Is it cheaper to live in the U.S.A?

by haujobbz 37 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Farkel

  : Being from the uk i find the cost of living high, but according to most its much cheaper to live in the usa,i mean food is cheaper,fuel is cheaper,hi-fi is cheaper,i bet everything is cheaper,why the hell is it cheaper in the usa. So if im wrong convince me why im better off in the uk.

  When one is poor, everything is high. When one is rich, everything is cheap.

  It's no different in the USA or the UK.

  Besides, the USA has distinct disadvantages over the UK: we don't have Queens, Kings, Princes and Princesses. We don't have a language that cannot be understood by people who speak the same language. (Except Texas and other parts of the South, where they can't even understand EACH OTHER!) No part of our Country claims the official title of "Empire," although Texas is close. We really don't know much about sarcasm, having never had much of a need to learn it.

  We haven't mastered the art of understatement, because we are the last people on earth to need to do that.

  There is only one place in our little world where people speak the "Queen's English" and that is Massachusetts. I know. I've been there. Ironically, no one gives a shit about Massachusetts, even the people IN Massachusetts. Except those there who speak the "Queen's English."

  Besides the "Queen," I suspect that no one in the entire world gives a fuck about her English. But what do I know?

  Besides, jerks like me live here and my ancestry is almost 100% British!

  Go figure!

  Farkel

  Edited by - Farkel on 9 August 2002 1:28:2
• 

  Princess

  Whooops, sorry, I just checked and our sales tax is 8.9%, King county where Seattle is located is 8.8%. Still unbearably high but not quite 9...yet. We don't have a state income tax.

  Farkel, I was just in Mass and I didn't hear one person speaking "The Queen's English". I wasn't quite sure what the hell they were saying, but it had nothing to do with the Queen.

  Rachel
• 

  Scarlet

  Where I live in CA the housing prices have doubled in the last 3 years our Sales tax is 7.75% and we pay the highest state income tax in the nation at 9%. It is cheaper to live in Hawaii than here. You can't get a 1 bedroom apartment for under $900 a month. My husband and I looked at some new apartments they were bldg. in the area and they wanted a $1550 deposit and $1450 a month for a one bedrom. A two bedrom was $2100. And get this are average wage is only $2,000 more a year than other parts of the nation (ie Indiana, Kanas, & Alabama)

  Edited by - Scarlet on 9 August 2002 1:49:5
• 

  Mulan

  Also, in our area, apartments are very expensive. A nice 3 bedroom, 1 bath is about $1100 a month, or more.

  You can get a lower grade apartment, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, for about $750-$900. A CRUMMY one bedroom, smelly (moldy) apartment is going to be at least $600 a month. I see adveritising for them for $500 a month, but there has to be a catch, like a two year lease or paying in advance or something.

  It is an expensive place to live. We are also self employed and let our health insurance lapse last year when it went up to over $500 a month for the two of us, with a $1000 deductible. We are just gambling we are okay for a few more years until we can get medicare. We do have dental, eye and chiropractic insurance though.............$20 a month, including my parents too.
• 

  aluminutty

  Ballistic:

  Sadly, most mass produced American beers are a little over 3 percent alcohol by volume. By mass produced, I mean Budweiser, Miller, Bush, and the like. A 12 pack of 12 OZ bottles or cans will run you about $7 to $9 or so in my part of the U.S. Fortunately, in recent years, micro brews, and mass produced craft brews have grown hugely in popularity and availability. These beers have higher alcohol content, from around 4.5 to 8 percent by volume, and have the additional perk of not tasting like piss. The only drawback to enjoying good beer in the U.S. is that quality beer is more pricey. Anchor Steam, an excellent beer brewed in San Francisco and sold nation wide, costs about $7 a six pack of 12 OZ bottles. The average cost per six pack of quality beer runs about $5 to about $8.

  Haujobbz:

  Thee U.S. Does have a social security system. I happen to work for the U.S. Social Security Administration -- the governmental agency in the states responsible for paying out monthly cash benefits to senior citizens and their dependents, the disabled and their dependents, and the surviving (spouse and surviving children) of deceased workers. By dependents, I mean children under age 18, or under age 19 and 2 months if not yet graduated from high school, elderly parents who derive at least 50 percent of their income from their children, and the spouse, and, or divorced spouses of retired, disabled, or dead workers. In cases of payment to divorced spouses the marriage must have lasted 10 years or longer). Benefits are based upon the amount of earnings a worker contributes to the Social Security program through mandatory contribution of 15.3 percent of a workers salary per year. The responsibility of the payment of the 15.3 percent contribution to the program is split equally between the worker and his employer such that the employed person only sees $7.65 percent of their salary going towards funding their retirement and disability insurance. Note that if a worker is self employed, he must pay the entire 15.3 percent contribution.

  Social Security pays an average benefit of about $850 per month to about 44,000,000 total beneficiaries. Benefits can range from less than a dollar a month to a maximum of about $1660.00 per month. More details, ask?

  As to housing in my part of the country, Cincinnati, Ohio, a 2 bedroom apartment can cost anywhere from about $350.00 on the low end to about $800.00 per month. Homes range from about $50,000 to about $175,000 for a 2 to 3 bedroom, 1 to 2 bath home. Bobsgirl and I just purchased a 1440 sqft 4 bedroom 1.5 bath quad level home in a nice neighborhood for about $125,000. The lot (owned land upon which your house sits) is 60 by 145 in size. Our monthly mortgage payment will be about $950.00 including property taxes and home owners insurance per month.

  Gas runs about a buck 40 per gallon. Is a gallon about 3 liters? If that be the case, gas then would be 40 cents a liter here.

  Neat thread, btw, its neat to see the comparisons.
• 

  ballistic

  Haujobz, the price I quoted for beer was for drinking out in a pub (bar).

  Standard English measures: Beer in a pub or bar = 1 English Pint = 560ml = cost of 1.90 - 2.50 pounds

  Beer bought to take away (off licence) = 1 can = 500ml (half litre) = cost of 70p - 1.40 pounds

  Note that the term beer here is only used for 'dark' beer also called 'bitter' (but it does not normally taste bitter)

  Your 'beer' we call 'lager' - such as budweiser. We would never refer to this as beer.
• 

  ballistic

  Does anyone know why the American imperial meausres are different to the UK?

  USA measure ->		metric
  1 fluid ounce	1.0408 UK fl oz	29.574 ml
  1 pint (16 fl oz)	0.8327 UK pt	0.4731 l
  1 gallon	0.8327 UK gal	3.7854 l
• 

  bigboi

  The sales tax in New Orleans is 9% even. In neighboring parishes it is as high as 9.5%. Down here though most homeowners don't pay property taxes because of the homestead exemption.

  Housing prices don't vary much in New Orleans, though that is changing. I could rent a 3/2 house in the suburbs for considerably less than 1000/month. I can rent a high-end apt in the Garden District with wood floors and 12 ft ceilings for around 700-1200 dollars a month. My apt is right under 1200 sq. feet and has 12 ft ceilings, wall to wall carpeting, all electric, dishwasher, walk-in closets and a private balcony. The rent was just raised to 500 dollars a month. Down here it seems it is all really about whether the ppl renting to you are willing to have u live in their shit and where exactly in the city you'd like to live.. New Orleans is a hella cheap place.

  ONE....

  bigboi