family relocating-HELP!

Bonny: Which island are you considering? What sort of employment? Private school for three is $$$. Yes, the cost of living is higher than in Texas, but Texas doesn't have the water or the beaches!! Chance of a hurricane is fairly low, but you do need to be prepared. Lots of info in the archives here...

Check the archives. Lots of info as said above. Cost of living is higher than Texas. Utilities higher - cost of water higher, property taxes are not so bad but homeowners insurance is extremely high, but no state taxes to pay and no sales tax to pay. Lifestyle is different so we spend less money because the things we do in leisure time are cheaper.

I have a seven year old who attends Montessori School. Great school. www.vimontessori.org. There are also other private schools on the island. The religious ones are about $3500 per year. Montessori is around $6000/year and Antilles is much more than that - don't know exact price.

This is all about St. Thomas by the way.

We relocated to St. Thomas this summer with our 2 children. The day to day items are more expensive than the states. But life is more simple and shopping is limited so there is very little impulse spending. KMART is the only nationally known store here. The are 2 KMARTS and 2 warehouse (SAMS Club like) stores. There are also several grocery stores. Our childen spend most of their free time at the beach or in the pool, so our entertainment costs are "zero".

Like most people who come from the states, we sent our oldest child to one of the parochcial schools here on the island. Cost is about $3000 per year depending on religious affiliation. (both Ss. Peter and Paul and All Saints accept children of all religions).

We were told by many people to expect a lot of traffic during the commute to work or school in Charlotte Amalie. We couldn't believe a little island would have traffic, but it does. There are only so many roads leading to the waterfront and everyone heads in there at the same time, so traffic is a slow crawl during the morning and after-school commutes.

Our biggest suprise was the limited availability of 3+ bedroom rentals. We ended up renting a 2 bedroom condo and are making do with the limited space. Many rentals come furnished, so you don't need to bring all your "stuff" with you. The condo complexes here are nice many have beach access and pools. Some also have generators which is nice, during power outages. We found 2 bedroom rentals to run around $1500 and 3 bedrooms to be about $2200+.

So far we haven't had any real challenges. It's real nice to get away from all the commercialism. Although there are 3 McDonalds and a Wendy's here when the kids need a happy meal fix.

Hope this is helpful!