Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Best as in low crime + lower cost of living + decent medical+good education+ not tooo cold - are smaller cities/towns in WI and PA .
Surprising to most, is that the prettiest part of the USA with great real estate bargains and friendly people is upstate NY.
Fly in that ointment, is that property taxes are very high because NYC controlled legislature dumps costs on upstate counties that are generally borne by state in other northern states.
Depends on how you want to live. Forest Beekeeper is making a good go of living frugally in Maine. But his rural lifestyle might not appeal to everyone. If you want to live frugally in a cold climate, you will need to have a very well insulated home and probably burn wood as a main heat source.
Somebody else might find a frugal setup in a rent-controlled NYC apartment. To do this you would need little "stuff", no car, and excellent tax sheltering of your income.
Yet another guy might prefer to live simply and frugally in the hippie city of Paia, on Maui. Again you would not need much "stuff" and would hardly need clothes most of the time.
Depends on how you want to live, what's important to you, what you want to economize on.
If you're buying a house, property taxes come into play. Renting? What are the costs to rent?
If' you're living in a cold/hot climate, utility costs are a strong consideration. If you're living in a very remote location, importing of food and food prices enter the picture.
Given all that, I would say many areas in Alabama and Mississippi are very economical places to live. There are also frugal places in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas.
Best as in low crime + lower cost of living + decent medical+good education+ not tooo cold - are smaller cities/towns in WI and PA .
...
Not everyone has issues with cold. Some due mostly arthritis sufferers, but not everyone.
My biggest issue with winter here, is that winter is when I have to wear sunglasses. It is amazingly bright in the winters, far brighter than summers are.
But I do understand that some regions of the world have 'dark' winters, just not here.
Not everyone has issues with cold. Some due mostly arthritis sufferers, but not everyone.
My biggest issue with winter here, is that winter is when I have to wear sunglasses. It is amazingly bright in the winters, far brighter than summers are.
But I do understand that some regions of the world have 'dark' winters, just not here.
True, one nice thing about WI is thats its about as cold as New England but has less than1/2 the snow on average.
Depends on how you want to live. Forest Beekeeper is making a good go of living frugally in Maine. But his rural lifestyle might not appeal to everyone. If you want to live frugally in a cold climate, you will need to have a very well insulated home and probably burn wood as a main heat source.
Somebody else might find a frugal setup in a rent-controlled NYC apartment. To do this you would need little "stuff", no car, and excellent tax sheltering of your income.
Yet another guy might prefer to live simply and frugally in the hippie city of Paia, on Maui. Again you would not need much "stuff" and would hardly need clothes most of the time.
Depends on how you want to live, what's important to you, what you want to economize on.
Thank you for that kind nod.
I agree with you entirely.
I lived underwater on subs for most of 20 years, so when I was forced onto pension I decided that I wanted to live in a rural and forested environment. So that was how I wanted to retire.
In a forest alongside a river, gardening and tending livestock beneath the forest canopy.
But this life is not the ideal for everyone.
'Heating' can be an issue, and it can become a large part of a family budget. So we insulated our house at R-60.
With lots of windows, we are seeing that our solar gain provides a good portion of our 'heating'.
If properly designed a house can be 100% thermally self-sustaining, with no heat devices. They do exist. [Ours is not one of them, we burned 3.5 cords last winter, at $150 each that heating season cost us over $500].
True, one nice thing about WI is thats its about as cold as New England but has less than1/2 the snow on average.
The 'snow belt' must be considered.
From the Great lakes and stretching East, is that belt that gets a lot of heavy snow dumps.
If you miss that belt by being either North of it, or South of it, then your snow fall is a lot less.
By us being North of the snow-belt, I was amazed at how much less snow we get than Connecticut gets.
We moved here in 2005, and for our first 2 winters [05-06, 06-07]; we got snow, but never enough to shovel. I used a pushbroom to clear our vehicles and walkways.
During the winter of 07-08 we got one big dump in April, it was 18 inches. Other than that one big dump it was very light over-all.
During 08-09 we got like 4 dumps of 8 to 10 inches each, spread out with a couple weeks between each dump.
I have a tractor with a front-bucket, so for me moving snow is fun. I have gone and helped neighbors to clear their driveways, if they have needed the assistance.
Our normal winter routine is we get a weekly snow-storm that drops 1 to 3 inches. Then it is followed by a week of sunny and clear, so most of that snow melts or packs down. Of course the winds moves the powder around, fills in the low spots and forms drifts up against buildings. So it looks like lots of snow.
The roads are cleared before the storm has even finished.
The snow blanket that stays on the ground, creates a lot of glare, so you wear sunglasses.
If you're buying a house, property taxes come into play. Renting? What are the costs to rent? ...
To get back on the OP;
Buying a house, is a good topic, since you should consider home prices or land prices, and which areas really do have lower prices.
Also property taxes, there is an amazing variation in property taxes even here in this state, just looking town to town.
I think an important thing to look at is the average household income.
High-earners live in high-priced areas. Where there is a lot of money, the local prices will have been driven upward.
Areas where it is horribly depressed and has been depressed for decades; where the average household income is well below the national poverty-level, means that families are raising children and sometimes prospering very frugally.
I see homes that sell for $40k.
We have been shopping for another apartment building in the nearest city, and 4-unit buildings start there at $90k. The middle of the price-range seems to be about $150k for 3-unit or 4-unit apartment buildings.
Many places in the nation you can not buy a single-family home for those prices, but here you can house four families.
Another thing to consider, is if you would want to build your own house. If so, look at areas where you can buy land for under $500/acre. Where taxes on land are around $1 an acre [or less]. I see these prices around here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
