beatusrhenanus

Hi everyone - in a few weeks I'm starting a new job in Florida, and I'd love to tap into your collective experience of life in the US so that I can have some idea of what I should be budgeting for on a month-to-month basis. I realize the US is a vast and diverse place, and that cost of living varies dramatically, so here is the context:

-I am on H1B visa, husband on H4 visa (so I will be the sole earner, at least for a few years). We're in our late 20s, no children.
-Starting salary is $60k p.a., it will probably stay at that level with only very small increases for a few years, but in the medium-term future it might go up by $10-20k, depending on promotions (and of course a successful green card application from my employer down the line).
-Job is in the Orlando area. We have a 2bed apartment lined up, rent is roughly $1500 per month. (In the future we might be able to find a cheaper place, but that would involve compromising on size, distance to job, and quality of neighbourhood.)

I'm an obsessive planner, and I'm trying to sketch out rough monthly budgets, but - having lived in Britain my whole life - I'm sure there are lots of aspects to life in the US that I'm not factoring in.

Here is how I see average monthly costs in my budget at the moment - comments and alternative estimates are very welcome:

Income:
$5k/month, minus about $850 in payroll taxes (federal/FICA; there is no state tax in FL) = ~$4150

Estimated expenses:
$1500 rent
$400(?) average medical expenses (family premiums for employer's health insurance are $200/month, and I expect at least an extra $200 in co-pays and prescription costs, as husband has a complicated chronic disease [requires expensive monthly medication and frequent hospital checkups to stave off complications down the line] - or should I budget even more than this?)
$500 groceries at normal stores (Publix, Walmart, Aldi)
$250 utilities (mobile phone contracts, internet [we don't want cable or landline, just broadband, which seems to run in the $50 range in our neighbourhood], electricity including air conditioning, gas)
$750 car (low-end new car costs including financing, gas, insurance, maintenance; alternatively we have the savings to buy a car outright, in which case the monthly bill would presumably be $300-400 cheaper)
$200 misc (clothing, entertainment etc.)
$150 401k contribution
Approximate monthly expenses total = $3750

Leaving around $400/month for our emergency fund and general savings. I'd like to save more, but I don't see any obvious places to cut in the budget.

Does this sound about right, or am I way off here? Your collective wisdom, and any tips for maximizing savings (from what I can tell, life is much more expensive in the US than in the UK), is much appreciated.

MidAtlantic

I am surprised that, after committing to coming, you are only now working out your budget. In my view the following are under-stated:

Medical costs, depend on the type of policy but $400 is likely to be a substantial under-statement given your husband's condition. Have you checked the extent to which the policy covers the precise medication your husband needs?

Utilities - without any indication of the size/nature of property it is again difficult to assess, but given the need for aircon for much of the year this is likely to be too low.

tom169

I live in NC, so not too far away. I know we have a different climate, but I don't think it's that vastly different. There are also 2 of us in our household.

Are you actually paid monthly or bi-weekly? It seems bi-weekly is much more common here and that means you can be paid more than twice in a calendar month.

Remember when you're looking at prices, most things over here are quoted without tax - and from what I've heard Florida has a good amount of that (just not income).

I don't mean to be rude in what I'm about to say, but $60k is not a large income here especially as your husband won't be working. It might be tough for you to live a middle class lifestyle on that.

Medical expenses
Have you checked what kind of plan you have? What the max OOP is etc? What about dental? Or vision? Does it cover everything you need?

Groceries
I guess this depends on what you eat. This is probably around the same spending as us.

Utilities
I think you've severely under budgeted here!

• Broadband at $50 - is that an introductory offer?
• What about water?
• We have T-Mobile basically pay as you go at $86 p/m including tax (2 phones). I think they've upped the price since then. For Verizon you might be looking at $130 ish?
• The AC will be pumping out most of the year (and day).
• How much is renters insurance?

Car
We own 2. We probably spend about $150 a month on gas. Insurance runs at about $200 a month for both cars.

Misc
Not sure what you're gonna get for $200. Maybe a movie ticket and a large drink.

I've found, at least in my office, there is a large social culture of going out to eat at lunch. Hopefully you don't get too into that!

401k
Is this just to get the company match? Or are you seriously saving for retirement? If the latter then I would say put more away. This isn't a lot.

beatusrhenanus

Thanks both for the realistic assessment.

Looks like I will need to budget more for medical and utilities costs, and try to find some savings in car/groceries costs. I haven't received full details for the medical insurance yet, but according to the insurer's website the deductible is "$500 per family" on the standard PPO plan, and there seems to be a ceiling of $90 on mail-order prescriptions for 2 months' supplies (but perhaps some medications aren't covered by that?)

