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Moving to a Cheaper Area to Pay Off debt

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Salama2017

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I have just paid off my $12,500 in credit card debt and now I am focused on paying off $37,000 in student loan debts. My monthly payments for the student loans are $250 but I plan on paying about $500 every month in order to pay off the loan faster. Other than this loan and rent, and do not have any other major bills.

However, living in Sacramento or anywhere in California is becoming too costly. I work for a company that has locations in most major cities in the US. I am just not sure which city has the lowest living costs as far as rent.

I really want to focus on building a business but the student loan debt is like a shadow that I cannot stop thinking about.

Being in debt is a great motivator to seek ways on earning extra income. I have tried getting an extra job but it would still take a long time to pay off the debt since the cost of living out here is rising. My rent just went up 15% and I am sure it will keep going up.

Any suggestions on the cheapest city to live in for people in my situation?
 
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beproducer

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How much are you payed and how much are your livings costs ? just to get the thing more obvious
 

AgainstAllOdds

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Any suggestions on the cheapest city to live in for people in my situation?

The cheapest place to live for most people is moving back in with their parents. Probably not what you want to hear.

Other than that, look up a cost of living calculator and look at the cities that you could potentially live in doing your job. Some places are a lot better than others.

For example, in Dallas the houses are about half the price of comparable houses in Chicago, and people on average make a little bit more. There are good markets to explore.
 

Kak

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I have just paid off my $12,500 in credit card debt and now I am focused on paying off $37,000 in student loan debts. My monthly payments for the student loans are $250 but I plan on paying about $500 every month in order to pay off the loan faster. Other than this loan and rent, and do not have any other major bills.

However, living in Sacramento or anywhere in California is becoming too costly. I work for a company that has locations in most major cities in the US. I am just not sure which city has the lowest living costs as far as rent.

I really want to focus on building a business but the student loan debt is like a shadow that I cannot stop thinking about.

Being in debt is a great motivator to seek ways on earning extra income. I have tried getting an extra job but it would still take a long time to pay off the debt since the cost of living out here is rising. My rent just went up 15% and I am sure it will keep going up.

Any suggestions on the cheapest city to live in for people in my situation?

Leaving the regulatory and tax environment of California is a good move either way you slice this.

If it was me, I would move, not to necessarily pay off the debt, but to just be in a more friendly business environment.

Hint, look in red states.

At $250 per month, the debt is really not that big of a deal. I am sure it is super low interest too. Personally, I would put it on autopay and just learn to live with it, for now, and invest your time and effort into increasing your income instead of worrying about the debt number.

You seem like a smart guy... I bet this method even ends up paying the debt off faster than dealing with it first.
 
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G-Man

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If your company has offices in states with no income tax that might be a good bet. There's a decent chance that just the state income tax savings will make that student loan payment for you. I ran a hypothetical $50k annual salary through an internet calculator for Texas and California. The difference in monthly after tax income was almost $200 on that small salary. And that's before you factor in the lower cost of living in Texas or Florida or somewhere else.

During the great depression, a journalist asked an economist what, in his expert opinion, the people of a certain part of the country needed to escape poverty. The economist replied "luggage".

No idea if that's true or not, but I certainly want it to be :rofl:

EDIT: as someone who lives in Texas, all we ask is that when you move here you don't vote for the same things that made your previous state undesirable to live in.
 

Salama2017

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The cheapest place to live for most people is moving back in with their parents. Probably not what you want to hear.

Other than that, look up a cost of living calculator and look at the cities that you could potentially live in doing your job. Some places are a lot better than others.

For example, in Dallas the houses are about half the price of comparable houses in Chicago, and people on average make a little bit more. There are good markets to explore.
Unfortunately moving back in with parents is not an option for me. Dallas looks really good as far as rent. The company does have a location there. Thanks!
 
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Salama2017

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Leaving the regulatory and tax environment of California is a good move either way you slice this.

If it was me, I would move, not to necessarily pay off the debt, but to just be in a more friendly business environment.

Hint, look in red states.

At $250 per month, the debt is really not that big of a deal. I am sure it is super low interest too. Personally, I would put it on autopay and just learn to live with it, for now, and invest your time and effort into increasing your income instead of worrying about the debt number.

You seem like a smart guy... I bet this method even ends up paying the debt off faster than dealing with it first.
The debt has 5.9% interest rate. This is really low compared to most loans. I guess I need to focus more on increasing my income through a better business environment rather than just focusing on paying off debt.
Will be researching the best business environment for my situation.
It is challenging when you have lived in one state your whole life. It's even more challenging when that state is California. Thanks for the advice @Kak.
 

meridian_blue

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The debt has 5.9% interest rate. This is really low compared to most loans. I guess I need to focus more on increasing my income through a better business environment rather than just focusing on paying off debt.

I think this is exactly the right way to look at it. Granted, it's not fun to know you have debt over your head, but paying off this loan early is essentially the same as investing your money at a 5.9% annual return (since that's what your saving in interest payments). I bet you'll be able to make way more than that investing in a solid business.
 

