Living in Irvine with 2500-3000$ (rent, health insurance, how much)

[Guadalest]

Hello,

for professional reasons I might be moving from Europe to Irvine soon with my wife and two kids in their early teens, and I am looking for information on the cost of living over there.

I expect to have between 2400 and 3000$ left each month, after paying the rent and am wondering if that would be enough to have a correct life and maybe put some money on the side.


I'd appreciate very much some figures of what the monthly costs would be for a family of four, especially regarding food, utilities like electricity and water, gas, health insurance etc.
Any input would be great!

[OC Investor2]

Rough estimates for you, All numbers monthly:

Gas + Electric: $40-60 if you don't run the AC much. If you live in a larger house or run the AC more often, it could easily double or triple. Gas for heat/cooking/ hot water, figure about the same as above.

Cable TV, Phone, Internet: $100-$200 depending on how fancy you get on cable extras. Mobiles run $50+ month depending on usage.

Food: With 2 Teenagers? (AKA relentless eating machines) $450-600/mo. Easy.

Water: In a newer home w/ water saving design features built in - $40-60, older maybe up to $100-150. Also depends on how much lawn you will have to water.

Car Insurance (and you will need a car, public transit here is a joke) $75-100/ per month per car. With driving teenagers on the policy, you can double that easy. Insurance is mandatory in CA.

Gas depends on how much you drive & how long is your commute. @ $2/gallon (optimistic) in a car that averages 20 miles/gal is 10¢/ mile, your mileage may vary.

Your biggest cost could be health insurance. If it is not provided by your employer, a stand alone policy for a family w/ 2 kids could easily run you $600-$1000/ month, probably even more. All depends on size of your deductables, levels of coverage, etc. A bare bones catastrophic policy would be only a few hundred a month, but that is a real crapshoot. If you are not coming to the US with an employer provided policy, try to get some input from others specifically on this topic. Obviously if you are coming from Europe & used to living in a single payer system, this will be a big change for you. Understanding health insurance is a science in & of itself (one that i am not that good at personally) As it could represent a make or break issue for your decision to come here, I would try to get some wise counsel on the subject if I were you.

In my opinion, If you have to pay for the Health insurance yourself, your budget is probably not enough for a family of 4 in Irvine. If you have employer paid insurance & your share of the costs are more in the $100-$200 range, It may be doable, but you will definately be counting your pennies. Good Luck.

[Guadalest]

thanks for this information! It's been really useful to figure how much I can expect to have left.
My employer would provide a company health cover and I'm looking into how it works over in the US. It seems pretty similar to the system in my country, except that it's a private company.

[Charles]

Don't forget (2 X $5000)/12 = $833.33/month for two Roth IRAs (and this is in addition to maxing out the 401(k))
plus (2 X $2000)/12 = $333.33/month for two Education IRAs

So there is almost $1200/month right there.

[Guadalest]

I think you refer to the Inland Revenu taxes? I had calculated the available amount based on my net, after tax, income so I guess I would not have to take into account the first amount you listed.
Regarding the Education IRA, after calling several schools in Irvine, and discussing with my company HR, I was told that public schools were free, isn't that the case?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Guadalest

I was told that public schools were free, isn't that the case?

Pre-collegiate government schools are not free; There are just no out of pocket expenses Your property taxes fund around $7400 per kid per year; California state average is around $10,800.

http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/...le/477#finance

The Education IRA savings are for college savings.

[Guadalest]

Originally Posted by Charles

Pre-collegiate government schools are not free; There are just no out of pocket expenses Your property taxes fund around $7400 per kid per year; California state average is around $10,800.

Irvine Unified School District schools - district elementary, middle, and high school information

The Education IRA savings are for college savings.

Ok I see, it's the same here in France, you don't pay directly the school unless it's private, and public schools are funded by local taxes.
As for the Education IRA, I would use the savings I have now to fund the kid's fees for accomodation and university fees. That won't be for another 6-7 years and I'm not even sure we'd still be living in the US by then.