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This is true (with the exception of out to eat - menu prices are similar anywhere you go - it's about quality of food). HOWEVER - this does not mean a better quality of life, as statistics show.
i have to say that the cost of food at the fine dining establishments of sarasota or tampa are similar to the northeast, but do disagree that the cost of other eat out is less due the competition. once snow bird season hits that all changes though.
now quality of life...........thats way better here. both for my wife and i as well as the kids.
to the 2 connecticut posters that continue to argue why you would not want to live here - i dont understand why you would waste your time in an argument on a board that serves an area where you would not want to live. its the same as me going to the nj board and telling them all that is wrong there. they are either stuck there or like it. its the same as me going on the ct board and saying how i would never live in a liberal state like ct with the highest taxes in the country.
and just to further compare. my nj taxes were 15K, here a little over 2K. i have a 1/2 acre with a 1800sq ft house and big pool where i can walk to the beach easily. schools are much better here.
It really depends on where you live. If you live in a condo, mobile home, or community home where you can stick your arm out the bathroom window and shake your neighbors hand as he does the same, yes your costs are less. Since we have kids, we wanted a little more space and no HOA restrictions. My taxes in Florida are $1800 a year less than CT. Homeowners in CT was $800 yr, here is $1400. Car insurance, unless you carry the minimum and I wouldn't do that here, is more. Electric is less but if you have a large home with a pool, our summer bills with A/C average about $250 mnth. Food at grocery store is the same. If your able to hit all the early bird specials, I guess out to eat is cheaper but if your a working family, it's tough to do that. Applebees, Outback, Ruby Tuesday, and all the other million chains here have the same menu and prices as anywhere else in the country. State parks are free up North and free here, amusement parks and fairs are equal admission prices. Golfing is cheaper here but I don't have time with 2 small kids. The things I never figured on are:
Exterminator cost every 3 months
Water treatment cost
A/C should be replaced every 10 years, roof only lasts 10-15 yrs
Have to cut your grass seems every week during rainy season
Grass is beautiful, lush, and green but your kids cant play in it or they get eaten by fire ants
Have to constantly pressure wash everything, house, lawn furniture, because it starts to get moldy
If you are not a family and live in a condo or small home in a HOA, are retired or self-employed, Florida makes huge financial sense for you. My Mom lives here, for 15 years, is on a fixed income, lives in a condo, pays very little for electirc and HOA fees. If she lived up North, she probably couldn't survive. My wifes friend just retired with a big pension and moved into a condo in Nokomis. She can't believe how much she saves every month from her home up north to here. For a family like us, with a decent sized home on a large lot with a pool, the cost savings of the Northeast vs here combined with the disparity in pay........there is no,or very little savings in living here. Florida is still a difficult place for working middle-income families
We moved our family here from up north so I can speak from experience.
I grew up in NY. Lived on Long Island until 2 yrs ago. Owned a home there for 11 years. DH cut the lawn every week (not winter obviously). We couldn't afford a landscaper. here we can because it's only $80/mo for over an acre! There it was more like $120 for our 180x90 yard and that's just for mowing. No HOA fees in NY so I can't compare that but mine are only $800 here.... In NY we had $10k-12k taxes! here I pay $4k. Sweet. (see how i can afford the lawn guy now?) We don't have an exterminator here. We were about to hire an exterminator up north because LI was invaded by enormous , disgusting camel crickets. My mom had an exterminator for years when we were growing up because she didn't like bugs. We do play in the yard here but we are smart about it, just like we avoided bees, wasps, hornets & brown recluse spiders back north. Actually I did have to have a special exterminator come the time carpenter bees built nests in our walls in NY. Also, we payed a Termite contractor just to make sure there was no new activity (there was termite damage when we bought the house) and another time we had an invasion of carpenter ants. Happy to say I don't own a wood house here! The vet is cheaper here, the services are cheaper here (like builders & repairmen, plumbers, etc), electricity is cheaper PLUS no gas and no oil. Yes the A/C bill goes up in the summer but it did in NY too. I paid over $300 a month for electricity in the summer months (June-September) in NY and paid almost $200/mo for oil. The highest oil went for me was over $300 a month and I swear I cried. Gas was only about $20 a month but hey, don't have to pay that any more! THe Beaches were great up north but we had to pay a $40 parking pass for the season or $10 to park each time you come. That's IF you are a resident. Non-residents paid up to $40 for a ONE DAY parking pass. Yup. And sure, pay is higher in NYC but guess what the LIRR commute cost these days? $254 a month when I left so it's probably more now! I don't miss that commute either! Also, this house is bigger w/a pool and big yard and cost less than our house up north sold for. A house like this would have been so far out of our reach up there and the taxes would have been near $20k if not over! My car insurance is way less here, still using the same company I used up North. Been with them for about 15 yrs. Gas is cheaper for the car too. And car repairs. Did I mention I was paying private school tuitions because the "we're better than you" NY schools (and the whole North East!) couldn't meet our needs? The Sarasota school system is fantastic. Florida Virtual School is excellent and FREE! Never saw a SmartBoard in a school up there either. The resources down here are amazing. The amount of free things to do, the beaches. Ya know - a membership to MOTE is $90 for a family of 4 and you get to be part of the reciprocal program. That means free admission to places like GWIZ, MOSI, FL Aquarium, Children's Museum in St Pete, Selby Gardens, Spanish Point, etc, etc - I swear it payed for itself in a month or 2. The local aquarium membership on LI starts at $135 for a family of 4 and no reciprocal program.
