We Moved From California to Texas; We Make Rather a lot a lot much less nonetheless Love the Life-style

• Gerardo and Tomi Ruiz moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio, Texas, in September.
• They moved with their two youthful sons after a close-by hearth destroyed their rented dwelling.
• The couple loves Texas for its cheaper worth of dwelling and the fogeys nonetheless misses California’s meals.

This as-told-to essay is determined by a dialog with Gerardo Ruiz, 29, and Tomi Ruiz, 26, native Californians who moved from San Bernardino, California, to San Antonio in 2024. The next has been edited for measurement and readability.

Gerardo: My associate, Tomi, and I are from San Bernardino, California. We met at a celebration in 2019 and married remaining April.

San Bernardino should not be just about nearly as good on account of it was. Many factors, like homelessness and gang prepare, appear to have gotten worse nowadays.

Tomi: There have been factors we hottest about California. I had household solely about an hour away. I cherished being contained in the snow or on the seashore every time I wished.

We had been speaking about leaving California for some time due to the value of dwelling was dramatically rising. We had talked about Texas, Arizona, or presumably Utah, nonetheless we weren’t excessive about it.

A fire lastly pushed us to go away

Tomi: In September, the Line Fireside broke out in Highland, California, subsequent to my grandparents’ home.

We had been renting a home on the opposite aspect of metropolis. The Line Fireside wasn’t straight threatening our home at first, nonetheless our neighbor’s dwelling caught hearth. They talked about it began from an ember from the Line Fireside.

It was terrifying. We had been asleep, and immediately, my husband woke as so much as what appeared like an infinite explosion. I felt him pushing me and yelling.

After I sat up, I noticed flames coming by our mattress room window, not even six toes away.

Gerardo: We’ve got two youngsters, Anthony, who’s 3, and Charlie, who’s 1. We grabbed them each and ran outdoors.

Tomi: We each ran out in our underwear due to we did not have time to get garments.

The fireplace destroyed about half of our home, plus there was smoke harm everywhere.

Gerardo: We misplaced practically every little think about our mattress room and the consuming space.

Tomi: We had been merely in shock. We sat outdoors staring on the home for a extremely very very long time.

Gerardo: The Pink Cross gave us some cash for a resort.

We wished to restart our lives someplace

Tomi: Loads of days later, our landlord instructed us they wished to terminate the lease due to they could not estimate how extended the repairs would take and could not put us in a single totally different place contained in the meantime. We had been homeless and realized that we might have appreciated to start out one different time.

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We talked about staying in California, nonetheless beginning a mannequin new lease contained in the state is pricey with a deposit, the primary month’s lease, and the whole bills.

We figured if we might have appreciated to start out over fully, we is maybe higher off beginning in Texas.

Gerardo: My brother has lived in San Antonio for about 10 years. We purchased proper right here out to go to loads of years as soon as extra and simply fell in love with town.

Tomi: We packed up what we had left, my husband took out his 401(okay), and we drove to Texas.

Texas is fairly so much extra low cost

Gerardo: Our first impression of Texas was how low-cost the lease is. We paid about $2,350 in San Bernardino for a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom condominium. We’re now in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom place in San Antonio and pay $1,250.

Tomi: We first utilized for loads of homes, nonetheless the wait took endlessly. We determined to utilize for an condominium and bought licensed the subsequent day. We stayed in a resort for 3 weeks till we acquired licensed for the condominium.

Along with lease being cheaper, fuel is cheap, which is good for us due to we now have fairly large vehicles.

Gerardo: Automotive registration is, too.

Tomi: Groceries, nevertheless, look like in regards to the an similar.

Whereas the value of dwelling is extra low cost correct proper right here, the pay is decrease.

I am a licensed phlebotomist, and in California, I used to be making about $25 an hour. Correct proper right here in Texas, I acquired some affords starting from $16 to $20 an hour, and I accepted one. I am making lower than I used to be in California, nonetheless with the cash we’re saving, it is not too large a distinction.

Gerardo: I am a tow truck driver. I labored two driving jobs in California, making $21 an hour and $24 an hour.

I anticipated to have the facility to discover a related job in Texas, nonetheless as rapidly as I acquired correct proper right here, it was tougher than I assumed. Top-of-the-line-paying towing job I might uncover was for barely bigger than $15 an hour.

For now, I have been holding off on getting a job to have a look at the children since we do not know many individuals correct proper right here in Texas who may babysit.

The state has exceeded our expectations

Tomi: We merely fell in love with Texas. It is so much greener than we anticipated. We thought it is perhaps all desert and cowboys, nonetheless San Antonio has many good parks and playgrounds. It feels very family-oriented.

Gerardo: The ambiance out correct proper right here is good. My associate has some PTSD from the hearth, and it is good that it is not as dry.

Tomi: You undoubtedly really actually really feel the Texas warmth, although. It was nonetheless so scorching on Halloween. We’re used to a breeze in October.

It furthermore snowed since we have got been correct proper right here, which is unusual for San Antonio. We love the snow.

There have been some challenges, nonetheless we made the changing into alternative

Gerardo: The toughest adjustment has been the meals. Even the McDonald’s correct proper right here tastes absolutely completely totally different. Texas avenue tacos aren’t like California avenue tacos in the slightest degree.

There was unimaginable Hawaiian barbecue in California. Since we moved, I’ve not at all been capable of finding related meals.

Tomi: Texas has been so good to us. I felt like I used to be dwelling instantly. I really actually really feel like I’ve related to the fogeys. Everyone seems to be so sort.

Gerardo: Our purpose is to remain in Texas long-term, nonetheless we wish to change to Amarillo, Texas, lastly. It snows there extra usually, and we love the chilly.

Tomi: I am so glad we moved. It was scary as quickly as we determined to do it, nonetheless we had nothing to lose and made it work.

Gerardo: The current fires in Los Angeles had been horrible, and we’re praying for everybody concerned.

The reassurance of not having to fret about wildfires correct proper right here like we did in California has been an infinite plus already.