Damn, my grid access is like 35 bucks a month

Well, we are just two people plus a very little guy. A house with two school age kids would surely use more energy. But for now, we're gone all day, so a/c doesn't run much M-F.

Hell when we had company for a week over Christmas, the usage spiked like 30%.

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We plan on moving back to Texas as soon as we can. We love it up here, we just don't love the people. Montana may be the last frontier, but because of that, it has plenty of drawback.

Also, not fond of triple digits in the summer and sub zero Temps in the winter.

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histag10, just curious. You are in far eastern Montana correct? Are the locals just not friendly to non native Montanans, or is it an oil trash thing, meaning the people you have to deal with are mainly from the oil boom? I've never lived in Montana but know a few, and they seem like decent people. Again, just curious.

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We plan on moving back to Texas as soon as we can. We love it up here, we just don't love the people. Montana may be the last frontier, but because of that, it has plenty of drawback.

Also, not fond of triple digits in the summer and sub zero Temps in the winter.

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histag10, just curious. You are in far eastern Montana correct? Are the locals just not friendly to non native Montanans, or is it an oil trash thing, meaning the people you have to deal with are mainly from the oil boom? I've never lived in Montana but know a few, and they seem like decent people. Again, just curious.

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Yes I live in far eastern Mt (about an hour from nd). They aren't friendly to non locals. I've lived here for over 2 years, and all of my friends are from out of state as well. There is also a major issue of people being uneducated, but not realizing it. I had someone compare my degree from A&M to their associates degree, and say (sincerely ) there is no difference. Blacks and Mexicans are constantly referred to as "them people", meth runs rampant, the hs drop out rate at 16 is around or over 10%. They think Billings is a major us city (less than 150k I believe). The last job I had, I quit because coworkers kept getting angry at me for having "a fancy drgree", and they made my life miserable.

Honestly, the oilfield people are by far the nicest people I have met up here.

Sorry, little bitter these days.

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You are a better earth person than I am.

My bill is much higher but you are using your energy much more conservatively than I.

Nice work on the energy bill Strat. I wasn't trying to be a dick I was just shocked.

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And we thank you for your usage!

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We plan on moving back to Texas as soon as we can. We love it up here, we just don't love the people. Montana may be the last frontier, but because of that, it has plenty of drawback.

Also, not fond of triple digits in the summer and sub zero Temps in the winter.

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histag10, just curious. You are in far eastern Montana correct? Are the locals just not friendly to non native Montanans, or is it an oil trash thing, meaning the people you have to deal with are mainly from the oil boom? I've never lived in Montana but know a few, and they seem like decent people. Again, just curious.

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Yes I live in far eastern Mt (about an hour from nd). They aren't friendly to non locals. I've lived here for over 2 years, and all of my friends are from out of state as well. There is also a major issue of people being uneducated, but not realizing it. I had someone compare my degree from A&M to their associates degree, and say (sincerely ) there is no difference. Blacks and Mexicans are constantly referred to as "them people", meth runs rampant, the hs drop out rate at 16 is around or over 10%. They think Billings is a major us city (less than 150k I believe). The last job I had, I quit because coworkers kept getting angry at me for having "a fancy drgree", and they made my life miserable.

Honestly, the oilfield people are by far the nicest people I have met up here.

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Interesting dynamic. We get a little bit of that in Idaho as a lot of people in the smaller towns resent the hell out of the "big city folks" in Boise. The people getting mad at your "fancy degree" is interesting as heck. I have to assume they feel inadequate.

Wife and I are moving from Fort Worth to studio city ca next month

I can't do California because of COL and the politics. I own several guns and would have to leave like 75% of them behind. But we recently did wine country and San Francisco and I loved it.

I'm working on the wife to move to Denver area. We recently did a trip to Jackson, WY and that did a pretty good job for me. We were wearing jackets on our morning hikes and it was triple digits back home. She enjoyed it so much we are now looking at the option of getting a summer home in Colorado or Wyoming. I assume after that, we eventually stay up there full time. At least until we have kids and will probably move back to be closer to family.

Strat - may I send an email with a few questions about COL, jobs, etc in CO?

Got it, thanks.

I left San Diego for Houston. Was in CA for 15 years. You've gotta make bank to live there, anything less than a household income of $150k isn't really doable if you want to own. Beach areas will get you a tiny house for a million+. Then you have the drought and ever increasing utility bills. I had a long fun time there but I was sick of the place. Houston traffic sucks, but not that much worse than so cal. If you have school aged children it will impact where you live.

If you're young, go have fun, but the math changes the older you get. But if you're banking $250k steady a year you won't have a problem. My small 1250 Sq ft house appreciated 48% in 3 years, I couldn't even afford to buy back the dump I sold. Median price is $480,000 and those homes arent in the best of neighborhoods.

Personally, even if you wanted to go, I'd wait a year. If they dont get massive amounts of rain this winter that whole state is ****ed. Even a normal rainfall isn't enough to undone damage being done.

Moved to Raleigh last year after my wife finished school and we love it here. I was in Houston 9 years previous.

Its cooler here. It does get up into the nineties some but the big difference is that the temp drops when the sun goes down (lower humidity I guess?).

The cost of living is about the same and there is a big tech presence here. Lots of publications call it the best place in the country to get a job. I work at a Fortune 500 and my commute is 18 mins. Everyone thinks it is ridiculous that I have such a long commute. In Houston it was 45+ mins.

Life is too short to be spent living in Houston.
(And no, I'm not from Dallas).

^
I'd replace Houston with Texas.

Everyone says Cali is expensive, and it probably is but this does not become part of your daily life, there is a sticker shock when moving here but as you settle in you deal with your finances just like you might in Dallas or anywhere else. Gas is more, housing is more, etc. etc. but it becomes part of the routine.

Personally, if your coming this way the key to me is get into the real estate market where you can as (knock on wood) the appreciation has been fantastic and the closer to the ocean the better.

I would take the smallest house I could get in a beach city all day long knowing how in demand they are and will continue to be.

Good luck buying in a beach city close to the ocean as a recent grand. Unless Mommy & Daddy are financing you it is unaffordable and I can't post a dozen articles stating that. I had a helluva good time while I was there and I did manage to buy a house 25 miles from the ocean, but it took the collapse of the housing market and 2 years of looking to buy a single family home. I could not do it again today. Just be fully prepared for what is coming if you move. This advice applies more to recent grads than established people with a heavy bank account.

Even if you make median salary for the region you probably won't be able to save enough for a down payment u n less you do 3% down. And even then, good luck.

I just moved to Denver from Houston, and believe me, it has been an awesome change. I didn't hate Houston before I moved there (from Dallas), but after about 6 months I was done. My wife ended up with some really bad respiratory problems from the air quality there, so we had to get out. Instead of going back to Big D, we opted for the Rockies. It was 28 the other morning here, and it felt good - not like the nastiness Houston where it gets 35, muggy, and chills you to the bone. I've been outside more in the past two weeks in Denver than I have in the past four months in Houston.

It also helps that the people here aren't s-heads about you being from Dallas either...

Denver is awesome

Was in NE oklahoma the past 3 years...about an hour from fayeteville and tulsa each way.

Moved to houston in september. Ready for this time next year to make a move