Can you help my wife too?

[Crimson]

I have 4 wonderful children and a great wife. She extended her college years to seven because of our growing family and got her teaching license. However, Indiana doesn't have a budget for teachers this year and it's crap market for her to be in. However, Florida is in real need and she got offered a job. We have been living off just my income for the last 4 months and the house isn't going to be easy to sell. Kids are kids and their little dogs too.

So I suggested maybe going without us - to really get into her job and maybe we could follow later after the kids finish their own school year. I have a pretty stable job and don't want to give it up for a job she may not even like. It would be a hard, emtionally draining challenge. They want her to decide quickly because they are in need. Obviously, she will have to pay her living expenses and I could use the rest for daycare and taking care of the kids. All of us moving would break us but her going by herself might provide valuable experience with a "break even" budget. We are very torn. Any ideas on that?

[vtwin_gary]

i think going one at a time is a good idea. that is exactly what my wife & i did when we moved to florida (where are you going, if you go) it was stressful but she was able to look for a house, buy new furniture, research the schools & do all the stuff i didn't want to. but on the down side i had to pack up EVERYTHING in our old house when it was time to move. good luck & let us know how it turns out.

[jimking]

The only thing that comes to my mind is pay. I HEAR the pay can be pretty low in Florada. Be careful.

[defjoe]

My wife is a teacher here in florida, the pay is moderate with the standards around the country. But one thing your wife has to keep in mind is the FL Education system is pathetic. in complete chaos (no surprise there with a Bush in charge of the state). what part of FL is it?

[Crimson]

It would be in Desoto county I think. Kind of between St. Pete and Fort Myers.

[defjoe]

don't know alot about it down there. we live in Orange, all I know is my wife has 21 kids and all speak little or no English. that seems typical, every year is the same.

[greyghost]

Oh God don't move to Florida.
It's a teaching hell-hole. The pay is pathetic, the schools are terrible, the teachers are overworked and the price of real-estate is through the roof. We couldn't afford a house over 80K if we wanted to be within our budget (my husband is a teacher and has a masters, teaches special ed, so he even made a couple grand more than reg. ed). 80K does not buy you a house.

Our little 2br/1ba house in a small town an HOUR from Tampa (think drive time with gasoline prices now) sold for 120K. Let me give you a picture of my old neighborhood: the house across the street has no grass. The one next to it is a modified trailer looking thing. The one next to it was okay, the one next to it had four families in it, complete with kids touting air-horns. On my side of the street, to my right, I had a guy whose house could fall over anyday, and never mowed. On the other side I had a neighbor who liked to collect other people's trash. In her backyard was an old car, all kinds of trash like couches and lawn crap and furniture. She had a dear sweet angel of a pittie tied to a tree - his water dish was an old paint tray (paint still in it!) and his food bowl was a terra-cotta plant dish. Half the time he couldn't reach his water, and he had no shelter. I hope he escaped, I really do.
Next to them was a fat guy who sold weed and some harder drugs.

Great neighborhood for a house that sold for 120K, huh?

Further, there ARE NO GRAPHICS JOBS IN FLORIDA. The place is a hell-hole for anyone but the retired. The Tampa Tribune pays 27K, with experience. AAA Going Places Magazine is based in Tampa. They pay less. There are no jobs. Just trust me, I looked and went freelance.

Now let's talk a few other things about Florida that they won't tell you on the sunny happy brochures:
It's HOT 9 months of the year in Central Florida. In South Florida it's HOT 11 months of the year. It's eternal MFing summer! 90+ degrees nearly every day. The nights are even hot. It's so hot you don't WANT to go outside, not for any pancaking reason. During the three hottest months (July, August, September) even the breeze is hot - like oven door hot. The humidity is off the scale. The only things that love that are alligators and mosquitos, and believe you me, the mosquitoes love you!! And there are SWARMS of them.

Something else: Gas is more expensive in FL- there's a 20 cent difference between GA and FL's gas prices. Basic items like milk and cheese cost more. Everything you buy is taxed, the roads are taxed (if you want to go anywhere without sitting in traffic forever, you take the toll road).

Moving from Florida was the smartest thing I ever did.

Are you convinced yet? Do I need to go on? STAY IN INDIANAPOLIS, find a job somewhere else, but PLEASE DON'T MOVE TO FLORIDA.

[greyghost]

Actually, let me add to it anyway.
Just on the teaching note:
My husband teaches special ed. With a master's degree. 6 years experience. K?

In Florida: 23 SLD/EH kids (in the same classroom) with no para to help.

