A couple months into quarantine made us think about our priorities and the things we wanted in life. Did that happen for anyone else?! We weren’t consistently around our community. Our jobs were different because of COVID. My husband and I had this ‘a-ha’ moment and asked the question “what do we want our lives to look like in 5 years?”
We both grew up in good sized homes with big backyards and each child in our family having their own bedroom. So that is the picture in our minds when we dream about having a family. That picture just isn’t possible in California.
In 5 years, we want to own a home and start a family. We want stable jobs without the stress of climbing the latter to make ends meet. We wanted to make the picture in our heads become a reality.
WHY AUSTIN?
I am originally from Texas and my family lives here.
The house prices are much cheaper than California.
Austin is diverse, which is something we really appreciated about California.
Austin is one of the food capitals of the country.
The city is also near Texas wine country.
Austin has beautiful scenery and some really neat outdoor experiences that other parts of Texas don’t have.
HOW DID WE MAKE THE MOVE?
The job hunt took the longest. It took us both about 3 months to get a job. I started to look first because I was eager to make the move. Once I landed a job, we made the move and about 3 months later my husband got a job.
We both made career shifts. I was in the field of ABA Therapy and became a Special Education Teacher. My husband was in the field of Physical Therapy and moved into Healthcare Tech.
Practically, we moved using uhaul’s version of a pod. We packed up almost all of our things and didn’t see it for 3 months until we were able to get a rental home. Since we only had one income, we lived with my dad rent free for a couple months.
ARE WE HAPPY WITH OUR DECISION?
We went from a 750 square foot apartment in Orange County California to a 2,400 square foot home and we only pay an extra hundred dollars more.
Both of our incomes have increased and our cost of living has decreased.
As hard as the last year and several months have been, we still believe we made the right decision for us and are incredibly happy!
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