Cost of Living?

[Atehequa]

Re: Confessions

Yup, I'm in Norfolk. I sort of like it, quirkly place that it is... I've been here for 7 or 8 of the last 10 years, not counting deployments and whatnot from when I was in the Navy. We talk about moving out somewhere--Chesapeake or Suffolk, Gloucester, etc. But the commute is awful and there's hardly any public transport around here. Williamsburg is lovely, but dang--$$$! If I could just pick where I want to live around here without worrying about things like school quality or tolls, I'd live in Old Town Portsmouth or along the Layfayette River in Norfolk...but unfortunately, the schools suck in both of those areas.

Surry or Isle of Wight counties are not all that bad. Williamsburg? I remember when it was a quaint little college and tourist town surrounded by forest, field and farm. In a few years when I retire, we're heading up to the Jackson River Valley above Covington where our nearest neighbor will be a half mile or more away. The cost of living will be considerably less than the coastal plain. Norfolk? Ahhhh, I can somewhat remember many blurry eyed nights during my youth reveling and shooting pool in Ocean View before they razed all the bars and built condos and strip malls there.

Anyway it's good to meet a fellow Virginian here.

[thalassa]

Re: Cost of Living?

Right now on the radio: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/20...ble-housing-us

[thalassa]

Re: Confessions

So are you in South Hampton Roads?

I'm in a more rural area near West Point where housing cost is about the same, but homes are more isolated. I attempted to live in the Williamsburg area for twenty some odd years, but got weary of working so much just to keep my head above water in that Beverly Hills of the east. It seems northern Virginia is just as costly.

Yup, I'm in Norfolk. I sort of like it, quirkly place that it is... I've been here for 7 or 8 of the last 10 years, not counting deployments and whatnot from when I was in the Navy. We talk about moving out somewhere--Chesapeake or Suffolk, Gloucester, etc. But the commute is awful and there's hardly any public transport around here. Williamsburg is lovely, but dang--$$$! If I could just pick where I want to live around here without worrying about things like school quality or tolls, I'd live in Old Town Portsmouth or along the Layfayette River in Norfolk...but unfortunately, the schools suck in both of those areas.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Cost of Living?

I forgot about public transportation costs! There isn't any of that where I live now, but in NJ I was about 1 hour from NYC by train. It costs $13.75 each way now. I remember it being that much for the round trip! Service hasn't improved!

It's great here if you're -in- the city, even if it has gotten more expensive. When I moved here, an AB (central) ticket cost 2.10 Euro. Now it costs 2.60. I bike, so I have no idea how much it costs for a monthly pass. Still, not too terrible when it comes down to it. BUT if you live outside of the "C" zone on the BVG and have to start paying for regional trains, it can really add up. Plus, if you live anywhere rural, your train station may have closed down or may not run regularly/reliably. Germany used to have one of the best train systems in the world and it's still known for its efficiency, but it's slowly running into the ground. I think it's a prime example of how privatization is NOT helpful or efficient and does not save the consumer money (Deutsche Bahn has only gotten more expensive since its privatization).

[Ophidia]

Re: Cost of Living?

We are in a three bedroom townhouse in a sketchier area of town, and we pay $2400/month. I only make $2400/month.

*cries*

Holy carp! You can rent a 3 bed, 2 bath 1300 sq foot apartment in a not-terrible neighborhood out here for around $1600 a month. Plus utilities, of course, but still.

I've got a friend in San Francisco - at one point she was sharing a cracker-box house in the Haight-Ashbury area w/5 other people. Her share of rent & utilities totaled around $2000 a month. (I originally typed 8. There were 3 kids who were freeloaders. Damn toddlers).

[Atehequa]

Re: Confessions

Gas here is 3.10-3.25, depending where you are. Food is okay, particularly since we are one of the major ports in the US. Housing here starts around 150K for a crappy house in a bad neighborhood...sometimes you can get a deal though. Back home, where I'm from, these houses going for 150-250K would barely break 100.

So are you in South Hampton Roads?

I'm in a more rural area near West Point where housing cost is about the same, but homes are more isolated. I attempted to live in the Williamsburg area for twenty some odd years, but got weary of working so much just to keep my head above water in that Beverly Hills of the east. It seems northern Virginia is just as costly.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Cost of Living?

Yeah that's true in a lot of places. I'm from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and there -all- basic necessities cost more. Here in Berlin, rent and electricity has gone up a lot, public transport has gone up over 10%, and food has gone up about that much as well, all in the 9 years that I've lived here. In the meantime, people are only getting paid a little more. Like I said earlier, it could be worse, because the pay isn't as bad as it is in some parts of the states, but it still sucks, especially when you know that large companies and the country's wealthiest residents barely pay tax (I hate Luxembourg).

