We Moved From California to Texas; We Make Quite a bit a lot much less nonetheless Love the Way of life

• 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 price of dwelling and the parents nonetheless misses California’s meals.

This as-told-to essay relies on 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 associate, Tomi, and I are from San Bernardino, California. We met at a celebration in 2019 and married closing April.

San Bernardino simply is not just about pretty much as good on account of it was. Many factors, like homelessness and gang prepare, appear to have gotten worse today.

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

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

A fireplace lastly pushed us to go away

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

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

It was terrifying. We had been asleep, and immediately, my husband woke as rather a lot 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 outdoors.

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

The hearth destroyed about half of our dwelling, plus there was smoke damage all over the place.

Gerardo: We misplaced almost every little think about our mattress room and the consuming home.

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’d have favored to restart our lives someplace

Tomi: Numerous days later, our landlord instructed us they wished to terminate the lease on account of they might not estimate how extended the repairs would take and could not put us in a single totally different place all through the meantime. We had been homeless and realized that we wished to begin one different time.

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

We figured if we wished to begin over completely, we might be bigger 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 loads of years as soon as extra and simply fell in love with the town.

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

Texas is hundreds 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 rental. We’re now in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom place in San Antonio and pay $1,250.

Tomi: We first utilized for lots of homes, nonetheless the wait took endlessly. We determined to utilize for an rental and purchased permitted the following day. We stayed in a resort for 3 weeks till we acquired permitted for the rental.

Along with lease being cheaper, fuel is cheaper, which is nice for us on account of we now have fairly big cars.

Gerardo: Automotive registration is, too.

Tomi: Groceries, nonetheless, appear to be regarding the equal.

Whereas the worth 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 big 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 pliability 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 easiest-paying towing job I may uncover was for barely larger than $15 an hour.

For now, I have been holding off on getting a job to look at the youngsters since we don’t 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 rather a lot 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 nice. My associate has some PTSD from the fireplace, 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 now we have been correct proper right here, which is rare for San Antonio. We love the snow.

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

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

There was unimaginable Hawaiian barbecue in California. Since we moved, I’ve on no account 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 parents. All people seems to be so type.

Gerardo: Our aim is to remain in Texas long-term, nonetheless we wish to swap 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 emphasize about wildfires correct proper right here like we did in California has been a vast plus already.