Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know this question gets asked a lot, but I can't find anything since 2007. We are relocating to LA from London and trying to find out how our cost of living will compare. My husband will be earning 100k and I will not be working initially as we have 2 small children.
We need to find out costs for renting a house, renting a car, utilities (Gas, water electrics), phone/cable/internet, groceries and nursery/play groups.Also we have no idea about what sort of tax will be imposed with 2 dependents and myself (state tax / federal tax/income tax etc.)
The job is based in Marina del Rey so we need a do-able commute and would be grateful for any advice on safe family oriented areas with good schools in the vacinity.
Basically we need a fairy godmother to show us how it will all work - but failing that, any info. you seasoned Angelino's can give us would be very gratefully received
We currently pay
Gas - £100/month ($150)
Elec - £50/month ($75)
Water - £22/month ($33)
Contents and Buildings insurance - £140/month ($210)
Phone / internet / TV - £80/month ($120)
Groceries - £600/month ($900)
Petrol (gaz ) - £70/month ($105)
Council tax - £265/month ($400)
clearly there's no money left over for fun stuff currently, so if we can beat this, we're laughing!!!
Last edited by londonmom; 04-02-2009 at 05:20 PM..
Reason: extra details
My fiance works and I stay home with the little guy. He makes about 120,000 plus bonuses and other perks. I can't tell you anything about renting a car, do you mean leasing a car or actually renting a car? We live in a 2b/2ba apt. for about 2800 a month. Our electricity runs about 60-100 every other month, gas is usually less than 20, we pay about 150 for phone, cable, and internet (we have a bundle pack). We have less than 1000 in credit card debt. His car is almost paid off so our car payment isn't much (mine is already paid off). I spend a LOT on groceries. Between groceries and necessities for the baby I spend about 400-500 a month. He also goes to Gymboree twice a week and that runs us about 75 a month. We have memberships to the zoo and the aquarium so I try to take him there as much as I can. I can't tell you about taxes but I know that last year we got a nice refund and we expect a smaller refund this year.
We are purchasing a home soon, and can't really afford to live anywhere near Santa Monica, which is where he works, so we're going to have to move out of the area. Right now we rent in West LA. We used to live in Westchester and it's a great area, very family friendly. West LA and Culver City are nice areas as well. El Segundo is also very nice.
I know this question gets asked a lot, but I can't find anything since 2007. We are relocating to LA from London and trying to find out how our cost of living will compare. My husband will be earning 100k and I will not be working initially as we have 2 small children.
We need to find out costs for renting a house, renting a car, utilities (Gas, water electrics), phone/cable/internet, groceries and nursery/play groups.Also we have no idea about what sort of tax will be imposed with 2 dependents and myself (state tax / federal tax/income tax etc.)
The job is based in Marina del Rey so we need a do-able commute and would be grateful for any advice on safe family oriented areas with good schools in the vacinity.
Basically we need a fairy godmother to show us how it will all work - but failing that, any info. you seasoned Angelino's can give us would be very gratefully received
We currently pay
Gas - £100/month ($150)
Elec - £50/month ($75)
Water - £22/month ($33)
Contents and Buildings insurance - £140/month ($210)
Phone / internet / TV - £80/month ($120)
Groceries - £600/month ($900)
Petrol (gaz ) - £70/month ($105)
Council tax - £265/month ($400)
clearly there's no money left over for fun stuff currently, so if we can beat this, we're laughing!!!
Let's start from the top:
$100,000 in gross income
Federal and state income taxes will run you probably 30% after all of your deductions. That leaves $70,000.
You should be saving at least 15% of your gross pay for retirement. That is $15,000, leaving you $55,000.
You can find a nice apartment for well less than $2,800 per month. You should be able to find a nice two bedroom for no more than about $1,800 in the areas you will be looking. But let's say $2,000 for giggles. That's $24,000 per year, leaving you $21,000.
You can lease a nice car for $300-$400 per month, but you also need to figure in the upfront costs (taxes, title, etc.), which will probably be another $3,000-$4,000. People so conveniently fail to ever mention then when they lease a car. So let's assume an all-in effective car payment of $500-$600. On top of that you will have auto insurance, which could be anywhere from $50 to $100 per month. And then gas (petrol), which is much cheaper here in the states, but you'll still likely spend $100-$200 per month because we don't have the public transportation infrastructure you are familiar with, so you will be driving more. So total monthly costs for one car could be upwards of $900 per month. Let's round it to $1,000 to make things easy. That's another $12,000, leaving you $9,000.
That $9,000 will have to pay for food, clothing, education, travel, and all of the other bills you listed above, which sound pretty comparable to what a lot of people pay here.
You can certainly do it cheaper, but the costs I have outlayed are not unreasonable in the least. So how to people do it? That 15% savings number usually gets eliminated.