Salama2017

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If your company has offices in states with no income tax that might be a good bet. There's a decent chance that just the state income tax savings will make that student loan payment for you. I ran a hypothetical $50k annual salary through an internet calculator for Texas and California. The difference in monthly after tax income was almost $200 on that small salary. And that's before you factor in the lower cost of living in Texas or Florida or somewhere else.

During the great depression, a journalist asked an economist what, in his expert opinion, the people of a certain part of the country needed to escape poverty. The economist replied "luggage".

No idea if that's true or not, but I certainly want it to be :rofl:

EDIT: as someone who lives in Texas, all we ask is that when you move here you don't vote for the same things that made your previous state undesirable to live in.
@G-Man I work for Costco Wholesale. I am not sure if Costco has warehouses in states with no income taxes. I will be researching that tonight.

I tried getting another job and started neglecting my business. This is one of the major reasons why I would rather move to a cheaper yet business-friendly city in order to have enough time to work on my business while working.

As far as voting, I'm now learning the hard way. I never really research when voting. I normally vote just to vote. I then complain when things get hard. I'll be paying more attention now.
 
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Salama2017

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Arizona, we take tons of cali expats. Texas too. New mexicos beautiful.

Pack all your stuff up and just drive east :hilarious:
Lol... I might end up doing that before I start overthinking. I like Arizona but o hear it can be like Death Valley sometimes.
But since my goal is to increase income and cut cost, Arizona is also on my list...Phoenix in general.
 

MHP368

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I like Arizona but o hear it can be like Death Valley sometimes

Nah , I was born and raised here ,basically june through mid september if you arent indoors with AC youre in a car with AC.

Heat is much easier to deal with than cold.

Bonus year round swimming too (that used to blow the minds of my family from chicago , november swimming)
 

RazorCut

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At $250 per month, the debt is really not that big of a deal. I am sure it is super low interest too. Personally, I would put it on autopay and just learn to live with it, for now, and invest your time and effort into increasing your income instead of worrying about the debt number.

This. :thumbsup:

Use the extra $250 a month plus any other money you save by moving to a lower cost of living area for your own startup so you can be free of working for an employer and making them rich.

Obviously check what your company offers wage wise in different locations. If an area is a lot cheaper to live in does that mean your company pays correspondingly lower wages there? You really want the best compromise at the end of the day after all.
 
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Solais

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I have just paid off my $12,500 in credit card debt and now I am focused on paying off $37,000 in student loan debts. My monthly payments for the student loans are $250 but I plan on paying about $500 every month in order to pay off the loan faster. Other than this loan and rent, and do not have any other major bills.

However, living in Sacramento or anywhere in California is becoming too costly. I work for a company that has locations in most major cities in the US. I am just not sure which city has the lowest living costs as far as rent.

I really want to focus on building a business but the student loan debt is like a shadow that I cannot stop thinking about.

Being in debt is a great motivator to seek ways on earning extra income. I have tried getting an extra job but it would still take a long time to pay off the debt since the cost of living out here is rising. My rent just went up 15% and I am sure it will keep going up.

Any suggestions on the cheapest city to live in for people in my situation?

Use Google lol...


Choose a low COL city but be wary of crime/lack of safety
 

Pink Sheep

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If you can move to lower rent AND ignore your loan that is +
250 +rent savings you can invest every month in your fastlane.

Think how much you can do with that
 

Teddy L Wang

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I have just paid off my $12,500 in credit card debt and now I am focused on paying off $37,000 in student loan debts. My monthly payments for the student loans are $250 but I plan on paying about $500 every month in order to pay off the loan faster. Other than this loan and rent, and do not have any other major bills.

However, living in Sacramento or anywhere in California is becoming too costly. I work for a company that has locations in most major cities in the US. I am just not sure which city has the lowest living costs as far as rent.

I really want to focus on building a business but the student loan debt is like a shadow that I cannot stop thinking about.

Being in debt is a great motivator to seek ways on earning extra income. I have tried getting an extra job but it would still take a long time to pay off the debt since the cost of living out here is rising. My rent just went up 15% and I am sure it will keep going up.

Any suggestions on the cheapest city to live in for people in my situation?
taiwan. health care is practically nothing. constant demand for english speaking education professions. fast internet and low startup costs. an abundance of cheap, delicious food. nearly every convenience is local...
 
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DustinH

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EDIT: as someone who lives in Texas, all we ask is that when you move here you don't vote for the same things that made your previous state undesirable to live in.

Same goes for Tennessee.
 

Michael Burgess

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I think it's worth noting that a lower cost of living area might also mean a lower personal income area, as well. That obviously depends on how you get your income and how (if) location plays into it.

Maybe move to a lower COL area and buy a house hack?
 
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Salama2017

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DustinH

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@Salama2017 , I am in the same predicament. Not sure how accurate the calculator below is, but I just used it to check out a couple cities I am interested in checking out.

Cost of Living Calculator | NerdWallet - City and Salary Comparison Tool

Here are a couple more COL resources:


 
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nyc217

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Here are a couple more COL resources:



Thanks for sharing!
 

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