Cost of living calc (Houston, Austin: sales, homeowners insurance, crime)

[TxTransplant]

Hi there,

First off, I love this forum. Everyone is so nice and helpful. For those of us wanting to relocate, you're posts are very helpful. Thank you!

My question is this.........I have gone to those "cost of living comparisons" and I would like to know the impressions of people who actually LIVE and work in Austin. What do you consider a wage, either annually or hourly, that is considered "good"? What I mean by "good" is that you can pay your bills and probably even own a house. Not exactly have a TON of money left over at the end of the month, but hopefully some on the good months. Or, maybe even be able to set aside a little bit each month in savings.

I am asking this because my husband and I used to think that we made good money. However, we live in Vancouver, WA and after being triple taxed, we barely afford to pay our bills, much less buy a home. I need to know how much I need to make to at least be a little better off than that!

Can anyone give me some insight to an average "middle class" income for a family of 3? I know there are a lot of factors, but I am talking for basic necessities, mortgage, car payment, utilities, insurance, etc.

I really appreciate any input!

Thank you so much!!

Amy
(hoping to move soon!)

[Steel Man]

Try this web site for cost of living in Austin.

http://www.austin-chamber.org/DoBusiness/GreaterAustinProfile/costs.html (broken link)

There are also several Austin residents on this board who can give you more personal type info.

Good Luck!

[Trainwreck20]

Interesting question, what does it cost me to live? I used to make ~$45,000 before taxes and lived comfortably, but did not save much at all. In fact, it was none until my car was paid off, and then that money started going into savings.

Anyway, if no one takes this too seriously ('cause I am doing this completely off the cuff):

For a 200k house, 90% financed, at a 'typical' city tax rate with homeowners insurance and PMI. This is 'worst-case', since it is typically much nicer to finance 20% and get out of PMI and lower payments. The insurance rate obviously vary, but these are ballpark.



The 'tax break' column estimates the dollar value of the deductions, which can depend on several things.

Below is a list of typical bills that a family would have (at least the ones I could think of off the top of my head):



The first is the ciy of Austin utility bill, assuming you are in Austin. This is 'normalized', since it can be significantly higher in the summer and lower in the winter. Our winter utility bill drops to ~$120, since water use as well as electric plummets.

The phone/cable bill is an estimate. We have decided to ditch cable and go with the antennae. Wonderful savings, both time and money, since there is only 6 channels to flip through until we decide that nothing is really worth watching. Net savings for us (since we pay for DSL still) is probably abou 40-50/month.

Car is based on 50 miles per day, year round, at 22 mpg and $2.50/gallon gas and $50/month maintenance. This is really saying about $600/year for tires, oil, and that random fix that is needed.

Insurance can obviously vary greatly, but this is close to what we pay for a 2-driver family with the moderately priced cars. The $500 for a car payment is just a random 'typical' number.

Now the really hard to pin down stuff:



Clothing is highly variable...do you have a boy or girl and how old ? This is probably high, but really, no clue. Food is about what we spend when we are being 'good' and not eating out all the time. You can easily double this if you love central market and going out to eat is a requirement.

Medical depends on your insurance. This assumes that they take $200 month out of your paycheck to cover family insurance, but this can be much different depending on the company you are at. Personal insurance is usuaully minimal, but the family thing is much more.

Entertainment and misc. child expenses....fill in your own numbers (soccer? Piano lessons? ). This is assuming no daycare, which will run you from $600 to $1000 a month.

So, this is rambling. I added all those up, and backed out what it would be before sales and federal taxes:



This shows it to be about 60K per year with no savings. At 75K per year, you could max out one 401k for savings.

Note that I did this very quickly...let me know what you think needs to be added or changed, anyone.....

[southaustingal]

Wow, what a great example TW.

There are so many factors that go into figuring out whether you'd be better or worse off moving to Austin. So much depends on your priorities. Overall, I'd say TW's numbers are a little low for *our* family.

I won't do housing, since you can easily figure out the mortgage and taxes on your own, or car payments. But here's what we spend (estimates for family of three, one elementary-age kid):

Groceries (little junk food, moderate amount of convenience foods, no high-dollar items like steak and seafood): $500/month

Eating out (about two times a week, nothing fancy): $300/month

Cable (Internet, digital service, DVR, no movies or sports packages): $125/month

Phone (one phone, one fax, call waiting, distinctive ring, $15 unlimited long distance): $85/month (this makes me insane since I know so many people with much lower phone bills)

Cell phone (two phones, about 150 min/month each): $75/month

Gas for two cars (about 20 miles/day on one, 80/miles/day on the other): $300/month

Car insurance (two drivers, two cars, great credit): $115/month

Home insurance (one house, great credit): ~$700/year

Dance class (twice a week): $100/month +~$200 each year for costumes/fees

Soccer (no longer in it but used to be): ~$200/year if participating in fall and spring soccer


What's harder to figure out when looking at different cities are the costs of groceries, clothes, gas, and so on. Austin is a little more expensive than other parts of Texas. In fact, on the news last night they talked about gas in Austin being about 12 cents higher than in other major Texas cities. Friends of mine in other parts of Texas usually balk at the price of clothing and food here. What we charge for a regular tomato is what they'd pay for organic in Houston. And Austin's communities to the west are also seeing rate hikes since so many people are moving into the Hill Country.

