Zez

Currently considering an offer to spend 2 years in the san francisco bay area and working out budget. Can anyone help with the following months costs to help us budget.

Cars...we'd need to lease a car. Not bothered what we have, I guess a ford focus equiv size.

Car insurance (we are 36 and 33)

Cost to feed family of 4...we spend about £75 a week in the UK

Utilities....what am i likely to spend on electricity/gas/water


I'm sure I'll be back with more questions

Thanks

penguinsix

The biggest expenses for most Americans are:

housing
health insurance
car payments
car insurance
food
utilities

Have you reviewed the offer's specifics for health insurance? If you are paying for health insurance for a family of 4, it could be $1,500 a month--easily. If the company is paying, it could be $0. While the offer might say "includes health insurance" you have to ask what is the monthly premium for that expense and other things like deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance amounts.

Car insurance will be the real killer vs. the cost of a car. You are going to have zero credit rating when you arrive, and zero driving history (in the USA). This means you'll be in the highest brackets for car insurance.

What city are you going to be working in? How much of a commute can you tolerate? Are your kids in school yet?

Zez

I know our medical insurance contribution would be $300 a month for the family but haven't yet checked our deductibles. Working in San Fran but probably looking living around mountain view ish as we have contacts there.

What is the average cost for car insurance then. We've been told for a basi car about $300 a month rental... Does that sound ok ish?

We have a 7 year old and a 5 year old

Thanks for your help.

McZaki

I recommend using the attached worksheet to estimate prospective expenditures based on your research, you can tailor it to fit into your circumstances/requirements accordingly.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your move.

MMcD

.........hmmmmmm:
just wonderin' - Do you two know each other???

McZaki

NO!

why you asked?

MMcD

; - )

McZaki

You’re a legend!

MMcD

( - ;

Restpectfully
Sherlock Holmes (....at your service)

McZaki

I can believe that! But seriously I don’t know the OP.

MMcD

Why be Alone?
Click 'n Clone........
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/conte...clickandclone/

Zez

I really don't get the direction this thread has gone...I honestly don't know anyone here. But thanks for your help

Zez

Ahha, just found McZaki's budget thread! Isn't it just sensible to work out if you can afford to live on what they are offering?

md95065

Yes, it is - but there are so may variables that depend on your personal circumstances (not least of which is the type of lifestyle that you want to have) that it is difficult to make direct comparisons with other people's experience. That having been said, having a checklist of all of the possible things that you might end up spending money on is definitely useful.

For example, you mentioned that you would need a car. Well, it is quite possible that you might really need two cars, but that depends on where you live and where you work and whether you need a car to get to work and whether the spouse that isn't working needs a car while the other one is at work because the nearest shop is 5 miles away and there in no public transport. If, on the other hand, you both lived and worked in San Francisco you might find having even one car more trouble than it was worth and you might be better off depending on something like Zip cars or occasional weekend car rentals for when you really did need your own transportation.

The list goes on.

Also, don't underestimate the one time startup costs of moving to another country - buying furniture (most rentals are unfurnished), TV, kitchen utensils etc - I don't know how much support you would be getting from your company with relocation but you should try to get as much as possible from them. (If you search there are lots of threads on this subject).

Bob

Loads of threads on this that are worth searching out.

Some universals across the board -

Car insurance at $1K per 6 months for a new car and be happy for less

Mobile phone - $80-150 if you want data, but could go PAYG for around $50 month and benefit of avoiding deposit

Cable/Internet/Phone $100-150 depending on the deal and then it all goes up

Deposits on utilities ranging from $50-600 should be expected and be happy if you don't get asked for one.

Groceries, as much or as little as you want, depends if you go to Walmart or Wholefoods, cook everything from scratch or eat junk. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...6#post10391116 worth a punt, thread from before Christmas.