Houston - High Salary Vs Low Cost Of Living (rent, daycare)

[EM1956]

Originally Posted by Grunn

The comparisons they have given are largely irrelevant or just plain incorrect.

Care to elaborate where I am "Just plain incorrect" or irrelevant?

[Grunn]

Originally Posted by Mpls-houston

You are the one the don't seem to ''get it". You kept complaining that it "IS NOT CHEAP to live in Houston", in compare to which city in the US? Then you would compare Houston to cities in Europe, give me a break. If you want to make a point, go and live enough time in other major cities in the US, then come back to Houston and make a comment. The comparisons you've made "make you sound like a vacuous valley girl with a deficit of grey matter."

I've made it clear that comparisons were merely for the benefit of people who started claiming that Houston is so much cheaper than everywhere else.

It isn't as I've explained.

Also please try to understand if possible, forget comparisons, look at Houston as a stand alone case- IT IS NOT CHEAP TO LIVE HERE AND ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THAT IT IS, IS LYING.

I hate to resort to capitilisation but you don't seem to be capable of basic comprehension.

Maybe you'd be better sticking with your 'whatever' replies, I think they work better for you.

[Grunn]

Originally Posted by EM1956

Care to elaborate where I am "Just plain incorrect" or irrelevant?

Post number 28 contains the information you request. I won't repost it to keep the thread tidy.

[EM1956]

Originally Posted by Grunn

You're comparing Houston with capital cities, as I've already said NYC would be a fairer comparison.


Believe me I'm not making this up, the last place I lived was a large city in the Netherlands which I forgot to add to my list and to give you an example I had a 2 bed townhome in the best area in town and it cost me $1050 per month. My other costs such as vehicle, insurance car and health etc were all proportionally lower and I used to cycle to work ($100 per year for bike tyres!).

But you must also take into account your take home or net pay. I am a registered nurse with many, many years of experience and there is no way that my take home pay in southeast of England and ensuing quality of life can compare to those two things in Houston.

Dublin would be the same story.

And I don't think that it applies only to nurses, which are notoriously undervalued and unappreciated in most of the EU.

I know many Europeans who don't live the kind of life you are portraying. Almost everyone we knew/know lived paycheck-to-paycheck and struggled to pay for necessities like food, clothing, shelter.

I can honestly say that I cannot think of a single thing less expensive in southeast England than here in Houston. (well, maybe a pint )

[Mpls-houston]

Originally Posted by Grunn

I've made it clear that comparisons were merely for the benefit of people who started claiming that Houston is so much cheaper than everywhere else.

It isn't as I've explained.

Also please try to understand if possible, forget comparisons, look at Houston as a stand alone case- IT IS NOT CHEAP TO LIVE HERE AND ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THAT IT IS, IS LYING.

I hate to resort to capitilisation but you don't seem to be capable of basic comprehension.

Maybe you'd be better sticking with your 'whatever' replies, I think they work better for you.

WHATEVER!

[LAM1010]

I lived in London/England for almost 10 years. My take home pay after finishing university and housemanship was about 45,000 UK Pounds. Which I was delighted about until I realize that income tax and National Insurance (tax for healthcare) was going to leave me with about 25,000 UK Pounds.

The so-called National Insurance didn't amount to much especially since I had to suffer for 3 weeks with an ovarian cysts whilst waitning for the General Practitioner (same as family physician) to refer to a tertiary center for an ultrasound. Believe it or not it took 3 weeks and this right in the middle of London. I went to one the University of London colleges and the hospital closest was UCL (supposedly one of the best).

Cost of paying for basic amenities and utilities may be comparable across the pond bu the standard of living is certainly better. I would rather buy gas/ethanol/natural gas (whatever is green out there) to power a hybrid car and drive comfortably about than the pay extortionate amounts for the tube(subway) and train system in London and have my face stucked in someone's armpit in a jam-packed train.

I would rather pay toll and not have to deal with traffic than pay congestion charges upwards of 10 UK pounds a day and have to sit in traffic in London.

So yes, the amenities/utilities may be comparable but the quality of life is certainly better here in Houston.

