I was thinking about what the cost of living in others areas are? I guess from the part time job thread there were some minimum wages listed. Our minimum wage here in Oklahoma is $5.15 an hour, but our cost of living is really low (in our area). We live in a small town, our mortgage for an 1800 sq. ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and we have an inground pool (heated) is $397 a month. Our mortgage was $279 before we refinanced to add the pool. Gas is 2.15 a gallon. We used to be military so have moved around alot and this has to be the cheapest cost of living area that we have ever lived in. So what is the cost of living like in your area?
I'll add since everyone else is:

property taxes on house-$379 a year
car/homeowners insurance-$530 a month
water-$52 amonth
electric- $200 a month (higher in summer)
gas-$200-$300 a month for heat $600-$700 total when we heat the pool on the weekends
cell phones (3)-$95
home phone-$35
3 cars-no payments

I was just reading about this in the paper, around here the average rent is over $1000 a month and you need to over $20 an hour to live here.



For us personally...........hold onto your chair........ our taxes alone on our house are almost $10000 a year. Our morgage alone with a 5% intrest rate without taxes and insurance are $1600 a month!

Granted we have a big house 5 bedrooms and 3500 sq. ft. that we bought at a tax sale, but the car insurance and the taxes alone kill us.

Our bills per month:

$206 truck
$75 electric
$135 phone, satelite, internet together
$100 cell phones
$90 preschool
$300 food
$200 life and car insurance
$300 credit cards (no intrest ones, paying them off)


those are the biggies. Don't move to Jersey the taxes and insurance will kill you!


I am curious how much in taxes the rest of you pay? I know we are the highest in the nation tax wise as well as for car insurance I believe.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Hi,
What part of Jersey are you in?? I'm in NY (Brooklyn)

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

I am over by the PA, NY, NJ border, about an hour or so from where you are I guess? The rent price I was quoting was for Orange County NY actually, it's just up the street from me. I hear NY is really getting bad, tax wise I mean.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

We live in Alabama.... Small town--- Average income is between 65,000 to 90,000

We lock into a rental house for $1,100 that was 3 years ago now the rentals in this area are $1,350 or more...

1900 Sq ft
3 bedroom
2 baths
Garage
Master bath is 10 X 19--God, I going to miss that bathroom!!!



The landlord has never increase our rent, He owns alot of properties in this area... I'm shocked we haven't seen an increase in rent. We plan on buying a home next summer and he said, he hates to see us leave.. he is going to have a hard time finding good renters like us We make most of the repairs ourselves.. we only had to call him out once when dh couldn't f igure out how to fix something

our expense
Rent $1100
Grocery Bi-weekly $350
Car payment $459
Gas Bill Winter time $200
Water & trash $65
Electric drops to $120 in winter
Phone,internet,cable $95
CC $50.00
Cell Phone (4 Phones) $105
Renter ins $15
Car insurance $1600 a year, no wrecks no speeding tickets just the cost of having 2 kids on our policy

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

We live in a 3600 sq. ft. house in Va. Beach and I won't tell you what we paid for it, but our taxes are about $2500 per year. We do own a rental property and we have the most fabulous renters-but it is a 2500 sq. ft. house and we get $2100 per month in rental. That house is probably worth about 425K on the selling market-we bought it 2 yrs. ago for 270K. We are torn-we can truly use the money now, but hope that if we hold onto it for a bit, that we will be rewarded. Right now, the selling market in our area stinks. It used to be the houses in our neighborhood sold within hours, but the house next door to ours has been for sale for 4 mos. and I have only seen three ppl. there to see it.

Where I live at in IA the house I live in is $500 a month mortgage & thats 800 sq feet but considering most jobs around here pay $9-10 a hr I think its not very good

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mom of 3 greats girls

I live in a 2,800 sq ft home..3 bds..2 1/2 bas. Huge yard. I pay $1,600 a month and that includes taxes and insurance. Our car insurance is very high here in West Va. Too many people sue so the rest of us pay for it. My car insurance tripled from what I was paying in Va.

Food is higher too..we live in the middle of the moon so it costs more for a delivery . Gas is always higher..right now it is $2.39.

Elec bills are reasonable though. I pay about $100 a month to heat and cool this big house.

water bills are ok too...about $15 a month.

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Live, Love, Laugh

It's interesting. We have a nice older 2 story 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house with 1.5 acres. We have a 3 car garage and a 2 car garage in the back. Our mortgage, taxes and insurance are a total of $690 a month. I find utilities to be high. Between gas and electric each month, we are at $200 plus except in the winter when the gas bill alone will be over $250 (I am guessing...our first long winter here.) Water, trash and sewer are over $120 a month! I think that is crazy. Taxes on the home are about $1,400/year and we pay a school income tax and a local tax.

