Cost of Living in California

[JacquieMarie]

My boyfriend and I are thinking aobut moving down to California in the near future. I want to audition for Disneyland and he has some interests he wants to persue as well.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the approxiamte cost of living is in the Anaheim area? Such as the avarage cost of a one bedroom apartment etc.

Thank you for any help!!!!

[Hyperbole]

Re: Cost of Living in California

Here's a calculator to help you with cost of living differences for various areas of the country: http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

Also, look at Craigslist to see what kinds of apartments are currently being advertised to get a better idea of how much an apartment down here costs.

[Hyperbole]

Re: Cost of Living in California

Here's another COL calculator with more detailed information: http://www.moving.com/Find_A_Place/Relosmart/rs.asp

[Jungle Cruise Gal]

Re: Cost of Living in California

My roomie and I have a 2 bedroom 5 mintutes from the park for 1240 a month , shes been here longer and says this is cheap but don't let that deter you, I moved down here and followed my dream of working at disney and I'm making it on a disney income.

[Sadako]

Re: Cost of Living in California

My roomie and I have a 2 bedroom 5 mintutes from the park for 1240 a month , shes been here longer and says this is cheap but don't let that deter you, I moved down here and followed my dream of working at disney and I'm making it on a disney income.

Let me also add that utilities in Anaheim are publicly owned and dirt cheap. I work from home and during the 2 summer months, the AC was pretty much on 24/7 and yet the total for 2 whole months of electricity and trash (the rest of the utilities are paid for by the apartment complex) was only $120, which means only $60/month. The only other monthly expenses I have here are internet bills. And gas is probably the cheapest in most of So Cal. The gas station down the street is already down to about $2.15/gal

[GreatTK]

Re: Cost of Living in California

Let me also add that utilities in Anaheim are publicly owned and dirt cheap. I work from home and during the 2 summer months, the AC was pretty much on 24/7 and yet the total for 2 whole months of electricity and trash (the rest of the utilities are paid for by the apartment complex) was only $120, which means only $60/month. The only other monthly expenses I have here are internet bills. And gas is probably the cheapest in most of So Cal. The gas station down the street is already down to about $2.15/gal

$2.15? Where?

I have lived here my whole life and my family owns the house we are in now. I'm not sure how much we pay but with 3 brand new cars we dont have much left to spend.

[elly]

Re: Cost of Living in California

the biggest difference i've noticed in my trips back down to so cal...the food prices!

things i pay 2$ for here run anywhere from 3-4$ down there, so expect to pay quite a bit more for your groceries... I would reccomend Food 4 Less, they tend to run a bit cheaper.

[kelly]

Re: Cost of Living in California

when we lived in fullerton, ca (about a 10 minute drive from DL) we had a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment for $1250 a month, we had to pay all utlities including water.. all i can say very very expensive, this is why we moved to vegas

[elly]

Re: Cost of Living in California

also your car insurance premiums will jump quite a bit unless you are coming from some other equally large metropolitan area

[Sadako]

Re: Cost of Living in California

$2.15? Where?

I have lived here my whole life and my family owns the house we are in now. I'm not sure how much we pay but with 3 brand new cars we dont have much left to spend.

The AM/PM down on the corner of Euclid and La Palma actually. I personally don't mind too much because I drive a 2006 Toyota Prius, so I only put gas in about every 2 weeks and even then I'm only spending a little over $20 on gas even though I drive into downtown LA at least twice a week.

BTW, I :love: Ichigo Mashimaro. For some reason the cuteness overload of those lolicon shows just does it for me. Bottle Fairy was my previous obsession.

[JacquieMarie]

Re: Cost of Living in California

wow thanks you guys!! all very helpful! I am going to look into all of this some more...hopefully I can make it all work out!

[GreatTK]

Re: Cost of Living in California

The AM/PM down on the corner of Euclid and La Palma actually. I personally don't mind too much because I drive a 2006 Toyota Prius, so I only put gas in about every 2 weeks and even then I'm only spending a little over $20 on gas even though I drive into downtown LA at least twice a week.

BTW, I :love: Ichigo Mashimaro. For some reason the cuteness overload of those lolicon shows just does it for me. Bottle Fairy was my previous obsession.

I spend about $25-$30 ($2.25/g) a week on gas in my car. But I do a lot of local driving. Quite different from last year when I was going up and down from the San Fernando Valley all the time. When it comes to shopping for groceries I tend to go to Target, Albertsons and a place called Value+ (only for meat products).