[LAM1010]

Oh! I forgot to mention that my 3 week wait for an ultra-sound which eventually diagnosed my pain and suffering as ovarian cyst was not because I did not see my GP but it was because the doctor was more interested in doing stool and blood tests which took several days for the results to come through than writing a referal for me. Apparently NHS does not like to spend money on some of the "unnecessary" diagnostic tests.

[EM1956]

Originally Posted by LAM1010

I lived in London/England for almost 10 years. My take home pay after finishing university and housemanship was about 45,000 UK Pounds. Which I was delighted about until I realize that income tax and National Insurance (tax for healthcare) was going to leave me with about 25,000 UK Pounds.

And most people in southeast don't make anywhere near 45,000 pounds!!

In Bromley, south London, the average home now costs eight times the typical salary, which is actually down from previous years!!

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by Grunn

I really don't think Houston is all that cheap of a place to live in- maybe compared to the rest of the US but I seem to be spending more money here than I ever did in the european countries I lived in.

For a start you HAVE to own a car and drive almost everwhere because there is no public transport and it's unrealistic to cycle 15-20 mile round trips in near 100 degree heat. So you have finance costs for that. Then add in the extortionate cost of car insurance (so high because of the dirt poor standard of driving and all the criminals).

Buying a car- whoever said cars in the US are cheap was a liar. The kind of old wreck I like to drive around in would cost me 1500 UK pounds- about $2250. The same car here will cost me a cool $7000 and don't forget the sales tax which you've got to pay every single time you buy a vehicle. Even though the car has already had tax paid on it by the last several owners.......

That brings me neatly to home insurance which is also sky high for poor/low coverage. I could get $100K worth of cover for $150 in europe. Here it costs me around 6 times the price for less.

Unless you want to live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by other houses and little else you have to pay $1500 and up for a 2 bedroom place inside the loop (assuming you don't want to live somewhere you have a better than average chance of getting beaten, robbed, raped or all 3).

Utility bills- when I lived places with a temperate climate I only needed to heat the house for 3 months a year. Here I'm using the AC 8 months out of 12 and electricity is priced high. Yet again more expense.

Health care- costs a fortune for halfway decent coverage. Again going back to europe I could spend a third less than I do here and get similar private coverage.

Tax- less than many places I've lived but all the advantages of no state income tax are lost when you look at the indirect taxes I'm paying for things like healthcare and dental (albeit these 'taxes' go to private companies rather than the state)
All that said food is pretty cheap and eating out/drinking can be inexpensive if you pick the right places. Can't think of much else that's cheap, even property when you start to consider how much the year on year taxes will amount to.

At least in many euro countries you can buy your house and then only have minor expense once you've paid off your mortgage.

The bottom line is that it isn't all that cheap to live in Houston and don't let anyone kid you that it is. Unless of course you want to live like a dog in which case I guess you could live pretty cheaply on hamburger helper while sweating in your trailer and waiting for non existant public transport to take you to work.......

Spending money is a habit. Everyone has a certain lifestyle.
Auto Insurance is quiet cheap in Texas compare to the rest of the US.
Electricity is cheap here due to deregulation. I am paying 7.5kwh. Also depends on the type of dwelling you have (insulation). $1500 for 2 beds? Thats for luxury high end homes.
Going back to Auto, you only need Liability.
Health is mostly through your employer.
No state taxes in Texas.

Which city is cheaper then?

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by Mpls-houston

I don't think it's fair to compare a city (Houston) to a country or countries in Europe. It's two totally different things. I found it's irrelevant for you to compare the things you have listed from a different country, or even from a different continent to a city in the US. Of course many things are cheap or price differently in Europe than here in the US. We are in two different countries/continents.

Even within the US, each city has its own costs. Here in Minneapolis, our winter gas bills is through the roof. Then comes summer we also have to pay high electric bills to keep the house cool because we, too, are having days that are in the 90ies. So for someone to say that Houston is expensive, come and live in Minneapolis for a while then you will stop whinning. Not to mention the extreme, brutal winter weather.

Lets send him to California or New York, lol.