travel is relatively inexpensive in the U.S. -- you can often fly somewhere for $100 anywhere in the continental U.S. as long as you book properly in advance. Better yet, Hawaii & Puerto Rico are accessible, and as long as your visa is alright so is most of Central America / South America at reasonable prices. Even local doesn't hurt either, I'm preferential to road trips myself and there's the great state of California to explore -- and Oregon / Washington not too far. 4) Will we be able to have nights out, go to a sporting event every once in a while etc? Can't see any reason why not. Even a night out once a week wouldn't be difficult to have, esp. in light of them offering you $2k in housing assistance. >> Basically, will a $90K salary for a household of two in SV/San Jose force us to carefully set up a budget, or will we be able to not worry too much about money? I think money is worth auditing / following closely all of the time. You won't need to be counting every penny, but attach something like xero to your bank account just to keep an eye on it. It never hurts to use Chirag's online script to keep things under your finger: https://zetabee.com/cashflow/ https://zetabee.com/cashflow/ >> Also, you mention that you're in a 4 br house with a garden for $1800. This sounds amazingly cheap to me, at least from what I've seen looking for housing online. How does one find a deal like that? You don't in Northern California from what I hear. Housing is going to be your largest burden, but luckily that doesn't fluctuate as long as you're renting. All in all: Truth is so far from what we've experienced (admittedly, we're frugal, cook at home often, and when we do eat out it's banh mi or burritos) on $4k-6k a month is that there's really no surprises that can't be dealt with even on a monthly basis. http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ is a good little cost of living calculator that allows you to compare areas / geographical regions. Also, might not hurt to pester @jordansissel who I know lives in the area & seems frugal enough -- also probably has a good idea of local medical costs, housing, etc.