Cost of Living in Central Florida vs. NJ

[dvcgirl]

Well, my hubby and I have sold our house here in NJ and will be moving to the Orlando area sometime this summer. We already know about the huge difference in housing prices. We also know that we'll save a ton on property taxes compared to here. But I was wondering about some of the other expenses that Central Floridians pay out and how they compare to what we pay up here in Jersey.

For one, if you live in Orlando, what are your utility bills like (electric/gas/water)? The area of Orlando we're looking at seems to be electric only so we're kind of curious to see what our bill will be. Here, between gas and electric we're at about 700 a month. Our water bills are pretty low though.

How about groceries. I've read where a few people say that groceries are more expensive in the Orlando area. Is that due to it being a vacation spot, or is this the case all over Florida?

How about auto insurance? *Very* expensive here in Jersey.

Also heard that homeowners insurance is way expensive in Florida. It's actually pretty reasonable here in NJ.

How about lawn care/pest control. Here we have a good sized lot and pay $300 a month just for lawn cutting. Another 1,000 a year for fertilizing and probably another 500 or so a year for pest control. I'm thinking we'll save big there because our lot is likely to be much smaller.

We're really excited about our big move and just curious to see where we'll be spending a little more and where we'll be saving....thanks for any responses!

 

[ducklite]

It will cost more to register a car--a lot more.

Homeowners insurance is 25% higher for the same insurance, except you are adding hurricane. You'll have a 2% deductible on the hurricane as well.

Gas is more expensive in Florida, and you have to pump your own

Car insurance is less.

There's no personal income taxes.

Property insurance is less.

We've found groceries to be about the same, unless you're talking about the stores right near the major tourist attractions. Some things are a little more, others are a little less, but it balances out.

We got quotes from a few places, and lawn mowing is about $100 a month for a "normal" sized lot. You'll need more frequent pest control, that's about $30 a month, they do the lawn weeds as well for that price though. Phone and cable are about the same. Water is a little lower. Can't help you on electric, my electric and gas bill here in NJ is only $150/mo on the budget plan, I'm not expecting it to be a whole lot higher in FL.

Anne

 

[MosMom]

Try http://www.homefair.com and check out the calculators. They have quite a few that give comparisons between cities. They salary calculator will tell you how much you have to make to live the same lifestyle in the other city.

 

[dvcgirl]

Thanks a lot for the answers! Is that your home in Florida? It's beautiful! Where is it located?

Why so much more to register your car? Is it just a one time fee or a yearly expense?

Lawn and pest sound fairly reasonable, so that's good. Glad to hear that you think groceries are in line with what we pay in Jersey.

All in all, I think we'll save a small fortune!

 

[Feralpeg]

I just set up homeowners insurance on my new home I am moving to in Windermere (in the Orlando area). I will be paying about $700 a year on a $250,000 house. About $250 of that is a special flood policy.

I don't really know how the utilities will run yet, but I am in an all electric area as well. I've set up electric and phone. There are small one time connect charges. I haven't done water yet because the builder hadn't registered the meter. I'll be doing that this week.

I've always done my own yard and will continue to do so in Florida. The only difference is that I will be going from a huge yard to a very small one. Looking forward to that! I will need to look into pest control and lawn treatment.

Feel free to PM me with questions. I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I find out. We are moving down on May 31, so I should have some answers before too long.

 

[dvcgirl]

Thanks Feralpeg!

Windermere is a really nice area!

Homeowners actually sounds pretty reasonable. We pay about $1,100 a year here.

Good luck with your move! I may take you up on your offer to PM you with some questions down the road!

