re: Well, tonight’s election sealed it for me.

From 2013 to today

I am making 40% more and my wife is making 33% more than our best salary in LA

different companies, same jobs essentially but higher on the totem pole

Much higher career trajectories because we are in the company management environment directly in TX instead of remotely in LA

I am O&G
My wife is in risk and compliance

I got laid off from Big Blue in 2016 but had another comparable job lined up before I even signed my separation papers

Difference in Costs in houses were roughly offset by dropping private school tuition and we went from 1900 sq ft to 3500 sq ft

Our electric bill is higher, but competitive rate shopping allows us to manage some of that, we are cooling a bigger house in a hotter climate

The rest of it, quality of life is much better here. Just miss our family and friends

I find there is so much dysfunction in the banana republic establishment that there is an undercurrent of cynicism and dissatisfaction in LA we didn’t notice until we left.

Nights like tonight are a reminder of the dysfunction we left behind, my Facebook wall, is shitshow of screaming about JBE winning

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WTF kind of groceries and electricity are your parents using that savings would be in the thousands? I don't believe you.

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I don't know about the groceries, I just know my mom watches the prices of things like a hawk and she says they're saving $20-30/week. Maybe it's a hyper-local thing and they were just in a high cost town. As for the utilities, it was mostly the water but also the electricity. Their water bill alone touched $100/month in Texas often. Maybe the price per unit was high, or maybe they had to water the lawn all the time, or both. Either way, it was a necessary cost, and for comparison their water bill in Louisiana has never cracked $30. Electricity was also 10-30% higher in Texas I believe. Even trash pickup was an extra $200 a year.

Almost everyone notices when the price of something seems a little high, but hardly anyone bothers to figure just how much it costs when it's something you buy weekly or monthly.

Everybody focuses on taxes, but for the majority of people the effective tax rate in TX vs LA is pretty much dead even. Surely Texas spends their tax dollars more wisely so you get more out of it, but there are places in Louisiana that can hang with Texas in that regard.

I bet you're one of the ones who made fun of anyone saying they'd move to Canada if Trump was elected.

Jindal kept you here?

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Will be moving to Texas. Love the Louisiana culture, but frick this.

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Texas will be blue in about 10-15 years. Enjoy.