Fellow Mid-Westerners, Cost of Living in Phoenix (car insurance, daycares)

[LeavingIllinois?]

I have been following the threads and appreciate all of your honest input!

My husband and I are considering a move to Phoenix from Illinois. We both have great job opportunities in the Phoenix area so this makes the move much easier. That being said, we are concerned about our salaries. We know housing is much more expensive but what else? For those of you that have left the Midwest, what other cost of living increases, i.e. power, insurance, food, etc. have you incurred?

Also, we do not have children at this time but are wondering about the cost of good daycares!

I look forward to your responses!

[lola8822]

Never lived in the midwest....just have one comment for you....Daycare will clean you out.....depending on the age of your children (younger being more expensive) my 4 year old attends "preschool" for 6 hours per day and the most affordable place I was able to find was 600 dollars a month....surprisingly cheaper than than most others out there.....THANK GOODNESS FOR ALL DAY KINDERGARDEN! is all I can say

As far as cost of living I thought Arizona was average.....my home is 2,400sq feet and aps (or electric/cooling) is 200 in summer and only 60 or so in winter. Water is not bad depending on the city it vary's.

[ivanabacowboy]

I am relocating from Cleveland which I suppose is Midwest. I did not explore daycare in Arizona, but even $600 is WAAY cheap even for Ohio.

My general impression based on what I know and feedback on this site: the basics (utilities, gas, food) seem to be comparable give or take. I talked with my insurance agent and car insurance will not go up a whole lot for me. Watch for: the Vehicle tax. I know it is on the AZ BMV site. Based on a % of your vehicle value.

[MotleyCrew]

I do not know how property taxes are in your area. You can google some "cost of living comparisons" on line and that should help you. Taxes here for property a tad better than CA, housing way cheaper here. We are taxed on just about everything here, food, income, business, etc. So there are some hidden taxes to consider as well. Not sure if they tax your food in Il.