In Georgia: 12 Autistic kids, two full time special ed teachers, two full time paras. Pay is 10K a year higher.

Need I say more?

Oh yeah - and we could get a NICE 2br/1.5 bath house in town for 65K. Fireplaces, 10ft ceilings, wood floors, on an acre.IN GA.

There is a REASON why Florida is hurting for teachers.

[greyghost]

It would be in Desoto county I think. Kind of between St. Pete and Fort Myers.

I know exactly where you will be then. It is not a cheap area to live at all. And seriously, no graphics jobs. I worked in Tampa for a while, then Brandon, looked in St. Pete...

Have I said enough?

[Crimson]

What about our mighty Defjoe. He lives and works there. Is greyghost correct?

[jimking]

:eek:

[PrintDriver]

I'm still ogling at the concept of an 80K house!!! A simple but nice 3 bedroom ranch outside the 50 mile radius of Boston is 275K plus!!! You gotta go out to the 75/100 mile radius to get much for below 200K. Inside 50 miles, a bungalow will set you back 300K.
Talk about sticker shock.

[jimking]

The county I live in is so high a one bedroom condo is close to $300,000.

[defjoe]

Uhhhm I don't know where she lived... but it's not THAT bad. sure areas are bad... like uhhmmm any other state. We moved from MA almost 6 years ago and it was the best thing we could have done. Greyghost.. .you thikn housing is expensive HERE? you have NO clue. what you can get here for $150K is like $350+ in New england. no design jobs? where? I see plenty here in orlando. that's one of the reason's my wife and I moved her. We both got raises to boot. now at this point in her career she could be making more back in NE but the cost of living is higher there so it evens out.

Gas? before this hurricane... was always much cheaper here. Our friends and relative would come an visit and say how cheap gas was.

Taxes... uhmm once again TAXACHUSETTS.. it has that nickname for a reason.

sure some things suck... people are SLOW down here. not just moving slow but a little slow up top. I think that has alot to do with the edumacation system. My wife is constantly fighting battles with admisitration... they just do things ass backwards as far as that goes.

oh and St Pete and Sarasota area... uhhmmm the coast! of course there is not many graphic jobs there... it all coastal/vacation town (though it a beautiful area).

[greyghost]

I'm still ogling at the concept of an 80K house!!! A simple but nice 3 bedroom ranch outside the 50 mile radius of Boston is 275K plus!!! You gotta go out to the 75/100 mile radius to get much for below 200K. Inside 50 miles, a bungalow will set you back 300K.
Talk about sticker shock.


Well, ogle more:

We bought a 2br/1ba 1300 sq ft house in town, with a 1 br/1ba mother in law suite in the back, for 32K.

Granted, we are remodeling. But the place has great curb appeal, and it isn't in terrible shape. The house has a great layout and a HUGE attic we could add 2 bedrooms and another bath if we wanted. The in-law is almost finished with our remodel, we had to rearrange it a little because we are picky but... for 32K and a place we can rent out to seasonal tourists, I am not complaining.

[greyghost]

There are more graphics jobs in Orlando. I just couldn't bring myself to live in a tourist town.

I am very sour on FL and I will freely admit it.

My folks used to have a house in Taxachusetts. I know New England is terrible for housing and everything else - why do you think I moved to the middle of nowhere? I got mountain views, decent weather (not so intelligent people in my neck of the woods tho)...

[defjoe]

PART of orlando is tourist.. orlando is VERY big. VERY big. My wife and i thought the same as you. but last time we visited before we moved here we took a ride away from the parks and found it very nice. the tourist area is very small in comparison.

[no-design]

I would have to agree with Joe. Florida (at least central) is OVERALL a great place to live. In regards to moving here to teach, her experience will vary greatly depending on the county she works in and even what area within the county. I can tell you that Orange County teachers are on the highest pay scale in central Florida (go to ocps.net for more info about orange county). There are also a lot of teacher incentives in regards to buying a house in the county you teach in. I could go on forever, if you want more info...ask. :p

[Broacher]

On-line hearsay, over the years, on many graphic forums, has left me with the impression that Florida is a graphic design career sinkhole. I'm sure that there are exceptions, but I've heard a lot of tales of sweatshops, low wages--and generally low business scruples and chronic exploitation. The exception might be in the one area where there's a lot of activity: real estate. But I wouldn't count on it. Much of that gets farmed out anyways. Or just stolen.

