General questions - living expenses/tax/costs
Mar 10th 2003, 12:51 pm
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1
General questions - living expenses/tax/costs
I have just applied for an internal transfer with my company to Connecticut and I’m trying to get a handle on the financial side of living in the US. Basically I do not have much of an idea of costs household expenses/running a car/tax/medical costs and I was hoping that you could answer some questions?
- What Utility bills have to be paid and rough idea of costs? (Water, council tax, gas, electric, phone, other)
- Insurance – building/contents ( we will be renting)
- Car insurance? Car tax? Any other costs other than maintenance and fuel?
- Costs of satellite/cable TV?
- What tax on your salary do you need to pay?
- Monthly costs of medical insurance?
- Any other expenses I should be aware of?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- What Utility bills have to be paid and rough idea of costs? (Water, council tax, gas, electric, phone, other)
- Insurance – building/contents ( we will be renting)
- Car insurance? Car tax? Any other costs other than maintenance and fuel?
- Costs of satellite/cable TV?
- What tax on your salary do you need to pay?
- Monthly costs of medical insurance?
- Any other expenses I should be aware of?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mar 10th 2003, 3:55 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Edmonton.
Posts: 1,043
Hi,
I posted a thread which asked a lot of the questions you are asking a while back. It was called: cost of living, so if you do a search you should be able to find it no problems and there are a lot of useful answers in there.
I haven't gotten to Texas yet, I fly out in two weeks, however so far I have been able to get a huge amount of information from the people who regularly contribute to this site.
As far as the medical expenses go, the company my husband has gone to work for are covering that for our whole family. I think a lot of employers who move you also do this. Maybe this is something you should enquire about with your company. The costs involved would certainly have given us cause to re-think a move as we have four children. However, that said, American friends of ours working at my husbands previous company in Bristol told us the amount we have to pay over here for national insurance was comparable to medical insurance. I dont have any idea if that is accurate though.
If you check out the cost of living thread it should answer some of your questions, good luck.
I posted a thread which asked a lot of the questions you are asking a while back. It was called: cost of living, so if you do a search you should be able to find it no problems and there are a lot of useful answers in there.
I haven't gotten to Texas yet, I fly out in two weeks, however so far I have been able to get a huge amount of information from the people who regularly contribute to this site.
As far as the medical expenses go, the company my husband has gone to work for are covering that for our whole family. I think a lot of employers who move you also do this. Maybe this is something you should enquire about with your company. The costs involved would certainly have given us cause to re-think a move as we have four children. However, that said, American friends of ours working at my husbands previous company in Bristol told us the amount we have to pay over here for national insurance was comparable to medical insurance. I dont have any idea if that is accurate though.
If you check out the cost of living thread it should answer some of your questions, good luck.
Mar 10th 2003, 11:15 pm
#3
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Florida; Scottish fiance living in England.
Posts: 23
Re: General questions - living expenses/tax/costs
[QUOTE]Originally posted by mrschillisauce
I have just applied for an internal transfer with my company to Connecticut and I’m trying to get a handle on the financial side of living in the US......
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/intsalcalc.html
This is just a salary comparison calculator only, and I am not sure if the specific Connecticut city you want is there. I imput a search on "cost of living comparison international" and found a promising site, but it costs $789 for the report! Keep searching on those terms, maybe you will have better fortune.
For myself living in Florida, which is not a great comparison for Connecticut:
cable/satellite $40 a month without lots of premium movie channels. As high as $85 or more for sports packages, and many movie channels.
income taxes, social security, medicare--all taken out of weekly paycheck--about 17% total because i make less than $30,000 a year. The more you make, the higher the percentage. Check www.irs.gov to see info about double taxation treaties between us and uk, and about present tax rates tables.
health insurance: my employer pays all; otherwise would be as high as $250 a month for just myself.
car insurance: about $55 a month, I have no points against me and have been with the same company for ages. If an insurer won't take your UK driving history into account, could be over $100 a month for you. "economy" model cars can get you discounts. Being married can get you a discount. the car being stored in a covered area at night can get you a discount, etc.
Luxury rental apartments here: about $1500 a month and up.
Bargain basement apartments for a family: as low as $600 a month. These figures will almost certainly be higher in CT.
Utilities: some apartments pay water, and trash fee. I pay about $10-15 a month for water, between $50-85 a month for electric (i live in a very small place), about $60 a month for a phone which includes several long distance calls usually. I use phone cards extensively to keep the cost down.
Sales tax here ranges from 6% to 7% depending on the county in which you are purchasing.
Input searches on Connecticut and cost of living, it is pointless to go on with Florida details because it will most likely all be higher in CT.
Best wishes,
p.
I have just applied for an internal transfer with my company to Connecticut and I’m trying to get a handle on the financial side of living in the US......
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/intsalcalc.html
This is just a salary comparison calculator only, and I am not sure if the specific Connecticut city you want is there. I imput a search on "cost of living comparison international" and found a promising site, but it costs $789 for the report! Keep searching on those terms, maybe you will have better fortune.
For myself living in Florida, which is not a great comparison for Connecticut:
cable/satellite $40 a month without lots of premium movie channels. As high as $85 or more for sports packages, and many movie channels.
income taxes, social security, medicare--all taken out of weekly paycheck--about 17% total because i make less than $30,000 a year. The more you make, the higher the percentage. Check www.irs.gov to see info about double taxation treaties between us and uk, and about present tax rates tables.
health insurance: my employer pays all; otherwise would be as high as $250 a month for just myself.
car insurance: about $55 a month, I have no points against me and have been with the same company for ages. If an insurer won't take your UK driving history into account, could be over $100 a month for you. "economy" model cars can get you discounts. Being married can get you a discount. the car being stored in a covered area at night can get you a discount, etc.
Luxury rental apartments here: about $1500 a month and up.
Bargain basement apartments for a family: as low as $600 a month. These figures will almost certainly be higher in CT.
Utilities: some apartments pay water, and trash fee. I pay about $10-15 a month for water, between $50-85 a month for electric (i live in a very small place), about $60 a month for a phone which includes several long distance calls usually. I use phone cards extensively to keep the cost down.
Sales tax here ranges from 6% to 7% depending on the county in which you are purchasing.
Input searches on Connecticut and cost of living, it is pointless to go on with Florida details because it will most likely all be higher in CT.
Best wishes,
p.
