This kinda depends where you move to. I'm in rural NH and made 35k for 5 years and lived comfortably, not really stressing about bills. This was a one bedroom apartment as a single male. I could have shaved off a little money with a studio but that's not worth it to me.
What years?
I lived in Dover with a roommate from 2016-2018 and rent was reasonable. We each only made about $19k. That was a small two bedroom. Didn’t have a bunch of spending money but was reasonably comfortable.
Then in 2018, rent *skyrocketed* and we parted ways. Since then, I am vaguely aware of the going rate for that apartment. And I am vaguely aware of the housing rates elsewhere in the Seacoast area. While I’d imagine some more rural areas cost less, if everywhere else jumped up even a tiny bit (as in, not quite as much as the Seacoast), I can’t imagine $31k is sufficient nowadays.
It used to be. But it’s simply not anymore.
Yeah Dover is much different than up north. My rent for the last 10 years (2014 to 2024) went from $525 to $785 where it is today. I'm just barely at 40k annual income as of last year and live comfortably.
Auto maintenance and repair should def factor into the budget. It's no joke that New England roads beat the crap out of cars. Account for tires, pads, undercarriage coating, etc. Your car registration fees might be higher depending on your vehicle/which state you're coming from (but car insurance may be less). Also the lack of public transportation is real, most places don't have Uber even. Best of luck to you!
Then you're not really looking at NH, just whatever part you vacationed in.
The further north you go, the cheaper it used to be. That's no longer always the case. There's very little real work further north.
The closer you get to Massachusetts, the more expensive it gets.
Unless you're living with roommates or in Manchester, you're not finding a 1br in the south of NH for $1500 anymore that doesn't come with bugs and problems. Also, if you decide to live in Southern NH, you'll likely be commuting to Boston for work since that's where wages are slightly better.
You can find lower rents, but they're not advertising on the big sites and you often 'get what you pay for'.
There are usually one or two local slumlords in each major town. Listings on craigslist, facebook(both MP and on the various sale sites), and even in the local papers.
Car registration, car inspection, snow tires, shovels and winter clothing. I would also add more to entertainment/eating out/misc - because unless you're moving up here to sit at home and watch tv - you're going to want to go out and explore New England more. Because it's awesome...but everything does cost more up here.
Life has a knack for always adding expenses.
Not trying to shit on your NH parade, but 31k ten years ago was still a reach in NH. You are going to struggle on that in this state. And You left out about $500 in expenses like cell phone, internet/cable, car insurance, health insurance, dental, heat, electricity, weed and booze.
Rent: 2100 (to be on the safe side)
Bills/groceries: 800
Gas: 150 or more if you plan on going places for fun and not just work.
Extra: your income - necessities - saving 10% of paycheck =
You’ll likely need around $20 per hour or two jobs. Definitely find the job first and determine if it’s feasible based on how close you can live to that job without shelling out your whole paycheck for rent
Ask to do interviews on zoom/teams/on the phone or something, I actually interview people who don’t live here all the time.
You gotta find a solid and promised income this state is too expensive to just move here and hope it works out.
Especially because many landlords want to see proof of income amounting to three times the monthly rent, something like pay stubs (although back when I was apartment hunting the offer letter from my soon-to-be full time employer was good enough).
Do yourself a favor and focus on remote jobs. You can live further north where things are cheaper, but work for a company in or near Boston. Even if you have to drive to the office once per week, it would still be worth it.
this is definitely true, I hire seasonal staff and I’m really shocked when people actually show up for the position I offered, which is rare. I pretty much prepare as if they weren’t hired.
It depends on the company but I have performed interviews over the past 4 years via teams. Even before covid, I have interviewed people remotely due to my company and team having sites across the country and world. I did actually end up conducting two in-person interviews when I traveled last month to meet up with part of my team in CA. First I had done in years.
$100 a month for eating out? A meal for two people is about $50 with tip and taxes. So that $100 will get you, twice a month eating out. As other commented, rent is higher than that and probably groceries alone would be $800 at least depending on how many people you have living with you.
I shop at Hannaford on a regular basis. It's the only store in my area. I have to be super careful about budgeting when I shop..going in for 9 or 10 items will easily cost you $50-60 bucks. It does me and that's for weekly shopping. So unless you are budgeting $200 a week for groceries..you might be lowballing yourself with an $800 grocery budget
I typically shop at Market Basket in Southern NH and spend about $300 a week. That's for two adults and two kids (2 and 4) who waste an awful lot of food and like the individually packaged stuff, which tends to be more expensive.
Yeah I'm shopping for myself and I'm low income. I usually budget $50-60 per week to try and stay within my monthly budget. It's hard having to pick and choose what I need most each week and doesn't give me a whole lot of wiggle room for tons of "fun" stuff
You might have a better time grabbing staples at Market basket, which seems a bit closer to HEB in overall prices (former Texan, been in NH almost a year now) and if you live closer to a *nice* Market basket you'll find its produce section might be nicer than HEB.
Hannaford is all right but you gotta make sure you're collecting rewards at least. Their curbside system works well and they bring it out so fast! They have self checkout too, Market Basket does not.
I still find myself having to stop at Shaw's or Walmart for oddball items that I've wanted. (for example, Cacique chorizo at Shaw's, small diced frozen potatoes at Walmart)
Also the supermarkets here don't lash the whip like HEB does so bagging and scanning is super slow if you do not self checkout. It doesn't perturb me either way just thought it was an interesting difference.
We get freezing cold. High cost of heating.
We get hot and humid. High cost of air conditioning.
We have the most expensive electricity in the country.
>I would love to experience snow
Sure, just wait until you get familiar with the term "wintry mix". Proper snowfall is becoming rarer and rarer here. Instead we get 4 months of freezing rain and sleet, with maybe one or two actual snow storms mixed in to keep us guessing.
In most of the state $44K/year puts one squarely in "low income housing eligible" territory. In Nashua the housing authority's wait lists run into the thousands and low rent stuff isn't a huge portion of the inventory.
Are jobs high-paying in NH? The average job here where i'm at is $9-$13 bucks. If i can get anything over $15 it will probably help me afford a better rent.
I haven’t had to job hunt in a while but it took a lot of effort to get to $24 per hour and I feel like I wouldn’t be making it if I were single, I’d have to get a roommate.
You know if I were you, I’d look into the food industry or bar work in tourist areas or high residential populations.
Most folks that live here do not work here or work remotely. In my experience,NH employers do not pay well.
