Economics in South Florida - How do people survive down here- do the majority move with extensive savings (Miami: 2015, condo)

[MidwestBlondie]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

Just warning you not only the cost of living, but the fast paced culture, overcrowding, non English speakers, and crime will change your perception after awhile.

I honestly love everything you just listed. I should've been raised in New York. Lived there for a summer and love love love it. Just can't stand the winters.

[MidwestBlondie]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

I'm from Missouri which is really cheap to live in. Here in SWFL my county is considered the cheaper place to live and everything is much more expensive than St. Louis. Higher property taxes, higher car insurance, higher homeowners insurance, food cost more, gas is more expensive as well.

And btw, now that I know you are referencing STL, again, you calculator is incorrect. 100k is not 70k in Missouri. It is 82k (even more if you take into account no state income tax, so figure another 5ish%).

I have no problem having a healthy debate, but please bring valid numbers to the table.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by MidwestBlondie

And btw, now that I know you are referencing STL, again, you calculator is incorrect. 100k is not 70k in Missouri. It is 82k (even more if you take into account no state income tax, so figure another 5ish%).

I have no problem having a healthy debate, but please bring valid numbers to the table.

I'm just warning you that you will see when you move here how overall it will cost more for stuff. We thought it would be cheaper too before moving here when we figured it up but once you get established here you will notice stuff like car insurance will increase every year even if you have no tickets. This year on average Floridians saw a 20 percent increase on auto insurance. Ours went up as well despite no claims.

The problem is FL is one of the few states that use no fault and it has cause a ton of fraud in claims down here. The lawmakers in the FL house passed a repeal for it but stalled in the senate.

The no state income tax is nice but when you get hit with your home owners insurance rates you will notice a big jump. It was hard for us to find a good company because a lot of the major companies quit insuring here in Charlotte County.

I hate the cold too but at least in St. Louis our snow doesn't stick around as long.

If you think traffic is bad in West County wait until you see southeast FL and the drivers down here are terrible and hot headed. Personally I could never live in southeast FL. I don't know a word of Spanish. I'm from South County btw. The traffic in my area of Charlotte County during season is much worse than south county traffic. Takes 30 minutes to drive 10 miles during season.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by MidwestBlondie

I honestly love everything you just listed. I should've been raised in New York. Lived there for a summer and love love love it. Just can't stand the winters.

I could never live in New York City. Horrific traffic, terrible gun laws, liberal, and everything so expensive.

if you're into firearms our laws here in Florida are much stricter compared to MO. Here in Florida you can't open carry and you have to have a permit to concealed carry. Missouri no longer requires a permit. And we have a 3 day wait period for handgun purchases without ccw, MO has no such law.

I've seen people open carry in Missouri AR 15s. in FL that would result in arrest.

[MidwestBlondie]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

I'm just warning you that you will see when you move here how overall it will cost more for stuff. We thought it would be cheaper too before moving here when we figured it up but once you get established here you will notice stuff like car insurance will increase every year even if you have no tickets. This year on average Floridians saw a 20 percent increase on auto insurance. Ours went up as well despite no claims.

The problem is FL is one of the few states that use no fault and it has cause a ton of fraud in claims down here. The lawmakers in the FL house passed a repeal for it but stalled in the senate.

The no state income tax is nice but when you get hit with your home owners insurance rates you will notice a big jump. It was hard for us to find a good company because a lot of the major companies quit insuring here in Charlotte County.

I hate the cold too but at least in St. Louis our snow doesn't stick around as long.

If you think traffic is bad in West County wait until you see southeast FL and the drivers down here are terrible and hot headed. Personally I could never live in southeast FL. I don't know a word of Spanish. I'm from South County btw. The traffic in my area of Charlotte County during season is much worse than south county traffic. Takes 30 minutes to drive 10 miles during season.

I'm planning on renting for quite some years so I'm not super concerned about home owners or property taxes. 20% increase in car insurance equals out to another $300ish a year ... not a big deal.

I don't think traffic is bad anywhere in STL lol.

I honestly think that you and I are just a different breed. I've looked at your post history, and you seem to be a conservative STL lovin dude. I'm a liberal 30-something lesbian freeze baby who loves bilinguals and an east coast mindset. I'm rude, fun, and numbers conscious. I'm going to be making a lot more money in FL even after COLA adjustment. I'm in love with the sun and I miss it 6 months out of the year in this damn city. I've done my homework, and Miami/FLL will most very likely be my forever home. Not to mention, I've landed my dream job and I cannot wait to start.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by MidwestBlondie

I'm planning on renting for quite some years so I'm not super concerned about home owners or property taxes. 20% increase in car insurance equals out to another $300ish a year ... not a big deal.

