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Old 01-02-2008, 03:11 PM
 
2 posts, read 5,136 times
Reputation: 10

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hi,
i am looking for some help, really confused...

me and my husband and 2 children, are looking to move shortly from the uk to florida, we have been many times, various parts, just returned from florida again yesterday..
we are looking at obtaining an E2 visa, my questions are;

in the uk we currently pay for our bills?
1. electric £50.00 per month
2. gas £50.00 per month
3. house insurance £35.00 per month
4. shopping approx £400.00 per month
5. water £40.00
6. telephone £35.00 per month
7. health insurance/dental paid four through national insurance on our wages.
car insurance ( i currently have a beetle cab, and pay £30.00 per month fully comprehensive

i was wondering if anyone could help me work out if these are roughly the living costs in florida, i know they vary between areas, but rough would help me, as ive know idea..

we are looking at buying a florist shop, we will be leaving our jobs, both good jobs, i am a qualified florist
selling our home to purchase the business, although will only have about $100.000 in total, business approx $80.000 we are not looking at buying an house at first, will there still be insurances on the property so if anyone could help with an idea on renting costs, would like somewhere ok, as we have children...

also do we pay for schools in florida?....
if anyone can think of anythink else we may have to pay monthly/yearly etc, please could you let me know..

please, please help me if you can, i have been trying to get some info, and cannot find anything... also do you think that we are mad, to try with amount of ready money we have?
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Old 01-02-2008, 04:51 PM
SKB
 
Location: WPB
900 posts, read 3,499,092 times
Reputation: 331
Quote:
Originally Posted by roseflorist View Post
hi,
i am looking for some help, really confused...

me and my husband and 2 children, are looking to move shortly from the uk to florida, we have been many times, various parts, just returned from florida again yesterday..
we are looking at obtaining an E2 visa, my questions are;

in the uk we currently pay for our bills?
1. electric £50.00 per month
2. gas £50.00 per month
3. house insurance £35.00 per month
4. shopping approx £400.00 per month
5. water £40.00
6. telephone £35.00 per month
7. health insurance/dental paid four through national insurance on our wages.
car insurance ( i currently have a beetle cab, and pay £30.00 per month fully comprehensive

i was wondering if anyone could help me work out if these are roughly the living costs in florida, i know they vary between areas, but rough would help me, as ive know idea..

we are looking at buying a florist shop, we will be leaving our jobs, both good jobs, i am a qualified florist
selling our home to purchase the business, although will only have about $100.000 in total, business approx $80.000 we are not looking at buying an house at first, will there still be insurances on the property so if anyone could help with an idea on renting costs, would like somewhere ok, as we have children...

also do we pay for schools in florida?....
if anyone can think of anythink else we may have to pay monthly/yearly etc, please could you let me know..

please, please help me if you can, i have been trying to get some info, and cannot find anything... also do you think that we are mad, to try with amount of ready money we have?
I hate to be the party pooper but you are in for sticker shock on everything.

1. electric £50.00 per month
Depending on the time of year 150-500 (depending on house size, insulation etc..)

2. gas £50.00 per month
We pay 100.00 per week for two cars fill them once a week each so that works out to about 400.00 per month)
3. house insurance £35.00 per month
We rent but most people are paying 1,000+++++++++ per year on that.
4. shopping approx £400.00 per month
If you mean groceries, we spend family of three around 700.00 per month give or take a bit more or less depending on how many meals out we have.

5. water £40.00
(we have a well, no charge)

6. telephone £35.00 per month
(lane line+ long distance plan around 76.00+ cell phone mine is an additional 35.00 (smallest plan)

7. health insurance/dental paid four through national insurance on our wages.

Blue Cross Blue Shield 130.00 bi- weekly (281.00 monthly)

car insurance ( i currently have a beetle cab, and pay £30.00 per month fully comprehensive.

We are paying 233.00 monthly (two cars van/sports car, the best coverage) this was the biggest shocker for us, Florida has the most expensive car insurance in the Nation!!!.

