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 dependent upon 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 dimension and readability.

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

San Bernardino is simply not just about nearly as good because of it was. Many factors, like homelessness and gang practice, appear to have gotten worse today.

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 worth of dwelling was dramatically rising. We had talked about Texas, Arizona, or in all probability Utah, nonetheless we weren’t excessive about it.

A hearth 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 choice 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 loads as what appeared like a vast 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: Now we have two kids, Anthony, who’s 3, and Charlie, who’s 1. We grabbed them each and ran open air.

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

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

Gerardo: We misplaced nearly every little consider our mattress room and the consuming space.

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

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

We might have preferred 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’d have preferred to begin one different time.

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

We figured if we’d have preferred to begin over fully, we is probably higher off beginning in Texas.

Gerardo: My brother has lived in San Antonio for about 10 years. We acquired proper right here out to go to a wide range 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 masses additional 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 a wide range of homes, nonetheless the wait took endlessly. We determined to utilize for an condominium and purchased licensed the following day. We stayed in a resort for 3 weeks till we acquired licensed for the condominium.

Along with lease being cheaper, gasoline is cheaper, which is sweet for us due to we now have fairly large autos.

Gerardo: Automotive registration is, too.

Tomi: Groceries, nevertheless, seem like regarding the an similar.

Whereas the worth of dwelling is additional 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 flexibleness to discover a related job in Texas, nonetheless as rapidly as I acquired correct proper right here, it was extra sturdy than I assumed. The proper-paying towing job I will uncover was for barely larger than $15 an hour.

For now, I have been holding off on getting a job to have a look at the youngsters 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 loads greener than we anticipated. We thought it might very nicely be 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 sweet. My companion has some PTSD from the hearth, and it is good that it’s 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 now we now have 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 selection

Gerardo: The toughest adjustment has been the meals. Even the McDonald’s correct proper right here tastes completely completely totally different. Texas road tacos aren’t like California road 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. All people seems to be so type.

Gerardo: Our purpose is to remain in Texas long-term, nonetheless we wish to swap to Amarillo, Texas, lastly. It snows there additional 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 a vast plus already.