[KathyA11]

[quote=Trini2685;15866584]Hello everyone-

This is my very first post on here.

My husband and I have been considering moving from North Jersey to FL, mainly because of the weather and we both feel as though we have a better chance of owning a home in FL than we do in NJ.

Roger that. You'll find a huge difference in home prices, and instead of a tiny lot, you can actually have some land around your home.

I suffer from severe back problems, so the cold weather here makes me feel like I am going to die.

My husband and I have the same problem, which was a major reason we moved here (Marion County, near Ocala).


Also, I would need a landline for my job. Does the Deltona are offer good triple play packages- phone, high speed internet, cable?

I can't speak for Deltona, but I know that Brighthouse and Comcast do in Marion County. We decided to go with AT&T for our house phone/DSL ($80 a month), and DirecTV for satellite ($155/month, which includes their premium package and service fees for three DVRs) -- because there is no way in hell I'll go without access to my Yankees.

And what about electric- ours in NJ is usually no more than $70/month- but a lot less in winter when we dont use the AC's.

We have Progress, which is run by ripoff artists, and we pay around $200 a month in summer. Last winter was our first here (we moved down from Bayonne, NJ in November), and I can't really say what a normal winter would run, since it was so cold in January (18 degrees three mornings running was NOT fun, especially when our well froze) and colder than normal in February, enough to make our bills run between $300-400 for those two months (having an inefficient furnace that we ended up replacing in April didn't help much).

How bad is the cost of food,

Publix is about equal to Wegman's in price; I haven't found anything that would be analogous to our favorite, Shop-Rite. We end up shopping mostly in Wal-Mart, then fill in with other items (mostly deli, bakery, and produce) at Publix. If you like seafood, be prepared to pay about double what you paid in NJ.

clothing,

About the same.

gas (for cars)

More expensive, and be prepared for a culture shock -- you have to pump your own.

and auto insurance?

Now here's a plus -- we pay half what we paid back in NJ. But be prepared to spend a huge chunk of change to transfer title, register your car, and get your licenses transferred (we paid over $800 last November to transfer titles and register two cars, plus get our licenses here).

I have heard that people leave FL and come to NJ to shop for food and clothes-

Huh? That's an awful long commute to go shopping!

I would really love for anyone who has made the move from NJ to FL to respond to my post, as I have so many concerns about this possible move.

/quote]

We made the move from city living to semi-rural living, and while I love it, my husband is still getting used to it. What I miss most is easy access to Yankee Stadium (I could walk out my front door, take the Light Rail/PATH/4 train, and be at The Cathedral in the Bronx in just over an hour), a nearby Costco (the closest one is in Orlando, 75 minutes away), being able to walk up the block to get my papers in the morning (we're 4 miles from the nearest shopping, which is Wal-mart), and the restaurants we loved in our hometown. Bayonne had plenty of bakeries, and here, if you want baked goods, you need to go to Publix. And the drivers? They complain about Jersey drivers, but they're head and shoulders above Florida drivers, who, when you put on a turn signal to warn about a lane change, take it as a challenge and race to cut you off.

All in all, though, I'm happy to be here (even if I have to watch the Rays broadcast when they play my Yankees instead of watching on YES, thanks to blackout restrictions. I just turn the sound down and listen to the Yankees radio broadcast team on my computer).

[Ken E]

Arent those Ray's announcers obnoxious?

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by Ken E

Arent those Ray's announcers obnoxious?

They're almost as bad as Buck and McCarver. MLB.com's Gamdeay Audio is worth the $20 I spend on it each year.