March 2013 Chit Chat - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[TalkToMeNow]

So cool, Ash! I went out to a local place with a friend last night. Second time since j was born. I was gone for three hours, and dh texted me ten times with questions or concerns about J. Yep.

[seraf]

Amanda, you mean he didn't clean the whole house and make meals for the whole week in those 3 hours?

[dashley111]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Amanda, you mean he didn't clean the whole house and make meals for the whole week in those 3 hours?

Hahaha! Funny.

I am very excited. Me and DH get some alone time also which is just so so very rare! I baked special nut/soy/wheat/dairy free cookies and told MIL that if B absolutely won't calm down....just give her cookies :P. I will be at the very least an hour and a half away so just rushing home isn't really an option.

[seraf]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

I baked special nut/soy/wheat/dairy free cookies and told MIL that if B absolutely won't calm down....just give her cookies :P. I will be at the very least an hour and a half away so just rushing home isn't really an option.

So what's in them?

[Becky Wheeler]

Holy crap! $1200+ for a TWO bedroom? Most THREE bedroom apartments are $900-1100 here. Id suggest a move. lol If we had to pay twelve hundred a month for rent we wouldnt have power or be able to eat!(2000 a month income)

[seraf]

Becky, hopefully the jobs on the coast pay better than our Midwestern jobs.

[dashley111]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Becky, hopefully the jobs on the coast pay better than our Midwestern jobs.

Oh they most definitely do! We researched It when we were considering a transfer. Our wage here goes way further the further in we checked.

[Becky Wheeler]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

Oh they most definitely do! We researched It when we were considering a transfer. Our wage here goes way further the further in we checked.

I know better populated states with bigger cities pay better but its still hard to wrap my head around $1200 being affordable. lol

[Autumnshades]

$1200 isn't affordable on a single income. Hence the reason we are thinking of moving. We have been barely scraping by...

[dashley111]

Originally Posted by Becky Wheeler 

I know better populated states with bigger cities pay better but its still hard to wrap my head around $1200 being affordable. lol

Around here $1200 is a very median price for a 3 bedroom, average sized house. I would say the average for a modest 2 bed is $1000. It's interesting how much I varies depending on area.

[TalkToMeNow]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Amanda, you mean he didn't clean the whole house and make meals for the whole week in those 3 hours?

I know, right?! Lazy! I was expecting at the very least a reorganized pantry and all the baseboards scrubbed. Sigh.

Housing: Atlanta is fairly reasonable as far as big cities go. We used to pay $1200 for a three bedroom apartment. Now we pay $1350 for a four bedroom, three bathroom house with a full basement in a nice neighborhood. That is fairly average in our area. The only way to pay less would be to move to an unsafe area with poor schools. The good thing here is that you can buy a very decent house in a good school district for less that $200k.

[KayPea]

Originally Posted by dashley111 

Around here $1200 is a very median price for a 3 bedroom, average sized house. I would say the average for a modest 2 bed is $1000. It's interesting how much I varies depending on area.

Yeah, in Vancouver you get a two-bedroom APARTMENT for $1200. In someone's basement, or in a leaky building. 700 sq ft. In a decent neighborhood. You can get cheaper if you are willing to be a 45-min bus ride from all the good stuff. There aren't usually whole detached houses for rent (they're almost all split into apartments to increase rental revenue) but if there are they'd be in the $2000 range for a two-bedroom, and $2500 for a 3-bedroom. And these aren't new, fancy houses or anything. Usually they are older and not renovated. This is why we moved! But, some of that cost is offset by the fact that you don't need a car (we were a no-car family for 12 years living where we did!) And the job factor - better jobs in the city, for sure, if you are a professional. Cost of living otherwise is high, though. Food in Van is probably 50% more than in the valley (which I believe is more than in the States) and buying anything secondhand is difficult. We were just barely scraping by on one income.

Anyway... rear-facing as long as possible for us too. At least to two. Hopefully closer to 3.

