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The taxes on our 112 acres in the Champlain Valley with small home [no kids, why would need a "media room"] are around 4k, about $300 a month. Divide that by two working adults and you have $150 each per month.
[before you decide we're wealthy, know that we paid 55K for our land]
We have our mortgage, very low utilities bills 6 months a year [no AC other then a window unit that ran 4 nights last summer], moderate utilities bills 2 of the remaining 6 months [April/Nov].
Heating oil/gas bills are up for everyone everywhere, "gas" [I drive a diesel truck], are up for everyone everywhere and so is food/cost of living, so VT isn't alone in that respect.
Wages....a lot depends on what you bring to the table. Unless you are assured of dependable employment at a level that supports the lifestyle you choose to live, you may be in trouble. If you don't bring much to the table or choose to live outside the means of you salary, you're in trouble. I know it's relative but that's true pretty much anywhere.
I'll take VT of the 70's over VT in the 08's any day of the week but it's not as bad as many people make it out to be. It's not for everyone [thank god] and the most unhappy people that have moved here found it's not the perfect utopia they had disillusioned themselves into believing it was before they moved here.
Many natives fleeing the states "high cost of living" in some cases just can't make it work on what they make. It would be nice if they could but wages are a supply and demand issue. The state can only support so many jobs in any business. Most of the people I know that have left the state either wanted a different lifestyle [more urban], couldn't make it [or got sick of trying] with the job skills they had or wanted to live a lifestyle that they couldn't afford in VT. How could anyone live without a plasma tv in every room? That would be inhumane.
So if I just don't think about it it will be cheaper. No thanks. I'm just happy other people want to live here so the real estate market is relatively strong(kudos to act 250 to reduce new housing competition)
It's still cheaper here than where I came from, overall. If the winter ever goes away we'll be staying in this area.
Yeah, cars are outrageous, even crappy ones, for some reason in the Upper Valley. But less dealers equals less competition.
Yes, we have to deal with wealthy tourists riding around our village gaping at 'them Vermonters' like when I walk my puppy at 5 am..(little do they know I'm not a native...). I love to see people who can afford to shop at the local glassworks...we're happy to get a similar bowl in Walmart...
We play count the cars from MA & CT.
Lot's of valid points in the previous posts. Yeah, I remember Vt of the 70s and that image has always stuck with me. I started coming here for my hikes rather than the Whites even back then just to get the variety and solitude. Living within one's means is surely a national epidemic. Like most people I have envisioned owning nice but not necessary things. At this point I realize that I will never own many things and for the most part that's fine with me. Luckily I have been pretty disciplined to avoid the consumerism mentality and because of that I am not broke relying on any available source of credit I can scrounge, but am frustrated that I am seeing the ever increasing need to rely on savings assets to pay for necessities. Granted, fuel and energy is hurting folks across the country, but other aspects of cost of living in my opinion are inflated over what they should be. The scarcity of housing makes it difficult if not outright impossible for many to get started here with their lives, but as pointed out is actually a benefit also as it is preserving our home values. We do have to remember as much as some don't like it that the "outsiders" with their plastic is absolutely essential to our economic health. Gypsy, keep the faith, March and sorry to say a good part of April will pass before you know it. Actually, when you take the snow and ice out of the equation and refer to season to date heating degree days, we are at about 90 to 92% of average which means less heating expense , but it also means that next season could be average or colder than average Heck, your a veteran now so no matter what happens it will be just routine!
but am frustrated that I am seeing the ever increasing need to rely on savings assets to pay for necessities.!
This is one thing I have found since we have been here..also I am currently unemployed, so whatever we 'saved' is being drained..
I see good job opportunities and I'm qualified but getting called and hired has been hard. But, as the quote by Calvin Coolidge goes, "Press on, has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
So if I just don't think about it it will be cheaper. No thanks. I'm just happy other people want to live here so the real estate market is relatively strong(kudos to act 250 to reduce new housing competition)
No it's not cheaper if you don't think about it but for the quality of lifestyle available in VT it's not as bad as you can get yourself thinking it is.
I'm leaving for Alaska. VT is too crowded for me (largely because of out of staters coming here and turning it into their little playground), and too expensive, particularly with taxes and regulations.
