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Yes, cost of living is different, but the extra costs of living in New Hampshire (e.g. heat) are not exactly hidden. COL is something people need to think about before planning a move.
It's nearly impossible to budget something like that on a yearly basis . In fla things like gas prices don't have affect on our utilities . We don't have gas heating (if any most years) and so the concept is irrelevant to us. I could not possibly have known gas would be almost $5.00 a gallon 6 months after moving there and my heat would be $400+ a month for an apt over half the size of the one I left. KIlowatts there are wayyyy higher than here . We pay next to nothing for it and heating + electricity are on one bill here. It's all separate there which doesn't seems like it a big deal until your heat is running full blast for 6-7 months a year at that kilo rate. That's why I warn people about such issues that they may run into. I'd never even heard of a delivery fee on electricity. It was almost as much as the cost of my electric bill so double the cost. We don't have that here either and I don't think I could have known that prior to moving.
Oh and you have to pay for garbage pick up or haul it yourself to the dump and pay to dispose of your trash every time ? Again had no clue and if I had never heard of such a thing how was I to know? Our dump was several miles out of town x's several trips a week x's paying to dump it.. adds up quick on top of everything else.
Taxes are more straight forward except for things like the view tax which again we don't have. I know the sales tax seems appealing but you have to use common sense and know that if they're not charging you sales tax they HAVE to get it from somewhere else. Low property tax towns seems appealing, and may be if you don't have children. In fact some towns prefer to keep the young families away to keep down property taxes. My look was if it's cheap enough to live there then the schools are crap and there are no amenities to speak of . Again don't have that issue so much here in Naples. Property taxes are closer to $1200 a year and that's in a good school district. Small towns have less to people carry the large burden of these issues and the prospect of an already insanely high property tax being raised even more at next appraisal seems daunting. It's unusual to see someone from the exact place I moved from looking to make the same move I did.
Last edited by Sweetbottoms; 11-06-2016 at 09:31 PM..
Thank you for the info! I'm born and raised Naples, but my husband is from outside of Boston and has been to NH before..it's his childhood friend who lives there. I plan on visiting, but I haven't yet...I've seen the population statistics for that area, the towns are small! There seem to be pros and cons just like in Naples, however I was hoping for more pros .
Just browse this post, feel compelling to say something. There are many people like me struggling to find a good job opportunity to relocate myself to enjoy sunny Florida while you'll just move to Northeast. Northeast like NH (expensive, cold at winter, no life for kids etc).
If there is no significant salary bump or career advancement opportunity for your husband, I would recommend you'll put a serious consideration.
I second this as another Floridian who made this horrific mistake. Nearly bankrupt by the time we left NH and we only made it a year. No jobs to be found because I wasn't from there, didn't know anybody etc. no jobs period. In 12 months I found 3 viable jobs to apply for and one hired her cousin and the other were suddenly filled when the "so you're from Florida" came up.
Compared to Fla the COL is through the roof outrageous and i think a lot of people don't get that if they've not lived in both places. Myself and OP live in one of the most expensive towns in Fla and NH COL makes this places look like a walk in the park, no joke. I see a lot of people just post these generalized stats for an entire state trying to make our claims invalid yet here we both are warning others due to the same experience. "Don't listen to her she embellishes".. really? As if people like us have anything to gain. We are trying to help people not make the same mistake. For 8 years I have stuck by my side of my experience. Every excuse as to why it was bad is brought up "you had an old apt".. news flash everything is old up there and if it's not it's not affordable. OP is gonna be shocked at what "old" is there vs here.. charming=run down 1880 house that needs $50,000 in upgrades with an $6000 property tax to boot.
Sure it's cheaper coming from NJ, NY, MA, but from a fairly cheaper cost of living state it's nearly impossible to even compare quality of life and finances. Literally everything is more expensive. The 6% sales tax cut doesn't offset the amount of taxes and fees and cost of utilities etc that come with living there. Who cares about the no income tax, we don't have that either. That's a big deal if you come from a state where it does. I always hear the argument that it pays for big purchases. How many big purchases are people making a year to validate 6 cents on the dollar? The taxes saved on a $6000 purchase didn't even cover my 1 month of heat there. People aren't exactly flocking to NE in droves. FLa, NC, etc .. yes. Taxes, winter, COL, maybe even some politics are driving people away from that section of the country.
I'm always the bad guy for pointing this out but it's nice to see someone else who experience this. When you're from the state arguing cost of living and the validity of people's claims from much cheaper states it just looks silly.
So why are you considering leaving FL to move back to NH?
Lived most of my life in Meredith so I thought I'd weigh in.
This is an incredible area to live and raise a family but the only problem is finding the right job.We are primarily a vacation community which means that many jobs are service related and seasonal.You said your husband may have a job offer.
If that works out I would consider the move.You should not have trouble finding work in your field.There is a large hospital and related clinics close by.
NH does not have hurricanes,tornados,tsunami's,poisononous snakes or spiders as Florida does.Totally safe to roam in the beautiful woods and fields.
We winter in Florida now and don't find the cost of living much different.....electricity is much cheaper in Florida but food is comparable.
