Miami residents are welcome to list for us their regular monthly expenses... (sales, real estate)

[soonaproudmiamian]

Without violating your privacy,can u offer us ANONIMOUSLY a list of your real life monthly expenses..?
Or your annual one -time expenses ,amortised per month...
For example...

A1) Rent
A2) Mortgage
A3) HOA fees
A4) Home maintenance,service..
A5) House insurance,flood,hurricane etc...

B1) Federal income taxes
B2) State taxes
B3) Municipal taxes

C) Private insurance

D1) Car loan ( if any )
D2) Car insurance
D3) Car fuel+maintenance +parking + extras

E1) Electricity bill
E2) Water bill
E3) Sewer bill
E4) Cable tv,sat tv, landline phone,internet bill
E5) Cellphone bill

F) Food

A family of 4,2 parents + 2 children under 18 ,who earn the avg income,around $70K / year ,(as I read ) ,would offer us the most useful info..


U would help IMMENSELY people like me who wish to emigrate/relocate to Miami..

U may use my ..codes for easy understanding..

A1 )$ x
A2) $ y
A3) $ z....

Thanks

[miami_zed]

A1) 300
E4) 45
E5)25
₣)200?
Student loan $40

Yeah its true. People that say they cant survive in Miami exaggerate. Anyone can survive. With all the wants? Maybe not.

[valicky]

Do you live alone for $300 a month? Please share what E4 includes. And how do you have a $25 cell phone bill? I'd like to switch my cable and cell to whatever you have.

I'm a family of 3 right now. One 18 yo daughter. Income varies because dh and I are self-employed.

A2. Was $624 but paid off now. Yay!!! We chose a non-HOA neighborhood as well.
A5. Was $400 a month for homeowners and $40 a month for flood. We're going to self insure now since the mortgage is paid off. We may carry liability, maybe not. Haven't decided yet.

B1. Vaires according to income, but we pay around 15% since we're self-employed. No state income tax in FL. Sales tax is 7% in Miami-Dade.

C. We pay $1100 a month for health insurance. We're self-employed so, of course, it's high. Dh and I are also in our 50's now. I've been trying to see what Obamacare will cost us, but still no luck with the website.

D2. About $100 a month. Both vehicles are 2008, paid off and safe driver records. We're in our 50's so for car insurance, that helps.
D3. We pay around $3.35 or so for a gallon of gas. So it depends on how much you drive and fuel efficiency of your car. New tires recently were approximately $600 for each car.

E1. We pay $330 pretty much year round. We use budget billing so the bill doesn't have highs and lows. We have a 3000 sq foot home. We keep the air at 74 during the day and 71 when we sleep. All those factors will determine your costs. We also have a pool pump that runs daily.
E2. $30 to $40 a month depending on if we have to water the grass. Sewer is included in that. We also have to pay $340 I think, a year for garbage pickup.
E4. We pay $65 a month for stand alone internet. We have to use Comcast cable because it's the only thing in my area besides ridiculously slow DSL. We don't have cable tv or landline.
E5. Cell phone is around $50 a month per phone on a family plan. That includes unlimited data and texts.

F. We spend about $150 a week on food/groceries. We also have 1 cat.

[tallrick]

Some of those expenses seem artificially low. I have friends who spend 1500 on rent and 400 a week on groceries. I do not live in Miami but spend 100 a week despite growing all my vegetables and most of my fruit. Meat is usually purchased unless I can get a deer, hog or go fishing. Thankfully I have no power bill except the minimum 22 dollars a month. No gasoline either, just grinding palm seeds for oil, and burning wood for gas. The waste runs the whole house including the water system.

[miami_zed]

I live alone. Which is why I pay for food, and basic needs, etc.

And the $25 Cell phone bill? MetroPCS had a special a few months back. Buy a $25 smartphone and get a $25 unlimited talk and text plan. No data, but I use the wifi. Sure, the smartphone is not the best, but I've had a better smartphone before and didn't put it to good use. If I want to mess around with android I have my tablet.

I know I get a good deal on my living situation. But even if I had to pay the other bills, it'd teach me to spend less money on crap that I don't need (which I do).