Good question - I'm not sure. But I guess the overall income and expenses will work out the same, I'll just have to make sure in either case that there is always the right amount of money is in the bank for regular outgoings.


You're not being rude, and I completely agree. I wish the salary were higher, but it's about the going rate in my field (the H1B petition would probably have failed if the employer were lowballing me compared to the prevailing wage for locals). And we're not moving in pursuit of a lifestyle, but out of the necessity of finding a job - there are very few openings in the UK as well, and wages are similarly meh here (in the £30ks). So it's not like the alternative is fabulous wealth by staying at home; and at least housing costs are cheaper in FL (rent is similar, but average house prices are *way* lower than south-east England, which is a positive factor if we end up getting green cards and staying).

It's worth noting that apparently the median household income in Orlando is $42k. So if we're going to struggle, how do the more than 50% of the population earning less survive?!

The default arrangement seems to be for employer and employee each to contribute 3% of the total wage value towards the 401k. So that's $300/month going into it. But I take the point that more is always better.

chawkins99

Sure, 50% of the population survive on $42k or less, but do you want to just survive? It's often said the US is a great place for the haves but a God-awful place for the have-nots.

I'm with Tom that $60k is not a great salary in the US.

A few more points to consider:In short: yes, it can be done but don't expect much of a life outside work and don't plan on visiting Mickey every week.

beatusrhenanus

Thanks - this is extremely helpful. Other half is also diabetic (type 1) so it's good to have a ballpark figure for prescription expenses. Does that include advanced stuff like continuous glucose monitoring equipment? Or is it just the basics (insulin, needles, and test strips)?

The credit rating and car financing issue is making me lean more and more towards buying a new low-end car outright in the $15-18k price range. It would be a sizeable chunk out of our savings, but would mean we only have gas, insurance, and maintenance to worry about in the monthly budget.

Is your $500/week living costs figure for two people, or more? That sounds terrifyingly high - $2k/month just for food and transport. We might have to ration ourselves very carefully if that's a "non-extravagant" budget.

The apartment is in a walkable/bikeable area (by Floridian standards - i.e. if you don't mind the heat and going along sidewalks next to 4- to 6-lane roads). There are grocery stores and coffee shops in a 1-2 mile radius around us. (For comparison, we currently walk or cycle 3+ miles to work/the shops most days, but that is admittedly in the much more temperature climate of southern England.) So I hope we can get by with one car, and do other daily activities on foot or by bike. Our entertainment requirements are modest (netflix, video games, good books), we home-cook our food, and we almost never eat out, so I hope we can save a bit there vs an "average" US family budget.

Finally, I understand that being in the top half of earners does not in itself guarantee a high standard of living, considering the very low wages earned by people below the median income figure. I was just citing it for comparison's sake. (It does say something worrying about the widespread suffering in American society if only the top 20-30% of earners can live a comfortable everyday life... but that's a separate discussion!)

tom169

You should check out some of the expat vehicle companies. A common one referenced is International Autosource.

Say Pulaski referred you - he's meant to be known in that office.

Pulaski

I agree with the others - medical and utilities are almost certainly unrealistically low.

This was a post on a similar topic I made last year, revisiting numbers from a few years earlier, and was for a family with children, but the numbers are in the right ball park for Florida in 2017 too. .... In short, you aren't going to be living high-on-the-hog on $60k pa.

beatusrhenanus

Just seen that you asked some important specific questions re: utilities, which I want to address, to make sure I'm not making up fantasy numbers.


Bright House/Spectrum offers $44.99/month for 60mbps broadband. It might be introductory, the contract we've provisionally signed up for is for a year. Maybe we should expect the price to rise thereafter. There was an optional $5/month router rental fee, but we plan to buy our own: it should pay for itself within a few months.


You're right, I forgot water. According to this website, an apartment (with a size comparable to ours - which is 850 square feet) would have a combined water/electric/gas/garbage bill of $171.68 pcm. Hopefully that is an accurate estimate (I guess less in winter and more in summer, to account for AC use).

We plan to get Cricket phone plans. They offer $10 off a second line, so two basic plans ($30 each) would be $50/month. We don't need much mobile data - just enough for using google maps when out and about a few days a month.

We purchased an annual policy for $140, which works out at $11.67pcm.

So, adding this all together, I guess we should round up the utilities figure to closer to $300 per month. Thanks again for your input!

chawkins99

I'm type 2. I use the pre-filled insulin pens and pay $50 copay per month. The retail cost of my insulin is around $2,000 per month. I don't have continuous monitoring. I use a cheap Walmart tester for which strips are $10 per 100. I buy test strips and needles over the counter as it's cheaper than the copay. I'm also on meds for hypertension, Cholesterol and arthritis which makes up the rest of the $100/month. My wife is also diabetic among other things. Her meds run $150+ per month.

