Moving Back to CA

[jcp123]

Currently going for Bachelor's, probably not going to go for anything more. No, no unskilled jobs either.

I was surprised, though...from what I've seen, food is actually about equivalent here to what I remember it being in CA (there's a few hole-in-the wall places that are dirt cheap here, but by and large it's not much of a difference - ~$7-12/menu item plus drinks, tax, and tip), and insurance can actually be more than CA (didn't make much sense to me, either).

Here's the other thing that worries me: taxes. From what I've seen, despite the fact that we don't have state income tax here in TX, the state still gets its lb of flesh through "hidden" taxes like user fees and the rather steep phone tax; seems to me that any way you slice it, you'll get taxed. True from other people's experience who've lived in CA as well as other states?

What about other services? Have they started to rise in cost with the real estate prices starting to catch up to them? Seems to me that real estate/rent was what really made living expensive out there...true?