living expenses for Indian Vegetarian family in Dallas (Plano, Irving: apartments, to rent)

[livingintheusa]

Hi All,

We are a family of 3 relocating from BLR to Dallas, sometime in december '11.

We have a 1 yr baby and only my husband will be working, while I plan to work only after 9-10 months.

My husband will be earning around $60K per annum. Is this sufficient?

1. What could be the expenses for these:
Rent for a 2 bed, 2 bath
Utilities (maintainence, water, electricity, internet, heating, ac)
Groceries (vegetarian food)
Baby
Car, fuel
Anything else

2. Is $60K enough to live?

3. Please recommend localities where there are Indians to rent an apartment.

4. How much would it cost to buy basic amenities like a fridge, washer-dryer, kitchen stuff?

We are really worried that what my hubbie makes may not be enough. Please help!

[compSciGuy]

Originally Posted by livingintheusa

Hi All,

We are a family of 3 relocating from BLR to Dallas, sometime in december '11.

We have a 1 yr baby and only my husband will be working, while I plan to work only after 9-10 months.

My husband will be earning around $60K per annum. Is this sufficient?

1. What could be the expenses for these:
Rent for a 2 bed, 2 bath
Utilities (maintainence, water, electricity, internet, heating, ac)
Groceries (vegetarian food)
Baby
Car, fuel
Anything else

2. Is $60K enough to live?

3. Please recommend localities where there are Indians to rent an apartment.

4. How much would it cost to buy basic amenities like a fridge, washer-dryer, kitchen stuff?

We are really worried that what my hubbie makes may not be enough. Please help!

It's sufficient, you can live comfortably (from my perspective), but you won't be living in luxury.

[ggolf]

The key as far as where to live is where your husband's work will be as commuting could be tough.

There are vibrant Indian communities in east Richardson and east Plano. But you will be able to find people of Indian nationality almost everywhere.

Try google to see if you can find a Dallas Indian/east Asian newcomer club or just some kind of group that will help your transition.

Welcome in advance! We're friendly here (well, for the most part).

[ggolf]

...and as comp said, you'll live comfortably but not in the lap of luxury.

[abpat2203]

1. What could be the expenses for these:

Rent for a 2 bed, 2 bath - About $800-$1000 in Irving

Utilities (maintainence, water, electricity, internet, heating, ac) - Water would be around $40, Electricity would be anywhere from $65 to $200 depending upon the prevailing weather (A/C or Heating) and home appliances used, Internet would be $33 to $45 depending upon the type of contract

Groceries (vegetarian food) - $250 approx monthly

Baby - Can't say as we don't have any children yet

Car, fuel - Pre-owned car for around $7000 and fuel depends upon how much you travel, approx rate is $3.30 per gallon

Anything else

2. Is $60K enough to live? - Yes. If you use the money wisely, you will live in a decent apartment, have all the amenities, save around $1500 p.m and still have enough on the sides for visiting other cities every 3-4 months

3. Please recommend localities where there are Indians to rent an apartment. - We live in Las Colinas, Irving. Lot of us here. :-)

4. How much would it cost to buy basic amenities like a fridge, washer-dryer, kitchen stuff? - Fridge, microwave, dish-washer come pre-installed in almost all apartments. Washer-dryer can be accessed using the apartment's Laundromat or have one rented on a monthly basis for around $50. Kitchen-stuff would set you back by no more than $100 one-time expense.

All of the above information is based on my own personal exp. of moving from Bangalore to Irving with my wife, who was not working for the first 7 months.

[livingintheusa]

Thank you all for the responses!

I must say I am relieved!

My husband will work from home, so commute should not be a problem.

[livingintheusa]

For $60K, how much tax would we be paying? Is it flat 30%?

Would we also have to pay something for car insurance? How much would that be?

We would have health insurance from the employers. Do we need to take out additional insurance?

I tried to google for this info, most information i found had so much legal wording, I couldnt make sense!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

No need for additional insurance. No flat tax, either. Car insurance varies by how much coverage you want. There is a minimum but I don't know what it is for Texas. Here is one web site with usefull info: http://www.esurance.com/faq/choosing-coverage-index

[jeevcy]

Federal Tax can be in the range of 22-28%. There is no State Tax in Texas.

[livingintheusa]

Thank you for all the answers!