Our Next Step?

You know that a couple weeks ago, we made a trip to Hoboken with Jeff and Jaime. What you don't know yet is that we went back again this past weekend because we are considering moving there.

As I have mentioned before, Eric and I have been putting a lot of thought and consideration into what our next step in life will be. The cost of living here in the city is just too high to be sustainable much longer. We get by just fine, but it is difficult to build savings, and what we do save ends up being spent on travel (not that I'm complaining about that, but it's our situation right now). We have been considering where we might like to go in February when our lease is up, but to be honest, it will be difficult to move and get ourselves set up again with little extra money in the bank.

While we were in Hoboken, Jeff asked how much apartments over there generally cost. Eric and I brushed it off, assuming that the cost would be very similar to the cost in Manhattan, since Hoboken is just a short train or ferry ride away. However, when we got home, Eric did some checking into it, and that is not actually the case. Things are much less expensive there. And, there's even a building owned by our property management company right off the train in Hoboken. We had been under the impression that we could move to another building by this company in the middle of our lease with no penalty, so we decided to go check it out this weekend...just to see.

Well, it turns out we were wrong about the moving policy - the new building has to be at least 30 miles away from the current building, which Hoboken is not. So, if we decide to make this move, we would either have to wait until our lease is up in February or talk to our building manager now to see if they might be willing to let us out of our lease. The woman we spoke to in Hoboken seemed to think they might be willing to do that if 1) we live in a highly desirable unit (we do) and/or 2) they could lease our apartment for much more than we currently pay (they could). So, breaking our lease is not out of the realm of possibility.

But anyway, back to Hoboken itself. We took the PATH train out there on Saturday to check it out with fresh "could we live here?" eyes. The apartment building is just blocks from the train station, so it was quick and easy to get there (and we passed Carlo's Bakery on the way!). We had about an hour to kill before the leasing agent would be able to speak with us, so we spent some time wandering down Washington Street. And let me tell you - I loved it. It was so charming. It reminded me a lot of Old Town Alexandria, my favorite part of D.C. (and the area I'd like to live in if we ever move back there), just a little bigger. There were shops and restaurants and cafes, and it was just adorable. There were tons of cute little local restaurants I would love to try, and some of my old favorites like Crumbs for cupcakes (if we ever didn't feel like dealing with the crowds at Carlo's) and Five Guys Burgers & Fries. I just loved Washington Street, and I could see us spending afternoons or evenings strolling down that street.

Washington Street

More Washington Street

After spending some time on Washington Street, we went back to the apartment building to check it out. The leasing agent filled us in on the policy that we misunderstood, and showed us around the building and some of the units. I really loved one of the corner unit we saw, and if we decide to move to Hoboken I definitely want a corner unit. The unit we saw (identical to the one we would want) was 799 square feet (compared to our current 650) and beautiful, with a substantially lower monthly rent. It had walk-in closets (I think I actually said, "I could sleep in here!" to one of them), a kitchen window (hello, sunlight!) and wraparound corner windows with a view of Manhattan. It was fabulous. I know that if we decide to make this move, one of the hardest parts for me will be leaving our apartment and our view, so a new apartment with another great view would really make it easier to stomach.

 This isn't the view we would have, but the windows would be very similar to these.

Our kitchen would have a window like this one, and the bathroom would look similar to the one here, too.

 Our potential floorplan

The rest of the building was nice, too. They have free coffee in the lobby in the mornings, a free gym, a much larger laundry room than we have now, and a big sundeck with a view of lower Manhattan. All in all, we weren't disappointed.

But I haven't even told you the best part yet! Guess what is in walking distance from the apartment? A Target. TARGET, PEOPLE! I love Target, and I miss it immensely. To be able to walk to one? A dream come true. (At the very least, I now know I can take the PATH train to Target to get my fix, even if we stay in Manhattan!) There is also a grocery store and shopping mall. It's glorious. A real shopping mall! No fighting the 34th Street crowds! An actual mall! It's all so suburban America.

Behold, Target in all its glory, complete with trees and a parking lot and everything.

After checking out the Target/shopping area, we were pretty beat so we decided to head back to NYC. Instead of hopping right on the train, though, we decided to take the ferry back. We walked back north along Frank Sinatra Drive, making a quick stop at Pier A Park, which is also just blocks from the apartment building. It's really nice - a big grassy area, gazebos, fountains, people fishing and relaxing - all with a great view of that city skyline.

Pier A Park

People relaxing in the park

VIDEO: A look around Pier A Park

So now we have to make this decision.

We're thinking of just mentioning all this to our current building manager to see if he can work something out for us to break our lease and move early. If he can, great - we could move and start saving money right away. If we can't, also great - we can stay in Manhattan through February and then decide where we want to go, be it Hoboken or elsewhere.

Our main reasoning in favor of this is that this move would give us the ability to still enjoy Manhattan while also enjoying the ability to put some money aside. Yes, we would be in another state, but with the close proximity to the train, Manhattan would be just minutes away. For example, it would take Eric the same amount of time to get to work in the mornings, he would just be taking the train instead of walking. That's huge to us, because a big reason why we have always been so opposed to suburb living here is that it would give Eric a longer commute. That's not the case here, though. This would extend our time here, but at the same time it will enable us to build a cushion to pull us through whenever we may decide to leave the area. Even just a year in Hoboken, with disciplined saving, would really enable us to stockpile some money to help us get on our feet whenever/wherever we decide to start fresh. There are lots of positives to this plan that I won't even go into right now, but logically, it seems to be a really good move for us.

Of course, I will have a terrible time leaving the city. I already think about it and get sad, and we haven't even decided on this yet. But I am trying to remind myself that much of that is just a mental block - again, it will take me the same amount of time to get out to 34th Street for some shopping (for example) as it does now, I would just be taking the train instead of walking. We would still be so close, but it would quieter and less expensive. It's hard to argue with that.

So, this is what we're currently considering. Again, nothing is definite, but I just wanted to throw it out there. We'll keep you posted as we think it over!