Marc_ely

Lots of good stuff in here.

Anaheim? The locals call it AnaCRIME :-)
Temecula is the arse end of nowhere. Have you looked around San Diego?

Landlord pays property tax. You pay it via the expensive rent. You'll also need renters insurance and have to pay a month or so in advance as deposit. If you keep the place clean and maintained you get that deposit back. We did. Twice. If you treat it like a squat you will lose that money. Looking at friends that rent out places, I am simply staggered by the way some people live...
Gas/Water/Refuse collection. All down to you. None are very expensive, ours are $30, $70, $40 respectively.

Other than rent the next highest cost is food. Mexican supermarkets are cheaper for fresh stuff but it goes off faster than mainstream places. There's not a lot to choose between supermarkets on cost. All much of a muchness. Expect $800 a month if you cook. If you eat out a lot add more. I can't say how much more. If you like Taco Bell/In n Out you can all be fed for $30. Sounds cheap and it is, until you do it 3times a week and now it's $360 a month. If you like something fancier...

Electricity. Budget $200 a month through the year. It will be less in winter and a shed load more in summer. Maybe $600 a month in summer. I have a big solar array and its still not enough.

Car insurance. After 5yrs ours is still $170 a month for 2 people on 2 cars. The type of car doesn't matter that much. Petrol about $3.70 at the moment. Road tax is about $250 per car, per year.

Cellphones. $60+ per line is about normal. I use carriers that piggy back the big boys. Saves a bit, but not much.

School costs. The schools are endlessly begging and having fund raisers. Gets expensive as they get older. High School sports team contributions $500 plus uniforms etc.
Kids activities. There are clubs for literally ANYTHING sports. It can be cheap (AYSO soccer $125 a season), or spendy ($500+ at a Gym per month for one of my boys).

Healthcare/Dental. Even with "good" HMO insurance I still spent 10k last year on my family of 6 for health and dental including monthly pay deductions ($500 per month) and actual treatment. Next year I have to switch to a high-deductible which I expect to be even more.

Entertainment. Netflix and amazon prime are both cheap and give a lot for your money. Sling is OK if you HAVE to have Disney etc. Depending on where you live you can get over the air with an antenna. We don't watch live TV because the level of advertising is simply too much to bear. You can also watch UK TV via iPlayer/ITV player using a VPN or DNS. Cheap to do. The cable and satellite guys will offer really good deals for a year, and then the prices shoot up and you're locked in.

When I first moved over I was given what I thought was a good salary. Within 2months I had to ask for a large raise or I couldn't stay. Everything is expensive.

sherbert

Good info there from @Marc_ely. @Mic1 what kind of salary are you being offered and where is your office located? Your commute should dictate where you live. Traffic pretty much everywhere in SoCal is relentless.

Temecula is nice for a weekend winery trip or if you want to live on a ranch and barely see people. I wouldn't consider living there with a young family.

Marc_ely

To add to Sherbert, a friend of my wife moved out to Temecula to live, as it was soooo much cheaper than anywhere near us. They couldn't resist the bargain.
Her husband is commuting back to OC every day and hates it. She hates living there too as it's so remote.

Socal traffic is horrible everywhere. Definitely try and live near where you work. I'm 5 miles away and don't have to use the freeways.

If you do come to buy a house be aware that houses over here need a LOT of upkeep compared to UK houses. People think nothing of having new roofs every 15yrs ($10k+). The water districts around here put chloramines into the pipes which reacts withthe calcium and causes pinhole leaks, so everyone is either fixing leaks every year or getting a PEX whole house repipe ($8k+). AC systems typically only last 10yrs ($8k+). Property insurance (home and contents) is around $100 a month for me. You can also take out home warrantys for around $60 month. Their cover can be great, or not so great depending on whether your item is covered.

Mic1

Thanks Joto, kids are 'adamant' that we find a place with a pool. I guess from other posts that adds circa $100 to the monthly elec bill.

Mic1

Thanks Robin. The difference in price is quite noticeable if you shop in VONS compared to somewhere like Gelson's but to be honest, we don't find that there's much difference in quality or selection. Mind you, we are not food connoisseurs ! We spend about a month each summer renting a place in Santa Barbara so on a small scale, we're already used to shopping in both, albeit shopping for holiday food and not everyday living food ! I have to say though that the way Gelson's merchandise their food (especially fruit) makes it look more appealing.....but doesn't actually taste any different.

