We made it to Texas last week (the north-west side, specifically Lubbock)! We’ve done so much that this past week has felt like a day. We’re slowly getting the boxes unpacked and settling down.
Moving here has been in the plans for over a year as I plan to attend grad school. After visiting the area last year we could see ourselves living here. My wife had just found out she was pregnant and the thought of raising a kid here for a couple of years sounded like a fun adventure!
Now, here we are trying to get adjusted. Moving can be a little rough. Moving to another state is definitely more expensive than I had anticipated. Not only are you not working but you need to purchase a moving truck, new fridge, lawnmower, fast food, etc. and we haven’t even started on the decorations.
Lubbock isn’t necessarily a place you would want to live if you were looking for a place filled with outdoor adventures and cool weather year-round. But, if you’re looking to take advantage of geoarbitrage in a friendly city, the cost of living here is super cheap! It’s significantly cheaper to live here compared with the average cost of living in America.
The biggest differentiator is housing. The median house cost is $131,600 in Lubbock compared to $216,200 in the U.S. but the median income is about the same. People living here are able to spend way less on housing and more on things they enjoy like eating out, nice cars, vacations and beds (we recently purchased an IntelliBed and I have to tell you it’s an incredible bed and I wholeheartedly believe its the best bed out there).
But I’ll be honest. I wouldn’t choose to live here if it wasn’t for the university. Lubbock is a college town through and through. Texas Tech has many top-ranked graduate programs in the country, from law school to medical school and many more including the one I’m pursuing, the masters of Personal Financial Planning. You can check out an Investopedia article mentioning a few of the best schools for financial planning.
I questioned whether or not it would be worth it to pursue a master’s degree because I don’t like to do things just to do them. After qualifying for in-state tuition and receiving a fellowship and a few scholarships that will cover more than half of the cost, I decided it would be worth it. Having a master’s degree in my specific field of interest will give me credibility and I believe it will add to my success in my career throughout my life.
My classes start on August 28th and I’ll be taking classes in wealth management, personal income tax accounting, and risk and insurance. All topics I enjoy learning and teaching! I’m not excited for another few years of tests, but I do enjoy learning and I’m excited to learn and meet new people.
If you’ve ever thought about moving to a cheaper place to save money, it’s not so bad. And if you’ve ever thought about pursuing your education more, what bad could come from it?
