military, moving to valdosta, expenses there, what do u pay (Atlanta: appointed, real estate)

[victoriacupcakes]

hello, my husband and i are stationed in california. we will be moving to valdosta in 2 years.
i am trying to prepare ahead of time.
the BAH (housing) is a few hundred dollars less than it is here.
the cost of a mortgage would be the same as we pay now.
so i need to know how much it would cost for food and utilities and chiropractor and gas each month for a family of 3.

i am looking to see if we can afford to live in valdosta with the pay that my husband gets, we are unsure if we will make enough cosidering we barely get by as it is and the BAH is really low there.

[southgeorgia]

well its two years away, so hard to say what anything will cost. as for groceries and gas; well it depends on how much you eat and how much you drive.

last time i went to the chiropractor it was $50.

[TakeAhike]

I don't know what to tell you---many of those who relocate to GA say that the cost of living is lower than in other parts of the country. I would think that you are paying more in CA for just about everything?

Here's a link to the city government--I imagine you could contact them and ask such questions. >>>>>
City of Valdosta, GA : Home

I live in Atlanta but also lived in Savannah for a time. I had a 2 BDR apt on an upper floor in Savannah ---climate similar to that of Valdosta--and during the summer I got some outrageous electric bills--it was a total electric apt.

If you select a well-constructed dwelling, situated to conserve energy and equipped with more current heating and cooling systems then you can expect lower utility bills.

Gas is currently at $2.82/gal or there abouts. I have no idea of what chiropratic services might run. You could locate the names of chiropractors in Valdosta and contact them.

hth

[victoriacupcakes]

so the gas monthly would save just a couple dollars...bummer.
chiropractors here are pricey! so that's a good deal.
we plan on finding land and building, (hopefully) so we'd be sure to build the utilities the most convenient way.

i guess my biggest concern now is how much we would be spending on food and utilities.

agh i wonder how we can figure this out....

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by victoriacupcakes

so the gas monthly would save just a couple dollars...bummer.
chiropractors here are pricey! so that's a good deal.
we plan on finding land and building, (hopefully) so we'd be sure to build the utilities the most convenient way.

i guess my biggest concern now is how much we would be spending on food and utilities.

agh i wonder how we can figure this out....

I'm not certain if this link will be useful but it ranks the cost of living in Valdosta 19.84% lower than the US average. >>>
Moderator cut: link removed, please read our terms of service

Why don't you Google Real Estate Agents/Valdosta, GA and ask how to estimate food and utilities. Valdosta State University is located in Valdosta which is close to the FL line--Jacksonville, FL is about an hour or so away.
I would think that the food prices are similar to metro Atlanta's and each family is so different it is difficult for me to give a figure.

It looks like Valdosta has plenty of Walmarts--big box discount stores>>>
http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...aldost+walmart

You can buy just about anything at Walmart. If Valdosta University has a Home Extension Program and it probably does--someone there might be able to help you.

ETA: Lowndes County Extension Service/UGA>>>
http://www.ugaextension.com/lowndes/fcs/index.html

[victoriacupcakes]

thanks. i've done all of that but i havent considered checking and seeing how the numbers are compared to jacksonville fl, this would help me actually becuase my family lives there so they could just tell me if the numbers are similar! thanks for bringing that to my attention. :-D

[clearsight]

There is an oversupply of homes right now in Valdosta - in all price ranges - so you could buy an existing new home for much less per square foot than the cost of building new. If you're going to live in the house for ten years, you'll save money by installing solar heating and other electricity-saving features. Remember it takes years to make back the dollars it costs to install these features.

If you're military you may have a choice of moving away within a few years, and you'll almost for sure want to get out of Valdosta sooner rather than later. It's enormously hot and humid from May through September, suffocatingly so if you don't have a pool. The social scene here is positively slam-the-door-in-your-face closed closed closed. Get tight with military friends, because you won't be befriended by oldtimey Valdostans. It's overwhelmingly racist here, to the point that people of color are frequently called "N", even in so-called polite company. I don't get it myself, but that's what I see and hear all the time. I'm not from around here, just observing because I think it's strange.

There is a WalMart w/n a few miles of the base, and another about 8 miles further south of the base. Groceries are moderately expensive. A family of four can save about $3,000. per year by shopping at WalMart instead of Publix. For example, when milk at WalMart is $2.79, it's $3.59 at Publix. Same with other common needs. The local shopping center is tiny; anchor stores are Penney's, Sears, and Belk. No Macy's or Dillards or other department stores. There a a few dollar stores, a Lowe's, Home Depot, and a Pier One. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. The two military families I know are scheming to get first pick places to get out of here.

[clearsight]

Oh, one really fabulous thing about Valdosta: Valdosta State University. It's part of the Georgia university system, it's growing fast, has just about anything you want to learn about available. Also there's a tech school called Wiregrass Technical, and they have a lot of great programs including dental hygiene, automotive, HVAC, truck driving, lots of other courses of study. VSU is a very good university, and that's what really saves this town!

[theProals]

You can also live outside of Valdosta -- Lakeland, Hahira. We have a lot of the military living near us.