Friday, January 8, 2016

The cost of moving....part two

So yeah....it cost us over $24,000 to move from CT to SC.  But once we were here (and technically, some of these expenses occurred prior to the move), the fun didn't end!  Now we had to set up a new home!!

Housing -$1,900.00
Security Deposit - $1,400 (and as it turned out, we had to pay our first month rent of $1,400 2 weeks later, so that made for an expensive month!)
Pet Fee (non-refundable) - $500

Utilities- $302.81
Cable Deposit/First Month - $119.99 (paid prior to moving and installation)
Electric Co-Op membership - $25.00
Water/Sewer (connection fee and deposit) - $132.82 (paid prior to move)
Gas Deposit- $25.00

School - $150.00
Registration for school (public school....but they charge a registration fee) - $50.00

Gym Uniform (x2...that they will use for 5 months....) - $30.00

Field Trip (for both kids, on their 3rd day of school....) - $70.00
(they each got a new shirt for the 1st day...but I am not including that here.  :) )

Cars - $268.18
Taxes (we had to prepay a year of taxes before we could register the cars) - $140.18
Driver's License and Registration (for 2 people and 2 cars) - $128.00


Needed Replacement/New Items - $299.00
(probably a low estimate, as these things were purchased over lots and lots of trips and I know there is more!  Didn't count food in here...but had to do a full grocery shopping and replace a ton of stuff that I couldn't bring with us.)

Computer Monitor (we were borrowing one from a friend) - $100.00
Bathroom set up for 2 bathrooms (each kid now has their own bathroom...so shower curtain, bath mat, toothbrush holder, etc) - $66.00
Misc Cleaners/Household - $100 (dishwasher tabs, which was new to us!  Laundry soap, granite cleaner, trash can, lightbulbs, curtain rods)
Cat items - $15 (food dishes, litter pan)
Glasses (we pitched a bunch of plastic cups when we left) - $10
Step Stool (we have HIGH cabinets!) - $12

New Items in general - $124.00

(stuff that we opted to get to help make it feel like home, replaced something that was worn out, or discovered we needed as we started to use our house)
Bookshelves (2) - $38
Extra dinner plates - $22
Comforter set for our bed - $70

There is still one category that will remain in flux for the moment....new job stuff.  I worked in a very casual office, so I really don't have "office work" clothes.  Once I have a new job, I know I will need to go shopping for EVERYTHING....shirts, pants, skirts, shoes!  While I have some items that will work, I know most of it won't.  Additionally, the climate is different here...so I will probably need to get more lighter weight items.  I am not getting anything right now....need to see what the environment will be for work.  But I know that is an upcoming expense.

I feel like I am missing something....oh well!!  So this total comes to:

$3,043.99 

When you add in the previous number......we are at $27,395.59. This was all out of pocket.  None of this is reimbursed by G-man's job or any other agency (but as I said...some of this is tax deductible).  No family help on this.  This is 100% on us.  We had about $19,000 in cash set aside for the move.....and most of the above was cash (probably 75%).
 
The credit card hit is about $6,000-$6,500.  Because some of this has been spread out, interest, etc....I don't have an EXACT number.  But this is a pretty good estimate. That said...there was additional credit card charges that weren't directly related to the move, but it was done to conserve the liquid cash that we needed for some things.  Plus....by the time we were getting ready to move....alot of the year of being apart was catching up.  The pay cut G-man initially took while we were still paying the CT bills ate up savings.
 
So the current numbers are ugly as hell.  Luckily, G-man got his grade increase (and a $5,000 raise!) at the end of December!  That will help alot.  I am hoping to be back to full time work soon (still doing a few things for my old company, so it brings in a few bucks).  And then we can figure out the next part of the plan.
 
There ya go.  I will share a few pictures soon of our new place.  :) 





26 comments:

  1. Since you aren't working but your expenses in SC are cheaper, are you breaking even now expense wise from where you were in CT or is it still a big hit because of your lost income?

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    1. Too soon to fully tell as our first bills are just arriving. But we are having to use G-man's second job as part of standard bills....so no pre-saving right now for expenses we know will be coming down the line.

      If I had to guess....we could probably live off of his 2 incomes plus my little bit....but wouldn't be paying down debt at all, and would be in trouble come next tax season, future expenses like cat care, car repairs, etc.

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  2. Look at that bright side of renting vs. owning--as far as your taxes go, at least you won't be paying property taxes in the new place which will help since you won't be deducting mortgage interest anymore either. It might balance out depending on which one was higher.

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    1. No property taxes, but losing the house interest deduction will probably cost about $2,000. So we need to plan for that.