[Autumnshades]

To get a 3 bedroom townhouse would cost $2000 and up. It is crazy... Most new 1 bedroom apartments/condos go are over $1000. We are in an older building. We got lucky because the previous person lived here for 15 years and once they moved out the apartment was stripped down, and they put new carpets in, fesh paint and new bathroom fixtures/light fixture. Apartently the previous people were really dirty people:( cat pee etc yuck

I am still feeling worried about Eli and this car trip. I will rear face him for sure... Since birth he has maybe been in a car a hand full of times and he HATED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of the trips. Can't blame the poor kid, it is a strange thing for him to be in a car. And someone else mentioned their kid finding night driving scary - we traveled by night once when my inlaws were here and Eli freaked out - we put the door light on above his head which calmed him down.

[MrsKatie]

I've lived in the Bay Area, NYC, Paris, and now Portland, so our current rent (just about $1000 for a 1bed/1bath 560-sq-foot apartment) is a bargain to me. In Oakland we paid 1900 for a 2-br duplex in a shady spot. Got broken in to multiple times. Once while I was home taking a nap in the middle of the day. Naked. Seriously.

Yay for going out without babies!

And finally... KJ is walking!!!!

[dashley111]

I grew

Originally Posted by MrsKatie 

I've lived in the Bay Area, NYC, Paris, and now Portland, so our current rent (just about $1000 for a 1bed/1bath 560-sq-foot apartment) is a bargain to me. In Oakland we paid 1900 for a 2-br duplex in a shady spot. Got broken in to multiple times. Once while I was home taking a nap in the middle of the day. Naked. Seriously.

Yay for going out without babies!

And finally... KJ is walking!!!!

Yay KJ!

I grew up in the Bay Area. I totally believe it.

[seraf]

Lol, Amanda, if I came home to a reorganized pantry I would probably make whoever did it do all the cooking. I can never find stuff when someone decides to organize my pantry. That said, I will have half the pantry space in the new house, but I won't trip over anyone on the kitchen.

About houses, all mine have been fixer uppers so they've been cheap. I am moving from a 25k duplex in a ghost town to 55k single family home on a double lot in a working class neighborhood. Rich blocks poor blocks is a cool map of average incomes and rents by zip code. I don't think it goes high enough.

[TalkToMeNow]

That is cool, Sara. It definitely doesn't go high enough. $1,088 a month is a bit low. Oddly enough, my block is the darkest (most expensive) it gets. Of course, so are most of the other blocks nearby. We live in the district for one of the best high schools in the state. 

Another interesting but sad fact... Atlanta is super diverse. The population of the city itself is around 60% African American, I believe. And on the map, there is a dividing line of north- high rent, south- low rent. That is also perfectly placed to be the dividing line for race. You can also identify the primarily Latino areas by low rent colors. Of course, there is a huge black, Latino, and Asian middle and upper class... I'm just talking about inside the city. Most of the middle class lives in the suburbs.  Anyway, like I said... fascinating and and troubling. 

[CDsMom1031]

Yeah, the 2-bed 2-bath apartment I had right before we bought our home was $815/month, and that included cable/internet, LOL.

Our house is 4-bed 2-bath, 2300 sq. ft. and WITH taxes and insurance escrowed into the payment, we pay $790/month.

[LunaLady]

Wow... such fascinating conversation! I love this kind of 'slice of life's stuff.

Our mortgage is $1500 a month for our 3bed/3bath 900sqft plus unfinished basement house. I think it would be about the same or a little less to rent. Our neighbor just put their house up for rent for that price and the For Rent sign came down within about 48 hours! We live in a mixed income area. Our house is old. We are actually in the process of renovating it! We are doing the kitchen next!! We are actually hoping to sell this year and move back to the upper eastside closer to Microsoft where dh works.

[ZippyGirl]

I forgot to tell Becky, very cute pics of Casey!!!!!!

I love this "slice of life" stuff as well.  Unfortunately, we live in a very expensive area outside of NYC.  I am sure I have mentioned that we are trying to figure out where to move!!!!!  As mentioned earlier, people tend to have higher incomes in this area, but we know lots of people who are barely scraping by despite an income that seems pretty high from a national average perspective, but doesn't go very far here because of the cost of living and taxes.  A lot of our friends have moved to more middle market places where they can still make a decent income but have a lower cost of living; it makes a lot more sense! 

I just checked our local apartment complex for their rents, and they have them listed for $2,905-$3,065 for a 2-bedroom.  The median home price in our town is $1.250M.  That will get you a 3-4 bedroom home.