For comparison, we have a house for sale. Built in 1994, tri-level, 2 car garage, 4 bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths on half an acre and we will be lucky to get $110,000 for it. Taxes are $1,300 and there is no local tax except school tax.

We do fairly well, but our small town has about 1/3 of the kids below the poverty line I believe. Many of school's kids are on free or reduced lunch.

Gas right now is $2.09 a gallon and we can almost always get milk at about $2/a gallon.

Wow, I can't even imagine finding any house in this area for that low mortgage, regardless of size. We are in the Portland area and our rent is $576 a month plus utilities. That's VERY reasonable for this area and we only live in a small 2bdrm apartment. Min. wage here is $7.25 an hour though.
Debby

I lived most of my life in NY where rent, homes and taxes are thru the roof. I now live in Buck's County, PA which is near the NJ border and although homes in my area start at $400,000 it's still cheaper that living in NY.

We have a 1/2 acre and our house is 1,450 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a 2 car garage. We pay $810 per month (includes taxes and insurance) for our mortgage. The taxes for our house are about $1,450 per year and our homeowner's insurance is currently $460 per year, but I wouldn't be surprised if our insurance doubles or even triples when it's time for renewal because of the property insurance crisis we are having in Florida. Luckily we bought our house when we did because now all of the homes in our neighborhood sell for at least twice as much as we paid for our house 4 1/2 years ago.

Gas currently averages $2.35 per gallon. We never use too much milk, so I only know how much a half gallon costs, which is $2.20. Luckily, my MIL watches our daughter (for $200 per month), but if she didn’t, we would have to pay $400 - $600 per month for child care, depending on if it is in home or a day care.

Minimum wage is currently $6.40 per hour, but as of 1/1/07, it will be $6.67 per hour. I would say the average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment/townhouse runs about $700 - $800. To buy a decent, but older 3 bedroom/2 bath home with around 1500 - 1800 square feet it costs around $220,000 plus. If you’re looking for a newer home, it will cost you at least $250,000 plus (probably closer to $300,000).

$115 - $220 Utilities (electric & water)
$10 – Garbage
$40 – Basic phone + caller ID
$75 – Basic digital cable
$10 – Dial-up internet service (high-speed starts out at $50 - $60 per month around here)
$200 – Car insurance (one car is paid off, the other we have a loan on – no tickets or accidents for almost 5 years)

Our local sales tax rate is 7.5%, but we don’t pay tax on a lot of our groceries (as long as the food is UNprepared). If you buy a loaf of bread, lunch meat, cheese, etc. you won’t pay sales tax on anything, however, if you go to the deli dept. and have them make you a sandwich you pay sales tax. Luckily, we don’t have a state income tax.

I would love to join a health club/gym, but it costs about $50 per month for membership and I think that's just too much.

[flipper113 "Don't move to Jersey the taxes and insurance will kill you!


I agree BTW what part of NJ? I am in Central

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I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

I live in North Florida. Built/purchased home in 1991. 1425 square foot; 3 BR/2BA/2 car garage, fireplace, deck on 1/3 acre in a cul de sac. Average home price in my neighborhood is $210,000. Property tax on our home is about $1500/annually

Mortgage, tax, homeowners insurance $773/mo.
City water, sewer, trash, recycling, electric $170/mo.
Local telephone & caller Id $38/mo.
Local Internet $21/mo.
Cell Phone $67/mo.
Gas per gallon $2.30 average (mid-December 2006)
Local sales tax 7.5%
Car insurance $1,630/annual for mid-size car and SUV (both vehicles are paid in full)

No state income tax!!! We only pay federal income tax and Social security, etc..

Just curious - where in North Florida are you? I live in Tallahassee.

Price in Wyoming are going through the roof. I live in Northern Wyoming and the running joke is the billionaires are moving into Jackson so the millionaires are moving in to Sheridan!

House prices average right now I think are $$160,000-$200,000. Water bill and all in town are high. Rent when I look is about $750.00 for a decent place. And houses are over $1000 This isnt counting the local rich neighbor which the lot prices alone are $100,000 that doesn't include a house. Last house I had to deal with for work was built price over 1mil, 8000 square feet. And that is the mid size one.

I pay $77.00 for DSL and my base phone servie.

We own our house so.. no mortgage.. but electric-$70
propane-budgeted we pay every month to get a lower rate-$160
dsl/base phone-$77.00
property taxes we don't live on a big place and we share the property taxes with the inlaws so ours only run about $600 a year theirs is I think $2000.

gas is currently $2.25 for low grade

Home Depot just got built and the pay range for there are cashiers starrting $10.00 other positions $12.00+ non management.

