would like to move to STX with three children

hi myra
When you do a search on this forum you will find dozens of discussions about bringing children to the islands. Things have improved regarding wapa (electric) since the early post Hugo years. Not nearly as many black outs, but they still occur. Electric costs are high maybe higher than 15 years ago, so be sure to put that in your equation.

Public Schools are a problem and private schools are expensive. Your idea to homeschool is probably very good.There are some local people you can contact to get support.

You won't enjoy the financial safety net that Hess (now Hovensa) provided you. Medical insurance and inexpensive housing will take a big cut out of your paycheck.

Spend some time doing the cost of living math. You already know about island life and that hasn't changed much in the last 15 years.

You can do it.

Thanks for the info.

there are divemaster jobs to be found, but they don't pay enough to support a family of five. Even singles struggle to survive on that kind of pay. If you and your husband have the skills to work for the refinery, you would be very wise to look into getting back on with them or one of their sub-contractors. They pay well and include benefits and some positions also offer to pay for your move to the island, give you a large monthly housing stipend and even pay for private school tuition for children. They also pay to move some contractors back to the mainland when their contract ends, so that provides another safety net in case you don't like the island environment for raising your children. Even the positions that don't include all the extra perks pay better than what divemasters make. I'm a PADI instructor and could never live just on what that would bring in even if I did it full time.

How much do you think it would take to support a family of five on the island? I have a job and with a computer and phone they will let me do it anywhere. Our only concern is if the island offers enough for our kids. Are you a local or from the states? I think we would love it in STX. We did live there 1 1/2 years so I think we know what to expect but not sure how much has changed. I've heard it has changed for the better. We are looking for a more relaxed life if you know what I mean. Less hustle and bustle.

Dear Myra,
Your thoughts of moving here (STX) with your 3 children brings back memories of my moving here, back in 1984 with my two teenagers, one dog and one cat. "Comforts of home" are much better now. We had one TV channel then, channel 8, and we were grateful for that. Our first real Christmas tree that we just HAD to have, cost $125.00. OUCH! Now there is competition, so the prices are down and selection is up. Power outages were common as you mentioned. WAPA has improved greatly, even though short outages still occur. The expense of housing (rental or sale) and private education is high. A very painful fact but true. If you or your husband could get on with HOVENSA or one of their subs your income would be much higher than as a dive master. As an employee, they offer good benefits. Your idea of home schooling is very possible. Many parents successfully do that. One public high school that gets high marks is the "Complex". Obviously, it depends on your children's ages and interests. STX is a wonderful place to raise children. It is so diverse in all aspects and it's a great experience. Investigate and then go for it.

Lorine Williams
Coldwell Banker Land-deWilde Realty
St. Croix

If your serious about moving here, this message board has a wealth of information. Read the threads all the way back. There are tons of them all the way back.

As far as what a family of 5 would need to make to survive here its a hard question for someone to answer for another person. We all have different comfort levels. It depends on where you will want to live, what you buy at the grocery store, how much you eat out, how much you shop, how simply can you live, how much electric your home eats up, will you home school (which is not cheap either) or send them to private school, are you going to risk not having health insurance or pay for it yourself? IMO I would not live here with 3 kids without a really good income, insurance and schooling paid for by work.

Sub contractors at hovensa rarely pay for insurance unless you are high up. Very few other companies or jobs include health care and if they do most have a time limit you have to be there before benefits kick in. The quality of health care I'm sure is not that much better then when you were here before. As we all know kids get sick.

Try doing a pmv, then you will have a better idea if it has changed for the better.

I would say that, in general, very general, you should plan on having an income of $75,000 for a family of 5 to live in a reasonable way. And that doesn't include school tuition or trips back to the states.

I would not want to try this. Please consider a pre-move visit of at least 2-3 weeks.

