Cost of living in America, factor in the kids!
 

I moved here 14 years ago with small kids.

Generally I would say that to the casual visitor the cost of living here looks great, they look around a supermarket and its cheaper, they fill the car up with petrol at under a pound a gallon, and stuff themselves in the restraunt for next to nothing its GREAT... but if you live here then the car insurance is frightening, the medical bills scary and anything that is considered "special" will cost 3 times what it does in the UK. But even so things are fine

Then the kids grow up.

We are British you say, we don't just buy our kids cars at 16 years old, Well I can tell you that by the time the kids are old enough to drive you will be so sick of ferrying them around (because there is no public transport, or even paths at the side of the road!) that you will rush out there to get that first car and hang the cost. Next comes College, put away about $40-$60,000 for that, yes even in-state will cost you that and if they are gifted all that means is they can get in to even MORE expensive Universities and then, even if its just 2 miles away the little tinkers won't live at home even if they do have a car.

This is where I am now, hence the bitterness, But I have just got to get through the next few years and I'll be rich... until they decide to get married, remember the cost of "special" things....

But seriously, if you plan to stay (even if you do not, who knows) start putting something away for College as soon as you get here it will be a big factor in your life later on.
Also I would say that although factoring in the kids brings the overall cost of living here above the UK, you can usually earn a heck of a lot more, so we are doing fine!!

Terry Hunt

I came to the US thinking everything would be so much cheaper and life would be wonderful! Well, houses and cars still need repairs etc and life is expensive on either side of the Atlantic. Here are my thoughts though...

Housing is much cheaper here. I have a three bedroom town house with a finished basement that was $80,000. You would pay four times that amount now for a three bedroom semi-detached in Surrey, where I used to live. My sister and brother-in-law back in the UK want a bigger house but can't even afford one smaller than their current house because prices have increased so much! So I'm glad I was able to get such a nice spacious house here.

Gas/petrol is of course the other biggie. Prices are currently around $1.50 per gallon in this area, compared to approximately $4 per gallon in the UK!

I do find groceries more expensive here although I have no idea why. I was horrified when I saw a small tub of rice pudding for $3.50! I completely agree with the people who have suggested clipping coupons. Super Fresh doubles coupons up $1.00 (most stores only double up to 50c coupons) so getting $2 off an item is great. We save about $20 every week which adds up to a lot of money! Sometimes if there is a good sale the doubled coupon value is more than the price of the item and so there was one time the store actually gave us 25 cents back on an item!

I agree with the last note. You cannot compare the prices with UK, like I said before, just go with the flow.;)

Mostly agree, you have to look at the whole thing you can't compare apples with apples on this one! You get paid more in the US, houses are cheaper, cars are cheaper, gas is cheaper and some household appliances are cheaper

BUT

you pay more for insurance (all), closing costs on buy a house are very expensive, you pay tax on used cars, you have to tip everywhere (this is like a stealth tax), university is cheaper in the UK, utilities are higher seasonly in the US because of severe weather conditions and (the killer) health and medical expenses are free in the UK (and dental is subsided).

On the whole wages are higher in the us aswell. If you did the same things in month in the UK and in the US with your wages you would probably end up with more money in wallet. So if you use that as a guide the cost of living is cheaper in the US

Patrick