[outdoorNE]

Hello all, I am new in posting but not to the forum. I mainly read posts to learn as much as I can from locals of the area I am interested in. I currently live in central CT and my current job (due to the new health care law) has been cut to 29.5 hours and now I am slowly taking on water ( sinking slowly in debt) I am married and have a wife that does not work, no income from any source and will leave it at that. So at this point in the game, we are just looking at my income.


We own a home, have a mortgage and pay approx. $2500.00 ayear in taxes for a 672 sq ft home on .10 of an acre <---- Yep, you did read that correctly. We are conservative with our income & lifestyle. (see the above description of our home lol ) We are happy with our little house and wish we could pick it up and move it to VT to this new job....


I have a great opportunity for a career starting at approx. $36,000 plus pretty good benefits. We would obviously rent at first and this is where the problem comes in. Rents are outrageous unless we live on main street VT in an efficient 1 bedroom apt. We need at least a two bedroom and then the price skyrockets to $1000.00 or more. We are middle aged and we have no children and no pets. I would love tomake this whole situation a reality but may be more of a pipe dream. I know we could sell our home here and have a little chunk o' change to plunk on another tiny home and have a decent mortgage....but the rent prices to start off would bury us.

As far a my knowledge of Vermont ,we frequently visit family that lives in the Southern Vermont (Bennington for the last 22 years) and have clocked many, many miles visiting different towns through the Southern portion of the State. We have visited in the Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall ( hey that reminds me of a song lol) and know the climate, roads, what the seasons hold, and boy does it get cold! ( Dr. Seuss ? lol ) The job for me is located in Rutland County and there are some wonderful homes I have been eyeing!! The clincher.....just trying to figure outhow to make the whole thing work!

Thank you for reading about our thoughts, dreams and partial rant

[cgregor]

Good luck! I heard from a man very knowledgable about Springfield real estate that you can pick up a two-bedroom home for $68,000. It's a 40-mile drive to Rutland, though, one I've never liked (although if I'd commuted daily, I would have gotten used to it). There is bus service daily between the two; check out The Current to see the schedule. Hope this helps.

[vter]

Cgreger...I get that you are a Springfield fan but there is no way I'd ever recommend living in Springfield and working in Rutland. That commute would be ridiculous.
I would say that trying to make it in Rutland on 36K is pushing it. Any way your spouse can bring in some income too? Vermont is expensive. No ifs ands or buts.

[cgregor]

I'm of the make-do-with-what-you-have school. Springfield's ideal for that!

[arctichomesteader]

On that income I wouldn't want to blow my money on gas driving back and forth from Springfield.

[vter]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

On that income I wouldn't want to blow my money on gas driving back and forth from Springfield.

This. Trust me. You don't want to live in Springfield and commute to Rutland on a daily basis. Especially in the winter.

Try nearby towns in addition to Rutland for rentals. Proctor, West Rutland, Clarendon, Mendon, Pittsford. Brandon may be an option...about 20 minutes north.
http://www.rutlandherald.com
http://www.addisonindependent.com (for Brandon rentals)

[outdoorNE]

Thank you all for responding and much appreciated. I am aware the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I am not looking to Vermont for the pretty mountains or the stream that runs through the valley. I am looking at this situation as it is the best paying job I have been offered in the last 6 years. It also gives me the most promise of a full-time career into retirement. CT is a big dud. Several million people in population and many, many people out of work. I went for one career opening and 800 applicants applied! I received an interview out of those 800 but obviously not the job offer. Maybe I am thinking against the grain of most and going North where there is "less" population to find less competition and work. We all know the U.S. as a whole has changed as far as jobs offered and salaries. We (my family) can conform to the changes of what has happened. I could hold out and hang onto hope where I currently live for another year or two at most. After that, the organization I work for is going to be dissolved or be taken over my a much larger non-profit.(I am a social services case manager) The board is already mentioning outsourcing certain areas of the organization. If it is taken over, the other agency wants to reserve the right to bring in their own workers. Several months ago, the grant writer told me she is making her exit strategy...now she just gave her notice. The board decided they are not hiring another grant writer. Hmmmm no grant writer? How are we suppose to carry on? lol.

You mention Vermont is expensive but I feel CT is even more expensive to live.

I can't cut much else out of my current budget. We don't smoke, drink, go out to eat, do not go out to the movies, we buy food and supplies in bulk, no AC in the summer, keep it at 60 degrees in the Winter, wear two pairs of socks, sleep with 3 heavy blankets, have two Saturn vehicles that are 13 and 14 years old (and one only has 44k original miles on it lol - now that is how much we stay home) walk to the grocery store when weather permits (1/2 mile away) just living day to day life.


Yes, I see the distance and terrain and would never even think of attempting this. This income would be our only income for at least 2 years. Just for the record, I don't make anywhere near 36k now and would be a dream for me at this point.

Originally Posted by vter

Cgreger...I get that you are a Springfield fan but there is no way I'd ever recommend living in Springfield and working in Rutland. That commute would be ridiculous. I would say that trying to make it in Rutland on 36K is pushing it. Any way your spouse can bring in some income too? Vermont is expensive. No ifs ands or buts.

cgregor - not quite following you on your thought.....are you saying stay where I am now?

Originally Posted by cgregor

I'm of the make-do-with-what-you-have school. Springfield's ideal for that!

[northernborn]

the rents are outrageous in Vermont because the taxes are too, it gets passed on.

its a hard row to hoe for you, you can only cut costs so much, in the end you just need to make more money, sounds simple right?

I'd take the job in rutland,

live in the cheap little apt.

leave the wife in the house in ct,

put as much money aside as you can for as long as you can.

that's pretty much what everyone did when chemfab and the like all moved their companies to NH and other places, the spouse that had the job went with the job , came home on weekends .

you want to get ahead, that is what you often have to do,

that's what the oilfield guys do,

family stays 'home'

they go where the drilling is going on and make money,

if and when you get ahead enough then sell in CT and move to VT permanently. My 2 cents.

[Lincolnian]

I would take the job and plan to sell your CT house as soon as possible. Have your wife take care of the house until it sells and rent a room while scouting affordable homes in the area of your new job (also evaluating the job in the process). I would not recommend living too far from your new job as weather, gas and car maintenance costs eat up cash.

[outdoorNE]

Lincolnian & Northernborn thank you for the ideas and suggestions. Just kind of nervous and I want to make the right decision. We are kind of waiting on some information (that I thought we would of had already) to help ease my mind. But that information has not come through yet. So this lack of information is killing me of not knowing. Which in turn, is ruining my chance at this future job. If it is meant to be, then it will be. I have to believe this. Thanks again for everyone's assistance and for this, I will keep you informed of what comes of all this.