Cost of Living?

[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.

[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.

[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?

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!

[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.

[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).

[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).

[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.

[thalassa]

Re: Cost of Living?

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

[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.