How much does it cost to live where you live?

Here you go for Southwest North Carolina. Many are a WAG, but it can give you an idea.

I was surprised to see that with the present exchange rate Germany is not terribly expensive anymore for us that receive in US$. That is, if you don't like Big Mac's or computers...

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Thanks Wally.

I forgot to mention in my original post, taxes (VAT 19%) is inclusive in every price mentioned.

I know, I included them in the American prices to make them comparable. The sign price for a Big mac for example is $2.99

Venti Triple Mocha @ Starbucks, $5.36
Pack of Marlboro Red 72's Cigarettes, $3.34
1 Gallon of 93 Octane, $2.79
Rent from $600 to $1200+ for 1-2 bedrooms, utilities included in some of the $1000 apartments, but price varies by proximity to the water.

this is in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia.

mitchell65 said:

I'm with Joan a bit on this one. There is so much disparity in prices in the UK that to get a fair international idea you would have to take n average. These figure, issued by the government, are available from the National statistics office but being statistics there are two types. Lies and damn Lies. Seriously though i really does make a difference where you live, rents for example are expensive where I live as there are so many second home people it keeps the property prices up above the national average but the average wage here is one of the lowest in the country due to our high dependency on the tourist trade. So figures where I live would give a false picture of the nation as a whole.

You're in the same sort of position we are in, we live in tourist country, and we have the same thing with second homes around here.

When you take into account the tourist season doesn't last that long either and if the weather isn't good, well earning enough money to keep you over 12 months from about 4 or 5 months, if your lucky, wages can be a little hard.

Interesting thread, but the "true" cost of living is based on the stuff you "need" for living, right? I don't smoke. Very, very rarely do I eat fast food. I don't drink beer, etc., etc.

But, what I need is a place to live: How much is rent or mortgage? How much are property taxes? How much is insurance?

I need to eat: How much is bread, milk, cheese, etc.?

Living in Southern California means, more than likely, I'll have to commute to work: How much is auto insurance? How much is gas?

You get what I'm saying?

Average home in my surrounding area: $475,000
Average price for gallon of milk: $4.89; bread: $3.89
Gas (regular): $2.98 (Yeah, yeah, I know most Europeans pay by the litre and it comes out more that what we pay, but $2.98 is high for us)
Unemployment rate for state of California: 12%

Some of the other stuff I can't really speak on... I'm an anomoly as we live comfortably on one income... and it ain't no 6 figure one either!

I forgot to mention we are at around $2.79 for a gallon of gas as well.

And I might have inflated the price of the cigarettes. I quit buying 6 years ago...

Kari said:

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Yes, I forgot petrol, fuel. One liter costs about €1.40 here.

The cup of coffee in your list seems very expensive. You're sure that's not a typo?

Thanks Kari and yeah that is a typo I must have copied it over wrong, a cup of coffee is about £1.70/$2.48 but it varies depending on where you go.

And just to throw in a comparison for those who don't know a Gallon in the US is about 4.1 Litres but a UK Gallon is 4.5L.

52p/L (75c/L); if anyone in England saw petrol at that price the petrol station would sell out in minutes!

Oli

I forgot to mention a biggie: How much does it cost to [try to] stay healthy? About $1500 a month, of which I pay about $275 of that, with my employer paying the rest.