Cost of living question. (Fort Collins: apartment, rent, car insurance)

[ericksje]

What do you think is the minimum amount of money that two people can live on in the Ft. Collins area? I'd like to find a small 1 or 2 bedroom apartment under $800 until my GF and I can get our feet on the ground and we have no kids. We're fairly frugal and pretty decent budget shoppers, too.

My concern--like everyone's--is work. I'm curious to know how much a person would have to make a year in order to live there. I'm not above doing janitorial/retail/jobs nobody else would do. I have some military engineering experience and a BFA in English and she has her BA in Marketing. We just want to get out of Minnesota and near the Rockies.

Any rough estimates would be appreciated. If you have specifics, that would be great, but not required yet. We don't plan on moving until August.

Thanks.

[Mike Laughlin]

As a rough gauge to go by figure out what you spend a month to live in Minnesota. (add rent, gas, food,ect. and then when you've done that add another 15%. Take that amount times 12. I wouldn't move unless you had that much in savings. We are also moving to Fort Collins for the same reason, but planning on two years from now as it will be that long for us to save up enough to come and live for many months without the pressure of getting any old job to just get by.

[Katarina Witt]

^^^Good advice! It won't be much different than in MN. There are many COL calculators on the web.

[ericksje]

Thanks for the info. I know about the cost of living calculators on the web, but I just wasn't sure about their reliability. I will definitely check some of them out.

[Katarina Witt]

They're reasonably accurate. It depends to a certain extent on how frugal you are (or not). The only major differences will be rent and possibly car insurance. Everything else will be about the same.