 

[marlasmom]

I live in Winter Haven about 35 minutes from WDW. We paid $120 for our house which has very big living/dining room, very good sized eat-in kitchen, 3 bedrooms - 1 very big, 2 very small, 2 fulll baths, 2 car garage, screened lanai and in-ground pool with lots of upgrades - about 9 months old when we bought it almost 2 years ago. We don't have some things I would like - for instance a jacuzzi tub. I found registering the car very cheap compared to New Hampshire. Car insurance for our 2002 Lincoln town car is $775 per year with GE, a program for drivers with impeccable driving records and credit. Electric runs us almost $200 per month in the summer with the pool and airconditioning. About $50 to $75 less in the winter. Water can be over $100 per month, but I am a gardener and I use a lot of water that way and we waste it besides - i.e. letting it run while we are putting dishes in the dishwasher. Our property tax is about $1,700. Food prices appalled me when we first moved down here. I find it much more expensive than "home." Lawn cutting is $25 per time. I do my own bug control and lawn spraying but if I can get it for $30 I will do that. Thanks Anne btw. PM me if you have more questions.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by dvcgirl
Thanks a lot for the answers! Is that your home in Florida? It's beautiful! Where is it located?

Why so much more to register your car? Is it just a one time fee or a yearly expense?

Lawn and pest sound fairly reasonable, so that's good. Glad to hear that you think groceries are in line with what we pay in Jersey.

All in all, I think we'll save a small fortune!

Thanks, yes, it's my FL home. It's in Clermont.

I'm not toally sure about the registration, but I know the first ttime you go to register it can be as much as 2% of the value of the car. I'm assuming that would be a one time thing when you get your tags, and would be less each year when you renew.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by marlasmom
Thanks Anne btw. PM me if you have more questions.

You're welcome, and if you'd like the name and number of the guy I was referred to, PM me.

Anne

 

[Stepharoonie!]

We pay almost $800 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment across the street from Sea World. Utilities run us about $200 a piece a month (water, electric, cable, sewer). Groceries are not too bad...I spend maybe $300-400 a month on groceries at Publix. If I went to Costco or BJ's, it'd be a little less expensive.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Where in the Orlando area will you be living dvcgirl?

First, there is no gas utility here in Florida. We only have electric and water bills.

Electric averages about $250-$330 per month depending on how much you run the air conditioner.

Water bill is on average about $85-$105 per month but we have a large family and I do a LOT of laundry!

I don't know who thought that it cost a lot more to register a car here, but I totally disagree with that.
Car insurance is very reasonable.

The prices on groceries are much lower here than my sister who lives in Michigan pays. We are on average 35-40% lower.
Publix has the best prices on everyday things. If you want to buy in bulk, I love Costco. We also have several BJs and Sams Clubs in the area.
To me, Winn Dixie is filthy and the prices are higher than Publix.
Albertsons is also here, but they are hit and miss depending on what is on sale.
Another great place to find great grocery prices is at SuperTarget. When they have sales on certain items, they are by far the best prices overall.

Our gas prices around town are running at $1.82 per gallon.
I try to always get the gas at Costco as they have the lowest prices.
It was just on the news here that gas is over $2 a gallon in the NorthEast and MidWest.

Property taxes are much lower here. We have NO income tax in Florida.
Your property tax is also going to vary according to the area in Orlando which you decide to live in. Winter Park and Windermere are 2 of the highest areas here for tax on property. (I live in Windermere)
Dr Philips is a little lower, Hunters Creek and Winter Garden are also reasonable.

If you go south of Orlando into Osceola county (Kissimmee,Poinciana), or West of Orlando into Lake County, areas like Clermont, Davenport etc. the costs are even lower.

Hope this helps!

ChristmasElf

 

[dvcgirl]

We're looking in SW Orlando. DH will be telecommuting and so we don't need to think about job hunting/commuting. The plan now is to close on our house here and then head down and rent while we house-hunt. We have a realtor down there on the look-out for the right home for us. We really like the MetroWest area as it is centrally located and appears to be well maintained and established.

That's about what we figured on water and electric....which is *great*! Do most people have sprinkler systems in FL? Does that 85-105 figure include watering the grass?