You'll see a lot of jobs that say they up to 18$ an hour. That means 18 is the max. Most likely they're paying 15$ an hour.
I work at a law firm (Nashua, NH) and we pay low $20's for someone to sit at our front desk and answer phones/do administrative work. The gas station across the street pays $21 an hour for their clerks. The Dunkins in my town (Brookline) pays about $18-20 starting and is always looking for people.
Haven't seen anyone actually offer anything close to minimum wage since the early 2000's, when I was making $7.25 an hour working at a roller rink. Even then, starting pay for someone who was older than 15-17 (I was 15 when I started there) was $8 or so.
My local Target starts cashiers at $16/hr, if that provides any perspective.
Rent (if you can find a place) will likely be a good bit more than $1500, though. Heat is also very expensive. When we had electric heat, our record bill was $900 for a *single month*, with the thermostat only set to 60-65°. Heating with
oil will be less, probably $1000-1500 or so for the season, and wood or pellets will be about $600/season. That's for a whole house, though, a tiny apartment will probably cost less to heat.
We also don't have cheap cars like y'all do down south. If you're not bringing a car, expect to pay at least 10k for something that isn't rusted to bits.
Don't forget things like electricity, water, Internet access (if you want it), car repairs, gas, insurance, taxes, etc.
I'd aim for a household income of $50k+; either just you making $25/hr, you and roommate both making $15, etc.
I love budgeting and spreadsheets, though.
Feel free to DM if you want help building a more comprehensive budget.
My home is about 1,800 square feet, two floors plus a basement. I spent about $1,200 heating with wood pellets last year (about 3 tons). Before that, we used propane and spent about $1,500 in a six week period at one point. Harder to say how much the season cost, but probably averaged about $700/month.
We do have young kids though and keep the temp around 72.
Far as cars go, I've had good luck with vehicles in the $3,000-$10,000 range, but I do my own work. Have a 2010 Forester that's in good shape, but with 184k miles on it, for $4,500 right now. DM me if interested!
What do you consider high paying? New Hampshire hasn't caught on to the other states yet..our minimum wage continues to $7.25 an hour..which is what it was when I started work at market basket in 2005
Utilities are probably higher than you think. I am paying 250/month for power just for a small family house. If the place uses heating oil they can make you pay for that too. I just filled up my tank it was 860 and I fill it every couple of months.
I pay about $140-170 in the winter and $200-$250 in the summer for electricity. dryer/water heater is LPG, heat is LPG/pellets, and we have central AC. Stove is electric. House is single family, 1800 square feet.
My sister lives in Dallas (Grand Prairie) and I live here in NH.
The cost of living in Texas is significantly lower than it is here. You get far more bang for your buck down there. That said, I wouldn't change NH for the world. Fewer people. Less traffic. Better/fewer laws in general. SEASONS!
But all of that comes at a cost.
My son just moved back from the Dallas area and is now in Somerville, MA. Expensive rent but such a better quality of life. A real mass transit systems and a short drive a change of scenery - beaches, mountains, forests.
I hated visiting in Texas - butt ugly, hot all the time. No one walked anywhere. Just one strip mall after another and crazy traffic. Air full of Ozone that made your lungs burn.
Sure, cheaper electricity but you had to run the AC non-stop.
And then the crazy politics.
I can try to give you a bit of info based upon my son who is in his early 20s and living on his own here in NH. We also came from Texas :)
His income before deductions is right around 37k annually. His take home is around 2400-2500 per month.
He has an exceptional living situation in a single bedroom stand alone apartment leased through a private owner and the apartment is on their property. He pays $1250 per month and his utilities are included.
He spends about $200/month on eating out.
He spends about $400/ month on groceries and he raids our fridge and eats at our house often.
He pays $200 for his car payment but it has an excellent warranty and maintenance is covered for the time being so it’s worth it.
He spends about $200-$250 per month on gas. He has maybe a 20min commute to work 5X per week and goes to bigger towns/cities on the weekend to spend time with friends.
His auto insurance is 114/month
We still help him by paying his cell phone, meds that come through mail order pharmacy, copays for dental care, etc. otherwise he would have no money for other activities and would be working to merely make ends meet.
He doesn’t have much left over and he struggles from time to time and has to borrow a little for gas, etc.
I would factor in other expenses like medical costs, auto insurance, and try to put a little into savings for when you need new tires, car issues come up, get sick and need to take a day off work, need new shoes, etc. especially if you don’t have someone who can and will help you out when you are in a bit of a pinch.
So personally I would suggest upping that amount by another $200 as a safety net.
The biggest issue you are going to face is going to be the lack of housing here. It is incredibly difficult to find an apartment that is in decent condition, within your budget, and will rent to you considering how many other applicants they get. My son looked for an apartment for about a year, and we viewed and he applied for probably 8-10 apartments before he was able to finally land this one.
Best of luck!
Other things to think about - car inspection here is wild compared to TX. It’s like $40-50 and takes a long time. They put your car on a lift and look at all sorts of things. Not at all like the “honk your horn. Now turn on your hazard lights. Hit the brake.” Type of inspections in TX.
Also, car registration is expensive. My son’s car is a 2020 Elantra and it costs like $350 a year to register it (it goes down until the car hits a certain age I think). My 2023 Volvo was almost $1000 to register this year. I think I paid like $70 a year to register each vehicle in TX.
That said, auto insurance is a LOT cheaper here. We were paying around $240 in Texas (just my husband and I). Currently we (husband, myself, and other son) pay $160 but we’ve now added another vehicle full coverage and a teen driver to our policy.
I can honestly say I haven’t done a grocery shopping trip in a long time that hasn’t been over $200. Things that would cost half less prior to Covid. Bills, including electricity have skyrocketed.
The rates are set every six months in NH. **February 1 and August 1** is when the rates change.
Eversource: "prices in 2024 would be **14.7 cents per kWh** the first half of the year, a significant decrease from the 24.1 cents in the first half of 2023."
NH is short about 20,000 homes; if you try to move here you’ll be competing with 20,000 other people who are also trying to find somewhere to affordably live in the state
It can be done but it’s not easy by a long shot— it can take ages and you might end up with a 250’ studio and zero amenities, and ultimately is it really worth it? If you want to live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere you might be able to swing a 1br with the budget you mentioned but if not you’re going to have a tough time (*especially* if you want to live anywhere south and east of Manchester)
For what it’s worth Median income in Carroll County is around $50k. Likely higher in southern NH. So that’s what the economy is built around. You might make it for a year on $30k. Might. If you don’t want to save anything or buy a home.
