Cost of living in Georgia (Atlanta: apartment, rent, house insurance)

[Cybewinder]

We are probably moving to Georgia from Europe in 2009. However, I do not have clue what the cost of living will be. Since I will the only one in our family who has a working permit, my salary will be all we have.

I don't need exact figures, I would be very happy with just a ballpark figure on what to expect (rent, utilities, phone, internet, TV, insurrance, car costs, etc...).

We will be looking for a 4 bedroom house with a nice backyard from about 1-1,5 hours from Atlanta Airport.

Hope someone out there can help us out. Thanx for taking the effort...!!!

[Move2ATL]

You can get an apartment for about $800/month. Phone is like $40-$50. Tv is like $40. Insurance for one car will be about $50. Utilities will run you a hundrend and change.

[Open Horizons]

Can anyone tell me if these figures are still accurate? I would really appreciate it!

[crux]

• rent/mortgage $800 - $3000+ depending on what you want
• satellite/cable $40-60/mth
• Phone $36-50/mth
• DSL/Cable modem is about $35-50/mth
• Cell phone, single line ~$36, 2 cells ~$55-70, +10-15 for each line.
• Car insurance 2 moderate priced cars (20k+ range) 700-1000 / 6 months.
• House insurance (if you buy) 400-600/ year for median priced home of 200k.
• Power ~$200 monthly avg for 2600 sq foot home, $80-120 if rent a small flat. If you get house that has natural gas for cooking and heating, shoot that number up higher. You;ll have to pay a 'connection fee' each month too boot.
• water ~$20-40/mth in the burbs
• Property tax on a median priced house, if you buy, $1800-3500/year
• 'Birthday car tax' is from $50 to $400+ for cheap to median priced cars.
• Yearly emissions testing is $25
• Medical can vary drastically from $40 per pay period(biweekly) for work provided singles plan to $130++ per for a pay period(biweekly) for a family plan.
• Gas will cost you about $2-3k a year if you have to commute 5x/week for 45+miles each way (this is based on your note about living 1-1.5 hours from the city and work down town).