My 20 acres in AK cost me $11,000 and have no property taxes at all, and there are hardly any restrictions on what I can do with it. I'll have free (if I cut my own trees) or dirt cheap (if I get permits to cut on govt. land) firewood for heat. I love gardening and picked a spot where I should be able to grow most of my own vegetables and even a little fruit (blueberries, cranberries, some other berries and even a few varieties of apples can be grown with protection). Between that, hunting/fishing, beekeeping for honey, trapping for furs, etc., I'll be able to be fairly independent and live pretty cheaply. But I am a bit strange by modern, urban American standards I guess, for wanting such a lifestyle. Ak would be bad for the urban/must have modern conveniences and luxuries type person in terms of cost but it offers something VT doesn't for a person like me.
Make no mistake, I don't hate VT, it has its upsides (especially the gun laws, I've always loved that freedom) and outside of the urban areas it's very beautiful. But it is, in my opinion, being destroyed by the rich people (rich by poor VT standards keep in mind not NYC standards) and hippy types who have flooded the place since the 1960's and are successfully turning it into what the crap was that they left behind in their home states. The very fact a socialist has been elected to Congress speaks volumes.
This is one thing I have found since we have been here..also I am currently unemployed, so whatever we 'saved' is being drained..
I see good job opportunities and I'm qualified but getting called and hired has been hard. But, as the quote by Calvin Coolidge goes, "Press on, has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
The wait and frustration can be agonizing. My wife has been trying to get out of where she is at now for over 18 months with no luck. Even though her hours have been cut back by 20% we are just greatful that something is coming in. We are pretty lucky in that the activities we like to engage in in the little spare time we have are pretty inexpensive. Despite this we find we have to tap into savings more often then we like to just meet basic obligations.
The taxes on our 112 acres in the Champlain Valley with small home [no kids, why would need a "media room"] are around 4k, about $300 a month. Divide that by two working adults and you have $150 each per month.
[before you decide we're wealthy, know that we paid 55K for our land]
We have our mortgage, very low utilities bills 6 months a year [no AC other then a window unit that ran 4 nights last summer], moderate utilities bills 2 of the remaining 6 months [April/Nov].
Heating oil/gas bills are up for everyone everywhere, "gas" [I drive a diesel truck], are up for everyone everywhere and so is food/cost of living, so VT isn't alone in that respect.
Wages....a lot depends on what you bring to the table. Unless you are assured of dependable employment at a level that supports the lifestyle you choose to live, you may be in trouble. If you don't bring much to the table or choose to live outside the means of you salary, you're in trouble. I know it's relative but that's true pretty much anywhere.
I'll take VT of the 70's over VT in the 08's any day of the week but it's not as bad as many people make it out to be. It's not for everyone [thank god] and the most unhappy people that have moved here found it's not the perfect utopia they had disillusioned themselves into believing it was before they moved here.
Many natives fleeing the states "high cost of living" in some cases just can't make it work on what they make. It would be nice if they could but wages are a supply and demand issue. The state can only support so many jobs in any business. Most of the people I know that have left the state either wanted a different lifestyle [more urban], couldn't make it [or got sick of trying] with the job skills they had or wanted to live a lifestyle that they couldn't afford in VT. How could anyone live without a plasma tv in every room? That would be inhumane.
Make sure your tax assesor doesn't find out you are paying so little. I live in the Champlain Vally as well and pay over $5000 in taxes to the town for just a one acre. That will go up a nice chunck next year after our recent tax increase. I also have a small farmstead(12 acres)that I rent in rural Orange county that I'm paying over four thousand for in taxes. With that much land you must be getting a farm adjustment.
When I moved to Vermont the taxes were dirt cheap on my Orange county home. The salaries were not the best, but I was able to live a comfortable life. Taxes, fuel, power, food, heating oil, etc have all gone up more than than my income and now it's becoming hard to make ends meet. I know things are going up everywhere, but we get hit a little harder here in the northeast than other parts of the country. I know for a fact I could live in the exact type of neigborhood I live in now in NC for half of what it costs me now. On top of that I was offered more money than I make here in Vermont. I love living in Vermont that's why I'm still here, but unless things improve(our taxes for one) I'm not sure I will be here much longer.
We pay about the same for our 1 bedroom home and land that our neighbors do for the 3 BR 2 bath homes on 10 acres....
Are land is pretty "useless" from a taxing perspective but priceless for my work and out life style.
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Heck, your a veteran now so no matter what happens it will be just routine!