And lets be honest, even if I had kids or whatever then I'd be on welfare, and have a crappy life. No one is starving to death here. It could be worse.

[valicky]

I don't care about latest smartphones either. I have the first Samsung Galaxy with the slide out keyboard. My husband and daughter have Blackberry Curves (old ones) and they don't care if they get anything better. Does Metro PCS work outside of S. FL? My son had a friend who had it and they lost him in Universal and couldn't reach him because his phone didn't work. Maybe it's better now?

What does your $45 bill include?

And for anyone out there - you WONT find anywhere in Miami for $300 a month if you want to live alone. Not sure what miami_zed worked out to get that.

I can't imagine paying $400 for groceries a week!!!! We could never eat that much. We buy meat, chicken, hardly any fish or seafood. Some veggies and fruits. Milk, eggs, cheese, etc. Plus cat food and litter.

Rent IS very high here. My mortgage payment was low because we paid a huge down payment on the house. Forgot to add that our real estate taxes are $400 a month and that includes the solid waste fee. I knew I was forgetting a large bill.

[miami_zed]

With comcast you gotta negotiate. Tell them to give you promotional offers after yours is done. I was paying 30 for 6 months and then 45 for the other 6 for just internet. I called them saying i couldnt afford 60 something so they gave me another promotion with a faster speed and basic cable for 54. I dont watch tv so i'll work something out with the landlord.

It really isnt s great deal. There are people who can negotiate and threaten better than me and for $30 they get the internet i'll be paying 40-45 for. If you check isp forums you'll see its true. And yes, even here in Miami.

And about metro, i guess they're probably better in large cities. I live right in the middle of miami miami and it works great. I have friends who live further south and west that say they've had signal problems long ago. Also, they merged with tmobile recently so they're using their antennas now too.

And I've been offered an efficiency apartment down south with the rent being $350. Probably didnt include bills but you've just gotta look.

[Coconut1]

valicky- With regard to cell phone service, the major difference between the prepaid plans like what MetroPCS offers is the ability to roam off their network. It is now merged with T-Mobile so I assume they are using their towers now as well.

In most metro areas, prepaid plans are fine- it's when you're way out in the boonies that you may have problems.

With that being said, I use the T-Mobile Monthly 4G plan and am very satisfied. I know they have a family plan now, but am not sure of the cost.

The other downside is you have to pay for your phone upfront, and they usually have less of the newer models, but IMO prepaid is the way to go. It will be a cold day before I go back to contract service.

[Reptoid Humidian]

Originally Posted by miami_zed

With comcast you gotta negotiate. Tell them to give you promotional offers after yours is done. I was paying 30 for 6 months and then 45 for the other 6 for just internet. I called them saying i couldnt afford 60 something so they gave me another promotion with a faster speed and basic cable for 54. I dont watch tv so i'll work something out with the landlord.

It really isnt s great deal. There are people who can negotiate and threaten better than me and for $30 they get the internet i'll be paying 40-45 for. If you check isp forums you'll see its true. And yes, even here in Miami.

And about metro, i guess they're probably better in large cities. I live right in the middle of miami miami and it works great. I have friends who live further south and west that say they've had signal problems long ago. Also, they merged with tmobile recently so they're using their antennas now too.

And I've been offered an efficiency apartment down south with the rent being $350. Probably didnt include bills but you've just gotta look.

You just gave me a lot of hope, Zed. I'm in the low low rent range so when I move out there, I'm going to be trying to find something under $450.

[valicky]

The only time I can get Comcast to negotiate is if I want more than internet. I guess they know I can't get UVerse so they know I won't leave. I envy people who live where there is cable and UVerse. I just can't go back to ATT DSL. Need good internet for work and DSL is as slow as molasses in my neighborhood.

I didn't realize you were talking about an efficiency. I was talking about a regular 1 bedroom apartment with a bathroom and kitchen. The op needs at least a two bedroom place. Remember, he said he's a family of four so an efficiency won't cut it.

My cell phone contract is up in February. I can't wait to get on a pay as you go plan. My son is using the TMobile one and I think he pays $45 a month? If you want a new phone on a pay as you go the Nexus 5 isn't a bad option. A lot cheaper than an unlocked iphone or Samsung.