Given my post of two weeks ago about where I might move soon, and given that my BFF Lyra lives in Cleveland already, I thought this week would be the perfect opportunity to have her write a guest post about her move there, the rationale, and what it’s meant for her finances (also, guest posts mean I can skip a week of writing and not feel guilty! Yay!). Please give her all the welcomes so that I can con her into convince her to guest post again!
Lyra is awesome in basically every way, and our friendship was meant to be from the moment we became freshman year roommates (even if she did later tell me that one of her first impressions was that I was weirdly obsessed with SunCat…Rude). Anyway, without further ado, here’s Lyra’s post. I did take the creative liberty of inserting some editor’s comments and GIFs where appropriate. You’re welcome.
Nice To Meet You!
Hello friends! I’m making my debut on my best friend’s wonderful blog—I’m the oft-mentioned Lyra, who recently made a big move to a new city. I’ve spent the last five years living and working in NYC, where money has the tendency to disappear into the big black hole of subway fares and midnight bodega purchases.
I spent much of 2018 feeling like my life was in a stand-still after a break-up, family drama, and reaching a plateau at work. I had this itch to do something and started to really look at my life goals. I shortly realized that I wanted to make a move to a new city with a clean slate.
Now, let me be clear—this is something that was completely out of character for me. I’ve lived my entire life within 45 miles of the house I grew up in, with the exception of going to college (a mere 5 hours from that same house). I’m a born and bred Jersey girl, and the idea of moving outside of the tri-state area was daunting. But if there was any point in my life to do something like this, it was now.
The Money
So, how did this all transpire? It started with a budget. After reading Elizabeth’s post about You Need a Budget, I was hooked. I used her referral code to get a discount (thanks, friend!) and mapped out my finances for the first time in my life. My parents grew up worrying about money, and after a lot of professional success, they felt that their children shouldn’t grow up the same way. I have a lot of respect for that sentiment, but it also meant that suddenly I was an adult who had no idea what an IRA was. I didn’t really know how to optimize my savings or make investments toward my future.
I love YNAB because it’s flexible enough to let me make spending categories that really reflect my life and my choices. I found I could save for what was important to me and prioritize my money for things like traveling to other cities for job interviews, buying new furniture for my apartment and a soon-to-be-adopted pup (editor’s note: STARDOG IS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT).
The Move
After a pretty short job search, I ended up moving to Cleveland. It perfectly fit my bill—a smaller, more affordable city not too far from home but with just enough distance to make it feel like my own. I delved into my savings quite a bit to make this move possible, between a security deposit, first month’s rent and a down payment on a car (no more violations of personal space on the subway!). But overall it’s an awesome change compared to NYC. Here’s a few reasons why:
- Cost of living: Let’s be honest, almost anywhere is going to be cheaper than NYC. But Cleveland’s cost of living is hard to beat. My apartment in CLE is more than twice the size of my apartment in NYC, for less than half the price. Even though I’m still in a place in my life where I want to rent, I can save some money while doing it and have a much greater chance of transitioning to buying a home someday.
- Things are green here!: One thing I truly missed when I lived in NYC was green space. I loved Central Park, but it’s great to live in a city with options like the Metroparks and the lake so accessible.
- Sports: I’m a bit of a fish out of water since I grew up rooting for the Giants and Yankees (let the hate begin…), but the passion of Cleveland’s sports fans is pretty unique. I can respect a group of fans who stick with a team after going completely winless in a season.
- Beer: I love living in a city that takes its beer seriously. There tons of breweries and craft beer establishments around CLE, which is pretty cool.
There will always be things that take getting used to when you move (like why do license plates expire in Ohio? And it will always be soda, people, not pop). It’s taken a few months but things have settled down, and I can begin to think about the big picture again. What is the next big thing I’m saving for? How aggressively should I be investing with my retirement fund? What else could I be doing to further myself financially? For the moment I feel proud to be on my own two feet and in charge of my financial well-being.
Conclusion: Cleveland is Awesome
All the esoteric financial questions aside, Cleveland gets my vote in the Big Spreadsheet Debate of 2019. Just look at that median home price. And our river catches on fire periodically, how badass is that?
The gauntlet has been thrown. If anyone else would like to make a plug for their favorite city on the spreadsheet, speak now or forever hold your peace (I mean, you have a couple of months. But still).
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