Auha

Hi,

My husband is considering a job offer in Tampa. Was wondering if anyone can shed a light on what range of salary would give a comfortable lifestyle in Tampa. We are a family with 2 young children (both below 3). We currently live in London and assume the living cost would generally be cheaper in Tampa?

I hear that healthcare is really expensive in Florida and privatize. We are used to NHS here and understand its not going to be the same there in Tampa.

The company will apply for L1 visa for my husband.

Thanks

Auha

Hi,

My husband is considering a move to Florida. Could anyone shed light on cost of living in Florida.

We are a family of 2 young children (below 3 years old)

Groceries 500/month
2 Cars - gas and Insurance 400/month
Rent 2000/month
Utility 400/month (gas, electricity including air condition, mobile phone)

A monthly budget of roughly 5000?

I have no clue for the following
Healthcare cost

My husband's company will be applying for his L1 visa, im assuming that I will also be able to work then.

Thanks loads for all your time and asnwers. Really appreciate it !

Twinkle0927

These figures seem low to me but I'm at the opposite end of the country. You also have to buy or rent or lease the two cars. Or are the company including two cars as part of the deal?

You will be able to work once you get your EAD (work permit) if he's on an L visa. Then you will need to factor in childcare but you will have second wage. Childcare here is ridiculously high - so much so that one of our mailroom employees who returned to work after having a baby worked out that she would be better off not working because her wage was paying the childcare, petrol and ferry to get to work each day and after that there was nothing left.

Find out what sort of relocation package they are including. Flights home to visit family? Temporary move or are they sponsoring green cards? If the latter, get that in writing! If the former, what help are they giving with moving back to the U.K.? How much annual leave? Healthcare costs? Are they paying your moving costs? Helping with accommodation until you find the right place for you or are they paying for you to go on a property search trip before the move?

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE. I've merged both of your threads, as they're essentially on the same subject. Best of luck with the potential move.

Ecto17

Welcome.
Tampa is a lovely area with lots to do for a family. Let me know when you get to that point and l will happily list some places to visit.
Your budget as already mentioned looked low.
2 Cars $1000 monthly (2 new leases of midrange suvs as an example)
Car insurance is very expensive here, $4000 annually for 2 cars when you are a newbie.
Food about $250 a month per person (maybe lower as your children are v young)
Health care, l can't help here as l am too new myself to fully understand it.
Rent, l think $2000 is likely to be too low but depends what you are looking for. Rent in the US includes property tax which is a big cost to the landlord and therefore rent can look high compared to the U.K. however it includes one of your monthly taxes.
Utilities looked about right obviously depending on property.
Internet and cable $200
Kids activities $400, obviously this is up to you and what you do,
Good news you will spend less on clothes as lots of good shopping in the area and only 1 season to dresss for!!!
Eating out will be cheaper then home and some great restaurants in the area.
There are no doubt things l have probably missed but others on here will chip in with the budget.
Someone has already raised the relocation package and that is a key factor for you to understand what they include. Our one was far more generous then we thought it would be. Lots of people on here can help with what you might be able to expect if you need it.
If you are staying until school age then l understand that Floridian schools vary and you may wish to look into private education. You will find as a general rule that rent is obviously higher in districts with good schools. I am afraid l don't know much about the schools in the area.
I hope your move goes well.

scrubbedexpat099

2 young children under 3 would seem to rule out working.

And eating out...

ivanidea

Have a look on https://www.zillow.com/ to get an idea of rental prices.

I've seen 3 and 4 bed, 2 bath properties in Saint Pete with a monthly rent of $1,800.

Our 2/1 place is $850 per month rent. It's too small for us, but we are making do until we buy a place of our own.

We spend between $500 and $600 each month on food, for two of us, but do buy good quality food (and the wife is a good cook).

Healthcare (very good cover) is paid for by my employer, but it would cost over $100 per week to add my spouse, or $250 per week for the family option. Maybe budget $400-500 per week.

mrken30

Eating out is not a problem, we just tie our kids up outside while we eat in peace, inside.

Some places even provide containers for older kids.

Pulaski

This is a post I made recently about the cost of moving to NC - the numbers will be very similar for Florida. .... Obviously AC will be more, but heating less, but the differences will more or less offset each other. And meals will be less with two toddlers, for now at least, but expect to pay about $40 for a meal for two, or $50 with drinks, at a chain restaurant - such as Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's, etc., and a bit more at a steak restaurant.

While one or two people who raised families in the US several decades ago may be along shortly to rubbish my figures, and tell us how they survived on much less. However I stand by these as a realistic set of numbers to start with, and under your circumstances I would want to know how much numbers might be rather than how little they could be.

robtuck

Not far off Pulaski's numbers for us - family of four living in Georgia, so even closer to FL.

Our Electric and Gas combined come in between $200 and $300 per month depending on time of year for a 5 bed, but we don't go Shopping Mall cold on the A/C.

Two cars - Ford Escape and Fusion - $600 per month

Spending about $150 per month on petrol (Pulaski, do you go rallying at the weekends :-) ).

TV/Mobile Phone/Internet - $350 per month including three new phones (kids a bit older)

Health Insurance - I will be paying $420 per month for our family, after employer contributions (went higher to start with but reducing in 2018).

Car Insurance is eye watering - $381 per month for the first 6 months, $280 for next 6 and now $214, on the two cars listed above.

We probably ship $700 a month on groceries.

Eating out will generally be cheaper if you are used to London prices, and of course is a little more discretionary.

You will only need shorts and a t-shirt and some flip flops. i love the heat, but it does get a bit odd knowing half your wardrobe just sits gathering dust for most of the year. I haven't even had a coat for the past 14 months. I'll be in Florida over Christmas, they get all excited on the weather when they can advise people to wrap up in a "sweater"

scrubbedexpat099

They provide those in NY, have an App and everything, there was a thread about, struck me as a good idea.

mrken30

I didn't realize how cheap my bills were.

$120 to $150 per month for gas and electric 2100 sqft single storey house
$100 Home insurance
$100 Car insurance
Eating out is around $20 per head
Health Insurance $60 after employer contributions
School $1000 a month per child.
3 year car loan is $500 a month, then it will be zero unless we change cars.

Pulaski

That's probably because you don't appear to be buying groceries, or clothes, paying for petrol, have cable TV/internet, or cell phones, or have a water bill, among other things.

You could cut your bills further if you just moved into a cave.

mrken30

Cable tv/internet is $120/month including taxes. Could change to FIOS , but we like Comcast.
Netflix $11/month, Amazon Prime $100/year
Petrol is about $70 a month for 2 cars, but we don't drive much.

I think food is around $500 a month, but we don't keep tabs on groceries and clothes. Also they vary a lot, for example A bottle of laundry detergent will last several months. So we do not always have the same expenses. We buy in bulk and freeze stuff. We spend about $20/month on chicken food but never buy eggs.

We also cycle through our emergency food once in a while.

Canveydave

Some numbers from up the road in Orlando, may/may not help

Rent $2,200
Cable and Internet $120
Utilities $120 in winter $350 in summer
2 cars and Insurance, total $1250 a month (you can reduce this significantly, but the insurance is a joke)
Gas $200
Groceries $600
Cell Phone $60 a month, for one with free calls to the UK

Healthcare - Varies depending on your policy, but overall I would say my healthcare and tax costs are the same if not lower than I paid in Tax and NI in the UK.

These are actual costs of a family of 2 adults 2 under 7 year old kids