Considering Moving - Information/Opinions/Suggestions Needed

[IggyWH]

I'm sick of living where I live and feel like my life is in sort of a rut. While I feel safe in saying it won't get worse, I also don't see it getting better. I want to try something new while I'm still young, and if it doesn't work out, I can always come back.

I've thought the above way for several years now, but I think I've finally convinced myself to take the leap.


1)Anyone know where I can find "good" cost of living comparisons between where I live now and where I want to move to?

I've went to a couple from a Yahoo search and each one gives a different answer, with a couple telling me I could make less and still live the same quality of life, which I don't believe for a second.

I think the main problem is with the area that I'm looking at, housing is double, maybe triple what it is in Pittsburgh. This can skew things majorly since I'm not looking to buy, just rent. So I'm not worried about all the extras added into housing. From searching on Craigslist, Rent.com and some other places, it looks like rent will be about double what I pay now.


2)Is there a good place to plan out a road trip?

I plan on packing up my car with everything I can cram in it and driving to my new location. I'd like to plan out the trip fully, including my route, how much it will cost me (estimate gas/tolls/stops), etc.

For example, doing a search on Mapquest, it takes me on some toll roads. Doing a search excluding toll roads, it adds 2 hours and a 100 miles to my trip. I would like to know if it's worth it for me to pay the tolls and go the shorter route.

I guess some other important info would be things like is it legal to sleep in such and such state's rest areas.


3)What would you consider a reasonable goal as far as savings should be?

As I said, I am packing up my car with everything I can, I'm pretty much only going to be able to take things like computers, clothes and general electronics. I'd sell off my current furnature and buy new stuff (cheap just to have furnature) in my new area.

You also have to factor in cost of my trip (let's just say $500), probably 2 months rent and living expenses for how long it will take me to find a decent job not having a degree.

I'm sure this is very subjective given so many different variables so any opinions you can give on this I would appreciate it.


4)Any words of wisdom from people who have done such?

I've read many cases of OOTers doing the same so anything you think I should know from your own personal experiences would be great.

[RunDownHouse]

Really, the most reliable source for cost of living is asking us. 2+2ers live all over, and I'd bet you'd get a satisfactory answer within 24 hours. If you've tried internet searches and found that everything is out of date, unreliable, or contradictory, I don't think NT would have a problem with you asking here.

The same sort of thing goes for road trips. When I road trip I like to camp, so I sit down with a map that's got enough detail to show campsites (and, ideally, what kind of site it is), and just plot each stop. I'd imagine its even easier if you're going to stay in motels: just decide how much you want to drive each day, and when you get within 30 minutes of that day's stopping point, look for a motel.

How much are we talking with toll roads? $5? $10? $50? My only experience with toll roads is that each one is something like 85 cents, so I wouldn't even worry about it, but I've never driven all through the northeast.

Any particular reason you don't feel like sharing which areas you're looking into?

[IggyWH]

RDH,

My main area of information wanted is cost of living. However, since there is a finance forum, I figured I would take crap for asking it here in OOT. I figure as you say, I'm sure there's several OOTers that either currently or have lived in the area I'm considering. Also, I read posts all the time about moves so I'm sure others have looked for such information in the past and know of a reliable source.

As far as tolls/Mapquest goes, it says 500 miles of the trip are "portion toll". I could imagine if all 500 miles are toll roads, that could get a tad steep and be best to take the extra 100+ miles and 2 hours to go around them.

I don't really want to share the area I'm considering because :

- it could skew answers based on peoples opinions on the area, both good and bad
- I've never been to this area and I don't know why I even decided on it, so I'd look completely foolish when asked questions about it