Originally Posted by Bob

Aye, but the cable broadband is a bit to shite to rely on just using Voip...

Originally Posted by ImHere

Ours is fine, we've had VoIP as our landline for 5 months and no real problems at all.

Originally Posted by Dant3

Even living in Los Angeles (very expensive!) my standard of living is a lot better than it was in the UK, not least because I find I get paid more for doing a chimps job in a cubicle farm here than I did as a full-time teacher in the UK.

Originally Posted by vegas

The Average wage in Florida seems to be around the $35k range I have found that the following items seem to be a lot more expensive here:

Property Tax (which is paid every year like the British Rates I paid $8000
last year on a house worth about $450k)

Insurance (car insurance is very expensive when you first start I paid
$2400 for six months insurance on a dodge durrango now
after 2 years it is down to $1200 per six months.
Property insurance is $1300 per annum but this includes a
$500 dollar hurricane element.)

Utilities. ( Gas , water and Electric are more expensive here. My gas bill
averages $50 per month. My electric goes from $50 per
Month in the winter to $300 per month in the summer due to
air conditioning. When I have my garden sprinklers on for 2
nights per week the bill for water is normally $150 per month)

Telephones ( Cell phones can be more expensive as you pay the same per
minute for received calls as made calls. Normal telephones
can be more expensive but all local calls within you area are
free so you can chat for nothing after paying the monthly
charge )

Health ( unless you are covered by your employer then this can be
unbelieveably expensive also people without insurance pay
twice as much per procedure than people with insurance. As
the insurance companies expect a discount)

I think that everything else here is a lot cheaper apart from the above.

Originally Posted by ImHere

So by standard of living do you mean cash and not general quality of life? I cant imagine working in a Dilbert-esque cube farm for 45+ hours per week can possibly be construed as better quality of life.

Originally Posted by anotherlimey

Quality of life and standard of living are two different things.

Originally Posted by ImHere

I have to disagree. My standard of living is very closely related to my quality of life.

Originally Posted by Bob

yeah...but then it depends if you'd rather work in shite conditions and have the cash to do more shite, or have more holiday time etc and not have as much money...

Originally Posted by Bob

yeah...but then it depends if you'd rather work in shite conditions and have the cash to do more shite, or have more holiday time etc and not have as much money...

Originally Posted by Pharrya

Here in MD, We have a a 1900 sq ft house with 1/5 acre, in the burbs, and pay $1400 in property tax. So this is another case of location, location, location.

Our last water bill for 3 months was $8. yep, $8.
Car insurance is $855 per 6 months for 2 cars
Phone bill usually hovers round the $45 mark monthly
GAs and Electric (It's one bill) is usually about $150 per month - and it seems to cost a lot more to heat than to cool.

Moneywise, things are a lot more comfortable over here (I was living in Belsize park in London...)

Originally Posted by ImHere

I have to disagree. My standard of living is very closely related to my quality of life.

Originally Posted by Bob

part of the state i'm living in, there's no choice, verizon are the only landlines, and the cheapest no thrills package is $30 a month....