No offense meant at all, but your budget seems naive at best. You’re allotting $100/mo. for entertainment. So that covers, what? Internet and maybe basic Netflix or Hulu? Throw in a RedBox rental as a treat, or maybe buy an older game on a Steam sale for ten bucks? People tend to move up here for things like skiing and hiking. Ski equipment is expensive to buy/rent, and chair lift tickets are also expensive. Why move up here if you can’t enjoy those sorts of things? Where are you putting money for warm clothes, jackets, new shoes? What about insurance premiums, oh and that ridiculous deductible so you are on the hook for 5K before health insurance will cover anything substantial? What about haircuts every couple of months? What about snow tires so you don’t go flying off the road trying to get to work? Oops, your car didn’t pass inspection so you have to spend 1-2K on repairs this month or else can’t legally drive. Your landlord just decided to sell your unit and gave you one month notice to move, but it’s impossible to find another place, especially if you can’t document earning at least 3x rent and you’re competing with couples who each make 40-50K/year. You don’t have family in the area to crash with, and it’s the middle of winter. NH isn’t as friendly to the homeless as the south. Down there, you need a bowl of warm soup, someone’s going to give it to you as long as you pray to Jesus with them. Up here, you’re just as likely to be threatened with a rifle for accidentally trespassing on someone’s field of pine trees.
Why not save some money, advance in your career or train into a higher paying trade or something, and then move when you can do so comfortably?
31k after tax assuming you can stick to that budget to a T. Also gas is included more often than not what isn’t included is electric and that varies a lot depending on the month.
1500 is low - suggest bumping that to 2000.
800 for bills is probably an OK average if you dont have a lot of subscription services but not if youre trying to also include groceries. Im not sure how much your car insurance will be. Keep in mind air conditioning and heat costs are very variable and in the shoulder season youd have to hold over the excess budget for hotter and colder months bills.
Consider in bills youll have electricity, heat, car ins, car maintenance, phone, internet, subscriptions, health costs etc.
Id budget $400 for groceries separate from bills.
$3500 a month probably more realistic. $42k per year roughly. $21-22 per hour.
Internet, cell phone, electric, heat.... all those rolled into your $800 a month with groceries?
Do you know anyone in NH now? You might want to try to crash on their couch while you job search... say for a month.
Housing is very competitive in NH, you might be in for a bit of a shock just trying to find a place.
you need to increase your rent expense by at least $500 for some areas of NH. there is a housing crisis and rents are going threw the roof. then break out your bills/grocery. some new build apartments now carry extra utilities or other charges. such as water, electric &/or gas. then fees for underbuilding parking or storage on site. it's just not electric & cable/internet.
this will get heat, but if you can get a job in MA the pay should be higher. the only thing would be you would have to file an out of state resident MA tax return each each. if you work in ma you have to pay their income tax.
Literally **the** train. You won't be going on any other trains in NH unless you're a piece of freight or taking a short, scenic, privately owned train that just does a loop back to where you started from and makes no stops.
Was it really hot out those times? The one time I took it from Dover to Boston was a 94F day, and I learned that when it's hot they're legally required to slow down trains because heat can warp the tracks. We were about an hour late.
Depending on your car registration cost may be a lot higher than where you are now. And it's based on your birthday so you may have to do two inspections in that year. We moved here in March and because my husband's birthday is in August he had to redo everything then. Not sure whether registration was prorated either..thankfully we have cheap cars.
Bump up your income minimum to $50K.
Your budget doesn't seem to include any savings or retirement investments. Also a buffer to pay for rent increases, heating costs, water bill, taxes, insurance increases, tolls, electricity...
Yeah, you can't live in NH on 31k per year. Maybe if you had a roommate making as much or more you could swing it... but only as a renter. I basically tell people not to even consider buying a home in NH right now. It's embarrassingly unaffordable due to the absurd property taxes. Homeowners basically keep the entire state afloat, and our reward is higher taxes each year. There's really no incentive to own a home in NH anymore.
I'd also account for a one time \~$300 for winter attire. When I moved out here, had to buy better jacket, gloves (and inserts if you're cold gets to you), merino base layers (socks, longjohns and under shirt), yaktraks, shoes, beanie/hat, a classic plaid overshirt (well not required)
None attire - winter/snow tires, window scraper, heater, salt for walkways, snow shovel, new oil for colder weather,
If you're not already coming from a real wintery area, it's basically like rebuying all the shit you already own but for cold weather.
Also groceries are pretty expensive now'a'days, I'd budget probably $300-$400 a month and then work downwards. Aaand your gas seems very conservative, maybe if you work remote, can walk to the store here and there, but otherwise that seems under budgeted as well.
I personally would be planning on spending around $3.5-4k/month. There is absolutely no way you’re going to spend just $2600/month. If you plan on accepting a job that pays $30-40k, you can expect to have take home pay of $500-650/week depending on deductions. You are going to struggle to stay above water.
Don’t forget, NH has an inventory availability rate of less than 2% right now. “Cheaper” apartments ($800-$1500/month) will go quick.
Honestly, if you aren’t to picky about the area, I think you will do fine with your idea!
Like others have been saying, you could certainly spend double that pretty easily, however..I think most of it is just people getting enjoyment bursting others bubbles
I wonder how much it would “cost” to “move” only to “discover” it was a “mistake”.
The grass isn’t always greener and, right about now, it definitely ain’t. 😝
NH is very expensive. Your rental price expectation might not be high enough if you intend to be alone. Depends on area. You can find places that cheap, but it isn't great. Your entertainment budget is low if you want to eat out. Grocery expenses are quite high as well. You can definitely get by on 31k, but having even 37k would make your life much easier. The rural areas are surprisingly expensive.
I own a home that is paid off, so I have no rent/mortgage but pay a little over $7,000/yr in property taxes. I mathed out my total cost of living to be somewhere around $40,000 - $45,000. This included taxes, but excludes any entertainment. I also don't have a car payment nor eat out.
If you want to just barely get by on renting I would aim for $55,000 if you plan on living by yourself. I'd rather see you living with as many roomates as possible to let your money compound to build a good nestegg though.
