Juneau and living expenses (Ketchikan, Adak: insurance, income, job)

[Crossfire600]

Well, I have been trolling the forums here for a week or so and have gotten to the point where I thought it would be a good idea to get the direct story on something I can't find through searches.

The wife and I have made it to a point in our lives were we are free of children and since she has lived in Alaska (Adak, if that's what you want to call living ) we are very seriously looking at a move to Juneau. We love the outdoors, hunting, snowmobiling, reading books, hiking etc and Juneau, being somewhat "secluded", for lack of a better term, seems like the place.

Part of my job in planning is the expense and income side of things. I am not concerned about the money to move there since we are middle age and established. I would however like to know if anyone can give me some "rough estimates" on the cost of:

Home Owners Insurance
Car Insurance (seems like it would be low since you only have 50 miles of road)
Grocery bills for two for a month. (Depends what you eat, I know )
Anything else that might be a surprise to a newcomer.

I see that Xa'at's, Cobolt and a couple of others are pretty helpful on the forums so I thought there has to be more of you out there that would be willing to give me some help!

Thanks

[Xa'at]

Hey, crossfire!
Glad to see you've been doing research.
I think the biggest surprise for a newcomer is probably going to be gas prices. They are low compared to real bush Alaska, but high compared to most of the rest of the US.
At Freddies it's about 2.50 a gallon, which is the cheapest in town. At capital service, where they pump it for you and sometimes give you a soda, it's 2.79.
By the way, the folks here (that I know of) who live in Juneau are me, DannyL, akck, and Alice2 (I think). As you know, Cobolt is also very knowledgable about the area. There are a few others who live in Ketchikan.
All the best!

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

Hey, crossfire!
Glad to see you've been doing research.
I think the biggest surprise for a newcomer is probably going to be gas prices. They are low compared to real bush Alaska, but high compared to most of the rest of the US.
At Freddies it's about 2.50 a gallon, which is the cheapest in town. At capital service, where they pump it for you and sometimes give you a soda, it's 2.79.
By the way, the folks here (that I know of) who live in Juneau are me, DannyL, akck, and Alice2 (I think). As you know, Cobolt is also very knowledgable about the area. There are a few others who live in Ketchikan.
All the best!

You must have typed the gas price wrong since it's close to $3.50 a gallon down our way. We were thinking about gas but we put on 100 miles a day commuting to and from work between the two of us now. We are thinking that we would not even be close to that up there would we? We are thinking that the commute would be a lot shorter yes?

$2.79 for a soda is double what we pay here and I guess I should be grateful I don't drink soda

Any other words of wisdom on expenses? Anyone?

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by Crossfire600

You must have typed the gas price wrong since it's close to $3.50 a gallon down our way. We were thinking about gas but we put on 100 miles a day commuting to and from work between the two of us now. We are thinking that we would not even be close to that up there would we? We are thinking that the commute would be a lot shorter yes?

$2.79 for a soda is double what we pay here and I guess I should be grateful I don't drink soda

Any other words of wisdom on expenses? Anyone?

Ah, so I did. My apologies, that's 3.50-3.80!

[Rance]

Whew...for a second there I thought I was moving to Juneau. It would almost be worth it with gas prices that low!

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by Rance

Whew...for a second there I thought I was moving to Juneau. It would almost be worth it with gas prices that low!

LOL, That's what I thought as well... I am reading her post thinking wow that's cheap.. Sad isn't it? We have been nailed with such has gas prices that $2.50 a gallon seems cheap. Sadly, we will never see the day of $2.00 gas again. OPEC will never let that happen. We have shown that we will support high prices so we cooked our own goose.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by Crossfire600

$2.79 for a soda is double what we pay here and I guess I should be grateful I don't drink soda
?

The way I read it, Xa'at was saying that gas is 2.79, and you sometimes get a soda with it... not that soda is 2.79.

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by mrkool

The way I read it, Xa'at was saying that gas is 2.79, and you sometimes get a soda with it... not that soda is 2.79.

My reign of terror continues

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by mrkool

The way I read it, Xa'at was saying that gas is 2.79, and you sometimes get a soda with it... not that soda is 2.79.

Yes, that was what I was attempting to convey!
But 2.79 doesn't sound excessive for a soda. Is it cheaper down south?

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

Yes, that was what I was attempting to convey!
But 2.79 doesn't sound excessive for a soda. Is it cheaper down south?

Yes, a 22oz bottle of Pepsi, Mountain Dew etc..the kind you get from the cooler at the corner store is around $1.35 per bottle. A 12 pack of 12 oz cans is around $6.00