We are renting a nice 1700 under air home on 1.5 acres for 1400.00 per month.

I don't think you are crazy as I know why you want to move here, it is beautiful and wonderful!!!!
It is expensive mind you, you are giving up a lot to come here. I hope you are buying a thriving business and not trying to start one up from scratch. Make sure you are getting a solid business.

You didn't say where you are moving to in FL, we live in the West Palm Beach area.

Best of luck, and as far as I know, unless you want private schools you don't pay for public schools but school supplies are really expensive. My kids are grown up so i don't have this issue anymore.

Last edited by SKB; 01-02-2008 at 05:01 PM..
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Old 01-02-2008, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,925,572 times
Reputation: 2879
SKB, your pretty right on with your numbers.

Our electric for the month of Dec 5 was $153 per month for a 2100 sq ft home.

Gas-We only pay $50 per week because my husband drives a company car but if we had to pay for two it would be around $100.

Mortgage on a home $176,863--monthly payment of $1,501, our taxes and home insurance are escrowed $251 per month, so the total monthly payment is $1752

Our groceries are $800-$1000 per month (5 people).

Water is $100 per year for well cleaning (but you can do that yourself if you like).

AllTel phone Cell is $140 per month and Comcast for the house phone $51.

Health insurance through United Health care is $250/health & $50/Dental (bi-weekly).

Direct TV for television is $51.99 per month for the Total choice Plus (I think there are cheaper plans).

Comcast Highspeed Internet-$42.95 per month

Car insurance I don't have handy right now but I think it's somewhere around the range of SKB's

That's everything I can think of right now. Hope it helps and welcome, hope you can swing it

Last edited by SoFLGal; 01-02-2008 at 06:07 PM..
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Old 01-02-2008, 06:05 PM
 
Location: Nevada/Hawaii
326 posts, read 1,372,020 times
Reputation: 191
Car insurance will be higher as you'll be considered new drivers. I came out on 110k investment in 2000 plus 20k spending money. Sure goes quick after purchasing 2 cars, furniture and so on. Having new ss numbers and no credit history back then meant all cash purchases only. I could go on and on so just PM me with specific info. Cheers and good luck.
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Old 01-02-2008, 07:34 PM
 
17,291 posts, read 29,408,066 times
Reputation: 8691
WHERE you live in Florida will determine a lot of your bills. I finally got around to changing my car insurance address from Tallahassee to West Palm Beach, and it went up $300/period!

I suggest renting wherever you go right now, though. You'll be able to build credit during your rental time, so your interest rate will be lower when you DO buy, and it's kind of a crappy time to buy in most areas anyway. Save a LOT of money that way!
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Old 01-04-2008, 07:42 PM
 
Location: Vero Beach
250 posts, read 1,470,068 times
Reputation: 149
This is based on a 2400sq ft home and 1 acre land with well water....

1. electric $120 per month
2. gas $0 per month
3. house insurance $250 per month
4. shopping approx $??? how long is a piece of string per month
5. water $25 per month
6. telephone $90 per month
7. health insurance/dental $388 per month
8. car insurance $50 per month

This is what we pay roughly a month. I am sure I have missed some things out too...yes just thought we pay for 2 cars on top of that....

I am not an expert on the E2 visa but have a lot of friends I know who came over on that Visa and it isnt easy... (I came over on Green Card) I think you would need to invest a bit more than $100,000. You would need to invest at least $150,000 and then you need back up money too as even though you wont buy a house you will still need to rent and you will still have cars and extras. Starting a new life over here isnt cheap....money leaves your hands faster than anything!!

You dont pay for schools unless you go private....the only thing we pay for is the school meals...


also do we pay for schools in florida?....


Mode deleted

Have bought an E2 business or want to - if you can pop by and see what advise there can help. I ahve been a moderator of this site for a long time and seen a lot of people be succesful with the E2 and others not.....

good luck

Last edited by sunrico90; 01-04-2008 at 07:52 PM.. Reason: link not allowed
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