I don't think traffic is bad anywhere in STL lol.

I honestly think that you and I are just a different breed. I've looked at your post history, and you seem to be a conservative STL lovin dude. I'm a liberal 30-something lesbian freeze baby who loves bilinguals and an east coast mindset. I'm rude, fun, and numbers conscious. I'm going to be making a lot more money in FL even after COLA adjustment. I'm in love with the sun and I miss it 6 months out of the year in this damn city. I've done my homework, and Miami/FLL will most very likely be my forever home. Not to mention, I've landed my dream job and I cannot wait to start.

That is true. I b*tched about traffic on 270 in St. Louis but after moving back to SWFL and during season it's so much more traffic. I75 for example might not have as much traffic as 270 actually BUT the people drive erratic, way too fast and cause a lot of wrecks on I75 and people get killed and traffic gets backed up for miles.

Especially in SEFL you have to drive very defensively and really be alert. It's not like driving in St. Louis even when there is some snow and traffic is slow. It will be a big time adjustment getting used to the traffic in FL. You will see some terrible drivers.

I hope Miami works out for you but for a lot of people they want to get out. I meet people at work all the time that used to live in SWFL and moved to the west coast because of all the congestion, lack of English speakers, crime etc.

I think once you actually live down there a few months you might think differently. I would recommend Tampa too. Traffic is bad but not as bad as Miami for commuting and not quite as congested as southeast Fl and it would be cheaper to live up there too than Miami and probably similar pay as well.

[l22]

Originally Posted by MidwestBlondie

I beg to differ. There is a ton of internet work being done in South Florida. If you're not in the industry you may not realize it. I landed something in 3 weeks, from looking to contracted. Either way, I'm not really concerned "how many" there are, just that I have one of them.

But thank you and I will keep you updated!

Nice to know you found a good job down here and best of luck. In America (IN THEORY), there is always money to be made anywhere in the country - you just need the education it takes to get those jobs, which I'm sure you have. Not everyone has the means to get that education though, least of all the single moms who had a kid down here young, then the man left, and they're left stuck working 3 service industry jobs just to barely feed their kid(s)... Most people down here who call South FL home year-round and work do not have a good education. A good job/the only job here to them is working at the supermarket entry-level, or some other service industry job that pays $12 an hour at most with no benefits... And then there are those who retired here and those who were lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon.... Just because you will be successful financially/can stay afloat, that doesn't mean the majority that live here year-round can and will - they don't have the education/opportunities/awareness of careers that pay well - a combination of things that hold them back and trap them. You may be saying to yourself right now, "well, what's that got to do with me??" .... Well, a whole lot. If you are one of the few haves and everyone else is a have-not, you are affected by the have-nots in negative ways, no matter how nice your car is, how high your condo is, how gated your community is. That is definitely the case here. After all, we all live here. Best of luck though!

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by l22

Nice to know you found a good job down here and best of luck. In America, there is always money to be made anywhere in the country - you just need to education it takes to get those jobs, which I'm sure you have. However, you need to realize most people down here do not have that education. A good job here to them is working at Publix entry-level, or some other service industry job. And just because you will be successful financially/can stay afloat, that doesn't mean the majority that live here year-round can and will - they don't have the education/opportunities/awareness of careers that pay well. You may be saying right now, "well, what's that got to do with me??" .... A whole lot, If you are one of the few haves and everyone else is a have-not, you are affected by the have-nots, in negative ways. That is definitely the case here. Best of luck!

I got a degree in business, but all the jobs in SWFL pay mostly crap. I ain't driving 30 miles to Ft. Myers or 45-50 miles to Sarasota for 15 bucks an hour even. Would eat up too much gas and time. I currently work at Publix for crap wages while I complete my online MBA but that cost a lot and I'm thinking about dropping that. I got a lot of student loans. Hope to start my own business within the next year.

Publix managers make BIG money but I can't work crap wages for 5 years to wait to get FT and take a managers test. The micromanaging at Publix is bad and corporate keeps taking stuff away from the hourly workers.

[MidwestBlondie]

Originally Posted by MOforthewin

I've seen people open carry in Missouri AR 15s. in FL that would result in arrest.

Good. As it should.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by MidwestBlondie

Good. As it should.

But the second amendment allows for the bearing of arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.

What do you think about the hard right politics of Missouri? Like concealed carry without a permit and Trump winning Missouri by 18 points recently? Missouri seems to be going far right politically.

Here in Florida Trump won by only one point and Obama won FL both times. You will find Florida more moderate thinking that Missouri.