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One of the biggest perks of being a remote worker is to achieve a better quality of life.

The best way you can do this is by moving to a place where your money goes a long way and where you can feel good.

Listen on to find out more about moving as a remote worker.

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Listen Below:

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Transcription:

Debbie:

Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of my offbeat journey!

I’m really excited to talk to you today about this topic because we’re actually going through it right now – which is moving in a different state as a remote worker. 

I know a lot of people talk about moving to a different country but Aaron and I are just moving down south, from New York to Florida and we want to share with you the process that we’re going through and how to do this and I am joined today by Aaron. 

Hey, Aaron. 

Aaron:

Hi, Debbie.

Debbie:

Thank you for joining me today.

Aaron:

You’re welcome.

Debbie:

He sounds very excited to do this, but we are actually in the process like I had mentioned, moving to Florida and we’re going to be here for part of the year, we’re still going to be going to New York, back and forth, but for the most part will be here in Florida, especially during the winter. 

How do you feel about finally moving here? 

Aaron:

Florida is nice. The weather is one of the main reasons.

Debbie:

Of why we moved here – I know, he’s been trying to get us to move here for a really long time and now we’re almost there, we’re almost to the end point.

Aaron:

Yeah, a couple more things, IDs and stuff like that but, you know, I guess we should talk about why, maybe we can talk about why specifically we’re moving to Florida but also the main thing is why move in general.

I think that’s a good idea to start with.

Debbie:

Yeah, well, you know, we both kind of, well, me I grew up in New York City and you kind of did too, I mean, you moved there when you were what? Like a teenager? Was it high school?

Aaron:

Probably like about 10 years old.

Debbie:

Yeah, so yeah we moved to New York around the same time and it was just for the most part, I think it was just time for us to change. We’ve been there for so long and also New York doesn’t have the same vibe anymore and we just wanted to go somewhere where it was not so busy, it wasn’t as crazy and we’re just wanting a really, you know, better quality of life, but I think the – one of the biggest reasons is we just needed to change and also my parents live here. 

We wanted to see them as well.

Aaron:

More often, yeah.

Debbie:

And your best friend lives here too.

Aaron:

Yeah, my best friend lives here.

Debbie:

So, it’s nice for you to be able to see him. 

Aaron:

Yeah, so some of the things, I guess that people would move for is like, for instance, you know, we like hiking, outdoors and stuff like that, Florida is great for that. 

My only complaint is that it doesn’t have mountains. We love mountains, but you know, let’s say you love mountains and there’s a state that has all that kind of stuff and, you know, maybe has a lower cost of living, that’s another huge reason to move to other areas and, you know, one of the last things too is by tax saving, so, that’s a big motivation for a lot of people, but in a lot of ways, it might be actually one of the least things to consider because especially if you’re remote, you could always put a couple extra hours in a month to make up for, you know, a lot of the tax things and – unless you’re maybe a New York or California, you might need to put a couple more, more than a couple more hours in, but I feel like that’s one of the least reasons to do it over all, the main reason I think is a quality-of-life, you know? And the lower cost-of-living does help but the quality of life is, you know, going to be one of the main things. 

Debbie:

And also, I think a lot of people have this misconception that in order for you to have a better quality of life or to make your cost of living a lot lower, you have to move somewhere outside of the United States and we actually thought about that before covid, and it may still happen, maybe later on, but not for long term, maybe we’ll go somewhere here and there are a few months out of the year to experience like a different place, a different country, but you don’t necessarily need to leave the United States to have a lower cost of income, especially if you come from a really big state like, well, not a big state, but a very expensive state, like we come from, you know, New York City, and it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world. 

So, honestly, any place for us, aside from the other big cities, like San Francisco, or like Hong Kong or something is going to be a lot cheaper. 

Aaron:

Yeah and I mean, that’s a big part of the quality of life, like, I’ve always said this and I still believe it and some people may disagree but New York maybe up until recently, I always thought, is the best in the world to live but the the caveat is that you really need to make a lot of money. 