As Mobile as your job sounds that will be a big help. Just to not have a brake in income. No looking for work and you can home school and still get paid. If that works out maybe he wont have to work at Hovensa. I am hoping my wife can bring her job so I don't have to work at Hovensa. Not to knock it,it is a good job I am sure. Being self employed for to long and don't think I would care for it. I am pipe fitter by trade, but have been a plumber for a long time now. Sub for generals cant wait to see how long it takes to get my C36 on STX.

I posted that my husband is a divemaster but he will be a dive instructor before we make the move. We also will have 1 year salary in the bank to live on till he either makes an income at a scuba shop or finds work elswhere. He has a degree in Industrial Electronics, his job now, and it looks like they are looking for maintance mech.

Whatever your credentials, experience or work expectations - with 3 kids to consider you HAVE to come here first for 2-3 weeks to see if living on STX will suit you and your family.

I am not being negative, or crabby or... well, you get the idea. Have you homeschooled before? It's not as easy as you may think. A woman named Teresa lived here for a while with her husband and kids. Do a search for her posts, they will be more helpful than any advice we can offler.

Not to mention you have a job you are bringing with you, then you plan to homeschool all on top of being a mom. So you will have 3 jobs, will it still be paradise? Doesnt sound like your life will slow down much.

The dive instructor thing will most likely be a hobby, because it will not pay the bills for a family of 5 let alone one. I dont know how expensive it was in 92 but its expensive here to rent compared to most places stateside. In other words prices have gone up since then. An avg 3 bedroom home in a good neighborhood is going to be $2k to $2500 to rent, if you can find one. Hovensa's been busy and it keeps the rental market going storng, for the most part it is a landlords market, so to speak.

I just have a couple of cents to add to you alls posts. We are a family of five that lived on STT. My husband had a full-time job with insurance, benefits, etc. I had at one point two part-time jobs. Our rent for a three bedroom was $1200/month (the cheapest we could find, but a good place to live). We could not afford air conditioning and I lost a lot of weight with my sweating my @$$ off. 🙂 Our electric bill was almost $300/month (that is without air conditioning!). We only had one bathroom.

Bugs and mosquitos a constant problem, although I fear nothing anymore. (Except: the two snakes we had sneak in our home still chill me to the bone even though they were harmless) We were only able to eat out once a month or so and that was pushing it. We shopped the cheapest groceries, etc. We slowly ate up our entire savings account over two years. We had one vehicle although my husband also had a work truck provided by his company. Driving up and down those hills, we spent the same amount of gas that we did in the states, but it is more expensive on island.

My two school age kids went to public school. We could not afford day-care for my youngest. I worked nights - husband worked days. I tried homeschooling and that about killed us all. Trying to do homework and teaching it while swatting at mosquitos or sweating in the shade just didn't work. It was pretty hard. Homeschooling without a 'support' group also made us quite isolated.

I would say that $75,000 wouldn't even come close to cutting on STT, it may on STX. On STT, you need six figures for a family of five - minimum, no kidding. A little more than that if you want private school. Public school did not work out for us and we ended up leaving island one year ago this month. (we left for a variety of reasons, but one was education for the kids and two was money - we ran out of it).

Living on island with kids can be done, but understand that it is more difficult and more busy than it is laid back and easy. I didn't get a lot of sleep on island. Either it was hot or I was battling the bugs that liked to visit at night or I just had too much to do. Get an air conditioner for your bedroom, it will save you a lot of sanity.

I guess I had a lot of cents to share. 🙂 Living on island has it's perks of course. We could pack up and go to the beach any ole time we wanted (well if the kids were not in school and I wasn't working and we had clean swimsuits...). I personally would not try to live on island again with school age kids, I much prefer vacationing there without kids and living with more comfort. I love my central air conditioning and my $130/month electric bill here in the states. (sorry, but I don't have an ocean view anymore so there :P).

Just take everyone's advice and do a PMV so you know what you are getting into and be sure and do your research. This message board can be used to the max. Good luck and no worries!

Teresa

Myra:

I realize it is a little off-topic, but I am interested to know about your job. That's a great benefit to be able to telecommute. Is your employer hiring?