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How much of that simply has to do with less competition, though? Are you in a city smaller than Midland now? I know that when I lived in Hobbs we paid a lot more for many of the things you mention, but it was due to the fact that we really didn't have any alternatives unless we wanted to travel to Lubbock or Midland.
I agree with you overall, though. With the exception of property taxes and insurance (even my car insurance is much higher in Dallas), other services in NM were more expensive than TX.
I'm in a city (Alamogordo) about a third the size of Midland (which is currently estimated at 108K or so). Lack of competition may be a factor....I just don't know.
My car insurance went up, along with much higher internet/TV cable...I pay $106 here for Baja Broadband...and the same speed/cable TV service with Grande Communications in Midland ran about $85.
I guess in Dallas, you'd have a lot more competition.
The last few entries are the first time I have heard about a high cost of living in NM. One of the sites lists Socorro as having a COL index of about 80 with the national average at 100 and Londonderry, NH at 120 or so. I know house prices around here are still absurd even with a recent 20 t0 30% drop. A reality site lists houses in Socorro in the 150k range that would sell for 300k+ up here.
We spend about $250 per month on groceries. What could an older couple expect to pay in NM? Gasoline prices around here are in the $2.60 -70 range. What are they in NM?
Thanks for the information.
BTW - A jackalope does not seem strange after you have seen a Moose.
It is all relative. I doubt someone from the NE would find the cost of living high--but those of us from Texas generally do.
$250 a month on groceries? For TWO people? You're downright frugal! But grocery prices have jumped quite a bit since I moved here, and I imagine they've done the same in TX. I just immediately noticed that I was paying more here per basketful at Walmart than I had paid in Midland at either HEB or Walmart. There is little competition, so they can pretty much charge what they want here.
But to be fair, I haven't been back to Texas any length of time since moving here, and prices have probably jumped there, too, so it's hard to compare three years later.
I paid $2.639/gal at the Phillips 66 self-serve at Lowe's the other day.
A couple of other services I forgot to mention......lawn care, which I use only because they keep the back alley clean and scalped (I was cited and threatened with fines), so they may as well do the backyard strip of grass along with that. They charge twice as much as my fireman yardman in Midland did. Fireman did front, side and a decent-sized backyard for half of what I'm charged here. He'd do the alley for an extra $5.
My pet sitting service is second to none, but they are also very high.....they come to the house and also check everything else, so it's worth it...but they are about 3x what I paid in Midland.
I'll offer up a misconception I haven't read on here, at least I don't think I have. The cost of housing is not as cheap as some perceive on a national basis. Especially relative to salaries of available jobs, the cost of housing is highly expensive, but I would say housing in most of New Mexico is a tad over the national average. Groceries, too, I think are high, relative to my former residence, New Jersey. It's not as cheap to live here as some perspective relocators might think it is.
It can be very very cheap - it just depends on what one requires or wants.
I think the reason people think the housing is so cheap is if you look at median house costs or average, it could be very low. All you have to do is look around at the outskirts of town and you can see people living in old trailers from the 50's and 60's, homes that might have cost $2000. You can also rent those things for very cheap.
I was a taxidermist for years and we had many requests to "make up" something like this..
What are you drinking..cause I don't want any of it..
Antelopes have horns, jack rabbits have ears, deer have antlers,
and Santa Claus nips the bottle.
I thought that was a pretty funny post myself - the post cards people bought and sent back of their NM trips probably did give a lot of misconceptions.
Despite everything I'm sure I had already told him about Albuquerque's climate (and New Mexico's in general), my brother still commented last week, when I was back in Philadelphia during some medium heavy rainfall, something like: "I guess it doesn't rain like this in Albuquerque." Then I came back to New Mexico this week and got completely drenched on Wednesday!
Coming from Texas, I found both the property taxes and homeowner's insurance in NM cheaper....but everything else is far more expensive. Groceries, services (electrical, plumbing, miniblinds, small contractor projects, eye exams, etc) all cost a lot more. A standard yearly eye exam (opthamologist) that cost me $90 in Midland was $200 here.
I've never seen veterinary services so high, either. They charge $16 for a nail trim, which is why I now take them to the groomer's for $5/pop. My vet in Midland trimmed them for nothing during other procedures and general checkups. You have to have major surgery done here (spay, etc.) for them not to tack on an extra charge.
I'm glad I don't have to use a groomer for other than a nail trim. I can just imagine how high they are for standard grooming services/trims, etc.
Haircuts are more expensive, too. I can't think of anything in NM other than homeowner's insurance and property taxes that is cheaper than from whence I came. My car insurance went up (same company/vehicle), and car tags/registration is more expensive.
Cost of housing is high relative to average income for sure. So no, NM is not a cheap place to live, and the worst part is that most of the services aren't really worth what you have to pay for them.
Where in NM? Because my insurance in Nevada is 1064.00 for every six months and as of October 4th, I will be paying 560.00 in New Mexico.
I was paying 1100.00 for a 3 bd home and I could have moved to a one bedroom for 650.0o in Las Vegas, I will be renting a 1 bd apartment in Las Cruces for 495.00.
The times I've visited I thought grocies were cheaper. Maybe TX is cheaper but for sure, not Nevada.
Do people from Las Cruces shop at all in El Paso?
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