Thank you all for putting in your comments and VERY helpful notes in my plea post here: Moving to a new country with a new budget.
I know that Canada and the U.S. are similar in many ways, but hey… it never hurts to ask more knowledgeable natives 😉
I am pleasantly surprised that I won’t be paying $300/month for car insurance (more like a third of that), so that money can shift over to paying for health insurance.
Few things I want to note!
- Moving date? ASAP. I don’t have anything concrete yet, but I like being prepared
- I will have to work for a company, I cannot go as a freelancer
- Why? Well to make a long story short, the word of the day is: visa
- I am going to get some benefits from a company: health, mostly
- Company retirement benefits are negligible because on a temporary visa, I can’t contribute to them yet
- I will still be a Canadian which means access to health insurance
- I will be traveling a lot for work
- …which means I could do what I did 3 years ago & perhaps not have an apartment at all*
- …but it means I will still have to pay the difference in taxes to Canada, so I won’t get the benefit of no personal taxation in Texas quiiiite yet 😉
*That’s where I run into the conundrum of my car insurance and license, as I don’t have a ‘permanent’ address for that purpose. Must think about this.
So enter my revised budgets because I have two scenarios:
- “WORST” CASE: I pay for my own hotel** living costs (quite possible if my projects end up in my ‘home city’)***
- BEST CASE: I don’t pay for any hotel living costs — covered by the client so I can be there 24/7 (theoretically ;))
**I am seeing that I probably won’t take my own apartment if I have to pay 1-year leases. If I can take it month-by-month at an apartment, I will do it.
If not, I am staying put in apartment hotels in between projects & paying out of pocket for in between projects.
***I absolutely recognize that earning $100,000 gross a year is not a bad case at all for anyone. Please don’t think otherwise! This is more of a ‘worst case scenario for expenditures’ for me.
“Worst Case”: $2500/month
Best (Dream) Case: $600/month
Somewhere in between $600/month to $2500/month is what I’m expecting to pay in expenses.
Not only that, I haven’t factored in BF.
If he is in another city working, I may not have the luxury of $0 rent or $0 food. I might have to pay the differences, etc.
A lot of variables are in the air, and will be for a while, but at least I have a budgeting scenario where I can say: The max is $2500 a month.
Thank you very much for chiming in! It’s really helped. 🙂
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
Apartment insurance only applies when you have a permanent address, not in a hotel. You could get travelers insurance instead. I’d investigate whether using Canadian health care means you’d have to front the costs & be reimbursed – that might be a hefty cost. Also you might need reliable internet when in-between or on the go due to business, depending on how you operate. Do you think there would be “start up” costs for cooking wherever you live, like condiments?
Does the $1299 include utilies?
FYI: 6 and 9 month leases are pretty common here in Texas. Can’t wait to hear more!
No kidding! That sounds better to me. 🙂
Canadian Health care is actually a provincial thing. I am from and currenlty live in Ontario but when to University in Nova Scotia. As such there is a catch that you have to be in Ontario for a certain amount of the year to qualify for care. Also if you have been out of the country for a certain amout of time you have to be back in Canada for 3 months to re-qualify for health care. I had a friend living/working in Austraila who had to quit her job and move back to Canada quickly to ensure her benefits would be reinstated prior to her child’s birth.
I am not positive on the details, but it is something you should look into and make sure you are fully aware of.
Oh good catch!! Thank you.
Although I follow your blog, I sometimes skim certain posts, so forgive me if I’m asking questions that have already been answered, but…
Why exactly are you moving to the US…and do you HAVE to, or is it more of a WANT?
I don’t mean this to come off as condescending or anything of that nature, I’m truly speaking from a place of concern: as far as I know, you probably have it made where you are. Do you really want to deal with US healthcare and other policies? (not sure if you plan on having children, but as you said in your last post, US is unforgiving when it comes to maternity leave. We’re unforgiving and at times wholly unfair when it comes to a lot of other things, too! And with our economy in the toilet, jobs are damn near impossible to find.
Now, this might be relative. I’m sure you have much more experience and a higher skill set than I do. But it’s really, really rough here right now. I would not recommend that anyone leave Canada for the US!