I know this question gets asked a lot, but I can't find anything since 2007. We are relocating to LA from London and trying to find out how our cost of living will compare. My husband will be earning 100k and I will not be working initially as we have 2 small children.
We need to find out costs for renting a house, renting a car, utilities (Gas, water electrics), phone/cable/internet, groceries and nursery/play groups.Also we have no idea about what sort of tax will be imposed with 2 dependents and myself (state tax / federal tax/income tax etc.)
The job is based in Marina del Rey so we need a do-able commute and would be grateful for any advice on safe family oriented areas with good schools in the vacinity.
Basically we need a fairy godmother to show us how it will all work - but failing that, any info. you seasoned Angelino's can give us would be very gratefully received
We currently pay
Gas - £100/month ($150)
Elec - £50/month ($75)
Water - £22/month ($33)
Contents and Buildings insurance - £140/month ($210)
Phone / internet / TV - £80/month ($120)
Groceries - £600/month ($900)
Petrol (gaz ) - £70/month ($105)
Council tax - £265/month ($400)
clearly there's no money left over for fun stuff currently, so if we can beat this, we're laughing!!!
Check the visa situation. I don`t think GF`s qualify for a Green Card.
Federal and state income taxes will run you probably 30% after all of your deductions. That leaves $70,000.
You should be saving at least 15% of your gross pay for retirement. That is $15,000, leaving you $55,000.
You can find a nice apartment for well less than $2,800 per month. You should be able to find a nice two bedroom for no more than about $1,800 in the areas you will be looking. But let's say $2,000 for giggles. That's $24,000 per year, leaving you $21,000.
You can lease a nice car for $300-$400 per month, but you also need to figure in the upfront costs (taxes, title, etc.), which will probably be another $3,000-$4,000. People so conveniently fail to ever mention then when they lease a car. So let's assume an all-in effective car payment of $500-$600. On top of that you will have auto insurance, which could be anywhere from $50 to $100 per month. And then gas (petrol), which is much cheaper here in the states, but you'll still likely spend $100-$200 per month because we don't have the public transportation infrastructure you are familiar with, so you will be driving more. So total monthly costs for one car could be upwards of $900 per month. Let's round it to $1,000 to make things easy. That's another $12,000, leaving you $9,000.
That $9,000 will have to pay for food, clothing, education, travel, and all of the other bills you listed above, which sound pretty comparable to what a lot of people pay here.
You can certainly do it cheaper, but the costs I have outlayed are not unreasonable in the least. So how to people do it? That 15% savings number usually gets eliminated.
Good presentation, but I don't agree with the 15% requirement for retirement savings. Negating that as an initial requirement, it leave $24,000 for food and clothing, or about $2,000 per month.
I know this question gets asked a lot, but I can't find anything since 2007. We are relocating to LA from London and trying to find out how our cost of living will compare. My husband will be earning 100k and I will not be working initially as we have 2 small children.
We need to find out costs for renting a house, renting a car, utilities (Gas, water electrics), phone/cable/internet, groceries and nursery/play groups.Also we have no idea about what sort of tax will be imposed with 2 dependents and myself (state tax / federal tax/income tax etc.)
The job is based in Marina del Rey so we need a do-able commute and would be grateful for any advice on safe family oriented areas with good schools in the vacinity.
Basically we need a fairy godmother to show us how it will all work - but failing that, any info. you seasoned Angelino's can give us would be very gratefully received
We currently pay
Gas - £100/month ($150)
Elec - £50/month ($75)
Water - £22/month ($33)
Contents and Buildings insurance - £140/month ($210)
Phone / internet / TV - £80/month ($120)
Groceries - £600/month ($900)
Petrol (gaz ) - £70/month ($105)
Council tax - £265/month ($400)
clearly there's no money left over for fun stuff currently, so if we can beat this, we're laughing!!!
I'm a British expat that lives in Santa Monica for the past 22 years. There are a lot of variables here and it depends what you are looking for but my advice would be to target Santa Monica as;
a) The local schools are good
b) There are a lot of British expats in Santa Monica, which will help with culture shock.
There are a lot of vacancies due to the economy however a house will cost $3000 - $5000 a month, an apartment $2200 ( if you're lucky) - $3500. Depending what you are looking for and your standards.
I'd suggest buying a car rather than renting. A decent used car will run anywhere from $5000 - $10,000, again depending on your needs and standards.
Gas, food and utilities will be negligible in comparisson. The biggest potential cost will be health insurance especially with kids. Co-payments for dentists can be expensive, even with insurance. No National Health here.
Too much information to answer here. Feel free to PM me if you need help.
Good presentation, but I don't agree with the 15% requirement for retirement savings. Negating that as an initial requirement, it leave $24,000 for food and clothing, or about $2,000 per month.
