Where Is The Best Place To Live For Frugal Living? (pay, salary)

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

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.

Very interesting, here in central Wisconsin, I would say costs are about 20% higher from what you describe.
But then I choose here after a lengthy nationwide search because it the cheapest place I could find that is not at all depressed.
It comforts me in my old age
to live in a rural area that is both prosperous and un-gentrified.
Of course, we all have our own criteria.

WI is 4th in nation in % of population employed in agriculture and 1st in % of pop. employed in manufacturing.Unique combo.

[Fat Freddy]

In jail.

[Lucario]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

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.

The interesting thing about Maui and the other Hawaiian Neighbor Islands is that despite the general expensiveness of the state, it is possible to live frugally there. I have been to Paia and other "backwater" parts of the state and have met people who live OK with relatively little money.

[slmaol]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

In jail.

good one - lol

I am gonna add - an amish community or a cemetry...

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by LittleDolphin

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.

Bama and Miss also have one of the highest crime rates.

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

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.

That is because Sun is closer to the Earth in the Winter then the Summer.

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

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.

High income areas do not have kids to raise?

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by LittleDolphin

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.

Where I live the population is about 9 thousand or so (counting the areas past the city itself. You need a car but there are multiple stores available maybe 20 minutes away in Stillwater. There is lots of open land here and housing costs are reasonable and there was never a bubble. The first time I went to shop for groceries I was astonished that even with the tax on food that it came to at least half what I expected. The weather gets colder than the desert areas but not like the midwest. It gets hot in the summer, but the summer takes a lot shorter time to get over than there.

I could not live on my income without being broke by the middle of the month in socal. Here its is less but I do fine. The key is looking at all the costs, including the cost of utilities and the effect of weather. And the lack or prevelance of the housing bubble. It also depends on your needs and what your used to. No matter how good the costs, if you aren't used to 20 below or a long summer of 100 plus temps it may not be the situation you wanted.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Texas User

That is because Sun is closer to the Earth in the Winter then the Summer.

A layer of snow on the ground makes it much brighter.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Texas User

High income areas do not have kids to raise?

High income areas also have higher priced homes and higher taxes, and make it far more difficult to live frugally.