The Economics of our Move
Another rainy Santa Fe day. What an October! On this dark, gloomy, end of the month morning I am paying bills and going over finances.
We've been living at Walking Rain for 15 months, and now that I have a full year of expenses to compare, excluding those first months of installation and moving costs, I can compare what it costs to live here versus Connecticut.
The verdict? It's cheaper to live here.
Utilities
We pay much less for natural gas, electricity, water, sewer, and trash. It seems counterintuitive, since water rates are so high in Santa Fe and we don't have the luxury of zero electric bills because of solar panels, but when all is added up, it's less. We just don't use that much water, despite higher rates (no lawn, no baths, fewer showers, very small courtyard gardens) and in a balmier, drier, nicer climate -- at least in all those months when it didn't rain all the time -- it's all just so much less costly to run a house.
Property Taxes
So. Much. Cheaper. We pay $7,000 less annually, on a property that is smaller, but still roomy and nice. Over a few years that adds up. Really adds up. We know we get less -- schools in the state are poor, infrastructure needs work, services are short staffed, but the bubble of a city that we live in is lovely, friendly and nice.
Insurance
Very cheap here. The houses in Santa Fe are a beautifully iconic style but they are basically boxes clad in cement. Not much there to replace if it gets burned down or flooded out. We save a thousand a year on home insurance.
Home Maintenance
Much cheaper. We have no snow removal bills, no lawn fertilization, or irrigation system maintenance or tree pest management / fertilization costs. No lawn mower or snowblower repairs or gas.
I do have to pay for an ant man. We have a pest removal service that comes four times a year to eliminate the scourge of living in a sandy climate-- ants -- but it is still way less expensive than all the maintenance costs back east.
Association Dues
Our HOA fees are a lot less here and we get more -- a pool, clubhouse, walking trails. It's a much, much bigger community so costs are spread out more, and the streets are public, not privately maintained, so the economics are more efficient.
The Move
We sold our Connecticut house at a very, very big loss. We had bought it in 2004 at the height of the housing bubble, added improvements, and sold for $40,000 less than we paid. I continue to read real estate listings all the time, and prices haven't recovered in our former town in the 15 months we've been here, and it is what it was, and we lost money selling. Ooof.
Food and Entertainment and Nice Living
We eat out too much here. Too many choices, all good, some quite expensive. We spend a lot, we eat well, we travel a bit, we see movies, go to museums, and we buy stuff at the farmer's market. All fun. All costly. No savings here. Move along . . .
Cable, Shopping, Security
It's all about the same as what we paid in Connecticut. I shop for clothes and household goods online, so that's the same. We pay for a security system, -- are we more vulnerable here? We live in a city, there have been some car break ins in the neighborhood, and the mailboxes were once ransacked. I feel safe here, but we pay for security.
Groceries, gas for the car, and incidentals are all about the same as back east, maybe a bit more.
After 15 months I can say the big savings is in the ongoing running of this house. It's so much less expensive. The move itself was a loss -- the sold price of our home, the $10,000 cross country moving van, and the costs of disposing of half our household goods back east -- that was all a big financial hit.
But if we can manage to live here for a few moredecades years at such lower costs, it will all have been made up.
Plus, we like it here.
We've been living at Walking Rain for 15 months, and now that I have a full year of expenses to compare, excluding those first months of installation and moving costs, I can compare what it costs to live here versus Connecticut.
 |
| I compare all our cost of living bills to what we paid before the move |
The verdict? It's cheaper to live here.
Utilities
We pay much less for natural gas, electricity, water, sewer, and trash. It seems counterintuitive, since water rates are so high in Santa Fe and we don't have the luxury of zero electric bills because of solar panels, but when all is added up, it's less. We just don't use that much water, despite higher rates (no lawn, no baths, fewer showers, very small courtyard gardens) and in a balmier, drier, nicer climate -- at least in all those months when it didn't rain all the time -- it's all just so much less costly to run a house.
 |
| Utilities are much less expensive here |
Property Taxes
So. Much. Cheaper. We pay $7,000 less annually, on a property that is smaller, but still roomy and nice. Over a few years that adds up. Really adds up. We know we get less -- schools in the state are poor, infrastructure needs work, services are short staffed, but the bubble of a city that we live in is lovely, friendly and nice.
Insurance
Very cheap here. The houses in Santa Fe are a beautifully iconic style but they are basically boxes clad in cement. Not much there to replace if it gets burned down or flooded out. We save a thousand a year on home insurance.
Home Maintenance
Much cheaper. We have no snow removal bills, no lawn fertilization, or irrigation system maintenance or tree pest management / fertilization costs. No lawn mower or snowblower repairs or gas.
 |
| We don't do this anymore |
I do have to pay for an ant man. We have a pest removal service that comes four times a year to eliminate the scourge of living in a sandy climate-- ants -- but it is still way less expensive than all the maintenance costs back east.
Association Dues
Our HOA fees are a lot less here and we get more -- a pool, clubhouse, walking trails. It's a much, much bigger community so costs are spread out more, and the streets are public, not privately maintained, so the economics are more efficient.
We sold our Connecticut house at a very, very big loss. We had bought it in 2004 at the height of the housing bubble, added improvements, and sold for $40,000 less than we paid. I continue to read real estate listings all the time, and prices haven't recovered in our former town in the 15 months we've been here, and it is what it was, and we lost money selling. Ooof.
 |
| Our long distance move cost a lot |
Food and Entertainment and Nice Living
We eat out too much here. Too many choices, all good, some quite expensive. We spend a lot, we eat well, we travel a bit, we see movies, go to museums, and we buy stuff at the farmer's market. All fun. All costly. No savings here. Move along . . .
Cable, Shopping, Security
It's all about the same as what we paid in Connecticut. I shop for clothes and household goods online, so that's the same. We pay for a security system, -- are we more vulnerable here? We live in a city, there have been some car break ins in the neighborhood, and the mailboxes were once ransacked. I feel safe here, but we pay for security.
Groceries, gas for the car, and incidentals are all about the same as back east, maybe a bit more.
After 15 months I can say the big savings is in the ongoing running of this house. It's so much less expensive. The move itself was a loss -- the sold price of our home, the $10,000 cross country moving van, and the costs of disposing of half our household goods back east -- that was all a big financial hit.
 |
| It's home |
But if we can manage to live here for a few more
Plus, we like it here.
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