Mic1

Hi Marc,

Great post, thank you.

Can't say i disagree with your comments on Anaheim and Temecula. We would aim for the Yorba Linda end of Anahiem, maybe a little better. I'm going to be heading in LA 3, maybe 4 days a week so as much as we love the San Diego region, the drive would grind me down i think. Ironically, we loved Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village, found it felt so safe it was untrue. Just goes to show after the recent events. Dare i say, if a bullet's got your name on it......................................very, very sad indeed :-(
Valuable info on gas/water/refuge, nothing to panic about there i don't think.
Interesting what you say about eating out, we were in California for a month back in August, took my mother in law and even a 'quick' meal in Denny's or IHOP was costing upwards of $60 plus tip, no deserts.
You're mid summer elec bill seems high but i guess it is what it is.
Re car insurance, we have been quoted around $2500 per 6 month through Gieco or Progressive on a 2018 Explorer, obviously this will reduce over time. My company will pay for my transport costs, car, ins, fuel, tax etc.
Info on clubs is good. My daughters aren't particularly sporty but having said that, my youngest has just got into soccer/netball. I would say that $125 a season is money well spent.
Out of curiosity, do you cover your own healthcare insurance or is it paid for by your employer.
My salary would be what i consider to be pretty fair, i'm being given quite a large amount of shares in the subsidiary. I could waive that and maybe push for more but long term, i think i'm better moving forward as i am.

Thanks again Marc.

Mic1

Thanks Sherbert,
I'm starting to build a good picture as to what to expect when it comes to groceries. As i mentioned in my previous post, we're not food experts, as long as it fills a gap and tastes pretty good, that's what we're after :-)

Mic1

Yep. We spent a few days in Temecula in August, the 5 was pretty rammed regardless of what time of the day it was.
Valuable info on upkeep of houses. I'm quite lucky as i was in the building/gas/HVAC/plumbing trade for many years so the thought of fitting some new plumbing doesn't worry me, as long as i do it alongside a qualified professional and it's done to code !
I'd be interested to know more about what type of inclusions/exclusions you get for a $60 warranty. As i think i mentioned, we'd rent for a year at least so initially the warranty and upkeep wouldn't worry me too much obviously.

vikingsail

Last night when I bought those exact two items from a well known grocery chain in So. Ca it cost $2.69 for gallon of milk and 99c for a baguette, a normal loaf of sliced wholewheat $1.99?

Try these two comparable supermarkets. Create a weekly or monthly shop and see what it comes to:

https://www.ralphs.com/

https://www.vons.com/

Both these are comparable to Tesco type stores in the UK. Of course, there are more expensive stores which will make you think you are so very special as they kindly take your $$ and there are believe it or not even cheaper stores.

SanDiegogirl

..... then it sounds as though you will have to have a back yard to accommodate the pool.. Depending on what rental contract you get (whether you pay for irrigating or not) you might also need to budget in costs for water - irrigation as well as personal use.

My water bill in San Diego (with back yard to irrigate) is sometimes over $300 a month in the summer.

tom169

Depending on your rental contract, electricity isn't the only bill increased by a pool. Lots of upkeep, chemicals, etc.

ddsrph

Marc_ely

A pool is IMO one of the best things about living here. And there are far more things I hate :-)
If you get a pool cover you can get away with no heating it and use it for about 6 months of the year. If you have to put a gas heater on expect it to take most of the day, cost $10 in gas and then most of the heat is lost overnight.

The pool pump has to run 6hrs+ a day. In a rental it's likely to be an old fashioned full speed type that consumes 2kW. So that's 12kWh per day straight off.
Rentals usually come with a pool guy who comes once a week. He does all the chemicals etc. If you eventually buy a place of your own then a pool guy is about $80 a month. He includes chemicals and maintainence of stuff. So it's not really that big a cost. Pools deteriorate with time so have other upkeep costs too.

As a renter you usually don't take home warranty insurance. The landlord takes care of stuff that needs doing. hahahaha

Mic1

Thanks Viking, that is very helpful. Can't think why i didn't think of the obvious !!

Mic1

Thanks SDG, Yes, a back yard is imperative as we have a dog. Obviously, i know this could potentially restrict the amount of homes available to us but it does seem that 75% are willing to accommodate pets. 3 out of the 5 properties we looked at in Temecula have artificial grass both from and back so no need for irrigation. Your point is duly noted though, thank you :-)