Hope this helps.

[Trainwreck20]

Eating out (about two times a week, nothing fancy): $300/month

Yeah, that is what kills us if we do not watch it. We can easily spend 300-500 a month on going out to eat

Gas for two cars (about 20 miles/day on one, 80/miles/day on the other): $300/month

Opps, I figured one person commuting, forgot that it is usually two. That could easily double the gas I figured in.

Phone (one phone, one fax, call waiting, distinctive ring, $15 unlimited long distance): $85/month (this makes me insane since I know so many people with much lower phone bills)

Yow! That is what we pay for the phone line AND DSL. We have NO options on the phone, though, other than it rings . We do very little land line long distance calling, since we end up on the cell phone for most of that.

We are just starting to consider that possibility that my wife may not go back to work after the baby, and we are looking at how much it will cost to do it. We get the $850/month saving off day-care right away, but my wife makes quite a bit more than that . Anyway, we are figuring the MINIMUM for us will be about 75k a year and keeping it lean. That would not be saving much, if any, but the hard part would be the lifestyle change...not going out to eat when we feel like it and not buying quite as nice gifts at those constant showers and such. Maybe turning the AC up a degree or two....

[southaustingal]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yow! That is what we pay for the phone line AND DSL. We have NO options on the phone, though, other than it rings . We do very little land line long distance calling, since we end up on the cell phone for most of that.

Yeah, I'm currently figuring out what to do about this. Hubby won't go for cable phone, and he wants a land line. I'm going to ditch all the options but distinctive ring on the fax. I'm sure our daughter will hate us when she hits the teen years.

That would not be saving much, if any, but the hard part would be the lifestyle change...not going out to eat when we feel like it and not buying quite as nice gifts at those constant showers and such. Maybe turning the AC up a degree or two....

It's definitely a lifestyle change, but the upside is your wife's schedule. Though there will be days when she'd *love* to be at work and away from the baby, she'll have much more time--well, at some points she'll have time. At other points, she'll barely have time to bathe. Ahh, the joys of motherhood. There are benefits and drawbacks to both. I think the main thing is to remember that nothing's permanent.

[TxTransplant]

Wow!! You guys are awesome!

I really appreciate all this. When I went to the calcs on the web, they said that with my gross of $43k, that if I made $35k in Austin, I would maintain my lifestyle. Does that sound reasonable?

TW, thank you, I am printing this off and doing some calcs of my own.

Thank you so much!

Amy

[Trainwreck20]

Hmmm...not knowing your lifestyle, and not having lived in Vancouver, I cannot say. I can tell you that I owned a house (1978 house purchase in 1999, 110k, 1500 ft2, 95% financed) in a nice neighborhoodand and lived fairly comfortably on ~45k/year, but was not saving much (and was only paying for me). Of course, the problem is, that same house is just sold for 170K, so the costs are going up.

I think I am a pretty 'median' consumer...I buy almost nothing extravagant, but I do take a 4 or 5 day trip to Cozumel (or similar) once or twice a year and spend my share on eating out. During this time, drove a Honda civic, which was a great deal on price, maint. and gas, which really helps.

Anyway, I don't see how you could get a family of three by on 35k/year (although I realize you might not be implying that). I kicked the gas up for a second car and it jumped the required pay up to 63K a year, which I think would get you by, although might limit your housing options.

[southaustingal]

I also don't know how you'd raise a family here on that money, unless you live in an area with less-than-desirable schools, maybe? Car expenses are significant here because of the commutes--at least, it is to our family and others I know. My husband changes his oil every other month and other maintenance comes far more frequently because of long commutes. But he works in the worst crime area in Austin, so we don't live there.

[MarknEurope]

Originally Posted by southaustingal

There are so many factors that go into figuring out whether you'd be better or worse off moving to Austin. So much depends on your priorities. Overall, I'd say TW's numbers are a little low for *our* family.

I won't do housing, since you can easily figure out the mortgage and taxes on your own, or car payments. But here's what we spend (estimates for family of three, one elementary-age kid):

Groceries (little junk food, moderate amount of convenience foods, no high-dollar items like steak and seafood): $500/month

Eating out (about two times a week, nothing fancy): $300/month

Cable (Internet, digital service, DVR, no movies or sports packages): $125/month

Phone (one phone, one fax, call waiting, distinctive ring, $15 unlimited long distance): $85/month (this makes me insane since I know so many people with much lower phone bills)

Cell phone (two phones, about 150 min/month each): $75/month

Gas for two cars (about 20 miles/day on one, 80/miles/day on the other): $300/month

Car insurance (two drivers, two cars, great credit): $115/month

Home insurance (one house, great credit): ~$700/year

Dance class (twice a week): $100/month +~$200 each year for costumes/fees

Soccer (no longer in it but used to be): ~$200/year if participating in fall and spring soccer

Southaustin girl.

Would you mind sharing which area of Austin you are living in? My wife and two very small boys are planning a move in the next couple of months and are trying to narrow down these costs for specific communities.

We plan on buying a 220k home and will pay cash. We will also buy two new cars and pay cash. So taking into account no home payment or car payment, I'm curious what I will need to carry us over until we both find work. We are considering Dripping Springs, and Round Rock.

Regards.