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    2. I think you are focusing too much on the tax break. The cost of ownership is typically way more than $2,000 a year. Home insurance vs. renter's insurance - should be significantly lower as you are insuring just your belongings and not a dwelling. Plus, the maintenance alone and all that goes with owning is gone - I know those dollars really add up for us. And like Sluggy said, no property taxes. And, hey, you probably have a maintenance person you can call for free now! I dream of that!

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    3. Our renter's insurance is very inexpensive. And yes, if something goes wrong, we just call the landlord and he sends someone over (heck, we already got a new dryer!).

      But the taxes will still be due, and unless we plan for it...any money we have will get sucked up on an on-going basis. Even if it is going to debt...it will not be available in cash when the tax man knocks.

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    4. Change withholding now so you don't get hit with a big bill all at once.

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    5. We already have the max taken out. We would have to have additional taken out. We plan to save it ourselves as we have 3 states in play, probably 4 companies. Easier to do it ourselves.

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    6. I am confused by when you say you already have the max taken out. Of gman's paycheck? Is he claiming a 0 on his exemption? If not, then he could lower it to 0 and they would take more taxes out. Im guessing that because his second job pays much less and is part time that they aren't taking out enough to account for his primary income.

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    7. We both were claiming 0, and having extra money taken out for state. But you are correct....the part time job usually doesn't have taxes taken out because the amount per check is below the threshold.

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  3. Wow - that is a lot. I am so sorry that you had to go thru this. Hopefully you will find a job soon and things will settle down.

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  4. I t does cost to move even across the street. They say(whoever they are) it takes 10 years to reach status quote every time you move. But this was a great move.

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    1. We have a two year lease...so there is always a chance we decide to move again in 2 years....ugh.

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  5. How much will you save this year by not having to pay for heating oil? And this is a cheap year for that. You with get a new job and dig out of this. CT is so expensive for everything.

    Yay for Hubby's raise. That's awesome!!

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    1. Based on what we were paying when we left...oil would have been about $2500 for the year. But we will have to see what the electric bill is as we go...especially running a/c. It is more energy efficient so the oil savings will probably still win out. We calculated for all of this when we decided to move.

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  6. Personally, I wouldn't count the loan pay-off as a moving expense. (Maybe the closing costs... not sure.) But the amount you had to pay to get out of the mortgage is a different kind of expense in my mind - that is either a Housing expense or an asset adjustment. So then your moving expenses would be closer to $10-15k (again in my mind). Its a lot, but it should pay off to be in a cheaper area.

    Will you now have to save up for a downpayment on a new home? I guess you will have 2 years to do it?

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    1. Of the 18k we paid to get out of the house...about 7k was to pay off the mortgage and 11k was commission and fees. In our mind...it is all the same.

      We can't even begin to think about saving for a new house right now. We need to get back on our feet.

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  7. How in the world can the public school charge a fee for something compulsory, ie REGISTRATION??? Not to rant, but public schools are a racket....I loathe them, for all I love some teachers. It will be interesting to see how you feel about the southern stay at home mom culture....different than what I experienced in New England.
    Oh, hey, how's the weather? January days when I woke up hearing it was 19 degrees in MA, while I pulled on shorts to sweat out a 65 degree outdoor run were the days I said "Aaaaahhh, THIS is why I live here."
    How goes it with Sassy? Aany better?

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    1. I was shocked at the registration fee for a public school that our taxes help fund. But there was nothing I could do about it.

      As for the stay at home thing...since it is not long term....I don't know how I feel. I did think it was interesting that the upcoming PTA meeting is at 8:30 am. Which means that working parents would have to take time off. It definitely reads like only stay at home parents are really welcome.

      Weather....it has been cold in the early morning (upper 20s to low 30s), but in the 50s later. In the long term forecast there is snow, but it will probably change as we get closer. Or....snow day for everyone for 1 inch of nothing. Lol

      Sassy is ok....she is still getting overwhelmed at times and shuts down. Academically she is doing well. She really isn't socializing much, but that isn't new for her.

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  8. Wow, so expensive, but totally worth it for all of you to be together as a family. And that's coming from a former military brat!

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  9. Love how certain you are you will find a full time job. Everything I read is so bleak job-wise.

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    1. It may not be my dream job, but I can find something to bring in a few dollars while I continue to look for something more permanent.

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    2. Lol dream job....do they exist? :)

      Hope you find something soon.

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  10. You are a girl who knows how to build suspense. :)

    I am a numbers girl; I am looking forward to you updating the numbers.

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