Meredith is the most centrally located town in this area for access to good shopping,major highways,and the mountains are just 20 minutes north for great skiing.
Our lakes and rivers are pristine unlike southern waters which are pretty murky.
Home rentals are available but you can buy a pretty nice newer home in a nice neighborhood probably in the low 200K range.
Lots of bargains 100's if you want an older home.
If the jobs work out ,don't hesitate.
my heat would be $400+ a month for an apt over half the size of the one I left. KIlowatts there are wayyyy higher than here . We pay next to nothing for it and heating + electricity are on one bill here. It's all separate there which doesn't seems like it a big deal until your heat is running full blast for 6-7 months a year at that kilo rate.
So you had electric heat? Ahhh, should have done your homework. Plus, you seem like the type that would keep the heat at 78 degrees, which would not have helped.
Because the pay, now that we have degrees pay is 3xs what we will be making in FL which is notorious as a low paying state and more than than when we were making living there prior. Between the two of us we now have 3 degrees. We had none when we lived there. As others have stated when the pay is a significant raise you can make the move.
As I also stated in my posts we would MUCH rather NC but if the opportunity arises in NE we would move there for a year just to get experience under our belt and make the move to NC right after. Neither of us have any desire to live long term in NE ever again. We have not put in any apps in NE and won't until we have exhausted all options in NC. It is an emergency fall back or to get more qualified experience in his field. Some times people make strategic short term moves to better their career long term. We would never move to some po-dunk NH town again tho I can say that!
There was no opportunity in law enforcement in NH. No room to grow in a PD and 50 people. You pretty much had to wait for someone to die or retire. My husband wanted K-9 and it was something like a 10 year wait. NE sucks financially when you're not making the $ to balance the cost.. that is no longer our issue but it's also not our first choice to weather (pun intended) again.
Last edited by Sweetbottoms; 11-07-2016 at 08:36 AM..
So you had electric heat? Ahhh, should have done your homework. Plus, you seem like the type that would keep the heat at 78 degrees, which would not have helped.
No we had gas heat and again gas was $5.00 a gallon. We did not keep our heat at 78 and would turn it down so low at night to conserve money we would have ice inside our windows in the am. I said, in Fla (at least our part) there is no such thing as gas heat. It's all electric and its all dirt cheap. I crank my a/c to 68 and my heat to 78 and I still won't go over $110 in any month.
As another native New Englander who has now lived in southeast Florida for 26 years and is moving back up to NH next year, I'll weigh in on what I pay currently in Florida and what I anticipate paying more or less for up in NH. Household of 2 people now, will be only 1 up in NH. I am currently in a 2,000 sq ft single story house with drafty-ish windows, 1/3 acre lot.
Currently, items I pay out now that I won't have at all up in NH:
Monthly pool service $75
Monthly Lawn Service $104
Monthly HOA fees $100 (includes cable TV)
Monthly county water $75
Monthly pest control maintenance $37
Bi-monthly sprinkler servicing $25
Monthly Zephyrhills water delivery $25
Average monthly costs I expect to retain:
Electric $200 (includes a/c and heat for us) in heat of summer but hopefully this will go down when heat source is something else. (Have used heat maybe three times EVER.) I keep a/c at 78 degrees.
Monthly cell phone $49
Monthly AT&T phone: $59
Monthly internet $47
Food $300 (probably will go down because my daughter is going off to college)
Gas for car $100 (I work from home)
Once a year payments I expect to retain:
Car insurance ~$1500 a year but I expect this to go down
Car registration $65 every two years (I know this will go up drastically, see below)
Homeowners insurance ~$2500 now, no idea what to expect when I get there for this
Property taxes now ~$4000 (ideally I'd like to not go above this, but this limits my towns, I know)
Garbage pickup $~650 (currently added on to property tax bill, I also know this could require me to go to transfer station and not have pickup but I guess I still have to pay somehow)
What I expect to add per year:
Cord wood $300 per cord x 3 = $900
Heating Oil $3,000
Car registration $244 (I looked up my year and model in a town kiosk to get this number)
Car inspection $100
So I seem to break even, give or take a hundred bucks or so, as I see it. Am I missing anything or does something look grossly inaccurate?
I'm not sure where you're moving to, but I pay more for almost everything you've listed in NH. Long-term heating plan? Are you doing your own lawn care and snowplowing? I would also check to see if your health ins premiums go up or down significantly because that varies by state.
I'm not sure where you're moving to, but I pay more for almost everything you've listed in NH. Long-term heating plan? Are you doing your own lawn care and snowplowing? I would also check to see if your health ins premiums go up or down significantly because that varies by state.
I'm not sure where I'm moving to yet, either. (Definitely NOT in the southeast part of the state, though.)
I included oil and wood costs at the bottom. What else did you mean by long-term heating plan? I do plan on doing my own lawn care and my own shoveling. Thanks for thinking of possible need for snowplow.
Didn't even think of insurance premiums changing, ick. Thanks for that heads up!
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(Definitely NOT in the southeast part of the state, though.)
