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#1--Supermarkets seem on par with NY or certain things more expensive or a little cheaper. I have not seen any 'awesomely cheap' supermarkets...(Myth #1 food is 'really cheap' down south).
The Super Walmart I went to was not nice at all. I wonder if they are all like this (perhaps things are inflated in the Triangle). Super Target was nice but pricey.
#2--Yes, apartments are 'cheaper' but once you pay all the fees(they want you to pay EVERY utility including water and sewer and large pet fees) and find a NICE area, it's not 'very cheap.' A lot of places I have seen in 'so called nice areas' are ghetto looking and run down. (Myth #2 Housing is really cheap down south). Now if you bought a place, or had a lot of money, there is no doubt you could get a good deal. If you brought a big amount of money from a house sale up north you could get a nice, nice house. For the rest of us, well, renting is a crap shoot wherever you live...however, renting with a high crime rate really worries me...Some of these apartments seem very dangerous.
There is plenty of shopping here.
I am not sure about jobs. I lived in a very boring, very safe area of Vermont (apart from the druggies) for nearly 3 years and there were no jobs either. People were starry eyed about Vermont but it was safe. I can tell you for a fact that people could leave doors and windows and so on opened and no one would steal a thing. Here I'm having culture shock with all the police presence around.
I'm not saying this state is better over that state...just stating what I see. Maybe it will help others...feel free to chime in...
I moved here late last year with my husband and son - it was a relocation, so things were a little easier on us.
However, I have found a few things:
Food is not cheaper than it was in NJ. I found that there were more sales and I could stock up at my local grocery store. Here, I found ways of being creative (shopping at Super Walmart, Aldi, buying a few things at my grocery store, etc). I still use coupons and such, but I don't think food is any cheaper than other places I have lived.
I am not used to a sales tax on most items (i.e. clothing) and still confused about how it works. I notice a 7.75% on some things and then an additional 2% (I think) on others. It's not a big deal, but it's different.
Our insurance (both home and auto) has decreased significantly. The only thing out of the ordinary for us was the property tax on our cars (which wound up being the amount we saved in insurance this year), but we are thrilled with the property taxes here.
Like any move, money is required for up-front costs and things of that nature, but after the first year of transition, I think it winds up being more cost efficient than living in the NE.
We are coming up on our one year anniversary here and we really love it.
So I just received our auto tax bill yesterday -- that was a shocker. We moved from Mass this past June, and while our auto insurance here is slightly lower, as the poster above noted, the taxes more than make up for it.
Our local auto tax, which is assessed based on the value of the car (in this case a crappy 10-yr-old Honda Civic), includes a Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools tax, an Orange County tax, a Chapel Hill "city tax" and a Chapel Hill "city vehicle fee". You read that right, the city of CH charges an auto tax, and a separate auto fee. Uh-huh. What a rip-off. Plus we paid a "highway use tax" when we registered the car of $110. Glad we went from 2 cars to 1 before our move!
This apparently helps to explain why everything in CH is so damn nice, and new.
Coming from so-called "tax-achusetts" I have to say thus far NC's taxes beat the heck out of Mass., with the sales tax being significantly higher as well. For a couple on a tight budget, it really puts a damper on the whole "welcome to NC" experience.
So I just received our auto tax bill yesterday -- that was a shocker. We moved from Mass this past June, and while our auto insurance here is slightly lower, as the poster above noted, the taxes more than make up for it.
Our local auto tax, which is assessed based on the value of the car (in this case a crappy 10-yr-old Honda Civic), includes a Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools tax, an Orange County tax, a Chapel Hill "city tax" and a Chapel Hill "city vehicle fee". You read that right, the city of CH charges an auto tax, and a separate auto fee. Uh-huh. What a rip-off. Plus we paid a "highway use tax" when we registered the car of $110. Glad we went from 2 cars to 1 before our move!
This apparently helps to explain why everything in CH is so damn nice, and new.
Coming from so-called "tax-achusetts" I have to say thus far NC's taxes beat the heck out of Mass., with the sales tax being significantly higher as well. For a couple on a tight budget, it really puts a damper on the whole "welcome to NC" experience.
Yea, I know. We're paying more in taxes here than we did in Mass. Sure, on the plus side we've got a much bigger house, but on the minus side there's no subway that I can catch a block from my front door. (And yes, our salary is much bigger here, but I'm accounting for that!) It was a bit of a shock, to be honest -- just goes to show that the Taxachusetts moniker is inaccurate.
Who is the joker out there saying "Food is cheaper in the South"
I never heard that once before I moved to the Triangle from NJ. I find food in general to cost the same no matter where I have live (VA, NJ, NY, NC).
Very true. My mother and father go to Florida yearly and say the same thing. Food costs are relatively the same. In Vermont we paid a bit more (probably freight costs). We learned to go to Walmart in NH. Every few weeks we drove 40 minutes to save a few bucks, even with gas costs.
I am not used to a sales tax on most items (i.e. clothing) and still confused about how it works. I notice a 7.75% on some things and then an additional 2% (I think) on others. It's not a big deal, but it's different.
the additional 2% is the prepared food tax that is applicable at least in wake county. (please, someone correct me if i'm wrong on that.)
as for the rest, yes, NC is not cheaper. it's interesting to hear people's relocation stories with regard to the sticker-shock when they assume that things are cheaper here. in some regards, housing can be cheaper but then there are additions like taxes, utilities, & the like that bite some in the tail unexpectedly.
we may be relocating elsewhere next year depending on a job situation & i'm interested to learn how it is to relocate elsewhere in terms of comparisons. perhaps it will be a sign of relief for us!
It's probably all a wash...North Carolina and Massachusetts are both about average in state/local tax burden. Massachusetts used to be among the most expensive states, but has come down in recent years.
Yes, there are property taxes and other fees on cars here. But there's also no sales tax on car purchases...only a 3% highway use tax.
Property tax rates are much lower here than they are in many other places. Sales tax is a bit on the high side (but not terribly so) and may apply to more categories of goods.
I dunno...I haven't found prices and overall taxes very surprising here, and I've lived all over this country.
Taxachusetts is so far in debt that it will take forever to dig out of that hole.
NC gets a lot of credit for having far less state debt and being in a better financial situation than MA.
Taxes can only go so far; MA thinks they can be spread it out indefinitely. I think NC has a more realistic view of exactly where and how far they can go with the money they have...
Real estate taxes are far less expensive than in NY state. Homes are less expensive than California.
But otherwise, it's North Taxolina.
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I wonder if they are all like this (perhaps things are inflated in the Triangle). Super Target was nice but pricey.