I do agree with you about the pressure washing though. Up north we just had to rake the leaves and shovel the snow. Yearly car inspections, winterizing, putting the lawn furniture & hoses away for the winter, etc... what about "closing the pool". i didn't have one but everyone with a pool up north knows what i'm talking about LOL
Only thing (besides family) that I miss from up north? My basement!
This is true (with the exception of out to eat - menu prices are similar anywhere you go - it's about quality of food). HOWEVER - this does not mean a better quality of life, as statistics show.
Believe it or not, restaurant prices are not the same. Chain restaurants 'tier' their menu prices to fit the market. The menu prices at the Chili's or Outback Steakhouse in Manhattan are much higher than they are in Sumter, South Carolina. Locally owned restaurants usually follow suit.
It comes down to a few things: teacher/student ratio, AP courses/TAG programs, percent of teachers with PhD, and efficiency of counselors. Most districts in CT also have a rigorous curriculum. In our middle school, students are required to submit a quarterly portfolio, which is a 20 page project gathered over the months outlining what they learned. They also have midterms, and finals.
All of this leads to a lower dropout rate, higher graduation rate, and higher rate of students off to college. So it's not BS, it's very much a positive statistic.
Honestly even with all you have stated above (although I think it has much more to do with parental involvement / education levels than what you listed) I still found our "excellent" public schools lacking. But if you're happy with them, good for you.
to the 2 connecticut posters that continue to argue why you would not want to live here - i dont understand why you would waste your time in an argument on a board that serves an area where you would not want to live. its the same as me going to the nj board and telling them all that is wrong there. they are either stuck there or like it. its the same as me going on the ct board and saying how i would never live in a liberal state like ct with the highest taxes in the country.
and just to further compare. my nj taxes were 15K, here a little over 2K. i have a 1/2 acre with a 1800sq ft house and big pool where i can walk to the beach easily. schools are much better here.
I live in Florida. If there's one thing I learned from this thread is to stay away from New York and New Jersey. Wow, I can't believe you paid that much in taxes. It's no wonder why you love Florida's property taxes! I paid about $5600 a yr in CT. At 15k a year, I would leave too, especially New Jersey. You can add it up anyway you wan't all I know is what is left over at the end of the day. In Florida, I work longer days, drive more hours, and when everything is said in done and the bills are all paid, I have less money leftover than I did in CT and I'm never home. That's me and my experience with Florida so far. Maybe it will get better over time, I don't know. I won't hang around long enough to find out because I hate to struggle and my wife and I never had to struggle before in the Northeast. We added up all the expenses of living down here before we left and it looked promising for us but hasn't worked out that way. Maybe I should see if there's a hole in my pocket because ever since we got here, the money is disappearing.
Maybe your right, I shouldn't say anything negative because we just happened to have a bad experience with Florida. After all, we are going to need all the positives about Florida we can get for perspective buyers when we try and sell our house after the 1st of the year and get the heck outa here! Keep up the good work
if you live in the northeast and jot down all your expenses there vs here and come up the same you had better re add or check the batteries in your calculator.
taxes - less
car insurance - less
electric by KW - less
fuel for winter heat - less
out to eat - less
cost for things to do - less
cost of house - less
it amazes me that someone will come on a forum like this and base their decision on where to live based on what others post. you are only going to get the ones that really hate it or really love it. most are going to just read it and move on.
Yes but there are less things to do, and the novelty wears off after 1-3 years
to the 2 connecticut posters that continue to argue why you would not want to live here - i dont understand why you would waste your time in an argument on a board that serves an area where you would not want to live. its the same as me going to the nj board and telling them all that is wrong there. they are either stuck there or like it. its the same as me going on the ct board and saying how i would never live in a liberal state like ct with the highest taxes in the country.
and just to further compare. my nj taxes were 15K, here a little over 2K. i have a 1/2 acre with a 1800sq ft house and big pool where i can walk to the beach easily. schools are much better here.
Actually the schools are worse here he schools always are underfunded and doing mediocre, except for Pine view
I'm not sure what that means but if I did I wouldn't be on CD crying about it for years
For some reason i thought that was where you lived. I'm sorry if i was wrong. I've never really cryed about anything on CD. Anything i've posted on here was only my opinion after living down there for ten years. The OP asked for the opinions of people who have actually moved to Florida and if their happy with their decision. Maybe you should actually move there before you give yours.
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