Cost of living in Florida.

[WorldsBestMom]

For those who live in Florida is the cost of living really lower than other states? I would love your input. For example renting a house or buying one, utility bills, buying or renting a car, buying food or clothing.

[Mommy2Austin]

Originally Posted by WorldsBestMom

For those who live in Florida is the cost of living really lower than other states? I would love your input. For example renting a house or buying one, utility bills, buying or renting a car, buying food or clothing.

Cost of living is about average in my eyes. Here's a basic break down of our bills.

Rent- $800 for a 3/2 double wide mobile on 1 acre
Utilities- $250+ in the summer...unsure of winter in this particular house, but it was around $180 in our older smaller block home with crummy insulation and only electric heat.
Car Insurance- $50/ mth...we have USAA
DH Student Loan- $50/ mth
Gas- $2.80/ gal atm end up spending around $200/ mth on gas now that I live really close to work.
Internet/Tv- $65/ mth (we are on our landlords bill)
Cell Phones: $110 per month for our 2 phones.
Food- $300/mth (because we do qualify for food stamps and get WIC which keeps our food bill down)

Thats all of the bills I can think of atm. I work and DH stays at home for the time being. I make less than $30,000 a year and we live pretty comfortably.

[KimberlyinFL]

Originally Posted by WorldsBestMom

For those who live in Florida is the cost of living really lower than other states? I would love your input. For example renting a house or buying one, utility bills, buying or renting a car, buying food or clothing.

We bought a 4 bedroom house on .25 acres back in '98 for $75,000. (Worth a bunch more now.)

Our power bill is $250.00 per month in the summer and about $50.00 less in the winter. (We have 2 fireplaces)

Gas is about $2.67 as of right now, so we both average $200.00 per month on the vehicles.

Cable and Internet is $127.00 per month.

Cell Phone for 4 people $145.00 per month.

As far as clothing goes. I buy the kids stuff brand new at Target and I have a swap group for ladies and twice a year we exchange clothes. All clothing looks brand new, no one would ever no I swapped with someone.

And of course food, If it doesn't have a coupon, I don't buy it. I stockpile and buy meat twice a month. One a budget for a family of 6, I spend $400.00 per month on food. Oh yeah. we grow and can our own veggies and fruits based on seasons.

Everyone else seems to complain Florida is expensive. I think it how you choose to spend your money that can make or break you.

If I could get out of Florid, I'd jump in a heart beat. Somewhere in the Midwest would be GREAT for me.

[notneb]

It really varies by area. There are some parts of FL that have a high COL, and some parts that have a very low COL. One big plus no matter where you live is that there is no state income tax and relatively low sales tax compared to most other states.

[MommaLura]

It totally depends on the area, it's not a state thing. I've lived near Miami, grew up close to Orlando and Tampa and now I live in the north. The COL is different in each. Our utility bill is outrageous here(just over $300) and when we've looked at moving rent is around $900 for a two bedroom if you want to live in a reasonable area. Our internet and cell phones are about average and food cost depends on where you shop.

[Hallielynn01]

We rent in Clearwater, have a great deal on a 3/2/1 2000sw ft home, $1350 a month, I know real estate is higher here than in other parts of other states. $125k doesn't get you much these days.......

[ghostlykisses]

I live in Central Florida. I have been here for two years and I think that the cost of living is rising fast.

We rent a nice 4 bedroom house from my MIL for 750. a month (house cost 74,000. as a foreclosure)

225 a month for power a month with Progress (goes up a bit in summer), we are home all day so we run more electronics and do a lot of cooking

75 a month for water

200 a month total for phone, tv, and internet

Car insurance and homeowners insurance is through the roof

Groceries cost about the same as other places in the country, natural, local and organic foods are hard to find in my area (you have to drive about an hour) and when you do they are expensive

Gas has been hovering between 2.59-2.69 and a lot of people have a 30 mile commute round trip.

[blessedwithboys]

One adult, one teenager, one child

Rent on 3/3/2 is $725, but I negotiated that down a bit from the asking rent

Electric is about $100-120/mo but I do budget billing. I run my A/C at 75* for about 9mos/yr

Phone/DSL Lite is not average because I have a program called Lifeline for low-income families. My landline is $6/mo and I pay about $20 for DSL Lite, totaly bill is about $30/mo

Water, no bill bc I am on a well, but the water here is indescribably disgusting, even with an Aquasana. I pay about $12/mo for hige bags of salt for the water softener.

Cable is about $30 bc i have the cheapest package.

Cell phone is average.

Gas is currently $2.87/gal.

I keep my food budget in check by buying in bulk from amazon.com and BJs.

HTH!

[ameliabedelia]

It depends on what are you are comparing it to. It is probably more expensive than the midwest or some other Southern states. However, it is much cheaper than CA, New England, and the areas around NYC and D.C.

FL is very area specific We just moved to Naples which is probably one of the most expensive areas and when we were looking around we noticed that other parts are much cheaper.

[cowboyjunki]

I don't think it's much cheaper here. We live in a neighborhood where homes sell between 175-250K (ours is on the lower end). Our house payment is $919/mo, our real estate taxes are around $2600/yr, and our homeowner's ins is about $2700/yr.

Our electric bill is almost $300/mo in the summer. Other utilities are probably about average compared to other states. Our car insurance is $95/mo, but we drive a '98 Taurus and a '02 SUV so I would expect that it would be higher with newer cars.

We live in Tampa, BTW....and if you can't tell, I want to get the heck out of here!!!!