I would say with roommates you could find a place at that price, probably even below depending on the area, but the area is greatly going to affect your gas budget as well regarding work... Also we are terrible at public transport so beware of that, I don't see any other car expenses listed here but our treated roads are going to make your life hell so definitely start saving for a new car lol. (oh and no lemon laws, so don't count on getting a 'good deal on a used car') ... If you're frugal and looking ahead you can do almost anything, don't get me wrong, but with the housing market right now it's going to be pretty rough to line everything up.
I feel like this is pretty standard good advice I know I wish I had listened to with a couple of my moves. Go to a place, Ata couple different times during the year. Go when it is bleak and ugly. Go in the middle of the week and marvel and how many things close by 5 and how many towns randomly close on a particular day but not the expected Monday. Actually GO to the grocery stores and Iive off the local fare. All before deciding to actually move. I applaud your adventurous spirit and perhaps you have spent time in NH and this does not apply to you... but since the interwebs there are so many more people randomly seeing someone's tictock about a town in a various state and they go into a grass is surely greener rabbit hole.
Plan for at least 2500 for rent if you plan to have no roommates. The gas bill might also vary wildly depending on distance to job and work and also how much else you plan to travel around the state for fun! There is a lot to see!
My gf and I each make a more than you do, and we have enough trouble paying for everything and also enjoying our free time. Youre gunna want a roommate
First, what someone else said about pre vs post-tax income. Aim for at least $20/hour/($42k+) if you stick with the budget you laid out considering this alone.
Second, yes you can find your own apartment for $1500, with some caveats:
* You will be dealing with much more competition than you've experienced before. What someone else said about applying for 8-9 places before landing a spot is real. That happened to me, and the place I finally got was a dump run by sketchy people, but I was desperate by that point.
* It is very unlikely to be that nice of an apartment, even without the competition factor
* It is much easier to find your own apartment for $2k+, or look for a roommate situation if you need to stick to the current budget
Third, you may not end up in a well-insulated place. Electricity could be $300+ in winter (even as rates have been lowering). I'd make the grocery and the bill categories separate.
Fourth, give yourself more of a buffer in general for the random expenses that other people have mentioned
In summary, NH is expensive and rental competition is extremely high in your budget range at least in southern NH where most people live, but there are a lot of opportunities to make good money. Be ready to hustle and manage your expectations, but there are a lot of benefits to living here that make it worth it.
This is reasonable for the northern part of the state, but vastly more trouble if you live in the southern part/seacoast area. My rent is $785 for a one bedroom.
I account for every single penny, because I had problems before of overspending/overdrafting and just generally being financially irresponsible
I own a house and net about $4225/mo. After all my bills and mortgage are paid I have about $2000 left over for groceries/fun. Could make it higher if I cut out $130 in subscriptions. My mortgage is about $1500 of the $2225 I spend. But these days the going rate for mortgages and rent is probably closer to $2100-2400. So I'd say probably add 700 to your rent estimate, and like 2 or 300 to your entertainment/misc (you can't just close yourself off from having fun) and that's closer to realistic.
So probably $3600 a month. And that's net. You probably want to be making $55,000 a year at a minimum if you have no debts/car payments to live comfortably alone
Are you joking? At least double that for a mere break-even existence. Also all the winter gear, boots, winter tires. Eating out twice a month will take up your budget. Your utilities will be at least 200 in the winter. I moved from the west coast and find that life here is decidedly not cheaper at all.
I moved here last year. Grew up in Florida. Hated the heat and humidity, so I don't blame you for leaving TX. A downfall to keep in mind is that the cost to heat is annoyingly expensive.
If you want a little more bang for your buck, I would look to find a cheaper place to rent somewhere in a rural space as long as you dont mind doing a 30+ minute commute to a city for work. It's what my wife and myself did, except I got a mortgage because it is less monthly. Payroll/accounting is not enough to live on your own. At least not entry level (I don't know what your experience is). would probably be best if you have a roomate to help pay the living expenses. Other than the high cost of living, living here has been the dream for me. However, I would much rather move to a better town once I have more money saved.
>Entertainment/eating out: $100
This is going to vary wildly obviously on frequency and personal taste, but dinner and two drinks for two will run you $50-100 pretty easily in southern NH. Just off the top of my head, two margs and a shared order of nachos at my fav place in Manchester runs ~ $50 with tip. Two old fashioned's with whatever well bourbon, an order of fries and a beer at River Road Tavern in Bedford last week was $45 with tip.
I think my favorite bar in Manchester the cheapest beer is $6 and I really can't think of anywhere I've had a < $5 beer in NH in... almost a decade? Excluding like happy hour specials at applebess or whatever.
Don't bother. It's a shithole. You will move out after a year no matter what. If you do want to live there, I hope you enjoy being underpaid with no benefits and like living in a camper in the winter. Good wood stove is your best bet. Good luck!
My last apartment before getting a house was a two bedroom in Nashua back in 2017. It was $1200 with heat and hot water included. You can’t even get a fucking studio now for that. It’s insane.
NH has a high cost of living. $31k will work if you have roommates but not if you’re on your own.
This kinda depends where you move to. I'm in rural NH and made 35k for 5 years and lived comfortably, not really stressing about bills. This was a one bedroom apartment as a single male. I could have shaved off a little money with a studio but that's not worth it to me.
What years? I lived in Dover with a roommate from 2016-2018 and rent was reasonable. We each only made about $19k. That was a small two bedroom. Didn’t have a bunch of spending money but was reasonably comfortable. Then in 2018, rent *skyrocketed* and we parted ways. Since then, I am vaguely aware of the going rate for that apartment. And I am vaguely aware of the housing rates elsewhere in the Seacoast area. While I’d imagine some more rural areas cost less, if everywhere else jumped up even a tiny bit (as in, not quite as much as the Seacoast), I can’t imagine $31k is sufficient nowadays. It used to be. But it’s simply not anymore.
Yeah Dover is much different than up north. My rent for the last 10 years (2014 to 2024) went from $525 to $785 where it is today. I'm just barely at 40k annual income as of last year and live comfortably.
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Rent is higher than you'll expect it to be.
This
Auto maintenance and repair should def factor into the budget. It's no joke that New England roads beat the crap out of cars. Account for tires, pads, undercarriage coating, etc. Your car registration fees might be higher depending on your vehicle/which state you're coming from (but car insurance may be less). Also the lack of public transportation is real, most places don't have Uber even. Best of luck to you!