Yeah, after reading about high car registration I did a google search and it appears that there's a one time charge of $100 the first time you register the car, and then it's about 35 bucks a year. Way cheap. Gas prices there are the same as here right now.

It's interesting how people's opinions differ on groceries and other bills. Guess it all depends on where you're coming from. Since the metro NY/NJ area is the most expensive place to live in our country, I'm thinking I'll be pleasantly surprised.

My property taxes will probably drop by at least $9,000 a year. I'm currently paying $14,000 a year. We're figuring on about 5,000 between taxes and assoc. fees. No state income tax is also a nice savings!!!

Thanks so much to all of you for your input!!!

 

[ChristmasElf]

SW Orlando is the Hunters Creek, SouthChase, Deerfield area.
We used to live in HuntersCreek and the property taxes were about $3200 for us per year on a house that was almost 3 thousand square feet.

MetroWest will probably be about the same as the prices are similiar. (Palma Vista might be a tad higher priced)

There are tons of choices to rent in the SW area. Do you have children? Personally, I think the Dr Philips area schools are good. But the prices on housing in DP is going to be higher than in MetroWest.
The nice thing about these areas, HuntersCreek, MetroWest, and Dr Philips is you are close to everything!

Good Luck on the move!

Christmaself

 

[dvcgirl]

We're not married to the idea of MetroWest, but like that general area. There are a couple of subdivisions off of rt535 (Apopka-Vineland Rd?) that we also like. We're looking in the 350-450K range.

We did check out Hunter's Creek, and it's nice but felt a little out of the way. And getting in and out of that area on the John Young Parkway seemed kinda rough. Housing prices seemed much more reasonable in Hunter's Creek as opposed to other areas we're looking at though....got much more house for 350K, but we're not looking for a huge house. Have that now and we don't need it.

We did look at some homes in Dr. Phillips, but found some of the neighborhoods to be a little pricey. No kids, so we have no school worries. We do have pets though ).

Can't wait to get down there!!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by ChristmasElf
Where in the Orlando area will you be living dvcgirl?

First, there is no gas utility here in Florida. We only have electric and water bills.
ChristmasElf

Absolutely not the case about no gas utilities. In your town perhaps, but I'm in Clermont and have a gas water heater. I also had the option of a gas stove, alhtough I chose electric to get a flat cooktop. And the BBQ in my summer kitchen on my lanai is direct gas. Thank God no more running out in the middle of cooking!

Anne

 

[*Fantasia*]

Wow..glad that I stumbled on this thread! Great infos!! We are moving to Orlando this July. My lease is up in August so it is a great time for us to move.

We have another trip coming up again this May and we will be visiting Hunter's Creek and MetroWest. I heard that those are few places to check out. Hunter's Creek is opening up a new elementary school this August. I would like to check that one too. Most of the apartments there has no patio/balcony screened. There is one that is screened but the price is just way outrageous. About $960 for only 2 bedroom and the utilities are not even included nor the washer/drier in the units.

I am going to finalize everything on this coming trip. And I have to register my kids at their new school.

Good luck on your move!

 

[ChristmasElf]

I was referring to gas as a utility. (Not propane)




We also have direct gas (propane) for the grill on the lanai. However in the areas I have lived in here in Central Florida, there is only electric- except for the propane for the grill and the pool/spa heater.

I do not have a gas stove top, however my neighbor does, so I know you can just call Amerigas and get a propane tank for the backyard.

Christmaself

 

[dvcgirl]

We looked at a couple of houses in Windermere and I'm pretty sure that they had natural gas out there as well. They were gas ranges in the houses and models and I didn't see any propane tanks outside, so I'm guessing that there are some natural gas areas. I do know that in MetroWest, it's all electric.

 

[Feralpeg]

When I signed up for my utilities they said that normally the homes are all electric. You can request gas service, but that it is only on request.

 

[HollyJoy]

No advice to give, but just wanted to say, CONGRATULATIONS! Wish we could move to Florida!!!