I forgot about public transportation costs! There isn't any of that where I live now, but in NJ I was about 1 hour from NYC by train. It costs $13.75 each way now. I remember it being that much for the round trip! Service hasn't improved!

[DanieMarie]

Re: Cost of Living?

Lotta numbers, I know, but the deal is that the difference between states is HUGE, and the percentage of income required to cover housing has increased dramatically over the years.

Yeah that's true in a lot of places. I'm from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and there -all- basic necessities cost more. Here in Berlin, rent and electricity has gone up a lot, public transport has gone up over 10%, and food has gone up about that much as well, all in the 9 years that I've lived here. In the meantime, people are only getting paid a little more. Like I said earlier, it could be worse, because the pay isn't as bad as it is in some parts of the states, but it still sucks, especially when you know that large companies and the country's wealthiest residents barely pay tax (I hate Luxembourg).

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Cost of Living?

When I graduated from college in 1979 and went back to central New Jersey, I was at first taking home $100./week. Small studio apt's. could still be had for about $125./mo, and when I got married in 81, we rented a 2 br home with a full basement in a decent, working class area for $325., so between us, it was fine. Got divorced, lived with friends for a while, then in 87, I was making about $24K/yr. and found an apt. for $400./mo. It was a rat hole. Roaches, mice, bad part of town, but cheapest I could get.

By 2001 my circumstances improved and I bought a 3 br new townhome for about $240K. Property taxes - $6 - 7K/yr. Monthly HOA - $220. Electric & gas - average $1700./yr. In 2009, sold it for $310K, bought a 3 br house on 1/4 acre in the Ozarks for $113K, no HOA, prop. taxes $800./yr, gas/elec, avg. $1400./yr.

Lotta numbers, I know, but the deal is that the difference between states is HUGE, and the percentage of income required to cover housing has increased dramatically over the years.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Cost of Living?

Our $900/month apartment is comparable to the $550 townhome we lived in in Illinois.

We are in a three bedroom townhouse in a sketchier area of town, and we pay $2400/month. I only make $2400/month.

*cries*

Half my pay is my portion of the rent. Everything else goes to the odd gas top up, insurance, groceries, phone and internet, electricity, my student loan, and paying off my mountain of debt I incurred before I moved up here (which I haven't been able to really pay off, so the interest has quadrupled it) ....and then I'm left with nothing. I have no savings right now. Just lots of debt.

Expensive, beautiful north.

[thalassa]

Re: Cost of Living?

Some of things are cheaper here where I live (except real estate/housing and farmer's market produce) than when we lived in the midwest because 1) we are a major port on the East Coast and 2) there's a lot of competition for stores because of the pressure from the military exchanges and commissaries (no taxes) and 3) every state does sales tax differently.

Hubby and I make about $3500 a month to support the 4 of us (this probably about 60% of our income), after taxes, health insurance, and retirement and pension come out. This is pretty good money in the US--we just barely break the top quarter of incomes. This year will also be the first time we've ever made that much money--when I got the new job last summer, our family income almost doubled.

About 1/2 of that goes to rent (we live in a 2 bedroom one bathroom apartment) and transportation (including payments, gas, tolls, and insurance), about 1/4 of it pays the electricity, cell phone, renters insurance, my school loan (which is thankfully almost paid off), internet, Netflix and and XBox live subscriptions (since that is how we watch TV), day care for the kids, paying down debts we incurred during unemployment and underemployment, some odds and ends medical bills from co-pays and things, and the kids gymnastics. The rest of it pays for groceries, toiletries, clothing when its needed (and we shop at thrift stores), books, other odds and ends, and the occasional date night. And we maybe go out to eat once a week, somewhere cheap and local.

Housing around here is expensive (or you can plant on an hour or two commute and tolls...well, there are tolls no matter what now, thanks to our last governor and the teapublicans in the state governement). Our $900/month apartment is comparable to the $550 townhome we lived in in Illinois. My mom's 175,000 house (4 bedrooms, a loft, a fireplace, den, dining room and eat-in kitchen, decent backyard, 3 bathrooms) would easily (in a similar neighborhood) cost twice that here. But paying more for the housing is worth it because here, the state government leans heavily red (most of the state is rural) and is too cheap to pay taxes or do anything about transportation, so the roads suck which causes more wear and tear on vehicles, and more time spent in traffic jams, and shit-tons of tolls.


ETA: I merged this with another, similar thread

[loststarshine]

Re: Cost of Living?