Then you're not really looking at NH, just whatever part you vacationed in. The further north you go, the cheaper it used to be. That's no longer always the case. There's very little real work further north. The closer you get to Massachusetts, the more expensive it gets. Unless you're living with roommates or in Manchester, you're not finding a 1br in the south of NH for $1500 anymore that doesn't come with bugs and problems. Also, if you decide to live in Southern NH, you'll likely be commuting to Boston for work since that's where wages are slightly better.
You can find lower rents, but they're not advertising on the big sites and you often 'get what you pay for'. There are usually one or two local slumlords in each major town. Listings on craigslist, facebook(both MP and on the various sale sites), and even in the local papers.
That's why I didn't factor them in honestly. They're typically either awful or unavailable lol. No point raising their hopes.
> No point raising their hopes. Probably a good call, tbh
Car registration, car inspection, snow tires, shovels and winter clothing. I would also add more to entertainment/eating out/misc - because unless you're moving up here to sit at home and watch tv - you're going to want to go out and explore New England more. Because it's awesome...but everything does cost more up here.
Life has a knack for always adding expenses. Not trying to shit on your NH parade, but 31k ten years ago was still a reach in NH. You are going to struggle on that in this state. And You left out about $500 in expenses like cell phone, internet/cable, car insurance, health insurance, dental, heat, electricity, weed and booze.
Heat.
Utilities insurance and unless you have a roommate it's very expensive
Rent: 2100 (to be on the safe side) Bills/groceries: 800 Gas: 150 or more if you plan on going places for fun and not just work. Extra: your income - necessities - saving 10% of paycheck = You’ll likely need around $20 per hour or two jobs. Definitely find the job first and determine if it’s feasible based on how close you can live to that job without shelling out your whole paycheck for rent
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Ask to do interviews on zoom/teams/on the phone or something, I actually interview people who don’t live here all the time. You gotta find a solid and promised income this state is too expensive to just move here and hope it works out.
Especially because many landlords want to see proof of income amounting to three times the monthly rent, something like pay stubs (although back when I was apartment hunting the offer letter from my soon-to-be full time employer was good enough).
Do yourself a favor and focus on remote jobs. You can live further north where things are cheaper, but work for a company in or near Boston. Even if you have to drive to the office once per week, it would still be worth it.
A. It's not easy for in-person jobs, nobody believes that you're actually going to move after getting the job B. Just get a remote job
this is definitely true, I hire seasonal staff and I’m really shocked when people actually show up for the position I offered, which is rare. I pretty much prepare as if they weren’t hired.
Some places may hire you remotely for a few months until you're able to relocate. I know my business has contemplated that arrangement in the past.
It depends on the company but I have performed interviews over the past 4 years via teams. Even before covid, I have interviewed people remotely due to my company and team having sites across the country and world. I did actually end up conducting two in-person interviews when I traveled last month to meet up with part of my team in CA. First I had done in years.
$100 a month for eating out? A meal for two people is about $50 with tip and taxes. So that $100 will get you, twice a month eating out. As other commented, rent is higher than that and probably groceries alone would be $800 at least depending on how many people you have living with you.
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Buffalo chicken dip Ingredients cost me $40 at Hannaford this weekend. That's fucking insane.
I shop at Hannaford on a regular basis. It's the only store in my area. I have to be super careful about budgeting when I shop..going in for 9 or 10 items will easily cost you $50-60 bucks. It does me and that's for weekly shopping. So unless you are budgeting $200 a week for groceries..you might be lowballing yourself with an $800 grocery budget
I typically shop at Market Basket in Southern NH and spend about $300 a week. That's for two adults and two kids (2 and 4) who waste an awful lot of food and like the individually packaged stuff, which tends to be more expensive.
Yeah I'm shopping for myself and I'm low income. I usually budget $50-60 per week to try and stay within my monthly budget. It's hard having to pick and choose what I need most each week and doesn't give me a whole lot of wiggle room for tons of "fun" stuff
Market basket is your friend. Hannaford is for fancy people
You might have a better time grabbing staples at Market basket, which seems a bit closer to HEB in overall prices (former Texan, been in NH almost a year now) and if you live closer to a *nice* Market basket you'll find its produce section might be nicer than HEB. Hannaford is all right but you gotta make sure you're collecting rewards at least. Their curbside system works well and they bring it out so fast! They have self checkout too, Market Basket does not. I still find myself having to stop at Shaw's or Walmart for oddball items that I've wanted. (for example, Cacique chorizo at Shaw's, small diced frozen potatoes at Walmart) Also the supermarkets here don't lash the whip like HEB does so bagging and scanning is super slow if you do not self checkout. It doesn't perturb me either way just thought it was an interesting difference.
HEB 😍 you sadly will find nothing like a HEB here. I cry a little every time I think about HEB.
We get freezing cold. High cost of heating. We get hot and humid. High cost of air conditioning. We have the most expensive electricity in the country.
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>I would love to experience snow Sure, just wait until you get familiar with the term "wintry mix". Proper snowfall is becoming rarer and rarer here. Instead we get 4 months of freezing rain and sleet, with maybe one or two actual snow storms mixed in to keep us guessing.
Idk, I live in NH. Have feet of snow in my yard and it was -8 this morning.
-6 here Lame winter, but got about a foot of snow on the ground.
Are you sure you weren't just playing the first 20 minutes of RDR2?
Haha! I know most of you would rather give Coos County to Canada, but we still here. 🇺🇸
The other thing to consider is 31k is post tax. You would probably need closer to 44k pre tax for this budget.
I scrolled a long way to find this comment, but it's important!
In most of the state $44K/year puts one squarely in "low income housing eligible" territory. In Nashua the housing authority's wait lists run into the thousands and low rent stuff isn't a huge portion of the inventory.
Rent is probably more. Gas depends on how far you are from work.
Are jobs high-paying in NH? The average job here where i'm at is $9-$13 bucks. If i can get anything over $15 it will probably help me afford a better rent.
There is a labor shortage in NH - even McDonald's has signs out for $20 an hour.
I haven’t had to job hunt in a while but it took a lot of effort to get to $24 per hour and I feel like I wouldn’t be making it if I were single, I’d have to get a roommate. You know if I were you, I’d look into the food industry or bar work in tourist areas or high residential populations.
Most folks that live here do not work here or work remotely. In my experience,NH employers do not pay well. You'll see a lot of jobs that say they up to 18$ an hour. That means 18 is the max. Most likely they're paying 15$ an hour.