Just the two of us. I budget $50 a week for commuting gas. The rest is for general bits & bobs. Like I said, we're not extravagant but also don't eat much junk food. Our weekly shop usually includes a selection of fruit/veg/meat. I'm sure we could halve our grocery expenses by eating Pot noodles and chicken nuggets every day. I usually get a pound of deli meat and make sandwiches for work each day for $12/week.


Don't expect to be walking or biking much between April and October. Today it's 90 degrees in Orlando with 80% humidity and a heat index of 105+. And that's mild for July.

If you do go walking, take a towel as you'll need it within 5 minutes.

One of the things that struck me on my first visit to Florida was the condensation on the OUTSIDE of windows.

Rete

I'm a diabetic and my co-pay for both my drugs on a 90 day prescription is $95.00. Chawkins might want to check where he gets his drugs. A 90 day prescription is usually a good way to cut down on co-pays. I see that he is using insulin. Therein lies the difference between is drug costs and mine.

Here in MS our electric bill for the month was $156.00 with the a/c running 24/7

You are talking broadband but no cable. What is the stuck at home hubby to do all day. At least with cable he has some television to watch and since you are in Florida you will have Comcast so your cable can include internet/wireless.

I can't see where a family of 2 adults would need to budget $500 a week for groceries. We spend on average $500 a month on groceries with perhaps another $100 on fresh fruits and vegetables at the farmer's market.

Our auto insurance runs approx. $2100 annually for two vehicles and one driver with an accident that is 2 years old. 3 more years and it is off my record. My car was bought new, husband's truck was bought used. Other than oil changes, we have had no maintenance on either vehicle in over a year.

Check with your company about their healthcare savings plans, i.e. flex spending or Healthcare savings account. Contributing to either will lower your tax liability and the monies you put into them will reimburse you for co-pays on doctors, meds, over the counter drugs/supplies, etc.

Have HR run a check on your contribution to the 401K. Even upping it a mere $20 a paycheck could see a large difference in the amount of money you take home each pay period due to your falling into a different tax bracket.

A family of two adults, no children, should be able to live nicely on $60K annually. It is nothing that is going to make you rich or allow you to save large but you should be able to live comfortably.

I'm surprised at the high rent you are being charged for a 2 bedroom apartment. Hopefully you are given perks in the way of a pool, gym, club house, etc. for that rent.

SanDiegogirl

While I agree 60K is not a great salary, I came to the US in 2000 at well above late 20's age () with salary of only 68K !

Lived in Silicon Valley with rent of 2,100 per month (yes, even in those days) and husband and I managed fine - not brilliantly but OK.

Being late 20's the OP will probably manage to stretch her income more than I did.

I will say that with her husband not earning and having several medical complications that will create expenses each month, that would worry me.

Pulaski

I agree, more or less, around $250/person/mth should cover groceries and household consumables.

Twinkle0927

Don't cut too far into your savings. You will need them for your "start-up costs" when you arrive. The things you pay only once such as getting your Florida drivers licences, registering the car, deposits on utilities (you may be required to put a hefty deposit down as you have no credit history here), mobile phones (unlikely you will get a contract phone with no credit history - may have to buy a phone and go PAYG for a while), replacing things you forgot your bring or got damaged in transit and things that don't fit or work in your new place, clothing more appropriate for the climate, bedding (U.K. sized bedding wont fit an American bed), electricals such as hair dryer and toaster will need to be bought. Remember that if you get a car on finance your payments may be higher due to the lack of credit history.

If you home cook your food and enjoy good food then your food budget is too low, in my opinion. Especially if that $500 a month includes household sundries such as toiletries, paper products, cleaning products. Bad food is very cheap here but good food is more expensive than the U.K. Eating out can be cheaper! Anything slightly foreign is very expensive. Have you included water, sewerage and rubbish collections in your figures? What about renter's insurance? One car is going to be difficult.

I'm surprised you're moving for that salary. Especially with a husband who cannot work for a good while. I know you say U.K. salaries aren't much better but you at least had the possibility of two incomes. I couldn't be home alone all day. I need to have something to get me out of the house - he might want to volunteer for a good cause. Might need a vehicle for that though... Don't be fooled into thinking that a state with no income tax is cheap to live in. Washington also has no state income tax but the state gets you in many other ways. Motoring is just one of them. If it's not road tolls, bridge tolls, ridiculous emissions tests, license plates that cost the driver a fortune (and have to be replaced at a cost by law every few years but are made by inmates at Walla Walla who earn 40 cents an hour), then they find something new every year to bill us for. Sales tax is higher too.

Pulaski

Some or all of those are typically included in the rent for an apartment.