Wyoming currently is the richest state in the country with supposedly under a 2% unemployment rate. Methane industry is paying pretty well. I think for just the labor type positions they start at $14.00+

Now if I could go live in the county where my parents live I could buy a nice small house for $25000(southern Ohio)

I live in So. California and the prices of homes are so high right now. The homes on my block are around 1,400 sq. feet with a very small yard and they are going for around $450,000 on up. These homes were built in 1972. Even the condo we sold in 1992 for $112.00 is now going for over $350,000. Our property tax is based on how much you paid for your home. It is something like 1.2% of the price you paid, and they can only increase it a little each year. So if I have lived here awhile and paid $150,000 for my home and my neighbor just bought a home just like mine for $450,000 I would pay a lot less on my property taxes. I don't know how anyone can afford to buy a house here any more. I'm afraid all my kids will have to move out of state to ever afford a home. Even condo's are just to high.

If we were any further North we'd be in NY. My MOm lived in Medford Lakes for a while, anywhere by you? I have lived here forever and we do think of moving just because look at how much of our money goes to nothing!? We could sell and then move to a cheap place, it's almost worth it, but we have family I am not ready to leave.

Once you leave, you can never go back. If we ever sold this house, we could never afford to buy it back, we'd be starting from the beginning again.

Lucky I am thrifty and DH makes good money, we don't have a lot, but we make it.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

we are in southern Alabama
minimum wage: $5,15
we have a 2300sq ft house ,5br 2 ba built in 1986.taxes are : $542 a year.
homeowner insurance: $1200(hurricane deductible $3000)
car insurance for 2 vehicles paid for: $528 a year
electric bill: $230 a month
cable : $60
garbage: $23 a month
water: $25 a month
gal of gas: $2,19
milk: $3,49

We live in Loveland, CO. We moved last year into a new house so here's what we are paying now (although we live in a mid to high home/area of town)

We sold a 7 year old 1500 sq. ft ranch that had 1400 sq ft of the basement finished on a corner lot for $275K last year and we bought a 2400 sq ft ranch with an unfinished walkout basement on a standard lot for $380K. Our new place has all the upgrades and access to a pool in the summer and a private park.
A piece o'crap apartment with 2 bedrooms and no covered parking will cost you about $700-$800 a month at least. It's cheaper to own IMO. If you rent a room in a house, rent can be about $250-$400 a month (I know because my brothers rents 3 rooms in his house) including utilities

I pay around $100 a month for a cable (basic), high speed internet and phone service with voice mail pkg)
I pay about $90 a month for 4 cell phones (and that's with a 25% discount DH's job gives him)
Gas is about $2.15 a gallon now (filled up yesterday)
We pay roughly $152 a month for the best insurance coverage possible on 2 vehicles and a motorcycle and that price includes a $1M umbrella policy

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Our bills seem about average for living in Maine
house payment (with taxes and insurance) $603, three bedroom, two bath on an acre and half
electric $100
Heat $200 a month in winter, $50 a month in summer
phone $32
No cell phone
cable $80 (digital basic cable)
water and sewer (have our own well and septic)
car payments $465 (two cars)
car insurance $898 (full coverage on both cars)
gas for cars (not sure, my dh and I both only travel a few miles to/from work)

St Louis area is considered reasonable. My husband's family is from DE and I can't believe their prices. We live in a 1600 sq ft brick home with finished basement on a middle sized lot (100 x 160)- my mortgage is $532, taxes $2500/year, utilites gas and elec average $200/mo, cable/phone/high speed $150, gas $2.38 yesterday. We are in a town of 100,000. If you go north to the smaller towns you can live more reasonably....but then there are less services.

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Lyn Clarke

Sexysmurf, I didn't know you live in Loveland! You're not too far away from me.

I live in Arvada, CO
1970's Bi-Level home, 1740 sq. ft 2 car garage, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath (not dumpy but not nice either) - our mortgage is $1260/mo including taxes ($1500 a year) and insurance ($850 a year)
Expanded basic cable & Internet $94/mo
Electric/Gas in the winter is $200-250; summer is $120-150 per month
Car Insurance (full coverage for a minivan) $65/mo- Just paid off the car (YEAH)
gas is $2.09/gal
Phone - $26/mo
Water - $35/mo
Trash $14/mo
Milk - we buy ours at Costco for $4.50 for 2 gallons.