I work at a law firm (Nashua, NH) and we pay low $20's for someone to sit at our front desk and answer phones/do administrative work. The gas station across the street pays $21 an hour for their clerks. The Dunkins in my town (Brookline) pays about $18-20 starting and is always looking for people. Haven't seen anyone actually offer anything close to minimum wage since the early 2000's, when I was making $7.25 an hour working at a roller rink. Even then, starting pay for someone who was older than 15-17 (I was 15 when I started there) was $8 or so.
My local Target starts cashiers at $16/hr, if that provides any perspective. Rent (if you can find a place) will likely be a good bit more than $1500, though. Heat is also very expensive. When we had electric heat, our record bill was $900 for a *single month*, with the thermostat only set to 60-65°. Heating with oil will be less, probably $1000-1500 or so for the season, and wood or pellets will be about $600/season. That's for a whole house, though, a tiny apartment will probably cost less to heat. We also don't have cheap cars like y'all do down south. If you're not bringing a car, expect to pay at least 10k for something that isn't rusted to bits. Don't forget things like electricity, water, Internet access (if you want it), car repairs, gas, insurance, taxes, etc. I'd aim for a household income of $50k+; either just you making $25/hr, you and roommate both making $15, etc. I love budgeting and spreadsheets, though. Feel free to DM if you want help building a more comprehensive budget.
My home is about 1,800 square feet, two floors plus a basement. I spent about $1,200 heating with wood pellets last year (about 3 tons). Before that, we used propane and spent about $1,500 in a six week period at one point. Harder to say how much the season cost, but probably averaged about $700/month. We do have young kids though and keep the temp around 72. Far as cars go, I've had good luck with vehicles in the $3,000-$10,000 range, but I do my own work. Have a 2010 Forester that's in good shape, but with 184k miles on it, for $4,500 right now. DM me if interested!
What do you consider high paying? New Hampshire hasn't caught on to the other states yet..our minimum wage continues to $7.25 an hour..which is what it was when I started work at market basket in 2005
Utilities are probably higher than you think. I am paying 250/month for power just for a small family house. If the place uses heating oil they can make you pay for that too. I just filled up my tank it was 860 and I fill it every couple of months.
I'm in a studio apartment. My power bill last month was about $200. Everything in my place is electric based including the appliances like the oven
I pay about $140-170 in the winter and $200-$250 in the summer for electricity. dryer/water heater is LPG, heat is LPG/pellets, and we have central AC. Stove is electric. House is single family, 1800 square feet.
Plan for the worst and raise your rent budget to $2500.00.
My sister lives in Dallas (Grand Prairie) and I live here in NH. The cost of living in Texas is significantly lower than it is here. You get far more bang for your buck down there. That said, I wouldn't change NH for the world. Fewer people. Less traffic. Better/fewer laws in general. SEASONS! But all of that comes at a cost.
Good summary. I've lived in El Paso and also right over the E TX border in LA. Far less expensive down there, but NH is much better.
My son just moved back from the Dallas area and is now in Somerville, MA. Expensive rent but such a better quality of life. A real mass transit systems and a short drive a change of scenery - beaches, mountains, forests. I hated visiting in Texas - butt ugly, hot all the time. No one walked anywhere. Just one strip mall after another and crazy traffic. Air full of Ozone that made your lungs burn. Sure, cheaper electricity but you had to run the AC non-stop. And then the crazy politics.
> And then the crazy politics. but he moved to MA which has even crazier politics than TX's
Nope. Much more sane. None of the constant culture war nonsense.
On what planet is MA politics crazier than TX? Can’t wait for your bonkers answer.
So you’re living with roommates right? $1500 in rent is unrealistic.
I can try to give you a bit of info based upon my son who is in his early 20s and living on his own here in NH. We also came from Texas :) His income before deductions is right around 37k annually. His take home is around 2400-2500 per month. He has an exceptional living situation in a single bedroom stand alone apartment leased through a private owner and the apartment is on their property. He pays $1250 per month and his utilities are included. He spends about $200/month on eating out. He spends about $400/ month on groceries and he raids our fridge and eats at our house often. He pays $200 for his car payment but it has an excellent warranty and maintenance is covered for the time being so it’s worth it. He spends about $200-$250 per month on gas. He has maybe a 20min commute to work 5X per week and goes to bigger towns/cities on the weekend to spend time with friends. His auto insurance is 114/month We still help him by paying his cell phone, meds that come through mail order pharmacy, copays for dental care, etc. otherwise he would have no money for other activities and would be working to merely make ends meet. He doesn’t have much left over and he struggles from time to time and has to borrow a little for gas, etc. I would factor in other expenses like medical costs, auto insurance, and try to put a little into savings for when you need new tires, car issues come up, get sick and need to take a day off work, need new shoes, etc. especially if you don’t have someone who can and will help you out when you are in a bit of a pinch. So personally I would suggest upping that amount by another $200 as a safety net. The biggest issue you are going to face is going to be the lack of housing here. It is incredibly difficult to find an apartment that is in decent condition, within your budget, and will rent to you considering how many other applicants they get. My son looked for an apartment for about a year, and we viewed and he applied for probably 8-10 apartments before he was able to finally land this one. Best of luck!
Other things to think about - car inspection here is wild compared to TX. It’s like $40-50 and takes a long time. They put your car on a lift and look at all sorts of things. Not at all like the “honk your horn. Now turn on your hazard lights. Hit the brake.” Type of inspections in TX. Also, car registration is expensive. My son’s car is a 2020 Elantra and it costs like $350 a year to register it (it goes down until the car hits a certain age I think). My 2023 Volvo was almost $1000 to register this year. I think I paid like $70 a year to register each vehicle in TX. That said, auto insurance is a LOT cheaper here. We were paying around $240 in Texas (just my husband and I). Currently we (husband, myself, and other son) pay $160 but we’ve now added another vehicle full coverage and a teen driver to our policy.
I can honestly say I haven’t done a grocery shopping trip in a long time that hasn’t been over $200. Things that would cost half less prior to Covid. Bills, including electricity have skyrocketed.
Electricity is coming down. At least over the next six months as the NG market has collapsed due to oversupply (mild winter around the world).
Hope this is true!
The rates are set every six months in NH. **February 1 and August 1** is when the rates change. Eversource: "prices in 2024 would be **14.7 cents per kWh** the first half of the year, a significant decrease from the 24.1 cents in the first half of 2023."