That’s the thing that stinks and because most people don’t make a lot of money, it may not be one of the best places to live, if you don’t have it and that goes beyond just some people want to see Broadway shows or, you know, do all that kind of stuff, it just, you know, in order to have decent housing, you know, have a car, you know and be able to do things that you want to do to enjoy the city, it takes money, you know, the museums aren’t free, all the entertainment’s not free, the food is obviously not free. 

These things cost money and unfortunately, you need a lot of it to be able to enjoy New York, you know, if you’re not making, from my point of view, like if you’re not making, you know, mid six figures or multiple figures,

Debbie:

Multiple figures,

Aaron:

at least a hundred fifty to two hundred thousand a year or more, you’re just not going to have the quality of life that somebody really doing well is going to have in New York. 

It just doesn’t happen that way. Whereas like there’s other places in the country that are still good metropolitan areas where you’re going to have a good quality of life for 100K, especially if you have a spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend, if together you bring it a hundred grand, I mean in some places it’s like it goes a long way…

Debbie:

It goes a long way…

Aaron:

And it’s crazy how, you know, how much fun and how awesome your life is going to be if you can make that kind of money but don’t live in one of these super expensive cities.

Debbie:

Yeah and that’s another thing that is really important is that the quality of life just changes once you leave New York City and you go off to a different place and we don’t say this to bash New York, because obviously we both grew up there. 

We love New York and we’re still planning on going back there, parts of the year, but there’s just a lot of things that you can’t do or you would have to work a lot of hours and that was actually another thing that I wanted to say was that, I think as we were growing older, the more I just want to enjoy life and I don’t want to have to work a certain amount of hours or work myself to the ground to live life and that’s really what New York City is, it’s like, you have to hustle and grind and it’s not an easy place to live in and even if you are making a lot of money, you have to keep up with everything, to keep up a lifestyle that, you know, most people really can’t afford. 

So, that’s one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to do this and also when we’re in New York, we’re pretty lucky, we do have a place there, so it’s not like we’re paying X, like most people when they’re there, they pay like a ridiculous amount of rent and we do have a family house there, so it’s not like that with us, but what I think is more important to me is just, quality of life. 

I just don’t find a lot of things that I found in York City when I was younger as fun anymore. Like, I don’t like to go to the city, to go to Broadway shows. I don’t want to be around a lot of people, and Florida, you know, coming here as the years went by just coming back and forth here, it just made so much more sense for us.

Aaron:

Yeah.

Debbie:

And then your best friend is here. My parents are here. So, we kind of have a community already that we really love and enjoy here and I think that’s another reason why you and I decided to finally take that leap and also the fact that now, you’re able to work remotely with me, because before Aaron was working a full-time job in New York City. And then now he’s working remotely with me and we can actually do this. 

Aaron:

Let’s talk about the kind of like process for different places. I mean, for most places, I imagine you have to do your research.

Debbie:

You mean like the process of moving?

Aaron:

Yeah, you know, it’s pretty much just like filing forms. You have to get like your state IDs and I believe you have to file a tax return. So, there’s definitely a process to it. 

Debbie:

Well, it’s all so different. So what he’s talking about is the process of moving to Florida. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today but obviously, just to let you know, if you decide to move to other states, you have to make sure that you’re researching this on their websites. 

And also before we get to that, another big reason why it was a good idea for us to move to Florida was because they don’t have income states and there’s other –

Aaron:

Income tax.

Debbie:

Income tax and there’s other states also that don’t have income tax, so that is going to give you a pretty decent amount of money each month and then throughout the year, if you’re moving from an income tax state to a non income tax state. So, you save a lot of money and there’s money that’s put in your pocket. 

So, Florida is one of them. I know Nevada is one of them.

Aaron:

And Texas.

Debbie:

Texas.

Aaron:

And there’s a few others but I don’t remember them at the top of my head.

Debbie:

Yeah.

