petitefrancaise

An Amex card is a good idea. I believe they have a qualifying period before they will transfer it to the US. Best to check that and maybe someone will come along here and tell you?

There was a whole discussion about cost of living last month - http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-5...lorida-899554/

you might like to take a look and revise some of your figures in post #1.

Your medical insurance costs - 1500 (x3) = 4500 per month for your family. That seems high. Can you get more details from your employer?

If you're buying a house then you'll pay property tax - from looking at the property tax site then that will cost you about $3500 a year on a $250K property. Insurance? $2k pa?

If you are renting then the above are included in the rent.

This is a good rent vs buy calculator Is It Better to Buy or Rent? - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

You have a 7 yr old son so prioritise good school areas when looking at housing. USNews high school rankings is a good one to use - always buy for a good high school as the feeder schools are also usually very good.

citydata forum for your area is also a good place to go to get advice from locals.

tom169

$2k seems a tad high for insurance. Mine costs about $800 even with a pool.

petitefrancaise

wow!
they added $500 to mine because of the pool and the dog....

Orangepants

Are you supposed to tell them about a dog? I have three boxers. Come to think of it I don't think I told StateFarm when we put the pool in, in 2013. Mine is almost $2k as it is.

petitefrancaise

our insurance company specifically ask if you have certain risk items like dogs, pools and we also had a trampoline which added ?$60 a year to the policy. I've re-done the insurance each year to see about getting lower quotes and they all ask the same thing. Maybe it's texas?

Pulaski

All of those things are insurance issues in NC too.

tom169

It's pretty negligent on your part as a pool owner too to not have sufficient financial coverage for a pool accident.

Pulaski

One neighborhood child sneaking into your pool and drowning, away from bankruptcy.

Nutmegger

My insurance company knows about my dogs.

petitefrancaise

We were asked specifically about these risks. Maybe you could just check with your insurer's. Maybe your state mandates these are included anyway.

Orangepants

So I got in touch with the Insurance agent and he said "we'd only raise the premium if the dogs swim in the pool" Think he is at the bar!

Pulaski

So maybe that is why you're already paying nearly $2k, because that is about twice what we're paying. But we have neither pool nor dogs.

alfista1

500 USD each (1500 in total) for medical as an estimate
Thanks for the links.

Pulaski

Another significant factor in the cost of home insurance is how far your home is from a fire hydrant. If you live beyond the city limits and there is no mains water then the cost of insurance is significantly higher - I seem to recall that our insurance would be $200-$300 pa less if there was mains water supplying a fire hydrant nearby.

MidAtlantic

Yes, ours is about $300 less because we have a hydrant 20 yards from our house.