So then who is paying for your retirement? Or do you not plan to live beyond retirement age?
Federal and state income taxes will run you probably 30% after all of your deductions. That leaves $70,000.
You should be saving at least 15% of your gross pay for retirement. That is $15,000, leaving you $55,000.
You can find a nice apartment for well less than $2,800 per month. You should be able to find a nice two bedroom for no more than about $1,800 in the areas you will be looking. But let's say $2,000 for giggles. That's $24,000 per year, leaving you $21,000.
You can lease a nice car for $300-$400 per month, but you also need to figure in the upfront costs (taxes, title, etc.), which will probably be another $3,000-$4,000. People so conveniently fail to ever mention then when they lease a car. So let's assume an all-in effective car payment of $500-$600. On top of that you will have auto insurance, which could be anywhere from $50 to $100 per month. And then gas (petrol), which is much cheaper here in the states, but you'll still likely spend $100-$200 per month because we don't have the public transportation infrastructure you are familiar with, so you will be driving more. So total monthly costs for one car could be upwards of $900 per month. Let's round it to $1,000 to make things easy. That's another $12,000, leaving you $9,000.
That $9,000 will have to pay for food, clothing, education, travel, and all of the other bills you listed above, which sound pretty comparable to what a lot of people pay here.
You can certainly do it cheaper, but the costs I have outlayed are not unreasonable in the least. So how to people do it? That 15% savings number usually gets eliminated.
Yikes, when you put it like that, it looks like we'll be living on the bread line again!!! I thought London was the most expensive place to live, but it looks like LA is on a par or more expensive to rent than where we live here in Richmond. We have a completely refurbed 4 bedroom house with great sized garden, 2 minutes from the river, which will rent for around $4,500 (house swap anyone)
Thanks everyone for your replies, it's really helpful to get feed back from those of you who actually live in LA. I feel like I'm going round in circles, hypothesising on things I have no clue about!
Good to know about Gymboree costs, as I do that here too and have a couple of annual memberships for parks etc. which I really make use of.
Looks like it might be better to buy a second hand car rather than rent from what you guys are saying. I don't understand the difference between renting and leasing - is leasing like a hire/purchase deal - is that what you mean about the up front costs?
We're coming over at the end of the month, so will check out Santa Monica of course, Mar Vista, Culver City and Manhattan Beach - areas we have been told have good schools and are nice neighbourhoods. Does anyone have any opinions on them?
Yikes, when you put it like that, it looks like we'll be living on the bread line again!!! I thought London was the most expensive place to live, but it looks like LA is on a par or more expensive to rent than where we live here in Richmond. We have a completely refurbed 4 bedroom house with great sized garden, 2 minutes from the river, which will rent for around $4,500 (house swap anyone)
Thanks everyone for your replies, it's really helpful to get feed back from those of you who actually live in LA. I feel like I'm going round in circles, hypothesising on things I have no clue about!
Good to know about Gymboree costs, as I do that here too and have a couple of annual memberships for parks etc. which I really make use of.
Looks like it might be better to buy a second hand car rather than rent from what you guys are saying. I don't understand the difference between renting and leasing - is leasing like a hire/purchase deal - is that what you mean about the up front costs?
We're coming over at the end of the month, so will check out Santa Monica of course, Mar Vista, Culver City and Manhattan Beach - areas we have been told have good schools and are nice neighbourhoods. Does anyone have any opinions on them?
Your home will rent for $4,500 per month? Wow! Is that what you are currently paying on your mortgage? Just curious.
"Renting" a car is something you would do very short-term in most cases, say for a week, although longer term rentals are available. You would typically do something like this if you were going on vacation or working for a few months in another location. You rent from a car rental agency, which owns the car. You pay them by the day, week, or month, depending on the type of rental agreement you need. It is typically more expensive than leasing a car and there are restrictions as to where you can drive the car, such as not being able to drive out of state in most cases.
Leasing a car is an alternative to purchasing. It is essentially a long-term rental, say for 2-3 years. I say rental because you don't own the car after the lease is up, so in essence you just rented the car for a few years. At the end of the lease you will have the option of buying the car at some inflated amount, which is negotiated at lease signing and is part of what determines what your monthly payment will be.
At the lease signing you are required to pay sales tax and a few other things. So with a lease you have that upfront cost in addition to whatever your lease payment would be. You also have annual mileage limitations, say 12,000 miles. If you go over you pay some amount of money for every mile over your allotment, say $0.25 per mile, as an example.
There are nuances to leasing that can really get you, so you need to do some research on this before you do it.
Unless you are US citizens with US credit records, most good auto loans/leases will not be available to you. Buy a used honda and sell it when you leave unless you like fancy cars. Also auto insurance will cost you more than your US counterpart (sorry)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) - £70/month ($105)
