True-REAL-cost of living In MIssouri (California: home, to buy, organic)

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

considering that most of the food californians eat is grown within the state

[northbayeric]

Most of the food I eat is either deep-fried, barbecued, artificially processed, and contains either monosodium glutamate or high fructose corn syrup! Just kidding.

These past few weeks especially, I've been getting some great deals when grocery shopping. If something isn't on sale, the prices seem astronomical. I think chicken may be a little more expensive in Missouri for the most part, but I've found almost everything else either about the same or markedly cheaper in Missouri, especially cartons of eggs. We generally cherry-pick the best deals from up to five different grocery stores nearby when we shop.

NorCal has a number of Grocery Outlet stores (got to keep an eye on the expiration dates), and there are Aldi grocery stores in the St. Louis area and one in St. Joseph, and probably a number of other Missouri locations I don't know about.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Aldis has one of the best Frozen Pizzas in the area (6 bucks when you just need to get some quick grindage).

[misplaced1]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Just got back from CA. Gas is about $3.15 gallon in orange county (but unlike here the price may vary as much as .25 in either direction). MO is still cheaper.

Prices in grocery stores are lower in CA.
Restaurants are definitely higher.

I'm in a small rural town in Ca. and we go out of town once every two weeks to buy the majority of our food. It's much higher in the more rural areas of Ca. and I tried the farmers market around here but they are pretty spendy too. I don't know how the people on fixed income do it here.

[misplaced1]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

considering that most of the food californians eat is grown within the state, the costs of shipping would be far less. It is cheaper. I was just there.

High cost of gas in Ca sucks.

More often seems like we are getting fruits and veggies from south of the border.

[Nu2pomona]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

3.39 here as of yesterday

Gawd! About $2.20 for regular here and dropping.

I shop grocery discount stores and do keep an eye on expiration dates. Here are some of my bargain finds: Frozen bread dough at six loaves for $2.00. Works out to 35 cents a one pound loaf, freshly baked. Pork tenderloins for $1.79 a pound (compare to $3.95 pound at Walmart). Two will serve six people for about $4.00. Maxwell House Coffee, with coupons for $2.29 for 34 ounces. I bought six copies of the local paper to get six coupons. Cost me $3.00 to save $24.00.

Shop Aldi Stores, too. Their canned veggies (to fill in when my own are gone) are very good and very reasonable. Also cereals, compare to Cheerios, Kellogs Corn Flakes, etc. for about half of brand name.

I buy no convenience foods at all. Can't remember the last time I bought hamburger helper.

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by cheif-narragansett

i dont know anything about Montana ,all I know is that its native american state

You seem to not know anything about this sites TOS and you seem to know nothing about what this thread is about either. This thread is about the cost of living in Missouri.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by SpanielGirl

Thanks for the reply. Let me add to my orignal thread. Has anyone built a new house in Missouri? What did you pay in permits, maybe zoning, traffic mitigation,etc.?? Where I live in California-despite the fact that we have extremely high foreclosure rates, a permit to build a house is anywhere from $29,000 to $60,000. There are traffic mitiigation.utility hook ups,school impact, environ-mental. and zoning permits. Then there may be a home owners association to deal with, a community services, or resticted area permission. If you/your contractor/architect needs to block traffice for a delivery, or will have to slow-haul something up the road, you will need extra transportation permits. You cannot impact any neighbor, and if said neighbor complains, you can & will be visited by the county/city/state ispector for said violation. (prepare to pay$$$). I figure that if the trend keeps up, California will be the RV capital of the nation. So, please share your experience building "Mr. Blandings Dream House".

Permits and zoning in Missouri are specific to counties and cities/townships. Know the requirements of the county/city before purchasing land to build upon.

I cannot stress this enough (from personal experience): Buyer be builder aware! Only the large metro areas of Kansas City and St. Louis have enforceable building codes. Out in rural counties (outside of city/township limits) of Missouri no such building codes exist. Therefore, while it may keep costs are down in regard to permitting and fees it is also imperative that the individual wanting to build thoroughly research their builders' reputations and previous work. There are bad contractors out there who are ignorant or just plain crooked and have gotten along doing a job just "good enough" to collect a final payment before their work falls apart. I found case-net, the Missouri court records system, helpful in doing back-up research on contractors and subs. after my bad experience.

Food prices in rural MO are higher than in the major cities and selection is often limited greatly. There are trade-off's for city vs. country living so know what you prefer and why. I do, from time to time, shop in a major city to "stock-up" on items hard to find or too expensive at rural stores. In Missouri one does NOT pay sales tax on non-convenience type foods.

Personal property taxes stink! S. Dakota can gleen enough off of tourism so I have always wondered way Missouri cannot as well. Too much of our state population on the welfare payroll that do not fit into other categories of Gov. safety nets I suppose (as well as a welfare minded state government in Jeff. City). KC & St. Louis have significant inner city populations to support and the schools, due to waste IMO, barely get by as it is; take away real estate taxes and they would close the doors completely. A significant proportion of the population from Missouri's agrarian communities are living below the poverty level; though historically, I guess this is to be expected.

[robertjohnson]

Originally Posted by christina0001

I think Missouri has both an annual property tax on vehicles, etc., AND an annual or biannual registration fee. I've only been here 2 years...feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Still much cheaper here than on the east coast, where I am from.

The only thing I might want to add in response to the OP's question, is that in rural areas, it is a challenge to buy organic. Local stores carry little or nothing that is organic. Walmart has milk, some produce and other items, but that's it. In the 'burbs, larger towns and cities of Missouri, it is easier to purchase these items.
Fresh fruits and veggies are available seasonally from local farmers, but most are not organic, at least not by me. Missouri does have wineries; I drink little wine so I can't speak for or against their products.
I have found vet prices to be quite reasonable.

Wasn't it recently proven that 'organic' is no better than ? Non or not organic. That supposed benefits are non existent? Must be that hard headed 'show me' mentality that keeps them from throwing away good money.

[lifelongMOgal]

Missourians thrifty? One has to love a state that has a town named "Tightwad" !

"Organic" milk and eggs are pretty easily found in small town MO; however yes, it is more difficult to find "organic" produce at rural grocery stores. However, look at the populations in rural MO, most cannot afford to pay more for "organic" produce. Were the demand for organic produce there in rural grocery stored you can bet the managers would stock it. As it stands, local farmer markets and backyard gardens fill the "organic" gap for most in rural populations.