[MA_brnNrsd]

Thinking about moving to VT, was wondering if someone could provide some information about common things that would have to be considered such as Insurance, Cost of Living, Taxes, and Car Inspections etc.

Thanks for the info.

[arctichomesteader]

The answers aren't pretty. Unless you have a good paying job guaranteed, don't jump into it too quickly. There aren't many good paying jobs, taxes are sky high, cost of living is high and rising with the price of oil.

[MA_brnNrsd]

Well, I am originally from western MA and recently moved to Tennessee with my Fiance and we are thinking of moving back up north because we have friends and family there, but we don't really want to move back to MA because of the high taxes and insurance. We aren't looking to jump into anything we are looking to consider different areas back up in New England, and were just curious of VT to find out if its worth being considered.

[vter]

Car Inspections - once per year. About $40. Insurance. I have an 07 CRV and pay around $700 a year. It dosts $60/year to register your car or you can pay $90 for 2 years.
I get my health insurance through my employer at a very reasonable rate.
Taxes. Sales tax 6% on non-necessities. Things like clothing (up to a certain amount) and food (except "meals") are not taxed.
Property taxes vary depending on where you are and what your house is worth. We have a small cape on 5 acres and pay around $3600/year, the majority of which is for education. We live in a very small town with hardly any services - we have a town clerk and a couple road guys. Fire is volunteer. Police is provided by the VSP. EMS is provided via combination of volunteer and paid employees in a neighboring town.
Jobs - what do you do for work? Don't forget, Vermont is small-only a little over 600K of us live here, so we have a small economy. There are jobs available, good ones even, but competition is fierce. You'll probably find that salaries are lower than what you are used to.
My DH and I live comfortably. We're super conservative with our money....we save way more than we spend. We just don't buy into the "buy buy buy" mentality society seems to have now. When we do spend, its on travel, 'cause we love it!

[MA_brnNrsd]

My fiance does Graphic Design. I am currently out of work, when we first moved down to TN(Sept 07) I had a Temp job and it ended early Feb, and unfortunately haven't been able to find anything since. I am not picky on a job. I have done jobs from Waitressing to Home Health to File Clerk at a Dr office.

From what you are saying the cost isn't too bad. Tax in TN is like over 9% and 8% on food. But we don't have state income tax. And tax in MA was 5% when we left there. So it doesn't seem way up there.

[OhBeeHave]

My town just reappraised the grand list. My home more than doubled in value; I grieved it and brought it down to what I feel is fair in this market. Currently, pre-appraisal, my taxes are $3,600 per year. Once the taxes rates are calculated for the next year, I estimate they will increase anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 per year.
Don't forget to add in the cost of heating a home here.

Insurance on my Jeep in VT is $600/year (Sorry, I'm forgetting the registration amount)

With the cost of gas and the potential distance you might have to drive for a job, commuting can be a costly proposition.

[68vette]

If you read many of the postings on this forum you will get a rough idea of what people like and dislike. Spend a few hours and read some of the old posts. The bottom line is that Vermont is not a cheap place to live. The money that we spend looks like it's affordable for people in other states, but they look at with their current income in mind. You won't make the same salary in Vermont and in some cases it may be half. Many in the state get buy fine, but there are also many who live paycheck to paycheck with conservative spending habits. The cost of living in the state has more than doubled in the last 10 years while many of the incomes have not kept up with our rising costs.
The best advise you can get is don't move anywhere without a job that will pay you enough to survive in that area. Vermont like any state varies with cost of living in different regions in the state. You could spend $1200 for rent in an apartment in Burlington and that same apartment in Bennington could cost $800.
The solution is simple. Get a great paying job that will give you a raise every year more than what the cost of living is and you will be just fine.

[tkln]

From my understanding, property taxes in TN are dirt cheap. Not so in VT. Not by a LONG shot...a lot of it of course depends on where you live, but I think across the board, cost of living in TN is considerably cheaper than in VT. Just between the heat and fuel costs, you are looking at a huge difference.

My fiancé travels to TN quite a bit and loves it, but we hate the heat...he always tells me how cheap it is, and I told him that's great, but unless everything is free, I'm not moving down there!

[MA_brnNrsd]

Originally Posted by tkln

From my understanding, property taxes in TN are dirt cheap. Not so in VT. Not by a LONG shot...a lot of it of course depends on where you live, but I think across the board, cost of living in TN is considerably cheaper than in VT. Just between the heat and fuel costs, you are looking at a huge difference.

My fiancé travels to TN quite a bit and loves it, but we hate the heat...he always tells me how cheap it is, and I told him that's great, but unless everything is free, I'm not moving down there!

There are some things that are cheaper down here then up in MA (I cant compare it to anywhere else cause I never lived anywhere but MA and TN) We live in an apt so I don't know what property tax is going at. We have central air and heat so we don't have to worry about the cost of oil. As far as cars, my Fiance has 2 on his policy and pays about 1,100 for 6 months.

But like you said, we too don't like the heat. Plus we miss the snow and our family and friends. We probably would of never made the move if it wasn't for his company moving down here and paying for our moving expenses. So we are really wanting to move back up the New England, and we are both aware of the cost of living in higher. We are just trying to get an idea of how much...

[mustmove]

The only thing cheaper in VT than MA is car insurance and the cost to buy a house(keeping a house is more$$$). Everything else is more and there are lots of insidious expenses that add up. Salaries are insulting statewide including Burlington. Burlington is as expensive or more than metro west Boston unless you want to live like a college student with multiple roommates in a dumpy apartment. I'm no fan of MA, but we're moving back.