TheBud

Hi,
I am considering a relocation to work in NY City. I would be getting 270000 before taxes and was looking to move to Millburn/Short Hills as I have 3 children. Can anyone in a similar situation tell me whether we can manage on this - nothing extravagant - the odd meal out, the odd weekend out. Renting, kids in state schools, and having already bought a car. I don't want to commit without knowing that we will not struggle. Any thoughts on this? I would be grateful for any advice possible and available.
Thank you so much

Hotscot

I think if you restrict your eating out to fast food and shop for clothes in thrift shops you'll manage to scrape by.

hungryhorace

Yeah, I mean, on $270k life is sure gonna be tough down there. You'll probably one be ably to buy two BMW's and send only one child to private school.

rpjs

On that sort of money you could afford to live somewhere a lot nicer than Jersey.

Hell, you could even afford to live in Westchester.

Englishmum

Hmmm. Our house is in Short Hills (which is part of Millburn township) and it's just as attractive and desirable as Westchester - and what's more it's only 20 minutes from Newark Liberty international airport. How long does it take to get to JFK or Newark airports from Westchester?

There is a good commuter train service to NY Penn (Midtown) and also Hoboken to connect with the PATH subway and NY Waterways ferries for the financial district/lower Manhatten. Many times I've been on my own on the train after a night out with friends in NYC and felt quite safe walking home from SH station at midnight or later. The town has thousands of trees and the streets are not laid out on a grid system, so it is like an affluent English town in some respects. Very few houses look the same as the ones next door, I like it that it's not homogenous. There is also a huge reservation at the edge of Millburn and SH.

To the O/P - yes you will be fine on that salary afaik. The public schools are amongst the best in the USA so no worries on that score and it's an excellent place to raise a family.

Pulaski

You're going to lose about $95k to direct income taxes, compulsory deductions, and health insurance, which will leave you almost $15k/mth for all your living expenses. You will probably want to set your budget for rent and then work back from there as to what you can afford to do with the rest.

Hotscot

Either way I don't think anyone would "struggle" on that money hence why I thought the OP was possibly trolling.

steveq

270k isn't enough to make me want to live in NJ.

Jerseygirl

What a ridiculous remark. I lived in lovely rural part of NJ...virtually crime free...stood schools. NYC was a 45 mins drive away...25 mins away from Newark Airport which allowed me to fly direct to Manchester UK. Only a few hours away from DC, Boston etc...Philly is even closer. Some of the richest people in the country have estates in NJ...so it can't be too bad. Admittedly NJ is one if the most expensive states to live.

steveq

Ooh. Someone's sarcasm detector needs urgent recalibration.

Pulaski

Being able to escape to Manchester is a plus? NJ must be even worse than I thought!

jmood

The only good thing about NJ is that it is relatively near NYC. Though of course everything is relative and I've never even been to red-neck land.