I scoff when ever I see people pay 2-3 times as much for something when they can just hop on the bus for $1.25 and head down only a few minutes to a supermarket.

[Shoppingbear]

Re: Cost of Living in California

Let me also add that utilities in Anaheim are publicly owned and dirt cheap. I work from home and during the 2 summer months, the AC was pretty much on 24/7 and yet the total for 2 whole months of electricity and trash (the rest of the utilities are paid for by the apartment complex) was only $120, which means only $60/month. The only other monthly expenses I have here are internet bills. And gas is probably the cheapest in most of So Cal. The gas station down the street is already down to about $2.15/gal

OK, I'm officially jealous! Up in the Pasadena area, in an apartment having no central air (just window ACs), the utility bill for ONE month over the summer was well over $200! And that was just having it on in the evenings and some overnights!

We've noticed the same thing about gas, so we try to gas up the car whenever we're down there. It's not too bad here, though... I think $2.30+ or so.

[Alpine]

Re: Cost of Living in California

I pay about $550/month for one of three rooms in a townhouse in a mediocre part of Anaheim... get by just fine on a CM income, but there's not much to spare beyond basic living expenses.

The comment about car insurance is a serious one, my rates went up by over $500/year just by moving 150 miles south into the real LA area. Food is a little more expensive than some places, but nothing like Hawaii or the truly pricey areas, and there are a lot of places aimed at low income people so it's not too bad.

[JacquieMarie]

Re: Cost of Living in California

this all sounds somewhat manageable. Our change will be huge becasue we are moving from Vancouver Canada... so I believe housing is somewhat comparable....but I odnt even understand gallons (we use litres) and there is the excange rate to consider too....but we will find a way to make it work!!

[elly]

Re: Cost of Living in California

make sure you check about how long you can stay as well. the US is really tighening up the boot straps when it comes to immigration so if you guys are both Canadian citizens it might be harder than "just moving to so cal"

check w/your local government offices to see what is needed to establish citizenship or extended visas here in the US

[Stitchy]

Re: Cost of Living in California

I am seriously freaking out cause the apt rates you guys are mentioning aren't that far off from what apts are renting for WaaaaaaaY down here in Miss. Pitiful. Anyway, follow your dream, Honey. If there's anyway to make it happened...try it. You never know unless you try. I want SOOOOOO badly to work at Disneyworld, but, hubby's in the military...we have to live where they make us. So, I can live vicariously through you!! Haha.

[ExJungleSkipper95]

Re: Cost of Living in California

You guys may also want to keep this in mind. The real estate market is falling. Houses are not being sold for the insanely high prices they were being sold for a year ago. More people are losing their homes because they have to refinance and they can't get the low interest rate loans they got when they bought their homes. This means more and more people are having to move from homes to apartments. This drives the rent prices up. If you think rent is high now, wait till next year. I hate to sound so negative but it's happening.

[Hyperbole]

Re: Cost of Living in California

You guys may also want to keep this in mind. The real estate market is falling. Houses are not being sold for the insanely high prices they were being sold for a year ago. More people are losing their homes because they have to refinance and they can't get the low interest rate loans they got when they bought their homes. This means more and more people are having to move from homes to apartments. This drives the rent prices up. If you think rent is high now, wait till next year. I hate to sound so negative but it's happening.

Good point there, although there is some debate about whether the falling housing market will cause an increase in rent.

Some believe that the people who bought their homes with foolish loans (neg am's or interest only loans) will be forced to rent out the houses at a loss to avoid forclosure, thus driving DOWN rental prices.

Personally I think your scenario is much more likely.

That being said, it is still MUCH cheaper to rent than to buy right now. For example, the condo I'm renting would cost at LEAST twice my monthly payment if I were to buy it at today's prices.

The good news is that, like you said, home prices are falling. Fast. IMO will continue to fall for the next several years. The real estate market is simply not sustainable right now, as in some areas only 10% of the population can afford to buy the median home price at a traditional 30 year fixed mortgage.

Crazy times we live in indeed!!!

Sorry to get on a rant, but I have been following the housing bubble closely for quite sometime and it is a favorite topic of mine.

[Garrett240]

Re: Cost of Living in California

I'm just wondering, and I know this may be off topic, but the house price falling, is that just in So Cal, or do you see that happening across the US?