Trying to grasp true cost of living in Tampa area

[skorch101]

Originally Posted by countrykaren

Actually, both Hubbie and I know Fla pretty well- both had family down there (Hubbie's family is deceased), and we've been down there more times than we can count.


We've dealt with the poor hospitals down there (not all, but most) when my father was dying from cancer (The doctors told him he was healthy as a horse although he was vomiting and lost 100#), my MIL was dying, and my FIL was not diagnosed at all with multiple medical problems.


I'm a professional health care provider (not your business what) and we had to get the physician involved and go thru my father's medical records to get the hospital to do anything.


When we brought my inlaws back to NY, even the new physician here had to threaten to sue the Fla doctor, just to get a copy of their medical records.


Have good medical insurance?- it is a good guarantee you will get a pacemaker- Both my ex inlaws and my (deceased) current inlaws had government insurance- and all 4 received pacemakers although none had any cardiac history.


My daughter lived with my parents for a year, because here in NY she would have been left back because she failed a couple of classes, but in Florida she graduated on time because she didn't even NEED those classes to graduate.


I could go on and on- that's why Hubbie really didn't want to move there, but he would have done it for me.


But visiting/ vacationing is not the same as the daily living nitty gritty.


The OP wanted to know the actual COL in Fla. I gave a comparison.


I wonder why that offends you so much. Maybe Fla isn't as great as you try to tell yourself and you don't want anyone else to point that fact out.


But then again maybe we should think twice about being around ppl who have attitudes like you and who are so offended by info that you can find online.

Can you kindly take your country bumpkin thoughts to another thread? This sure got off track!!! Thanks again to those who actually responded to my initial questions.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by skorch101

Can you kindly take your country bumpkin thoughts to another thread? This sure got off track!!! Thanks again to those who actually responded to my initial questions.

Thank you. Sadly, there is always one (or two or three) who want to derail a thread like this. Morton and Maniac gave good comments as did some others.

Anyway re cost of living, Florida is not the cheapest state nor is it anywhere near most expensive. I am sure you will do fine here - it is after all the 3rd most populated state now. Oh, and we have SUPERB medical care here....

[ApolloBeachRetiree]

Before we moved here from the Atlanta area, I created a budget to help me to determine what we could afford. We are retired and are living on our pensions and our savings. After several iterations, we had a plan and so far we have stuck to it. I did a lot of research to determine what various things would cost - including HOA and CDD fees.

We've been here three years and no regrets so far. Many elements of our cost of living are much lower than they were in the Atlanta area. It's a trade off.

Make your decision based on what you can afford and then go for it.

[skorch101]

Again, thanks everyone for the insight. Very helpful and much appreciated! We look forward to making the move once our house sells in Chicago.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by skorch101

Again, thanks everyone for the insight. Very helpful and much appreciated! We look forward to making the move once our house sells in Chicago.

Good luck with the move. The market here will be better for you if you're moving in the third or fourth quarter, as that takes all the relo folks who are trying to find something before school starts out of the mix.

I don't think you'll find a significant difference in cost of living between here and Chicago. I have lived in central Indiana and southeastern Wisconsin and moving here didn't put a dent in anything. The big outliers will be car and homeowner's insurance, but since you don't have any triggers for higher premiums, like a teen driver, it probably won't be outrageously higher. Newer home construction saves money on homeowner's insurance and energy costs, too.

Food prices are on par with the midwest, as are utilities. Of course, electricity will be higher in the summer months, but you won't be paying to heat the house in the "winter" much at all. There aren't many areas with natural gas, and since HVAC is done with heat pumps, there's really no need for it. If you want gas for cooking, for example, you'll have a propane tank either next to or buried in the yard. Propane is expensive, so don't get too worked up about having gas appliances.

Depending where you are in the Tri-state area in comparison, I don't think it will be that bad. Do remember that we have no state income tax, too. Just sales tax, which is around 7% depending on where you live.

RM

[ColS]

Don't rely on the price comparison calculators like we did before moving here. HUGE MISTAKE!!!!

[indytoflgirl]

Best Wishes on your move. We will be starting our 9th year here in Tampa. Moved from southern Indiana. I TRULY cannot think of one thing that I dislike or have had trouble with. My husband and I were school administrators in Indiana and now we are teachers in the District. We use our time in school effectively and efficiently and rarely have work to bring home, we enjoy the diversity that was lacking in southern Indiana, we LOVE the hot weather as compared to the cold weather in the north, we love that we are 45 minutes (drive time) from THE GULF OF MEXICO.


At the top of the recession, we purchased a turn key caged pool home, 2400 sq ft in a wonderful neighborhood for $300,000. We had an extremely knowledgeable realtor and that is the only suggestion I have for you is to make sure your realtor is at the top of the game.


Some people are unhappy all the time and like to make people miserable or doubting themselves: some people (like me) see the best or the "workable" solution in everything and like to encourage! WELCOME!!!

[ChuteTheMall]

If someone wants to discourage millions more folks from moving to Tampa, I wouldn't mind.


It's too crowded, nobody comes here anymore.-yogi berra

[MAniacTHW]

Originally Posted by ChuteTheMall

If someone wants to discourage millions more folks from moving to Tampa, I wouldn't mind.

Most people aren't moving to Tampa. They're moving to "Tampa."