My uncle had a union job in vegas they did fairly well there. It is so much cheaper to go out to eat. I wish the starting pay at mc donalds was starting pay at 10 thats the starting pay for nurses aides here. In kansas intill 2009 the minimum wage was under 3 dollars an hour.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Cost of Living?

Yeah Berlin is more expensive than that on most levels. I thought food (in Germany...prices for food are pretty standard between cities because it's not exactly a massive country, size-wise) was pretty cheap here, and it -is- for Europe, but those prices you described are pretty normal for cheaper supermarkets here (You'd pay about 2.50 Euros for 500 grams of mixed beef/pork hamburger meat, give or take).

I recently read a report that big cities in Germany (including Berlin) face higher rates of poverty than rural areas or small towns. Berlin isn't really -that- much cheaper than a lot of places anymore; it's still cheaper than Cologne, Munich, or Hamburg, but it's more expensive than Leipzig, Dresden, and most mid-sized cities. BUT people here still get paid less, because everyone has it stuck in their heads that Berlin is "cheap". It's a real problem.

I don't even pay rent (through the grace of my parents) and I live paycheck to paycheck. I almost -never- go out...the regular costs of living suck up my budget.

The one thing that calculator doesn't have is wages, which affects things a lot. Like, apparently living in Cologne is about the same as living in Berlin, except people in that part of the country usually earn more than people do here. And although Berlin is 20% more expensive than Vegas, I think people here earn more than they do there (based on what you described). Even considering what people earn for low wage jobs - even without the 8.50 Euro minimum wage that comes into effect in January, my boyfriend made over 7 Euros (so, probably over $10) at McDonalds, and that was the minimum amount of money he could make at that job (the restaurant industry has a minimum wage based on union negotiations, which negotiate wages for everyone, not just union members). Wages are low in Germany, but they're definitely better than they are in the US.

[Ophidia]

Re: Cost of Living?

Here in Las Vegas it's a little weird. If you have a union job & work in a union hotel, you make good money, which means $40,000 to $50,000 a year. We have no state level taxes, so we only pay out Federal Income Tax. If you're in a Tip Compliant position (mostly food service & casino card dealers) then you pay taxes on your projected/estimated tips. The average union hotel/casino worker can probably afford to rent a 2-bedroom apartment ($1000 + a month) or have a car payment and afford full coverage insurance if they're disciplined about their money. If you work in a non-union hotel/casino, or a non-casino job, you're making minimum wage, which is the Federal minimum of $7.25/hr or $15,000 a year. Have fun trying to survive.

Almost every other house in my neighborhood has been foreclosed on, and we don't even live in an expensive part of town. If we didn't own our home (by virtue of the in-laws, mind you), we'd be struggling to pay rent. Forget buying a new car - we drive an older vehicle & have minimum liability insurance. If my health insurance wasn't covered by my union dues, there would be no way the Affordable Health Care Act would be affordable (my uinion dues are $40 a month, so $480 a year, with a $1000 dedcuctible - for my husband & I to receive similar coverage thru the AHCA, it's approx. $3500 a year. We rarely meet our deductible, so we're actually only spending about $800 a year for the two of us on health care). If we were trying to buy a home, we would not qualify for a mortgage.

Groceries are more expensive than eating out. Since my husband & I stopped eating out at all, our food bill has doubled. It's the price we pay for living in a landlocked state with little or no agriculture. Tomatoes begin around $3 a pound. Hamburger meat is $1.99 a pound. Other cuts of beef, chicken, pork, etc. are far pricier. Farm-raised salmon starts around $7 a pound, tilapia's about the same as tomatoes. And forget farmers' markets here. We do have them, but $8 tomatoes are out of our league. Feeding two people & a dog halfway decent food costs us about $800 a month.

Electricity is outrageous, and in most neighborhoods, you might be able to supplement with solar panels if your HOA allows it. We pay, on average, $3000 a year in electricity. The gas bill is about $350/yr, water is $250/yr, sewer service is $200, trash service is $200/yr. Car insurance at minimum liability is $500 a year & we spend about the same for homeowner's insurance.

So for basic food, insurance & utilities, our 2-person home spends $14,600 a year. That's minimum wage's gross pay right there. And we don't pay rent, a mortgage or have a new car. Or kids.


I did find an interesting little calculator thingie: http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living

Berlin's about 20% more expensive than Las Vegas :O

[loststarshine]

Re: Cost of Living?

The cost of living is high here you either work your life away or you try for low income housing. I was spoiled by the housing prices from back home. And yes electronics prices keep getting cheaper.... clothes prices are outrageous. Our world keeps getting more greedier. It makes me want to live off the grid but that seems so expensive to statt up.