BP, so I should pick up and move to Lakewood? So for starters, my 1 hour commute (each way) would turn into a 2-2.5 hour commute (yes, I’ve done that when visiting my sister). So instead of 2 hours commuting, I am now at 4.5. I wake up at 5 am right now, so I would have to wake up at 4 am. Now I get home at 6 pm, I wouldn’t get home until 7:30 pm. My husband would also be home later. So not only did I add time to my day, I added more commuting costs (its like $35/round trip from Lakewood, from teaneck its $8.50) and I added 2.5 hours and I now have to pay for later childcare. How many places do you know that are open 6 am to 7:30 pm?
OK so my mortgage is cheaper. Assume an interest rate of 5%, thats $500/month per $100,000 savings (roughly). Houses in my sisters area are around $300,000 which is $200,000 less than Teaneck (modest house). So I save $1,000, but need to add in an extra $27/day in commuting expenses for me, 1.5 hours of childcare (assume $15 for the extra time) and extra gas and tolls for my husband to drive. If you assume 21 business days a month, that’s $1,000 right there.
So my savings would be only for tuition and some property taxes. Because I wouldn’t be seeing my kids at all. For that, I might as well bus my children to Staten Island.
What’s the point? Moving is not always the solution.
Want to take away the benefit of teachers getting free tuition? They will demand more money. After all, they aren’t stupid – they know its the best reason to be a teacher in a Jewish school. So tuition costs still go up to cover the increase in teachers salaries.
Capping tuition costs does nothing because it doesn’t guarantee paying the bills. If no one in Lakewood is paying $45,000 for 9 kids (according to my sister tuition waws $5,000 a year per child so I’m using that), then either the school doesn’t really cost $5,000 a child so base tuitions builds lots of scholarships in OR someone is privately footing the bill. Money doesn’t grow on trees.