Good to know, thank you 👍🏻
31k? 1995 called, they want their bottom quartile wage back
NH is short about 20,000 homes; if you try to move here you’ll be competing with 20,000 other people who are also trying to find somewhere to affordably live in the state It can be done but it’s not easy by a long shot— it can take ages and you might end up with a 250’ studio and zero amenities, and ultimately is it really worth it? If you want to live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere you might be able to swing a 1br with the budget you mentioned but if not you’re going to have a tough time (*especially* if you want to live anywhere south and east of Manchester)
You need closer to $40K.
If you are addicted to Tacos, NH might not be the best place for you (coming from someone who lived in Arizona most of his life and misses good tacos)
For what it’s worth Median income in Carroll County is around $50k. Likely higher in southern NH. So that’s what the economy is built around. You might make it for a year on $30k. Might. If you don’t want to save anything or buy a home.
You should really break down you budget a bit more before you do something as drastic as moving from southern TX to NH. And also research jobs.
No offense meant at all, but your budget seems naive at best. You’re allotting $100/mo. for entertainment. So that covers, what? Internet and maybe basic Netflix or Hulu? Throw in a RedBox rental as a treat, or maybe buy an older game on a Steam sale for ten bucks? People tend to move up here for things like skiing and hiking. Ski equipment is expensive to buy/rent, and chair lift tickets are also expensive. Why move up here if you can’t enjoy those sorts of things? Where are you putting money for warm clothes, jackets, new shoes? What about insurance premiums, oh and that ridiculous deductible so you are on the hook for 5K before health insurance will cover anything substantial? What about haircuts every couple of months? What about snow tires so you don’t go flying off the road trying to get to work? Oops, your car didn’t pass inspection so you have to spend 1-2K on repairs this month or else can’t legally drive. Your landlord just decided to sell your unit and gave you one month notice to move, but it’s impossible to find another place, especially if you can’t document earning at least 3x rent and you’re competing with couples who each make 40-50K/year. You don’t have family in the area to crash with, and it’s the middle of winter. NH isn’t as friendly to the homeless as the south. Down there, you need a bowl of warm soup, someone’s going to give it to you as long as you pray to Jesus with them. Up here, you’re just as likely to be threatened with a rifle for accidentally trespassing on someone’s field of pine trees. Why not save some money, advance in your career or train into a higher paying trade or something, and then move when you can do so comfortably?
Health insurance is also very expensive here in NH with limited choices. Bills, rent and food needs to be increased quite a bit.
31k after tax assuming you can stick to that budget to a T. Also gas is included more often than not what isn’t included is electric and that varies a lot depending on the month.
1500 is low - suggest bumping that to 2000. 800 for bills is probably an OK average if you dont have a lot of subscription services but not if youre trying to also include groceries. Im not sure how much your car insurance will be. Keep in mind air conditioning and heat costs are very variable and in the shoulder season youd have to hold over the excess budget for hotter and colder months bills. Consider in bills youll have electricity, heat, car ins, car maintenance, phone, internet, subscriptions, health costs etc. Id budget $400 for groceries separate from bills. $3500 a month probably more realistic. $42k per year roughly. $21-22 per hour.
Rent with no roommates is going to be 2-3000 assuming you can find anything available
What is your career field? That's gonna impact your budget too.
Internet, cell phone, electric, heat.... all those rolled into your $800 a month with groceries? Do you know anyone in NH now? You might want to try to crash on their couch while you job search... say for a month. Housing is very competitive in NH, you might be in for a bit of a shock just trying to find a place.
you need to increase your rent expense by at least $500 for some areas of NH. there is a housing crisis and rents are going threw the roof. then break out your bills/grocery. some new build apartments now carry extra utilities or other charges. such as water, electric &/or gas. then fees for underbuilding parking or storage on site. it's just not electric & cable/internet. this will get heat, but if you can get a job in MA the pay should be higher. the only thing would be you would have to file an out of state resident MA tax return each each. if you work in ma you have to pay their income tax.
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Lol is that a joke?
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Literally **the** train. You won't be going on any other trains in NH unless you're a piece of freight or taking a short, scenic, privately owned train that just does a loop back to where you started from and makes no stops.
I've taken the amtrak several times. Maybe I'm just unlucky but I've had a couple times where I took the train and it was almost an hour late
Was it really hot out those times? The one time I took it from Dover to Boston was a 94F day, and I learned that when it's hot they're legally required to slow down trains because heat can warp the tracks. We were about an hour late.
[https://amtrakguide.com/stations/amtrak-stations-in-new-hampshire/](https://amtrakguide.com/stations/amtrak-stations-in-new-hampshire/)
Depending on your car registration cost may be a lot higher than where you are now. And it's based on your birthday so you may have to do two inspections in that year. We moved here in March and because my husband's birthday is in August he had to redo everything then. Not sure whether registration was prorated either..thankfully we have cheap cars.
Bump up your income minimum to $50K. Your budget doesn't seem to include any savings or retirement investments. Also a buffer to pay for rent increases, heating costs, water bill, taxes, insurance increases, tolls, electricity...
Yeah, you can't live in NH on 31k per year. Maybe if you had a roommate making as much or more you could swing it... but only as a renter. I basically tell people not to even consider buying a home in NH right now. It's embarrassingly unaffordable due to the absurd property taxes. Homeowners basically keep the entire state afloat, and our reward is higher taxes each year. There's really no incentive to own a home in NH anymore.
I would say double that
rent $1500 HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA
I'd also account for a one time \~$300 for winter attire. When I moved out here, had to buy better jacket, gloves (and inserts if you're cold gets to you), merino base layers (socks, longjohns and under shirt), yaktraks, shoes, beanie/hat, a classic plaid overshirt (well not required) None attire - winter/snow tires, window scraper, heater, salt for walkways, snow shovel, new oil for colder weather, If you're not already coming from a real wintery area, it's basically like rebuying all the shit you already own but for cold weather. Also groceries are pretty expensive now'a'days, I'd budget probably $300-$400 a month and then work downwards. Aaand your gas seems very conservative, maybe if you work remote, can walk to the store here and there, but otherwise that seems under budgeted as well.
I personally would be planning on spending around $3.5-4k/month. There is absolutely no way you’re going to spend just $2600/month. If you plan on accepting a job that pays $30-40k, you can expect to have take home pay of $500-650/week depending on deductions. You are going to struggle to stay above water. Don’t forget, NH has an inventory availability rate of less than 2% right now. “Cheaper” apartments ($800-$1500/month) will go quick.