There are many parallels with the Niagara region, where I live, and Florida. Lots of tourism, lots of retirees. This combo cultivates a kind of penny pinching mentality, where dollar store mentality sinks in. And the older the population, the less willing they are to pay, or really care too much for, for the overall appearance of things. It's less receptive to much of the focus of the contemporary focus of the marketing world-- ironic humour, zany trends-- water off a duck. Seniors are for the most part, right out of the central marketing loop, and they don't feel the least sorry for it (can't say I blame them, truth be told.)

Now, show a baby or a puppy... 'nuther story.

[Russian girl]

The only things that love that are alligators and mosquitos, and believe you me, the mosquitoes love you!! And there are SWARMS of them.

Jesus Christ.....*wide open eyes*

[greyghost]

Jesus Christ.....*wide open eyes*

I once went out on a hike with a friend in FL. We kept a pretty brisk pace, but over the course of a half hour we kept hearing the buzzing behind us get a little louder. We turned around - and I kid you not - there was a CLOUD of mosquitos. I mean a cloud bigger than we were! We took one glance at each other and started running down the path trying to shake them. We even had repellant on, but these were so thirsty they really didn't seem to care - they were going to try anyway! We had to hike a couple extra hours beyond what we had planned just to find a higher place with a breeze so we could eat lunch.

[Russian girl]

OH DEAR!!!

My classmate has been in Orlando last year and he told me it's amazing and he wants to move there etc... I know, when you're going somewhere on holidays you won't notice some things people who live there know and see each day, but....i'm deeply impressed hearing such things about Florida now...

[greyghost]

Here: a good reason not to live in FL:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/09/tropical.weather/index.html

[defjoe]

every region has their things to deal with. Up north it's winter that goes on for about 9 months out of the year.

[defjoe]

here is a reason to live in florida

http://www.derekseibert.com/snow/images/Snow%20Storm%202003%20044.jpg

[keith1]

I like to live in Michigan because I like variety but that's just me.

Winter has snow
Flowers bloom in spring
Summer is hot 80+
Fall has pretty colored leaves

And our lakes are so big it's just like going to the ocean without the salt. ;P

[greyghost]

lol - defjoe, that's just too cold!
FL , IMHO, is just the extreme opposite of living in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin: 9 months of bitter cold, 3 months of beautiful weather
Florida: 9 months of scorching heat, 3 months of nice weather.

[defjoe]

i'll take the heat over the cold anyday.

[Mynock]

lol - defjoe, that's just too cold!
FL , IMHO, is just the extreme opposite of living in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin: 9 months of bitter cold, 3 months of beautiful weather
Florida: 9 months of scorching heat, 3 months of nice weather.
in MN it's more like:
7 months bitter-bitter cold with snow
2 months transition weather that's not too bad, fall and such
3 months of nice weather

[jimintn]

I like to live in Michigan because I like variety but that's just me.

Winter has snow
Flowers bloom in spring
Summer is hot 80+
Fall has pretty colored leaves

And our lakes are so big it's just like going to the ocean without the salt. ;P

You have to admit, some of the lakes in Michigan are great.

[keith1]

They're so great they're called the Great Lakes. Go figure!

[Lonepine]

You should move to Tennessee. It's a kick-ass state.

[Crimson]

My wife hasn't gotten any job offers there. Only FL.

[Mynock]

You should move to Tennessee. It's a kick-ass state.
but that's where jimintn lives

[Lonepine]

As opposed to jiminak?

[jimintn]

who is this jiminak? is he the one that has been posting all that crazy stuff disguised as me?

[Lonepine]

I do declare... jimintn! You and I are practically neighbors!

[jimintn]

really? what part of the state are you in?

I've lived in Tennessee for a little over 10 years, can't see being anywhere else

[greyghost]

My wife hasn't gotten any job offers there. Only FL.


Okay one more example of why I found it beneficial to leave the Sunsh!t State.

Insurance.

We had three houses. Ours and two rentals. Thanks to the hurricanes, I saw our insurance rates going up. Well we finally signed the closing documents on the last rental yesterday.

Our buyers are paying $3,000 a year on insurance. On a house they are paying only 70K for. This is a semi-rough neighborhood, right across the tracks.

The first two years we owned it, we had it insured for 35K. That's how much the mortgage was, roughly. Insurance was $650/year. That's it.
Then these hurricanes came. Some of the flood charts got altered, and we had to add flood insurance. That was last year, in October - had to add $250 to the insurance for flood.

Our buyers are using the SAME insurance compaines we did. Their hazard insurance is just over 2K and the flood insurance is $892.00.

[Lonepine]

Hey jimintn! I hail from the area known as VOL Country. I'm sure you can guess where that is.