You’re an intelligent person and I’m sure you’ve weighed your options when it comes to the matter. I took a look at your figures above, and if you’re able to keep your Canadian health insurance it might be worth it, although I don’t really know how that works! (Remember, here we’re typically billed at least three times for care: A weekly or monthly insurance payment, a co-pay at the doctor’s office, and then additional fees for whatever services you had done. It’s ridiculous!)
I want to move 🙂 I don’t have to.
I am already well aware of how much the US sucks for mat leave, health benefits and a whole host of other things, but for my career and general lifestyle, it is a better option than staying in Canada.
Besides, I can try it out for a few years. If I hate it, I just move back to Canada. No big deal 🙂
There are just more companies here, which means more projects (and BETTER! projects), which means more money for me. I also very much like the US in general with the cost of living in most cities, the stores, the general attitude and way of life.
I really think there’s a problem with politics and everything you mentioned, but the pros outweigh the cons for me, at least, at this point in my life.
There are pros to staying in Canada too, but I want to see if I can be some place without the winter for a year and if it improves my health without having such harsh winters attack it (I have weak lungs).
The only way $600 is possible is if you are not paying for rent or a hotel. I have lived in both NY State (high taxes) for most of my life and in Georgia (very cheap) and $600 is difficult if you are including rent. Not including rent, it should be an easy basket. The cost of living in Texas (where my father currently lives) is on par with Georgia and he said the cost of food is similarly cheap…especially if you cook for yourself.
However, $2,500 also seems very…high. Are you going to be living in a city with a major university? As a recent college grad one of the ways I save money on apartments when I am not in a city for a long time is by doing sublets. If you sublet an apartment the rate is usually significantly cheaper than if you rented it from the landlord. Students sublet their apartments because they are studying abroad, volunteering, etc. I would check out the local craigslist.com listings and even the university board if you can get access.
Best of luck!
The $600 is only possible (WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!) if I am not paying for rent, which I am hoping is the case, as I will be working all year without bench time.
$2500 is very high because living in an apartment hotel is $1300/month. Half my budget goes to “rent” because I can leave at any time, rather than signing a lease, hunting for a sublet, looking for an apartment.
Another option on the mailbox issue is a private postal box, ie, The UPS Store. While more expensive than a USPS box, they offer more services, such as a street address (that can be accepted for a driver’s license), 24-hour access, package acceptance from ALL delivery carriers, mail forwarding if you bounce from hotel to hotel (for a fee), text or email when mail arrives, and you can phone-in during business hours to check for mail to save a trip. Again, more expensive, but overall it’s a better value, especially for the jet-setters like yourself.
WOW!
That’s it. I think I’ll go with a private postal box instead. I need it to forward to hotels without a doubt, especially since it has a street address.
Thank you. I had no idea they existed, I’ve always had an address in Canada as a catch-all, but not in the US (no family here).
ditto the PO Box route. It’s my go-to strategy.
I am just concerned about it being a problem for companies and so on. I have to think it over.
I really wish that I had your drive to save. Alas i am still learning…Welcome to the USA.
~makeupwishesandlopglossdreams.com
“Drive to save”.. I spent most of 2011 spending!!! I am feeling g-u-i-l-t-y. 🙂
I use a PO box for both my license and insurance, however some companies won’t let you do this. It’s worth it to me because I spend time at several addresses (also insurance/registration is much cheaper at some addresses then others….per always do your research)
I thought about a PO box, but I have a feeling that may not fly…
Good point though. I need to really mull this over. The only thing is with a PO box, is all the problems that might come with getting into accidents in other states/letters/mailings/laws.
I think in this case, the private mailbox would be the way to go. It’s different than a PO Box (more general facts:
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/beyondstartup/qt/privatemailbox.htm), but the main benefit is it offering a street address. Another option (the one I use because I have inconsistent residence) is using my parents’ address as my permanent address. I know they aren’t moving, so I just have a box there that I go through every time I go home, and if I’m expecting something or they see a bill, they let me know.
Now that I recall, I tried to get a private mailbox once in Canada for this reason, but they rejected me because they were saying something or another about it not being legal.
I’m pretty sure it was possible, I was just in the wrong location/province because they hadn’t encountered it before.