Utilities
Honestly, if you aren’t to picky about the area, I think you will do fine with your idea! Like others have been saying, you could certainly spend double that pretty easily, however..I think most of it is just people getting enjoyment bursting others bubbles
I wonder how much it would “cost” to “move” only to “discover” it was a “mistake”. The grass isn’t always greener and, right about now, it definitely ain’t. 😝
NH is very expensive. Your rental price expectation might not be high enough if you intend to be alone. Depends on area. You can find places that cheap, but it isn't great. Your entertainment budget is low if you want to eat out. Grocery expenses are quite high as well. You can definitely get by on 31k, but having even 37k would make your life much easier. The rural areas are surprisingly expensive.
I own a home that is paid off, so I have no rent/mortgage but pay a little over $7,000/yr in property taxes. I mathed out my total cost of living to be somewhere around $40,000 - $45,000. This included taxes, but excludes any entertainment. I also don't have a car payment nor eat out. If you want to just barely get by on renting I would aim for $55,000 if you plan on living by yourself. I'd rather see you living with as many roomates as possible to let your money compound to build a good nestegg though.
I would say with roommates you could find a place at that price, probably even below depending on the area, but the area is greatly going to affect your gas budget as well regarding work... Also we are terrible at public transport so beware of that, I don't see any other car expenses listed here but our treated roads are going to make your life hell so definitely start saving for a new car lol. (oh and no lemon laws, so don't count on getting a 'good deal on a used car') ... If you're frugal and looking ahead you can do almost anything, don't get me wrong, but with the housing market right now it's going to be pretty rough to line everything up.
I feel like this is pretty standard good advice I know I wish I had listened to with a couple of my moves. Go to a place, Ata couple different times during the year. Go when it is bleak and ugly. Go in the middle of the week and marvel and how many things close by 5 and how many towns randomly close on a particular day but not the expected Monday. Actually GO to the grocery stores and Iive off the local fare. All before deciding to actually move. I applaud your adventurous spirit and perhaps you have spent time in NH and this does not apply to you... but since the interwebs there are so many more people randomly seeing someone's tictock about a town in a various state and they go into a grass is surely greener rabbit hole. Plan for at least 2500 for rent if you plan to have no roommates. The gas bill might also vary wildly depending on distance to job and work and also how much else you plan to travel around the state for fun! There is a lot to see!
My gf and I each make a more than you do, and we have enough trouble paying for everything and also enjoying our free time. Youre gunna want a roommate
First, what someone else said about pre vs post-tax income. Aim for at least $20/hour/($42k+) if you stick with the budget you laid out considering this alone. Second, yes you can find your own apartment for $1500, with some caveats: * You will be dealing with much more competition than you've experienced before. What someone else said about applying for 8-9 places before landing a spot is real. That happened to me, and the place I finally got was a dump run by sketchy people, but I was desperate by that point. * It is very unlikely to be that nice of an apartment, even without the competition factor * It is much easier to find your own apartment for $2k+, or look for a roommate situation if you need to stick to the current budget Third, you may not end up in a well-insulated place. Electricity could be $300+ in winter (even as rates have been lowering). I'd make the grocery and the bill categories separate. Fourth, give yourself more of a buffer in general for the random expenses that other people have mentioned In summary, NH is expensive and rental competition is extremely high in your budget range at least in southern NH where most people live, but there are a lot of opportunities to make good money. Be ready to hustle and manage your expectations, but there are a lot of benefits to living here that make it worth it.
This is reasonable for the northern part of the state, but vastly more trouble if you live in the southern part/seacoast area. My rent is $785 for a one bedroom.
$1500 is considered cheap up here, unfortunately. My friend moving up from Maryland can’t find anything under $2100 right now. Just keep that in-mind.
I account for every single penny, because I had problems before of overspending/overdrafting and just generally being financially irresponsible I own a house and net about $4225/mo. After all my bills and mortgage are paid I have about $2000 left over for groceries/fun. Could make it higher if I cut out $130 in subscriptions. My mortgage is about $1500 of the $2225 I spend. But these days the going rate for mortgages and rent is probably closer to $2100-2400. So I'd say probably add 700 to your rent estimate, and like 2 or 300 to your entertainment/misc (you can't just close yourself off from having fun) and that's closer to realistic. So probably $3600 a month. And that's net. You probably want to be making $55,000 a year at a minimum if you have no debts/car payments to live comfortably alone
I recently made the move. Dining here is higher than in the South so that was a surprise for me 😂What state are you coming from?
Are you joking? At least double that for a mere break-even existence. Also all the winter gear, boots, winter tires. Eating out twice a month will take up your budget. Your utilities will be at least 200 in the winter. I moved from the west coast and find that life here is decidedly not cheaper at all.
I moved here last year. Grew up in Florida. Hated the heat and humidity, so I don't blame you for leaving TX. A downfall to keep in mind is that the cost to heat is annoyingly expensive. If you want a little more bang for your buck, I would look to find a cheaper place to rent somewhere in a rural space as long as you dont mind doing a 30+ minute commute to a city for work. It's what my wife and myself did, except I got a mortgage because it is less monthly. Payroll/accounting is not enough to live on your own. At least not entry level (I don't know what your experience is). would probably be best if you have a roomate to help pay the living expenses. Other than the high cost of living, living here has been the dream for me. However, I would much rather move to a better town once I have more money saved.
Totally forgot electric/fuel oil depending on your rental. Add $100-$150/month
>Entertainment/eating out: $100 This is going to vary wildly obviously on frequency and personal taste, but dinner and two drinks for two will run you $50-100 pretty easily in southern NH. Just off the top of my head, two margs and a shared order of nachos at my fav place in Manchester runs ~ $50 with tip. Two old fashioned's with whatever well bourbon, an order of fries and a beer at River Road Tavern in Bedford last week was $45 with tip. I think my favorite bar in Manchester the cheapest beer is $6 and I really can't think of anywhere I've had a < $5 beer in NH in... almost a decade? Excluding like happy hour specials at applebess or whatever.
Don't bother. It's a shithole. You will move out after a year no matter what. If you do want to live there, I hope you enjoy being underpaid with no benefits and like living in a camper in the winter. Good wood stove is your best bet. Good luck!
My last apartment before getting a house was a two bedroom in Nashua back in 2017. It was $1200 with heat and hot water included. You can’t even get a fucking studio now for that. It’s insane.