# Moving from London to Irvine CA



## DoctorOD (Feb 19, 2011)

Hello,

I'm after some advice.
I've been offered a job in Irvine CA. I've been out there and had a good look around and really like the place, and saw some great places to live and bring up my one year old boy.
I'd be taking my wife with me as well and she would like to give up working to concentrate on family life.
The offer I have is $100,000 along with full health care for myself and family.
This offer at first seemed fantastic and more than enough but once I started looking into it further, I'm wondering if it really is. For example we would need 2 cars.I don’t want to leave everything behind only to find we are running out of cash each month.
What costs do I need to consider? Rent, Cars, electricity, gas, insurance, internet… etc
I know the answer can often be ‘depends on your life style’ 
and we’ve adjusted a lot recently with are arrival of the little one, I just really want to work with numbers for now.
Google seems to keep telling me different take home salary, I wondered if someone could give me a concrete answer.

Thanks loads!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

What is fantastic about give or take 70-75k take home in SoCal?


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## Iron Horse (Apr 10, 2008)

I don't know what kind of work you do, but seems underpaid for So Cal, and especially for Orange County. If the goal is to save money, it might be difficult.

Irvine, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't get me wrong about being the rain to your offer, but for a family it just seems low. I'm all about making the man pay what a person is worth, especially when the guys above are making four to five times as much.

I'll be in LA next week for some work, am a native of LA too, but not really wild about the area.

Best Wishes.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Coming from London you must be familiar with a high cost of living.

While Irvine is considered to be expensive, hubby and I came from Guildford Surrey to SoCal and we did not get sticker shock.

Take a look at this survey on salary scales

Irvine, California Salaries - City of Irvine Average Salary - PayScale

I don't know what industry you are in but I don't think that 100K is particularly low for any type of job in Irvine.

With regards having 2 cars you don't need them both to be brand new do you? Get a small used one for the wife to run around in. You will find petrol cheap here compared to London (although we now all think it is expensive).

House prices will be comparable to the South East of the UK, property taxes are high so watch out for these, food is about the same, clothing can be much cheaper here, eating out is definitely cheaper.

If you have money from a house sale in the UK, I believe you won't have a problem getting a decent property over here. UK properties have kept their value more or less whereas here they have dropped considerably.

Taxes are not much less than in the UK we find.

However, the sunshine is a big bonus and if you have always wanted to work in the US then now is your chance. 

You will be paying premiums for medical cover out of your salary, and if you use medical services you will also pay some of the costs. That is just life out here.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

OP posted that medical is part of his expat contract. Let's hope he will read the small print prior to signing.

What is this EU concept about wife getting a small car to run around it. Who has the kid in the back seat? 

Gas used to be cheap - consider the distances:>) 

Property tax can bite you. We paid 2k in 2010 in one of the highest per capita income neighborhoods of the US - similar house runs 14k in next to nowhere in TX. Do you feel my pain? Some markets roll it into rent. As OP has not returned with info - we shall see.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

twostep said:


> OP posted that medical is part of his expat contract. Let's hope he will read the small print prior to signing.
> 
> What is this EU concept about wife getting a small car to run around it. Who has the kid in the back seat?
> 
> ...


Yes I feel your pain with property taxes. We pay just under 13K for our 4 bedroom property in San Diego - which is good compared to some areas (Florida comes to mind)


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Crawford said:


> Yes I feel your pain with property taxes. We pay just under 13K for our 4 bedroom property in San Diego - which is good compared to some areas (Florida comes to mind)


But tell them that the 49ers are history!!!


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## DoctorOD (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback everyone!


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