We live in a 2 bedroom moble home. Here's are our bills

Rent- 1278.77
Lights- 65
Gas- 60 (much less in the summer)
Water- 60
Phone- 60 (I call Alaska a lot so we have a one-rate plan)
Cell- 100
internet- 40
Dish- 75
car- 300 (1 is paid off)

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TLJ ~ Where opinions are encouraged, not deleted

You laugh at me because I am different,
I laugh at you because you are all the same.

Your mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open.

To jlferick:

I, too, live in Tallahassee.

I live in the Southern California - Orange County Area, and house prices are ridiculous! Bottom of the barrel homes - with wall-to-wall carpeting, vinyl flooring in the kitchen, no backyard landscaping, and white tile countertops - start at $600,000! Property taxes are 1.6% - so you are talking about at least an additional $1000/mo. just for taxes. It is unbelievably ridiculous! The payment is close to $3000 a month - even with 20% down. I don't understand why so many people want to live here. The traffic is crazy, and the home prices are just as crazy. Yeah I have the beach and Disneyland nearby, but is it really worth it?? I keep asking myself that! :O)

I agree with the rest who warned about NJ. Our property taxes are $18K, and we are being reassessed, so they will go up again. We do not have a mansion by any means.

We have the highest car insurance rates in the country.

We have the highest health insurance rates in the country.

NJ charges to go on the beaches.

We have toll booths EVERYWHERE on our highways.

And yet our state govt is "out of money" and actually shut down over the summer because they could not balance the budget.

It is a mess. We have stayed because our families are here, but are looking into relocating. I can't imagine how my children will be able to buy their first homes, and live a reasonable life, in this state.

What a shame, and what a legacy for our politicians.

(Ok, this is clearly a sore subject! Sorry for my soapbox!!)

I live in Coastal Alabama
We have a GREAT mortage on the house now.

1600 SQ on almost 1/2 acre
However, since hurricane katrina came thru our rent and sales of homes have been the higest here thats EVER been recorded. Avg rent for a 2 bedroom rental runs around 1000.00 per month. On the beach front it's on avg 1500.00 to well over 2000.00 per month for a 2 bedroom.

the avg wages here (not talking Corp jobs as there's not many here we are all small little rual towns )is on avg about 30's per year. Our Insurance on cars is high due to having many snowbird and summer vistors.

Our local power company also owns the water/ sewer/cable/trash /phone toal ya small rual towns here )

We pay a School tax/ State Tax/Gas tax/ Property /food and drinks are all local tax.

But here's what we pay

Property tax 256.00 per year ( Yes we have very little Property tax here ) thats on a value 110,000 value.

Mortage 540.00 this includes our Property and Insurance ( Hurricane dect is 1000.00/ Wind 1.5% )

All electric bill runs avg with trash, water 185.00 ( we have septic tank )

Insurance on 3 cars 956.00 per year ( Full coverage on 1, Libialty on 2 )

DSL/ Landline 100.00 per month ( Unlimited long dist calling, call waiting, call forwarding , voice mail )

Cell Phones ( 90.00 per month for 2 phones )

Van Payment ( 1st car payment we have ever had ) 245.00

we have other bills like Medical, RX's and Credit Cards all total we pay around 700.00 to 800.00 per month.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

azmom and momshops- How do you do it? If my husband works 10 hrs of overtime each week, he brings home almost $3000/mo. How do you pay $3000/mo for just your house? What kind of jobs do you have? Do you have a dual income? I am astonished!!!

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Lyn Clarke

I live in Binghamton New York. Our cost of living in this area is the highest in New York State in comparison to wage rates, property taxes, Utilities. For a city of less than 60,000 we also have the highest rate per capita of Level 3 sex offenders-that's because our lovely local Senator cut a deal with the prison system and a scumbag landlord who houses most of them in a run down dilapidated hotel.
All I know is, I told my kids to do themselves a favor and move out of this area and save themselves a lifetime of throwing their hard earned money back to Uncle Sam.

I a moving to Oklahoma!! "our mortgage for an 1800 sq. ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house and we have an inground pool (heated) is $397 a month"


HOLY CRAP!!!!


Our house ( 2000 sq ft, 3 br/2ba) was $349K. Our property taxes are $9200 a year! Our Homeowners fees ( deed restricted, snooty neighborhood) are $2400 a year.


Our mortgage is $2500 a month!

Our electric bill runs about $150 in the winter and $250 in the summer.

Our car insurance for 2 leased cars is $272 a month

Our car gas is $2.21 a gallon as of last night.

A gallon of milk at CVS ( the cheapest I have found ) is $2.89.

We pay $117 for cable, and internet.

Our phone bill ( all inclusive) is $52

And this is on only DH income.

I am starting to pack- Oklahoma, here I come!!