Thread: How much cheaper is it to live in USA

Hello everyone, this is my very post.

There is a possibiliy that my DH will be offered a job in the US (California area - San Fran or Santa Clara)

We are a large family with 4 kids (3 of whom are teens) and I imagine that I won't have a work Visa so we will just be living on my husbands salary.

If he does accept the job then he is looking at a salary of approx $130,000.

Now to me, this sounds like one hell of a salary but in reality, I can't get my head around what this actually means in terms of standards of living.

People I have spoken to talk about the fact that day to day living expenses are cheaper in the US - but is this actually true?

So my question is - can a family of 6 live comfortably on that amount?

Our medical insurance will be paid for by the company and we plan to rent rather then buy (would need a 5 bed in area with good schooling). We are not a 'flashy family - just hoping to be able to live in a reasonable area and to have a little bit of cash spare each month to treat the kids to cinema, trips out etc.

I know its a tricky question but would anyone be willing to put this into perspective for us?

thats a good question ,ive only just found this page and seen your question .my partner is in texas and we move out there some time in feb ,i also have a big family ,eric my partner seems to think we will have a better life in the usa ,i hope some one answers your question becouse now there are two of us waiting haha x if you are on facebook my addi is ge rathbone x

I cant answer the question sorry but the Aussie and US $ are approx 1 to 1 as far as I know.......that would be a great salary here in Aus but no idea about cost of living in the US, have you looked at real estate websites in the area you are moving to, get an idea of prices. Must be online grocery stores in the US too...Walmart??? Check out the average prices.

Hi I have lived in the UK, Canada and Australia. As Tillyfloss stated that $130,000 salary in Oz would be considered a great salary. The US is alot cheaper than Australia for cost of living. That is one of the perks of living in Canada is that we can pop over to the states for cheap shopping. Gas (petrol) is alot cheaper in the states. You stated that the job offer is in California, I would think that California will be more expensive than other states say like Michigan or Florida.

If you want to check out prices check out websites such as www.sears.com, or www.walmart.com, for online groceries you can check out www.safeway.com or costco.com. You will find loads of choices in the states. You will require private health insurance.

Hope this helps a bit

Karen

Hi,
Our family moved here last year due to my husband's work. We are family of 6 (although my kids are aged 7 or under so probably a bit cheaper to keep than teenagers!) and we are living on my husband's wage of $90000. This sounds OK but we are in New Jersey which is quite expensive compared to other parts of the country. Rent on a 4 bed house (in good school district) is $2200 per month. I don't think food is appreciably cheaper here although petrol is (just over $3 per gallon at the moment). Utilities aren't too bad, water around $40 per month. Electricity high due to AC in the summer and heat in winter, although in sunny CA you might pay less! We do OK as we are pretty frugal, only run one car and stay home a lot. Overall we are better off here, the tax breaks are good for single earners with kids. Back in the UK we were both working (me part time) to maintain a similar lifestyle.
We would like to buy but only once we have greencards, in any case it is difficult now to get a mortgage without one (most companies also want a 2 year US credit/employment history). I think there is definitely more house to be had for your money here.
Check out which visa your husband would have as you would be able to work on some of them (my husband has an L1 which would allow me to work with authorisation, although childcare issues mean I don't).
Sorry for rambling, hope this helps a little, (and good luck!)

Originally Posted by phoebesdream

Hi,
Our family moved here last year due to my husband's work. We are family of 6 (although my kids are aged 7 or under so probably a bit cheaper to keep than teenagers!) and we are living on my husband's wage of $90000. This sounds OK but we are in New Jersey which is quite expensive compared to other parts of the country. Rent on a 4 bed house (in good school district) is $2200 per month. I don't think food is appreciably cheaper here although petrol is (just over $3 per gallon at the moment). Utilities aren't too bad, water around $40 per month. Electricity high due to AC in the summer and heat in winter, although in sunny CA you might pay less! We do OK as we are pretty frugal, only run one car and stay home a lot. Overall we are better off here, the tax breaks are good for single earners with kids. Back in the UK we were both working (me part time) to maintain a similar lifestyle.
We would like to buy but only once we have greencards, in any case it is difficult now to get a mortgage without one (most companies also want a 2 year US credit/employment history). I think there is definitely more house to be had for your money here.
Check out which visa your husband would have as you would be able to work on some of them (my husband has an L1 which would allow me to work with authorisation, although childcare issues mean I don't).
Sorry for rambling, hope this helps a little, (and good luck!)

Thank you for a great post and welcome to the forum.

Hello,

We are a family of 3 and just moved to the Boston area two weeks ago. Overall I must agree with phoebesdream.
Apparently Boston is one of the most expensive areas to live in the US, so you might be lucky and better off in CA.

We are renting a 4 bed house for $2500, and it is around 2400 sq ft. Double of what we had in the UK. So a lot more house for our money.
However, I find the day to day living expense the same or more than back home. There seems to be huge differences in supermarket prices and of course most of them are regional, so the ones I have here won't necessarily be in CA.
Appliances are not cheap either, and considering you can't take that many with you this is a real starter-worry. My husband is getting a one off moving 'bonus' but this is just a little help as we will be spending a lot more than the awarded $2500.
Some of your smaller kitchen appliances should run with a transformer - definitely something to consider.

His salary is good and definitely covers what both of us used to earn BUT .... total tax deduction is around 33% and we are assuming this is on total salary and not in tax bands like the UK. So again I think it is a bit of a myth that you are soooo much better of here.

We are currently working on getting lease cars and insurance. Not funny at all. Everything has to run on my husband as he will be the only social security holder in the family (he has an H1B visa, and I did not apply for a work permit). Insurance needs to be researched and definitely with the help of a broker as online quotes in general do not allow for "special" circumstances.

Let me know if there are any specific things you are worried about and I'll try to help ....

Christine

One big highlight is the new school our daughter (9) goes to. I have the feeling they are miles better than the UK.

This is really interesting...I would consider a move to the US in the future...is it the norm to live in much bigger houses over there?
Does anyone know what nurses wages are like over there?

Welcome to Phoebe and Christine.... great posts..... Would you mind adding your details on this thread Country of Residence

Originally Posted by Tillyfloss

This is really interesting...I would consider a move to the US in the future...is it the norm to live in much bigger houses over there?
Does anyone know what nurses wages are like over there?

Welcome to Phoebe and Christine.... great posts..... Would you mind adding your details on this thread Country of Residence

Houses are on the whole bigger than the UK, but the prices vary depending where you live. There was a nurse thread on another forum recently and for a specialised ICU nurse the pay was around $3200 a month after deductions (deductions vary from state to state!). As for moving to the US, there are no visas for nurses so you would need to qualify another way I am afraid.

Vicki

Doesnt sound much more than here in Australia....wages are good here for nurses on the whole. So whats the immigration game like if you want to get to the US, what do they want...criteria etc?