Aaron:

So just Google it and it’ll come up what states have no income tax.

Debbie:

Yeah, we just know for sure that Texas, Nevada, there’s also Florida and there’s I believe there’s a few more, so, if you want to look into this moving into other states in the United States, that would be honestly from me, one of the first things that I would look at, is if they have income taxes so that you could save some money and also the quality of life – how expensive it is, the weather.

That was another thing that really drew us to Florida was because it was nice weather, throughout the year. 

So, now we can talk about the process of moving, what we’re going through right now actually, moving to Florida and Aaron’s handling this cause I’m not very good at it, so…

Aaron:

Well, it’s not really that complicated, this is going to be short.

Debbie:

Yeah, I just hate it.

Aaron:

You don’t like paperwork.

Debbie:

I don’t, I hate it.

Aaron:

So, you know, at least for Florida you just have to file a proof of residency, which is called a domicile usually and it’s just filing a form, you have to go take it in to you know, one of the government buildings that processes that type of paperwork and then you have to get like a state ID which could be your driver’s license or just a regular ID if you don’t drive, I would recommend in Florida though, to get a driver’s license cause you’re going to have to drive to most places.

Debbie:

Yeah, you need a car here.

Aaron:

You need a car here. So, if you don’t have a car you’re going to need to get one and then to make it official, I believe, the last step is just that you have to file a tax return for the first year I guess you’re living here, so, you know, it’s not like a lot of paperwork or anything like that, but there are some things you need to keep in mind and in order to file a proof of residency, you obviously have to find a place to live, so that’s important too.

Debbie:

And also it’s good to visit these places if you don’t have roots like we do, you know, we know people here and if you don’t have roots to a specific place, it’s always good to visit it maybe. 

If you’re already a remote worker, it’s always good to maybe stay there for at least a month to see what it’s like, to see the community, to see the neighborhood, to see the area, and even now, Aaron and I still drive around to look for areas that we would think about moving long-term in the future. 

So yeah, I think it’s such a good idea to do that so that you can understand where you belong in the community, in the area and the neighborhoods as well.

Aaron:

Yeah and one of your friends, that’s what they did, they basically, they traveled around a lot because of their business and, you know, they kind of like sampled different places that they would like to live and that’s basically why they chose or were able to identify a place that they eventually chose to move to.

Debbie:

Yeah, absolutely and one of the things they decided to move to Las Vegas and that’s another area, it’s part of Nevada, obviously and they love rock climbing and they decided to move there because they had no income tax and had so much rock-climbing areas in places that they were like, “This is for us.”, and now they live there permanently. 

So yeah, I think it’s such a great thing as a remote worker to be able to do this and we just wanted to share with you what we’re going through in terms of moving. 

And also in a different aspect of it is that, you know, you don’t need to necessarily move out of the country to have a better quality of life, especially if you’re moving big metropolitan city and you want a quieter life and you want to lower cost of living if you don’t want to do that, yeah. If you don’t want to live overseas. 

So, that is our process and we’re in Florida, right now. We’re really loving it. It’s winter time and we’re in 80 degree weather. And we still talk to some of our friends and family up north and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, we’re so jealous of your weather there!”, and I think it also makes us a lot happier to be out in the sun everyday, you know.

Aaron:

Yeah, get your sunlight, that’s important.

Debbie:

Yeah, because I know for a fact, when I am up North during the winter, it just feesl so much more depressing and you can’t really leave the house as much. It’s too cold. 

Aaron:

Yeah.

Debbie:

Well, that’s it for now everyone, if you have any questions for us about relocating, you can always send us a message on our social media. 

You can visit me and check me out, follow me on Instagram, I’m mostly there @theoffbeatlife.

You can also send us an email at hello@theoffbeatlife.com if you have any questions regarding moving to a different state, we’re not going to know everything, you probably just Google everything but you want to share anything with us or we’re always here to help to listen, however, we can.

Aaron:

Bye bye. 

Debbie:

Bye everyone.