Moving to CA?

I'm toying with the idea of moving out to CA near the Anaheim area (the area where I'll be able to have a job right away). I just graduated college and I wanna shake my life up a bit/possibly find a job. I just thought of it today and I'd like to do some research about cost of living as compared to where I live now. I live in New Jersey only about 5-10 miles away from NYC so I'm pretty sure the cost of living wont be too different, probably even less (I hope!). I'd just like to know what you guys pay for things like insurance, internet, cable, cell service, gas, etc. Any info would be a big help. Thanks!

 

Cost of living in Socal is not that cheap. Anaheim is a pretty nice area and depending on how your life expense is. You can rent a cheap place or nice place.

Check Orange County Craigslist to get an idea on the pricing and areas.

Just remember, Socal is not a cheap place to live. ​

 

Cost of living u say?

Cellphone - att $70 wih taxes
Internet - cable $50
Auto gas - $3.8 - $4
Macdonal big mac combo - about $5-6
Rent - depends where in anaheim or socal.


Bottom line is, find a job first before moving out here.

 

Gasoline is more expensive out here.

 

I have slowly traveled up the coast from San Diego, it seems like it just gets more expensive going North.

Here are some areas that might differ from where you are at:

Sales Tax
Vehicle Registration
SMOG test
Annual state tax

San Francisco area....$2200 a month for rent is standard in some areas.

 

Cost of living in socal is not that high. The only cost that is out there is buying a house, renting is not that bad. What is it in an average area? $1500-1800 for a 3 bedroo
House?

 

I'd say it is relatively high. However, he is coming from NJ, which is also high. On the flip side, salaries tend to be higher in high cost areas.

CA taxes in general are high.
Gas is more expensive.
Rents are relatively high (further inland you go, the cheaper they get). I know someone who's moving his family from NJ to CA right now. He's having a hard time finding a place to rent.

 

DOnt do it you will want to move back.

 

doubt it. i know too many people that have done it and would disagree with that... however, i would say it has mostly to do with your roots - family, etc. connections. if you have deep roots and connections in NJ, much more likely. as far as quality of life, no comparison, but there's more to life than that.

 

He is leaving New Jersey, does it get worse.

 

i lived in anaheim for 25 years and its not cheap (at least compare to colorado ). in addition to the expenses that others have mentioned, you also have to consider auto insurance. when i graduated from college (2001), i bought a new chevy S10. i had zero accidents and zero tickets, but the insurance was still $1800 a year. when i moved to los angeles in 2004, it went up to $2000 a year.

also, california sales tax is very high. it ranges by city/county from 8.75% to 10.75%. anaheim is 8.75%:
http://www.boe.ca.gov/cgi-bin/rates.cgi?LETTER=A&LIST=CITY

rent will probably be your largest expense with the beach cities being the most expensive. the further inland you go, the cheap the housing cost will be.

when my wife and i were living in los angeles, our 2 bedroom apartment was $2700 a month, but orange county is a little cheaper than LA so i would expect rent to be close to $2000 a month for an apartment.

 

i moved here from upstate ny... love it here

 

Anaheim = Disneyheim which is why it's not as cheap as it should be. Check out Orange, which is close by. Or Tustin. Like was said before, have a job before moving out, and, heck, you may want to work at Disney - they're an excellent employer who's always hiring. SoCal is awesome! You may NEVER want to move back... good luck!

 

dang... i pay $650 a year for pretty high coverage... i never paid that much, even when i was young!

in addition, you really can't say LA or OC is cheaper... they vary widely depending upon where in each county.

 

"i pay $650 a year for pretty high coverage"
what discounts were you getting? multi-car, multi-policy, etc...? i was single, living on my own, and had no discounts that i could apply to the policy. even back in the 80's, my insurance was still over $1000 a year. i dont know how you are paying $650 a year... i am sceptical.

yes, i CAN say that rent in orange county is cheaper than los angeles county. property values and rents on average have always been more expensive in LA compared to OC. yes, you can find examples that dont fit into the average (newport vs compton for example), but overall, OC is cheaper than LA.

 

yes, i get quite a few discounts - but even when i didn't it was maybe $1000...

anyway, it's kind of strange to compare the two counties - look at how big LA county is. what, over 20 million people? it's so big and diverse, the comparison isn't very meaningful. that was my only point.

 

I pay 1600/month for a 3 bedroom 10 miles from Downtown LA. ~90/mo electricity, ~15/mo gas, 49.99 internet and cable, ~75/2 months for utilities (trash, water, recycling), 165/mo for car and renter's insurance, $3.99/gallon gas

 

http://www.hcd.ca.gov/hpd/hrc/rtr/ex42.pdf

so, not true. (granted, the data is a bit old, but i would bet the relative differences are the same)

average rent, pretty much the same.
median, definitely more in OC.
however, my original point still stands in that they're so big and diverse (especially LA), that this isn't that meaningful.

 

Yeah, but you also sit in traffic for 25 hours a day.

 

i take the bus to work, 30 minutes there, 30 minutes back, costs me $37.50 a month